Unlike Jackson Browne, I am not yet "running on empty" but at "$4 per" it may not be long...
Anyway ... glad I am not being charged a keyboard tax as the following longish post may sound like a "run-on" of some past postings about water-based fuels; but it does contain one new additional and important factoid (or fantasy)... making it newsworthy for some far-sighted observers. It has been mentioned before by several others (meaning that it is not total fantasy) that even if one must generally subscribe to, and obey "the Law" i.e. the LoT .... it is still possible that a "motive force" capable of propelling an automobile, is possible from ZPE. In this case the ZPE is manifested through 'premature' *phase change* ... and not just any phase-change. It must be a phase-change from liquid to a pressurized gas BUT it must be "nearly" entropic (i.e. isothermal) phase-change, in which there is no (only slight) heat being released. IOW there is lots of violent pressure, but little heat. This part is real science. Here is a prior posting on "entropic explosion" http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg15958.html Here is a prior posting on "light without heat": http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg16063.html The following is a refinement of the idea that a rapid phase-change from liquid to gas, without corresponding heat release could be accomplished "on the fly" and with dramatic consequences ... IOW that it is possible (in theory) that a liquid which is made "on the fly" or in situ from stored components (one of which IS a compressed gas so the result is not the full effect) ... can be expanded, and specifically expanded through a turbine (exactly like compressed air) ... and thereby provide motive force without corresponding heat (and could even provide secondary cooling, exactly like compressed air)... but with about a 4:1 advantage in terms of net efficiency of the total system (over compressed air). ...i.e., unlike compressing air alone (which is lossy) this system does NOT require the same net energy input due to a.) liquid water being half the equation, b.) super-oxidation supplying some heat c.) ZPE enhanced phase-change. All liquids until they reach phase-change into gas, contain this "hidden" amount of vapor pressure, which is a form of free-energy when isothermal. Trioxide may be the best manifestation of this free-energy. When phase change is expedited isothermally, there WILL BE a ZPE (Casimir-like) input. This suggested system will NOT work with peroxide, which can only be made slowly and carefully, due to lack of stoichometric ratio balancing - so there is only one other candidate in all of nature; at least only one which is potentially cheap: "trioxide" (dihydrogen trioxide) So-called "super-oxidation" has been considered a possible gateway towards increased efficiency in combustion, such as in automotive engines -- and also for water purification. Ozone, chlorine and peroxide are dangerous oxidants like dihydrogen trioxide H2O3, but expensive. Few things in life are cheaper than mixing oxygen and water in equal parts... Trioxide has been called by some biologists a "new" oxidant (as in "new to me") ... but it is actually as old as life itself, and is probably found in the metabolism of all single celled lifeforms. But until the last decade few biologists appreciated the magnitude of its role. That is because it has a short lifetime: "short" as in subsecond but not ultrashort as in nanosecond. But on the plus side, trioxide can be, and is routinely "manufactured" by living cells in microseconds from only air and water, and with minimum energy input. http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/hydrogen-trioxide/ Now... in the spirit of biomimicry - if one could just get the two molecules: O2 and H2O to 'stick together' for about 10-50 milliseconds after they are formed, in say- the fuel injector of a diesel engine, then dihydrogen trioxide could become a potential "fuel" since it violently flashes from liquid to "cold steam" on decomposition, similar to peroxide. Although there is lots of phase-change into what looks like steam, there is also lots of entrained water mist (not true vapor), and the entrained water mist itself is "chilled" so that the net heat gain in the exhaust is negligible, even though there is a strong motive force, even a violent explosion which can be deadly. Peroxide is dangerous. I can vouch for that from personal experience, having lost a decent old pickup truck due to an explosion that should not have happened. If you get over about 35% enrichment the peroxide is called HTP and is unpredictably explosive, but still without corresponding heat given off. However, if peroxide -- or any such entropic-explosive could be made 'on the fly' and cheaply, and never stored in bulk, then it would be ideal - but HOOH cannot be made this way, IMHO. However, H2O3 is still a viable candidate for this concept - if - a strong magnetic field is available. This would need to be about 4 T and up (guesstimate): much stronger than what is available from permanent magnets. Argon must also be present. H2O3 is interesting metastable oxidant molecule, having the theoretical potential to achieve a measure of "free-energy" in the form of a motive force which does not violate the LoT - due to the ease (low barrier) of formation (on paper and proven in biology). It is, of course, the very simple molar combination of water and oxygen under the kind of effective high-pressure that can occur within cellular membranes. H2O + O2 --> H2O3 ... and it has increased stability when seven molecules form into a ring -- not unlike the six-fold symmetry of ice. But even so, it is never very stable ... which can be a good thing, if you can control its formation and the immediate aftermath of its decay into cold steam. There is a better known sub-field of chemistry known as "Peroxone chemistry": which involves the formation of H2O3 from ozone and peroxide and vice-versa... ... but the $64 question for alternative-energy aficionados: is there a simpler and more direct route to H2O3. which does not demand ozone or peroxide as the feedstock ? Recently several researchers: Xu, Xin, Goddard, et al. have claimed that that in biology, some cells can form form H2O2 rapidly via the formation of the metastable H2O3 species from water and air, which then reacts with a second molecule of H2O3 to form H2O2. The cells obtain the H2O3 almost for free (thermodynamically) due to low energy of formation, but catch-22 it cannot be stored. The authors show that in an *argon matrix* it is favorable (3.5 kcal/mol barrier) for the reactants to form a hydrogen-bonded complex, a seven-membered ring. If the argon works due to inertness and its precise dimension, in cells then it is possible that it will work in a biomimicry process. If you are alert in imagining the "possibilities" you have probably surmised that argon and oxygen can be enriched from air, and stored under high pressure in scuba tanks, for instance, and then combined with water at the turbine manifold to first form trioxide (with an electrical input) and then to expand and flash the trioxide. A rough estimate comparing this kind of "fuel" to compressed-air (Guy Nègre's concept) is about a 4:1 energy advantage. More details to follow .... Jones BTW - there is at least one Vortician in Texas, who is knee-deep in the water purification 'bidness' (that is the way they sometimes pronounce 'business' down thar in the Lone Star) who might be rather interested in trioxide for reasons other than alternative energy ... ...but it is also curious that pure water and alternative energy often seem to be linked at the hip, so to speak...
