Mwahaha, only fools have caps on their data plans!
Sprint+Android=inf iPad data!
Only problem is some iPad apps think the wifi connection is cable-high-speed, so it by default requests too high of quality of video stream and buffers video instead of falling back to a lower bitrate.
If you can get ahold of Dell customer support by the phone ( or maybe even chat?) ask to be transferred to the 'reparations department'. The one goal of this group is 'customer satisfaction' and the can give you just about anything u want as a 'please forgive us' gesture. I found out my freshmen year as a poor college student about them and ended up with a gratis $200 Linksys wifi router, and that was just b.c. of a comparatively minor laptop repair shipping issue! At least you can get a little extra since you have waited so long - good luck!
The two parallel processes are certainly not "hand waves", but are two heavily researched topics: Pyrolysis/Gasification and Anaerobic Digestion (biodigestion).
Anaerobic digestion is very common, and happens naturally in compost heaps and landfills. The methane gas it generates is being harnessed to generate energy both in some current landfills and in the tactical biorefinery in the article. Unfortunately this technology has significant limitations in that it is only able to process the cellulose and other sugars, but no lignin (which makes up ~25% of plant mass) nor any plastics. Here is where advanced thermal technologies come in -
Pyrolysis is a form of gasification that uses high temperatures, frequently in the range of 800-1400C, to break down the molecular structure of any organic material (plastics included) into smaller (and more useful) molecules in the form of combustible gasses and liquids. The key to pyrolysis is that it is performed with very little or no oxygen present. Without oxygen, nothing can burn (combustion is simply an exothermic oxidation reaction), and nearly all of the pollutents association with incineration are broken down into useful fuel.
The company I work for is actually working on a very similar "tactical biorefinery" financed by another arm of the DOD - but we use only pyrolysis. The emissions are not a significant problem, you really do get waste mass reduction on the order of 95% into easily compressible char (which can be burned for additional fuel), and it is certainly a technology you should see around the block in the future.
On another note, these devices are not limited to the small scale "tactical" devices. There are currently over 50 operational waste to energy plants in Japan (who for obvious reasons can't afford to waste land space with trash!). One of the most impressive technologies for large scale pyrolysis uses high voltage electricity arcs to generate a plasma stream to superheat and gasify waste.
A particularly good reference for some of the cutting edge waste to energy technologies is the California Integraded Waste Management Board's website, especially their 2005 Conversion Technologies Report to the Legislature: http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Organics/Conversion/Events /
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Mwahaha, only fools have caps on their data plans! Sprint+Android=inf iPad data! Only problem is some iPad apps think the wifi connection is cable-high-speed, so it by default requests too high of quality of video stream and buffers video instead of falling back to a lower bitrate.
But a lack of dollars to power the miles. Pocketbook saturation? Either that our we ran out of road.
If you can get ahold of Dell customer support by the phone ( or maybe even chat?) ask to be transferred to the 'reparations department'. The one goal of this group is 'customer satisfaction' and the can give you just about anything u want as a 'please forgive us' gesture. I found out my freshmen year as a poor college student about them and ended up with a gratis $200 Linksys wifi router, and that was just b.c. of a comparatively minor laptop repair shipping issue! At least you can get a little extra since you have waited so long - good luck!
The two parallel processes are certainly not "hand waves", but are two heavily researched topics: Pyrolysis/Gasification and Anaerobic Digestion (biodigestion).
s /
Anaerobic digestion is very common, and happens naturally in compost heaps and landfills. The methane gas it generates is being harnessed to generate energy both in some current landfills and in the tactical biorefinery in the article. Unfortunately this technology has significant limitations in that it is only able to process the cellulose and other sugars, but no lignin (which makes up ~25% of plant mass) nor any plastics. Here is where advanced thermal technologies come in -
Pyrolysis is a form of gasification that uses high temperatures, frequently in the range of 800-1400C, to break down the molecular structure of any organic material (plastics included) into smaller (and more useful) molecules in the form of combustible gasses and liquids. The key to pyrolysis is that it is performed with very little or no oxygen present. Without oxygen, nothing can burn (combustion is simply an exothermic oxidation reaction), and nearly all of the pollutents association with incineration are broken down into useful fuel.
The company I work for is actually working on a very similar "tactical biorefinery" financed by another arm of the DOD - but we use only pyrolysis. The emissions are not a significant problem, you really do get waste mass reduction on the order of 95% into easily compressible char (which can be burned for additional fuel), and it is certainly a technology you should see around the block in the future.
On another note, these devices are not limited to the small scale "tactical" devices. There are currently over 50 operational waste to energy plants in Japan (who for obvious reasons can't afford to waste land space with trash!). One of the most impressive technologies for large scale pyrolysis uses high voltage electricity arcs to generate a plasma stream to superheat and gasify waste.
A particularly good reference for some of the cutting edge waste to energy technologies is the California Integraded Waste Management Board's website, especially their 2005 Conversion Technologies Report to the Legislature: http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Organics/Conversion/Event
For further reading, this master's thesis by one of my boss's former students addresses all of these issues and more:
http://etd.fcla.edu/UF/UFE1001171/Mudulodu_S.pdf
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Go Gators!