My pipe dream is how to model the losses between the fluid and the pipe. The dream is that the uneven syrface creates waves that are dissipative. The transport energy away and hence there is drag. Anyone with dreams in the same subject?
David David Jonsson, Sweden, phone callto:+46703000370 On Sun, Oct 11, 2009 at 7:03 PM, Jones Beene <[email protected]> wrote: > Things are looking optimistic for a few “disruptive” forms of alternative > energy, but prior to major announcements, we will still need many years – at > least a decade of renewable alternatives to fossil fuel – just to keep > afloat. Even with drastic efforts at conservation, increased use of solar, > wind, and hybrid autos – the Big-Oil plus OPEC (BOO) price-gouging Cartel > will try to squeeze every last dollar from consumers. > > “Corn cobs” are a waste product which could possibly be available in equal > tonnage to corn … once useful for only a few non-hygienic applications … > err… like MacArthur’s pipe… but – hello – this waste is now becoming the > feedstock of choice for cellulosic ethanol. > > POET has become the largest ethanol producer in the world, producing more > than 1.5 billion gallons annually from 26 US production facilities. They are > also a Ag-Tech leader in cellulosic output, and greener-than-green in > everything else. > > *http://www.poet.com* <http://www.poet.com/> > > Yet they are only one of dozens of players in biofuel, including many > sponsored by BOO (they know a good thing when they see it). > > Biofuel skeptics once falsely claimed that the production of ethanol > required large inputs of fossil fuels, but Poet proved them wrong in 2007 by > going entirely green, replacing natural gas with renewables. In Brazil this > was already being done routinely by utilizing waste biomass “bagasse” as the > primary energy source for distillation. Poet had to secure waste wood > (sawdust) to do it; but as it turns out, sawdust does not make a good > cellulosic feedstock anyway, due to tannin, although some companies are > using it. > > Poet is also making use of cogeneration to produce heat and grid power. One > ethanol plant in rural Minn. produces over 50 million gallons of ethanol and > a few MW of electricity for the local grid - a natural synergy especially in > rural areas where the big utilities are not efficient for that low level of > demand (few hundred homes). > > Poet developed a cellulosic ethanol tech which uses corn cobs as feedstock > – and their 25 million gallons-per-year plant is being co-located with a > current grain ethanol plant – another natural fit. They have a pilot-scale > plant that is already producing non-grain ethanol at a rate of 20,000 > gallons per year, so this is not a leap of faith. > > With price controls and proper incentives, the US could, and probably will, > double ethanol output in three years – 2012 - without adversely affecting > food supplies. In fact the net effect of this will be positive for > non-starch food - plus few experts would be surprised if production were not > more than doubled. > > Nearly all of the protein which was in the corn to begin with, survives the > process and is now sold as brewer’s yeast. Added to that the cellulosic > feedstock (initially with only a fraction of the protein) will actually add > to the food tonnage which is available, since fermentation adds new protein. > Thus the net food resource will be more, not less, in terms of non-starchy > food (available in the form of yeast protein) deriving from a much larger > biofuel industry that includes cellulose. > > *http://www.reuters.com/article/smallBusinessNews/idUSTRE50869B20090109*<http://www.reuters.com/article/smallBusinessNews/idUSTRE50869B20090109> > > Can you buy into this “growth industry”? Biofuels are not easy to invest > in. Most of the big players like Poet are privately owned, or owned by > conglomerates. The Spanish company mentioned below, Abengoa BioEnergy, could > be interesting. > > * > http://seekingalpha.com/article/159588-how-to-invest-in-cellulosic-ethanol > *<http://seekingalpha.com/article/159588-how-to-invest-in-cellulosic-ethanol> > > We (USA) might just get out of this energy crisis in a couple of years, > fully intact as a healthy economy – thanks (as always) to the productivity > and ingenuity of the American farmer. > >
