cool gadget thread

[HughJass]

Virtual Keyboard-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSFh-ME83Bk

 

[somone uk]

they are really unresponsive, well that's what i found

i just saw this and i really want it now lol

 

[HughJass]

automated car battery switch station

http://www.betterplace.com/company/vide ... nstration/

 

[somone uk]

hmm intresting about the battery, i still think hydrogen will prevail though

since this is a gadget thread i will have to mention the moller skycar
like HM we have the technology it's just legal mumbo jumbo and bad investment that keeps us back

 

[ali777]

automated car battery switch station

http://www.betterplace.com/company/vide ... nstration/

That's not exactly a gadget, is it :smack: ???

Cool technology though, I really like the idea of driving to a garage and getting a charged battery

 

[Bryan]

hmm intresting about the battery, i still think hydrogen will prevail though

Why? Why do people seem to be so interested in hydrogen?

 

[somone uk]

hmm interesting about the battery, i still think hydrogen will prevail though

Why? Why do people seem to be so interested in hydrogen?

because it's better than the alternatives
i know of 3
1)biofuels - not a solution, switching a field that made food into biofuels doesn't help carbon emissions and it lacks efficiency apart from ones derived from algae but it's just time buying because electric motors are more efficient than fuel motors

2)batteries- they should only be used for low power circuits IMHO, they have an inconsistent voltage so they have to be regulated, and that wastes electricity (about 5 -10%) ,you waste about 2/3rds of the energy when charging a battery anyway, they stop holding their charge after a while, they are expensive to replace, they suffer from voltage depression (and fixing that would waste even more energy), they are heavy and they have a very limited power output
and batteries would be just an engeneering nightmare, there would be 100's of diffrent batteries which i assume every filling station has to stock (unless you want a truck to carry the same battery as a small hatchback), and as a matter of fact they would have to be completely rebuilt


3) hydrogen (not without it's problems)- it needs to be liquefied for a usable energy density, you can't get cryogenic jerry cans, fuel needs to be stored cryogenically which would use energy

 

[Slartibartfast]

Don't write off petrol & diesel.

VW's latest: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... -Show.html

 

[Bryan]

3) hydrogen (not without it's problems)- it needs to be liquefied for a usable energy density, you can't get cryogenic jerry cans, fuel needs to be stored cryogenically which would use energy

What do you think about Bob Lazar's hydrogen-powered Corvette, which stores hydrogen safely in metal-hydride storage tanks?

 

[somone uk]

3) hydrogen (not without it's problems)- it needs to be liquefied for a usable energy density, you can't get cryogenic jerry cans, fuel needs to be stored cryogenically which would use energy

What do you think about Bob Lazar's hydrogen-powered Corvette, which stores hydrogen safely in metal-hydride storage tanks?

i didn't know we managed to compound hydrogen to a metal, from what i read it needs to be heated to about 150C to release hydrogen which is just as impractical as liquid hydrogen
we need to find a good halfway house between liquid hydrogen and metal-hydride, say one that would release hydrogen at 0C so all you need to do would be to store it in a large Thermos flask

 

[oni]

Methane power is the way forward.............................keep talking sh*t and I can power my car forever....................................................... :whistle:

 

[Bryan]

i didn't know we managed to compound hydrogen to a metal, from what i read it needs to be heated to about 150C to release hydrogen which is just as impractical as liquid hydrogen
we need to find a good halfway house between liquid hydrogen and metal-hydride, say one that would release hydrogen at 0C so all you need to do would be to store it in a large Thermos flask

You can find a lot of links about the supposed hydrogen-powered Corvette by doing a Google search on "Bob Lazar Corvette". Here's one link:

http://peswiki.com/index.php/PowerPedia ... System_Kit

 

[astros148]

nokia n900 , have you guys seen htis new phone?

 

[somone uk]

i didn't know we managed to compound hydrogen to a metal, from what i read it needs to be heated to about 150C to release hydrogen which is just as impractical as liquid hydrogen
we need to find a good halfway house between liquid hydrogen and metal-hydride, say one that would release hydrogen at 0C so all you need to do would be to store it in a large Thermos flask

You can find a lot of links about the supposed hydrogen-powered Corvette by doing a Google search on "Bob Lazar Corvette". Here's one link:

http://peswiki.com/index.php/PowerPedia ... System_Kit

hmmm looks like a good mid step, acually a great mid step, from the sounds of it though it seems like it's a low octane fuel meaning that it would be a good thing to add to a mix, maybe it would work well in a mix with a higher octane green fuel, though i want to know why it's "not suitable for diesels" because it seems like a fuel that is prone to auto-ignite which is what you want in an engine without spark plugs :dunno:

though internal combustion is on it's way out so it has it's part but a limited lifetime, i know i will come here lookng like an idiot saying this but i think in 30 years time we will look at a piston engine the same way we look at steam engines now

 

[somone uk]

nokia n900 , have you guys seen htis new phone?

i think nokia is failing to make major improvements from the N95.
well all phone manufactures are like that
they take away useful things as well, i don't think nokia have put a lens cover back on any phone after they took it off the N95

 

[Bryan]

hmmm looks like a good mid step, acually a great mid step, from the sounds of it though it seems like it's a low octane fuel meaning that it would be a good thing to add to a mix, maybe it would work well in a mix with a higher octane green fuel, though i want to know why it's "not suitable for diesels" because it seems like a fuel that is prone to auto-ignite which is what you want in an engine without spark plugs :dunno:

Actually, I'm not all that interested in Bob Lazar's claims about having a way to store significant amounts of hydrogen safely in metal-hydride storage tanks. What _really_ interests me is his claim that he can generate enough hydrogen to drive his cars a few hundred miles with only two or three days' worth of electrolysis from the use of electricity from solar panels. I find that impossible to believe, unless the solar panels were the size of something on the general order of maybe a football field! What do YOU think about his claim?

 

[HughJass]

What _really_ interests me is his claim that he can generate enough hydrogen to drive his cars a few hundred miles with only two or three days' worth of electrolysis from the use of electricity from solar panels. I find that impossible to believe, unless the solar panels were the size of something on the general order of maybe a football field! What do YOU think about his claim?

the CSIRO have developed an electrolysis device which they claim can produce enough hydrogen to power a car for 160km.......not sure how long it takes though and can't verify the size of the panel required but if this sketch is anything to go by then the claims you're referring to might not be far fetched....

 

[somone uk]

well i am sure the hydride will act as a catalyst
and hydrogen can be made efficiently out of salt water and silicon (made from sand and sometimes mined pure)
step 1)
Castner-Kellner process
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castner-Kellner_process
it's electrolysis with a membraine between the cathode and anode NaCl(aq)-->H2(g)+NaOH(aq)

step 2)
as mentioned on youtube
Si + 2NaOH +H2O ---> Na2SiO3 + 2H2
[youtubeed4qb46]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TinQ3iV403s[/youtubeed4qb46]

 

[Bryan]

the CSIRO have developed an electrolysis device which they claim can produce enough hydrogen to power a car for 160km.......not sure how long it takes though and can't verify the size of the panel required but if this sketch is anything to go by then the claims you're referring to might not be far fetched....

Doesn't it push the limits of believability beyond the breaking point to think that the amount of electricity produced in a reasonable amount of time by a solar panel that appears to be small enough to be held by a single individual would be enough to drive an automobile 160 kilometers?

 

[Bryan]

well i am sure the hydride will act as a catalyst and hydrogen can be made efficiently out of salt water and silicon (made from sand and sometimes mined pure)
step 1)
Castner-Kellner process
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castner-Kellner_process
it's electrolysis with a membraine between the cathode and anode NaCl(aq)-->H2(g)+NaOH(aq)

step 2)
as mentioned on youtube
Si + 2NaOH +H2O ---> Na2SiO3 + 2H2

I'm not really sure what the point of all that is supposed to be. There's no point in mentioning non-renewable ways to make hydrogen from various chemical reactions; all THAT does is just produce cool demonstrations for high school chemistry classes!

Let's stay focused on the issue of how much solar panel is required to produce x amount of hydrogen in t amount of time to drive a car n number of miles or kilometers.