Questioning the Basics:
The process of human invention is a sight to behold. It's easy to lose perspective how far technology has progressed in even the past 100 years. This is a process where today's invention leapfrogs yesterday's in competition to gain market advantage. Could there be a downside?
As it turns out, there is one serious drawback:
Critical analysis of basic concepts are sometimes ignored. In other words, continuing product improvements are often add-ons. Sometimes called work-arounds, such 'improvements' can accumulate as growing complexity. This additional complexity leads to greater potential for even more complex problems and greater risk of failures or loss of effectiveness. Sometimes the best solutions are found by going back to modify technologies in their earlier developmental stages.
By revisiting the underlying basics it's possible to eliminate past mistakes or oversights. By doing so, inefficient downstream complexity can often be eliminated. Gains in performance outcomes are often stunning. If we assume something is 'old hat' and ignore early conceptual oversights or assumptions we deprive the opportunity to gain new discovery from prior technology.
Carbon Analytic is at the forefront of several such examples found in recent engineering breakthroughs. We found these primarily in the areas of plant-based fuels, combustion and power generation technologies. Sometimes the simplest changes can have a dramatic and beneficial outcome, as we will see.
Here we introduce some of the new families of energy sector innovations:
Ultra-Refined solid fuels:
We would not expect to see acceptable performance from unrefined crude oil. Instead, industry learned to refine crude oil to suit specific purposes becoming cleaner with increased energy density. Obvious examples include kerosene and gasoline. The same principle holds true for plant-based fuels as well, despite being grossly overlooked. In fact, early commercial power company trials called "biomass" fuels in power generation, failed for lack of refinement. Instead the problem was simply ‘leapfrogged’, lunging forward towards wind and solar, for example. Neither of these have proven satisfactory in terms of performance, reliability or sustainability.
Carbon Analytic has proved when properly refined and combusted, plant-based fuels offer the only truly sustainable and on-demand energy source. This is true simply because we can grow as much fuel as we need. All the while improving climate impact and past deforestation.
Amazingly, our plant-based fuels are also amended with certain waste hydrocarbons which currently contribute to surface litter, landfill and marine overloading. These hybrid fuels produce more energy, consume waste and do so with virtually zero emissions!
Fuel Reactors:
Fuel reactors formerly called 'gasifiers' are devices capable of refining plant-based fuel sources. The resulting syn-gas is rich in such valuables as hydrogen and methane. The fractions of gasses produced can be controlled through various factors. For example, if hydrogen was preferred over methane, or vice-versa. If desired, specific fractions can easily separated for sale or specific usage.
These gasses can be sourced from various trees and rapid growing plants, grasses or even less desirable invasive shrub materials.
Turbojet Generators:
Carbon Analytic has taken a fresh look at the combustion timing sequences used in turbojet energy conversion for heat and mechanical / electric power production. Such increases in fuel efficiency lead to ultra low emission status. The process of cultivating plant-based fuel for combustion offers the further benefit of sequestering ‘greenhouse’ gasses. In this process these gasses are converted back to solid carbon stored in soils as buffering humus. Solid bio-char products are extracted during combustion and used to amend complex soil structures beneficially. This benefits top soil and surface conditions, improving cultivation. In combination, these factors have the potential to reverse many of the unwanted climate impacts we're seeing today.
Thermal Scavenging:
Another often overlooked source of energy loss during power generation is waste heat through exhaust. Carbon Analytic has not only incorporated turbine jet engine design but now looks toward innovation with Sterling engines, invented more than 150 years ago. Sterling engines are a reciprocating design scavenging high temperature heat, converting temperature change into mechanical work. The benefit is to capture lost energy to increase efficiency while reducing the overall emission of heat to the atmosphere.
Waste heat is historically an ignored form of emissions which participates in climate warming. The fact this has been so overlooked is a bit surprising during the current era of climate concerns. Recent innovations with the Sterling Cycle Engine allow us to generate upwards of 30% more electricity. These gains result simply from capturing and storing exhaust heat. Thermal emissions are reduced to an even greater degree.
This technology can be deployed to harness virtually any significant heat source. The higher the temperature and more constant heat is provided, the more efficiently the Sterling design works. By storing the heat in a thermal mass the thermal energy acts as a form of energy storage similar to a battery. Converting the stored heat to support greater electrical generation reduces the solid fuel consumed increasing efficiency and lowering fuel cost further. This also buffers against grid demand fluctuations.
Carbon Analytic has joined efforts with an engineering / physics team in France. We approach the Sterling innovations as a free floating linear piston reciprocating electrical generator. The design explores the use of ceramics in a manner to essentially eliminate all contact friction losses, making the design nearly perpetual without need of service.
