Items from the public press... [RE-wrenches]
Ezra Auerbach, DragonSun Consulting
ezra at lasqueti.net
Tue Oct 21 08:14:57 PDT 2003
hought you might find this interesting?
Updated: Mon. Oct. 20 2003 2:35 PM ET / © Copyright 2003 Bell Globemedia
Inc.
A University of Alberta research team has discovered an entirely new way
of generating electricity by simply directing water at a solid surface.
The power created is pollution-free and could one day power small
devices such as Palm Pilots or calculators with water batteries, instead
of using polluting conventional batteries.
It's the first time someone has been able to discover a new way to
generate electricity since 1839, when solar power was first harnessed
and the first
fuel
cells were created.
Edmonton-based mechanical engineering professors Daniel Kwok and Larry
Kostiuk say they were able to light a small bulb by squeezing a syringe
of
ordinary
tap water through a glass "filter" with microscopic-sized holes.
The researchers produced power by squeezing water through the 450,000
holes in a small, common lab glass disc. They then attached metal
electrodes at either end of their device and connected them using a wire
to create a
pathway for
the current -- thereby creating electricity.
They say the method allows them to harness the natural electrokinetic
properties of a liquid such as ordinary tap water that is created on a
very
tiny
scale when a flowing liquid meets a solid surface.
"Embarrassingly, that's it," Kostiuk said, who is struck by the sheer
simplicity of their invention.
Interestingly, while scientists have known for decades that a flowing
liquid could separate electron charges, no one appears to have linked
the effect
with
a way of generating electricity.
Hi All,
Here's a bit more of the story with respect to the moving water makes
electriticy. The hard part in Edmonton where this discovery was made was
having the water thaw.
Cheers,
Ezra
The discovery, which was made with the help of two graduate students, is
chronicled in a research paper published Monday by the London-based
Institute of
Physics.
The non-polluting form of electric power has a wide range of possible
uses
in
electronics and microelectronic devices - from powering small devices,
such as calculators, with water batteries, to maybe someday contributing
electricity
from a clean, renewable source to a national power grid, says the
university.
Users of the electronic devices would simply have to "recharge" their
batteries by using a hand pump to repressurize the water, for example,
Kostiuk said.
"The discovery of an entirely new way of producing power is an
incredible, fundamental research breakthrough that occurs only once in a
lifetime," said David Lynch, dean of the university's engineering
faculty. "This
groundbreaking
discovery... may find significant applications in numerous commercial
areas."
Although the power generated from a single channel is quite small -- a
30cm column of water will produce only one to two microamps (one
millionth of an
amp) -- millions of parallel channels can be used to increase the power
output.
Kostiuk says the technology may be adaptable to larger scale power
generation, though that would require a large volume of water flowing
through many
million microchannels.
"It's possible that it could be a new alternative energy source to rival
wind
and solar power, but this would need huge bodies of water to work on a
commercial scale," he notes.
In technical terms, the physical phenomenon in this discovery is the
charge separation that occurs at solid-liquid interfaces due to the
dissociation of the solid.
As a result, the surface becomes charged and opposite-charged ions in
the liquid are attracted to it, while like-charged ions are repelled,
resulting
in a
thin liquid layer with a net charge. This region, known as the Electric
Double
Layer (EDL) is the primary mechanism for charge separation.
When the researchers put electrodes at both ends of the tiny channels
and then hooked a wire between them, the negatively charged electrons
started to flow, in an effort to return to their original state.
The university applied for a patent on their invention in August and is
currently working with the inventors to find ways to commercialize the
discovery.
-----Original Message-----
From: Christopher Freitas - OutBack Power
[mailto:cfreitas at outbackpower.com]
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2003 3:35 PM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: Items from the public press... [RE-wrenches]
Okay - here are the latest questionable energy related press items to
hit my desk -
The first is from today's Seattle Times about a product (called a HVR =
home voltage regulator) that reduces the voltage on a house or business
to reduce its energy consumption. Here is a quote from the article:
"Cost benefit: Reidy said costs related to generation, transmission and
distribution of one 350-megawatt natural-gas power plant for 10 years
can reach $1.5 billion. With HVRs installed on a million residences over
the 10-year period, the cost of the same power plant would be $850
million, he said."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001770118_btin
terface20.html
The second article says:
"Scientists have discovered a new way of generating electricity using
water, the first innovatory method for 200 years. A team of Canadian
researchers has found that an electrical current can be produced between
the ends of a microscopic channel when a fluid flows through it."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/10/20/welec20.
xml&sSheet=/news/2003/10/20/ixworld.html
Hummmm....
Christopher Freitas
OutBack Power Systems, Inc.
cfreitas at outbackpower.com www.outbackpower.com
Tel 360 435 6030 Arlington WA USA
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