The Nano-Science Center of the University of Copehagen announced the discovery of a new material called nano flakes that can potentially revolutionize the way solar power is converted into electricity.
“We believe that the nano flakes have the potential to convert up to 30 per cent of the solar energy into electricity and that is twice the amount that we convert today”, says Martin Aagesen who is a PhD from the Nano-Science Center and the Niels Bohr Institute at University of Copenhagen. During his work on his PhD thesis, Martin found a new and untried material.
“I discovered a perfect crystalline structure. That is a very rare sight. While being a perfect crystalline structure we could see that it also absorbed all light. It could become the perfect solar cell”, says Aagesen who is also director of the company SunFlake Inc. that pursues development of the new solar cell. “The potential is unmistakeable. We can reduce the solar cell production costs because we use less of the expensive semiconducting silicium in the process due to the use of nanotechnology. At the same time, the future solar cells will exploit the solar energy better as the distance of energy transportation in the solar cell will be shorter and thus lessen the loss of energy.”
The Texas Tea Theory
Ok, listen up people. It’s December, 2007. The war isn’t showing many signs of success, and Saudi Arabia has told us that they can no longer keep up with increasing demand as Asia and now Russia become fully modern societies. The latter meaning they will use much of their own oil in the process of progress. Oil now stands at record prices, about 90-100 USD/bbl. And we just had a tropical storm in DECEMBER? No one can deny that we have both a climate problem and an oil problem. My plan, just to let you know, is nature-friendly: I plan to compost our sewage to feed our fields to produce all kinds of crops, including hemp, for food, fuel and plastic. The garbage from this would be thrown in too, in a “carbon flywheel” to store carbon energy from the sun. Composting would put net carbon back into the earth in accordance with the natural cycles. If we dont act soon, we may have neither food or fuel. Lower-income families are already having to make a choice
between food whose price is inflated by the use of corn for fuel and gas to go to work.
I frankly should have completed this earlier. I mean, the below apparatus has already been done, in fact it’s probably over 40 years old. I am capable of building something at least twice as efficient. But here’s something a bit more open-source for you all – thats right, i said open-source. Build one if you want, just credit me with the creation of this wonderful home fuel device. This takes your organic garbage and turns it into synthetic gasoline, which just like synthetic oil is better for the engine. Don’t forget to add 10% ethanol. I am not responsible if you blow yourself up with inferior craftmanship!
Start with a 5′ length of 8″ Sch. 40 309 or 310 stainless steel pipe. Cap it at both ends, and make sure you can take the top off to add garbage. Add 2 1/4″ taps in the side for temperature and pressure gauges, and a 1/2″ in the bottom. This goes for 3″ and then it comes to a T-junction where one end goes through a 1/32″ restriction and then 1/2″ pipe to a steam tank made from 1′ of the 8″ pipe that sits directly below the gasifier. The main branch goes directly upward alongside the side of the gasifier, then goes off to one side for 12″ and then down into the ash filtration unit. There is also a 1/2′ in the side for a 400 psi relief valve.
The ash filtration unit is 1′ of the 8″ pipe. The 1/2″ pipe goes down through the 200-mesh screen placed 9″ into the filter. The top is filled with 1 kg of lime. The 1/2″ outlet in the top has another screen. A 12″ loop of the 1/2″ water (pipe Schedule 80) goes through here too. Everything after this can be made of standard steel.
After that, a 1/2″ pipe to the 4-way junction. One going off to the side has a valve and a gas regulator (1.9mm venturi expanding to 6″ with a 3/4″ outlet) to reduce the pressure to near normal before going back to the gasifier to heat the reaction from the outside of the unit. I reccommend a ring of gas nozzles, one column each on 4 sides of the unit, with 6 nozzles each. The more evenly distributed the better, and constructing a heat shield over it like a brick oven should work well. The other pipe has a valve and goes to a catalyst maker where the gas flows through the 6″ x 24″ pipe, through a screen out to a regulator (the same sort from earlier), and is burned on the outside of the unit. The pipe going through to the reactor has a valve. To make catalyst, shut off this valve. To make fuel, shut off the catalyst maker valve. To test the relief valve, close all valves…
Now for the main show. Start with 8″ by 5′ Schedule 80 pipe (anything in this part should be made of S80), cap it off at both ends. Make a ring of 1/2″ coolant pipes around the inside surface of this, plus a 1/2″ in top and bottom for the gas and another 1″ in the top for catalyst loading. Put a screen about 6″ from the bottom, and make it slope downward towards the inlet pipe. The 6″ of pipe inside the reactor is to be perforated. The catalyst outlet is at the bottom of the unit through the inlet. Now make an outer shell of 10″ pipe with enough clearance to put caps on this pipe as well with the main reactor inside. The coolant pipes should be interconnected in every possible way, with a main outlet on both top and bottom manifolds. The coolant system should be filled with distilled water. You should make a sizeable square radiator, with a steam-powered fan and return pump and a steam relief valve set for 100 atmospheres. 10hp should be enough for both.
Load with 6 liters by volume of 100-mesh reduced iron or magnetite (Fe3O4).
Now for the final processing. a 3/8″ venturi expanding to 6″ and then capped will expand and cool the gases. Just to make sure, run some of the coolant through this part too. 3/4″ to the filtering chamber, which is a section of 6″ pipe sideways with a 1.8 angstrom membrane to filter out water (out the bottom) and a 4.3 angstrom membrane to filter light gases out the top pipe. The water is returned through a 500-psi one-way valve to the tank, the gases to a 5 gal. storage tank thats connected to the main reactor burners, and the fuel to a grounded, vented storage tank with a meter and pump.
The relief system is rather simple. The pipe from the relief valve goes through a gas regulator with a 4mm nozzle and then straight upward for 6 feet, and the top 6″ is perforated with 1/4″ holes. A small pilot light from the main gas storage runs here and should be kept lit while the machine is in operation. Put a shroud on it too. You dont want to be known as the flaming fart of St. Pete.
Speaking of which….. No smoking anywhere NEAR this thing. Happy motoring! This thing makes 1 gallon at a time.
The inventor of this Golden…erm…thingamjig can be reached here…..
James Holley
10632 N 106th Av #19 Largo, FL 33773
386-266-9073
[email protected]