>> I've actually been doing this off and on for about >> three years, but said nothing on vortex because I >> thought there would be little interest. And yes, >> Jones, it does work. There are a few counter-intuitive >> effects I've observed in playing around with it.
Jones wrote: > By "work" are you saying the efficiency is equal or better than > that of a seebeck TE device? No, I just don't know yet. But I am saying that an electric current can be generated in a heat pipe by evaporation and condensation of a fluid. The charge at the condenser end of the thing is several kV. It's basically a heat driven Van de Graaff. Obviously, if the condenser had a capacitor attached to it, the coulombs could be collected at a much lower and more useful voltage. I have yet to make any measurements of either the heat used or the current generated, nor have I attempted to optimize anything in this contraption. I did this just for my own amusement, because I am compulsively fascinated with electrostatic phenomena. However, it wouldn't surprise me if a useful device could be built based on these principles. Something I haven't tried yet is to see if the reverse effect could work. IOW, the Peltier equivalent. > Here is the story of the Hagelstein-Kucherov device presented in > 2001. The research was funded by Eneco and the Defense Advanced > Research Projects Agency (DARPA). >http://www.trnmag.com/Stories/2001/121901/Chips_turn_more_heat_to_power_121901.html > There guys would already be richer than Gates if they could have > lived up to the promise of a production unit at 20-25% - as this > would effectively eliminate the ICE. I've been following all the TE research with great interest. > There will be *tremendous interest* not just here but everywhere > for anyone who can get the efficiency of direct conversion of > low-to-medium grade heat significantly higher than the currently > available seebeck diodes. > Jones I wouldn't be too sure about that. People, especially scientists and engineers, tend to ignore simple low-capital solutions to problems, in favor of high-tech, expensive research projects with lots of impressive terminology and microprocessors attached. M. _______________________________________________ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web!
