JiltedCitizen
4th June 2007 - 02:06 PM
googleplex
4th June 2007 - 05:59 PM
TEC?
I wonder what the efficiency is. Both theoretical/idealized efficiency and experimental efficiency.
dtempleton
5th June 2007 - 02:20 AM
It doesn't look like the efficiency is up to commercial-grade just yet. There is a picture from the original article on The University of Utah's web site. In the picture, Symko uses a 9 volt battery to generate heat for the device, which then generates enough electric current to make the bulb from a flash light glow a faint red. The graduate students will present their findings June 8, so maybe we'll hear some percentages then.
All things considered, we're looking at a technology that might be able to generate free (using the term "free" loosely) energy from what is normally thought of as a waste product. I doubt it will replace PVs, but it might complement it.
mrG
5th June 2007 - 03:03 PM
Even if these things turn out to be low-efficiency, the operative term is waste heat and even if only for tiny gains in the free energy electrical output (providing it exceeds the purchase and installation cost of the device) just think of the unintended gains possible by using this technology to improve working conditions in high-temperature environments such as steel smelting foundries, boiler-rooms, or even down to the neighbourhood environments like bakeries and pizzarias!
Prints of Darkness
5th June 2007 - 09:11 PM
Er....my Nan's kettle whistled when it boiled; this all seems rather out of date and pointless...
Sparx
7th June 2007 - 12:20 PM
Your Nan's kettle didn't whistle because of heat, but of air pressure coming from boiling water, i guess thats one difference ;-).
Very interesting, i would like to have more technical details.
Dan L
9th June 2007 - 07:19 PM
Sounds like a Stirling Cycle device, writ small and fast.
Tobiah
15th June 2007 - 05:24 PM
QUOTE (Prints of Darkness+Jun 5 2007, 09:11 PM)
Er....my Nan's kettle whistled when it boiled; this all seems rather out of date and pointless...
So you think evolving is pointless?
Even if your life is about watching TV and surfing the Internet, there are other people that see that there is room for improvement in how things are done.
You say it's out of date, but it's never too late to make things better.
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