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Things You Can Do With A Giant Fresnel Lens
Ant writes "Here is a link where this guy always wanted Edmund Scientific's Giant Fresnel Lens. 'Melts asphalt in seconds!' the ad said. When he went to graduate school he met several other people with the same enthusiasm for aimless destruction through bizarre means, and just enough combined cash to make it happen. Thus the reign of terror began."
Lets hope this doesn't get into the wrong hands! This can be worse than WMD's!
[intekra] - [www.plex.nu]
And to think, when I was a kid I had to settle for burning ants with a magnifying glass.
I wonder what his Terrorist Quotient is?.
Hmmm.
Sharks with...giant Frensel Lenses attached to their heads!
A perfect example is a laser communication system. A laser beam can be modulated and used to transmit audio. The receiver needs to collect as many photons as possible from the laser transmitter - hence the use of the fresnel lense. Signals can be bounced off clouds - I've heard of transmissions going over 60 miles!
The Amatuer Radio Laser Communications Page has a good primer that has a link to a lot of the basics. And no, you don't need a ham license - although it helps!
This sig seemed like a good idea at the time....
Even ants the size of horses.
My sig is blank, I typed this by hand.
Yeah, and I guess it shouldda been Smiley Captioned for the Humor Impared, too.
Is it fascism yet?
If you follow the sun perfectly you could figure on about 1 kW of light (cheesy rule of thumb) hitting your turbine. Assume 30% efficiency and you have 300W of electric power generated for an average of 12 hrs per sunny day. Three light bulbs (or 6-8 florescents) or one fully loaded computer (300 W power supply, no electric heat, iron, or oven. Oh and you'll need a capacitor bank to handle your inductive load when motors start. Go grab your power bill and see how many kW/hrs you use in a month and then figure out how many fresnel lens/turbine array's you would need to achive that power. Storage would be a mofo, although you might be able to sell it into the grid in your area.
Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
1) Aluminum cans have a thin coating of plastic on the inside to provent the soda's acid from etching the aluminum. 2) they have all sorts of paint on the outside. That's what smells bad. Not left over soda.
But, onto the other point: many geeks like high amounts of kinetic energy. It's true. Often, this love tuns into the irrational lust for wanton destruction of random objects. Sometimes, something is learned by the results, sometimes not. But it's the journey that's important (fun).
Constitutional rights may be respected, repealed, or modified; but they must never be ignored.
I wish I knew the math to this, but damn, if it could provide even a small fraction of the power I use during the daytime... (by this, I mean 5-10%)
- In bright summer daylight, at noon the sun provides 1200W/m2
- This fresnel lens is 80x100, so captures 1200 * 0.8 = 960W at best
- A good steam engine, with a condenser and exhaust reheater provides has an efficiency of about 30%, so it would give 960 * 0.3 = 288W in mechanical power
- A good alternator, going at its preferred RPM (not necessarily that of the steam engine's prefered RPM, but let's assume) has an efficiency of about 90%, so it would give 288 * 0.9 = 260W
So you'd get 260W in the best possible conditions, in the brightest of days, in summer, at midday. Throw some clouds and, assuming the entire thing doesn't stall and stays at its nominal efficiency (not likely, but let's assume), you get about 6 times less power, so about 43W
In short, you're better off with solar panels: perhaps a little less efficiency for the same price, but more surface and a lot less aggravation.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
antacid= Base, which is worse for skin than acid, Acid you will feel and pull your hand away because the human body can feel the burn from acid, a base will eat through your skin and you will just feel "slippery" s it turns your flesh into soap
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
of a Nuclear Bomb.
Imagine kicking over an ant hill, then frying thousands of the little fuckers with each sweep of the beam when they come pouring out. Considering you can melt nickels and cut soda cans in half with this thing, it's possible you can actually [i]glass[/i] that anthill!
Just make sure it's fire ants. Those bastards deserve it...
Almighty Railgun
You Speak a Lethal Gospel!
Bloody Gibs Follow.
So I agree with timmi. But remember that the ore optics you have in your system, the less light will reach the photovoltaic cell. Optics are not perfect. (By the way, mirrors are lighter than lenses, and are easier to build and control.)
Here are a few references to increasing solar cell output with Fresnel lenses. Enjoy!
"But a professor," I try to explain...
"You can't have one."
that's actually how some solar power stations work. They have a bunch of mirrors that aim the sunlight to a glass globe filled with water, the water boils out and powers a turbine, condenses out and returns to the globe via a valve and pump.
Overall it works better than solar cells because it's so simple and you harness the heat energy rather than the light itself, but therer's only economy to it on a large scale, you need enough space to get a huge amount of water to constantly boil. Also, it's significantly harder to get this thing working on less-than-ideal days; solar cells still collect juice on slightly cloudy or overcast days, but this method doesn't work nearly as well.
Still, a good way to apply solar energy when in conditions that permit. I'd like to set up a small unit with a fresnel lens and 'boiling globe' to generate hot water (which I'll pump through a radiator) for my house in the winter. The problem I see is with safety, that beam has to be EXACTLY where I want it or I'll burn the house down.
"Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
One thing that cannot be overstated is the use of eye protection. And, whatever is selected for that application must handle IR as well as visible light. (Nearly all of the UV is absorbed by the plastic the lens is made out of, so it is not much of a factor.)
Using such a lens, to focus solar radiation, can produce power densities equivalent of a Class-IV laser; where the warnings typically read "avoid exposure to direct or scattered radiation". Even if focused to a spot size of 4cm^2--at an estimated 1kW--the power density would still fit 2.5W/mm^2. This is the same level as a 10W laser, with 2mm beam focus.
Granted that the focus is only at one point, it is easy to overlook when scattered radiation--from a "point" source--can be dangerous.
As the article states, use very heavy welding goggles, and maybe have some sunglasses on under those! It is also recommended to ensure that the goggles cover the infrared parts of the spectrum effectively.
Also note: laser safety goggles would be ineffective for this application, due to the fact that they typically use dichros, which typically are not very "wide-band". They reflect very specific wavelengths--very efficiently. But, since solar radiation is very wide-band, a lot of it will still get through.