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Hydrogen Micro Turbine Only 4mm In Diameter
savaget writes: "Luc G. Frchette of the Columbia University Microsystem Engineering Laboratory has developed a 20W electrical generator powered by a hydrogen turbine just 4mm in diameter. For more details, read the Wired
article or an older Popular Science
article. The tiny generator is more efficient than any battery and is expected to find military and commercial uses including robotics." Imagine the uses ...
That's 40 KHz.
Your dog is going to go totally nuts every time you turn on your PDA.
--Blair
One of my drinking buddies worked on a project similar to this. He told me that the heat problems mentioned in the article were the single biggest obstacle to making a successful mini-turban. Apparently researchers have been working for years on these devices, but they have watched as battery technology has advanced and their heat problems remained. Basically the main problem is that the intense heat generated by combustion places an upper bound on the lifetime of these devices, and that upper bound is substantially lower than the upper bound on a Li-Ion battery's lifetime. Back in the days of NiCd, shoddy "Renewal" cells, and expensive alkalines, this might have provided some much-needed competition. But for now it is just behind the time, despite the fact that it is so small.
~wally
Apparently it generates a lot more heat than a conventional battery. Too hot for a cell phone. New slogan:
"Reach out and torch someone."
-tim
Actually, I've found the single biggest obstacle to be working with those tiny pieces of linen.. I'm hoping nanotech will provide me with a solution in the near future.
I always thought his head was kind of small for regular sized turbans.....
Better yet, and more American...
If this microturbine can be mass produced for pennies, like many other semiconductors, and eventually we can make a cheap aluminum tubule sandwich sheet that is thin enough to make cans...
We could make disposable self-cooled cans of Budweiser! Who wouldn't marvel at the combination of technology and wastefulness!
That, and now the "Turbo" switch on the front ofthe old machines will be literally accurate--instead of slowing down the machine for old games, it will kick in the generator and boost cpu voltage . . .
hawk
2) There are 60 seconds in a minute
3) Hz is a measure of cycles per second
4) Simple arithmetic
If you knew those three things, you did know how to convert RPM to Hz. You were just to stupid to realize it."
Three things, huh? At least he knows how to count.
Louise, baby, try to finish your stories prior to Thanksgiving weekend next time...sheesh...
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello