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soph

Member

Registered: 2002-11-24

Posts: 1,492

Re: fuel cells for power, water? - maybe....

i read an article about fuel cells that described them not only as automobile-capable, but possibly, in the time following their application in cars, as small home power plants.  they use hydrogen and oxygen, perform simple fusion (thats what the article says), and come out with water.  this provides moderate power, and a very useful, un-polluting "waste."  this could be pretty valuable...if nothing else, its water to use to shower, or split out again to re-run the reaction for more power.

AltToWar

Member

Registered: 2002-09-28

Posts: 304

Re: fuel cells for power, water? - maybe....

Coming to market as we speak are feul cell battery replacements for laptops.

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If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. -Henry David Thoreau

Shaun Barrett

Member

From: Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Registered: 2001-12-28

Posts: 2,843

Re: fuel cells for power, water? - maybe....

Yeah Alt!
    Those jazzy little fuel-cells for personal electrical items look like revolutionising the whole field! I believe you can carry a little canister of fuel and squirt it into, say, your cell phone when the power runs low - the equivalent of instant recharging. Fantastic!
                                       

Hi Soph!
    That "simple fusion" you read about refers simply to chemical fusion of hydrogen and oxygen - not nuclear fusion!
    Pity it isn't controlled, miniaturised nuclear fusion though!!

                                         

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The word 'aerobics' came about when the gym instructors got together and said: If we're going to charge $10 an hour, we can't call it Jumping Up and Down.   - Rita Rudner

AltToWar

Member

Registered: 2002-09-28

Posts: 304

Re: fuel cells for power, water? - maybe....

Yeah Alt!
    Those jazzy little fuel-cells for personal electrical items look like revolutionising the whole field! I believe you can carry a little canister of fuel and squirt it into, say, your cell phone when the power runs low - the equivalent of instant recharging. Fantastic!
                                       

Hi Soph!
    That "simple fusion" you read about refers simply to chemical fusion of hydrogen and oxygen - not nuclear fusion!
    Pity it isn't controlled, miniaturised nuclear fusion though!!

                                         

the FAA approved fuel cells for Airplane use as well.

the PC batteries are supposed to be sold at retail for somthing like 4k.  It will take a while for it to become common.

As for cellphones running on nukes, though....  I think that might be overkill and I dont think the FAA will approve.

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If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. -Henry David Thoreau

soph

Member

Registered: 2002-11-24

Posts: 1,492

Re: fuel cells for power, water? - maybe....

thats what i gathered shaun, chemical fusion.  oh well, its still a useful source of power and water.  i have wondered if you could have two reactors, in a chain, one fusing H2O and then one splitting it, sending it back to the first one to run the chain again.  it seems to me like an endless power chain, with very low maintenance.  of course, thered be some loss of the chemicals, but hydrogen and oxygen fuel are easy to get to keep the reaction going. 

and some of the water could be taken out to use for other purposes.

Lil_vader

Member

Registered: 2001-09-06

Posts: 33

Re: fuel cells for power, water? - maybe....

"I have wondered if you could have two reactors, in a chain, one fusing H2O and then one splitting it, sending it back to the first one to run the chain again.  it seems to me like an endless power chain, with very low maintenance."

Ummm...
You can't get more energy out of a system than you put into it. If you tried the above with two perfect reactors (i.e. 100% efficiency), at best you would get just barely enough power to keep the reactors running, with no leftover to power anything else.

Basic laws of Thermodynamics. Sorry.

soph

Member

Registered: 2002-11-24

Posts: 1,492

Re: fuel cells for power, water? - maybe....

ah, ok.  im still in high school, havent learned about that.  but the chemical fusion is still a promising concept, no?

AltToWar

Member

Registered: 2002-09-28

Posts: 304

Re: fuel cells for power, water? - maybe....

ah, ok.  im still in high school, havent learned about that.  but the chemical fusion is still a promising concept, no?

Feul Cells can (and most likely will) change the world.

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If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. -Henry David Thoreau

Lil_vader

Member

Registered: 2001-09-06

Posts: 33

Re: fuel cells for power, water? - maybe....

"ah, ok.  im still in high school, havent learned about that."

That's ok. I know some PHDs who have to keep relearning that the Laws of Physics are not multiple choice