Gallery, Projects and General > The Design Shop
A better diesel engine
Bluechip:
Arnold ..
Diesel/Steam engines were made .. in case you are not aware ...
http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/POWER/still/still.htm
Bit like me apparently .. not spectacularly successful ::)
I think there was a write up in ME (or EIM), but a long time ago. Maybe '50's '60's
Dave BC
Darren:
--- Quote from: arnoldb on September 05, 2009, 07:32:19 AM ---
It's also interesting to note how people think differently about heating and cooling in different parts of the world :D... Driving through town here in Windhoek this morning, the temperature was already up to 29 deg C - and our spring has just started. Like Darren said - people in the UK think about heating, whereas we here in Namibia think cooling - we have 3 coldish months in the year, the rest of the time daytime temperatures remain pretty much above 30 deg C... Now if only I can figure out an effective way to use the sun to cool down my workshop....
Cheers, Arnold
--- End quote ---
Oh please don't tell me how warm it is there Arnold, Summer seems to have finished here now and it's deff getting colder. Winters are long and wet these days. Much longer than they used to be when I was a kid.
Interesting point regarding how we perceive the excess heat in different parts of the world though. Thanks for the prod on that.... :thumbup:
arnoldb:
Darren, So much for "global warming" then! :doh:
Dave BC, thanks, I was not aware, and with that you just urinated over all six cells of my lead-acid 12 Volt battery... :( Thought I had the embryo of an idea there.... - so we're both relegated to "not spectacularly successful" status. Who supplies the T-Shirts :scratch: :lol:
<OK... More verbal diarrhea / hypothesizing / dreaming /imagining mode ON>
This is turning out to be a very interesting and mentally stimulating thread. If I look at the environment I live in, within a radius of 400 km (250 miles), there is the following:
A lot of "ambient" heat
Very much Sunshine (>300 days a year) - except for up to ~30 km inland from the coastline where fog is regular and heavy.
A fair amount of wind.
Fairly cold Atlantic ocean.
Normally rough seas on that same Atlantic ocean - causing biggish waves to break on the coastline.
Very limited fresh water supply.
A big desert with wide open spaces.
Damaging the environment is SEVERELY frowned upon.
Now, if I can figure out a fairly economical way to harness all those and make a difference, I'd be happy. It would go something along the lines of:
Use wave energy through "hydraulic rams" - (known to the ancient Romans) to pump cold sea water inland into the dessert; pre-heating it along the way (black above-ground pipes?) Use focused mirrors at the end point (in the desert with lots of sunshine) to create steam from the water, drive a turbine/steam engine to generate electricity through a generator. Cool the exhaust steam down by wrapping it around the incoming feed water - result is demineralised water (add a couple of drops of the incoming water to that and you have potable drinking water). Force excess incoming feedwater into high holding tanks (gravity tanks), and for short burts, you can actually run a water wheel for an energy boost. Hook up wind turbines to generators to provide additional electricity, or pumping power for the gravity tanks...
"The incredible machine"? - Yes... I'm trying to think about it. There are many "what-ifs" and "won't works" etc. associated with this, and to be honest, no really new ideas. Most of this is also based on mechanical/electrical methods; I've always been a dud at chemistry but there might be ideas from people in chemics, nuclear physics or any of the other engineering fields that might be inspired. A Eureka!! moment may be just a neuron away; one never knows.
<More verbal diarrhea / hypothesizing / dreaming /imagining mode OFF>
I could go on,but most likely I've already bored you enough, sooooo:
Cheers, Arnold
dsquire:
--- Quote from: arnoldb on September 05, 2009, 06:13:16 PM ---Darren, So much for "global warming" then! :doh:
Dave BC, thanks, I was not aware, and with that you just urinated over all six cells of my lead-acid 12 Volt battery... :( Thought I had the embryo of an idea there.... - so we're both relegated to "not spectacularly successful" status. Who supplies the T-Shirts :scratch: :lol:
<OK... More verbal diarrhea / hypothesizing / dreaming /imagining mode ON>
This is turning out to be a very interesting and mentally stimulating thread. If I look at the environment I live in, within a radius of 400 km (250 miles), there is the following:
.
.
.
.
<More verbal diarrhea / hypothesizing / dreaming /imagining mode OFF>
I could go on,but most likely I've already bored you enough, sooooo:
Cheers, Arnold
--- End quote ---
Arnold :doh:
It is ideas like this that give other people ideas and someone starts to refine those ideas and more input from someone else and there you have a workable solution. This thread is getting very interesting and I for one will be following along with it. I would love to hear any more ideas that you might have runnning around in your head.
Cheers :beer:
Don
arnoldb:
Thanks Don.
I didn't really give a new idea. I just want to stimulate brain cells -my own included- into "thinking" again - there is too much "parroting", and too little thinking going on nowadays in my limited and humble opinion.
If even a tiny bit of my ramblings inspires someone, that is good. I like to keep track of the old and original ways of doing things. I can still light a fire with a couple of sticks rubbed together - done that on many occasions. Horror of it is, nobody seems interested in learning how to do it. "Just use a refillable lighter" is the norm...
I'm VERY close to nature; played with lion and cheetah cubs, baby elephants, and assorted other animals, lizards, birds and insects. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have access to these privileges.
From the previous, you might glean that I am close to nature... One thing I would like to do in my life, is to get a good balance between "human nature", and "real" nature...
Cheers, Arnold
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