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ALTERNATIVE SCIENCE |
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ALTERNATIVE SCIENCE |
Welcome
to the July edition of the ASTRO SA Inc. newsletter. Don’t forget that the
next meeting will include the A.G.M. for the purpose of electing our office
bearers for the next twelve months. I can still remember the deafening silence
during last years elections, so please get involved and put something back into
the group.
JUNE
MEETING.
The meeting began at 8.05pm with a new attendance record of 54 people. If this number continue to turn up for our meetings, we will have to take the step of holding them in a hall. We have attempted to avoid this option in the past due to cost considerations. Ashley began the meeting by welcoming everyone and Dan followed with the Treasurers report. The correspondence for this month included the ASTRO programmes for the NSW and VIC groups.
The general part of the meeting began with Ashley presenting several articles covering almost everything from colloidal silver to instant enlightenment. Dino gave details of a spiritual workshop being held at his farm, and Anton donated to the ASTRO library the first lot of data from UFO researcher Bob Bartholemew. Speaking of donations, thanks to Ben and Desiree, who gave the group a video machine to use at meetings. (after Roger fixes it!) Andrew then gave a presentation on a water purifier which he is making available to ASTRO members at a reduced rate. Still on the subject of water, Dan is looking for people to assist him on a water related project and finally Michael talked about an article in, New Scientist magazine regarding a 5Okw solar power generator.
David French, our guest speaker then gave his talk which judging by the number of questions asked was very well received. David began by talking about PH levels in the body, what happens if they get out of balance and how to maintain them. He then went on to the subject of Rife and other frequency machines and his experiences in using them. Finally he spoke of the work that is being done in WA on a device that collects energy from the atmosphere. This technology is planned to be released in the next 6 months and is said to be capable of powering anything from a mobile phone to a factory.
The meeting concluded after the videos that Erika kindly brought along were shown and the last people were evicted after the curfew time of midnight.
SOLAR
FLAT PLATE COLLECTORS - PART 3.
Thanks once again to Leon for this series of articles on flat plate
collectors.
The
glazing allows visible short wavelength light to pass through to the absorber
plate and prevents passing air currents from drawing off much of the collectors
heat. It also keeps the longer wavelength radiation from escaping back into the
atmosphere. It is this property of glass and some types of fibreglass and
plastic that creates a “greenhouse effect” inside the collector. Everybody
knows what it is like to get into a closed car on a sunny day, the heat can be
unbearable.
Any enclosed space behind glass, whether inside a car, a
greenhouse, or a solar collector will gather and hold considerabl
e amounts of
heat energy. Short wavelength sunlight comes through the glass and is either
absorbed by or reflected off the collector plates (absorber). Rays that are
re-radiated cannot pass back through the glass to the outside because their
wavelength is made longer once they hit some surface. In other words, a ray that
bounces off an absorber plate has a longer wavelength than it did before it hit
it. These longer waves reflect off the inside of the glass and bounce back and
forth inside the air space. In this way a little radiation can be enclosed to
become a lot of heat.
The
drawing shows that when short wavelength rays hit the absorber plate, some of
their energy may be re-radiated back, but their intensity is weakened, meaning
that their wavelengths become longer. Because they can’t pass back through the
glazing, they hit the absorber again and again, thus giving the plate several
chances to absorb them.
There
are basically four factors that affect the performance in regards to the amount
of heat captured by a flat plate collector.
1. The solar intensity
“insulation”.
2. The collectors
orientation toward the sun.
3. The temperature of
the surrounding air or “ambient air temperature”.
4. The materials used in
the collector itself, specifically the quality of the glazing material plus the
material selected for the key component, the absorber plate.
Next
month we will look at the question of “How efficient are Flat Plate
Collectors?”
PHRENETIC PHRASES
Speaking of solar and sun, what commonly used phrase does the following arrangements of letters represent? Answer is on the back page!
TESLA
ENGINE BUILDERS ASSOCIATION.
Acknowledgement
is hereby given that the following articles on the “Magnetic
Pulse Motor” and the “Hybrid Power
System” are taken from the TEBA Membership Manual. Their address is 5464
N. Port Washington Road, Suite 293, Milwaukee, WI, 53217.
MAGNETIC
PULSE MOTOR.
This
design by Japanese engineering firm, Kure Tekko, first appeared in Popular
Science magazine back in 1979! It is similar to the Adams motor in that it only
requires a pulse of energy when the rotor magnets are close to the stator
electromagnets. Both the rotor and stator have
north poles facing each other, and all that is required after the motor reaches
200 rpm is a short burst of properly timed power from the electromagnet. Once
the rotor has entered the field, it is propelled to the area of lower flux
density represented by the mechanically expanding scroll of permanent magnet
material. As the distance of the magnetic scroll is increased the magnetic lines
of flux decrease. This represents an area of less north and the rotor is
literally squeezed out of the magnetic region. This brings the rotor full circle
and it is time to send another pulse of electrically generated flux. This forces
the motor’s rotor, which is attached to the output
shaft, back into the magnetic region and the process repeats itself. The
only input energy required is short duration pulses.
Since
the pulse motor was announced in 1979 there has been a significant improvement
in magnetic materials making this device even more attractive. New magnets (e.g.Takahashi)
have been introduced which have extremely high Tesla ratings that were unheard
of when this motor was first announced. There is also a new metal available,
developed by Allied Signal called Metglass, that has no magnetic permeability or
memory. This can be used in the electromagnet to eliminate saturation effects
and reactive losses that occur in high speed pulse switching. The core of the
electromagnet does not retain any magnetic charge, allowing the induced field to
immediately collapse after excitation current is removed. The collapsing field
can then be removed and stored in a capacitor, using simple steering diodes, for
reuse on the next switching cycle, further reducing power input requirements.
Simple high speed power switching is now available with a new generation of high
power transistors, replacing the mechanical distributor used originally in the
motor, and will provide for extremely high operating speeds.
HYBRID
POWER SYSTEM.
The
following hybrid design for a motor vehicle uses a Tesla engine to provide
unprecedented performance with full low end torque while allowing the pulse
motor to give tremendous mileage at highway speeds. In one possible combination,
the Tesla engine is coupled to a high frequency alternator, providing power for
the vehicles electrical system and pulse motor. The alternator and Tesla engine
are on the same shaft and are coupled through a Tesla transmission to the pulse
motor. The engine operates at a fixed high speed in the tens of thousands rpm
range for highest efficiency. The unique gearless transmission, which is a
variation of the Tesla engine design, converts this high speed to controllable
lower speeds with high torque and can provide power beyond the rating of the
pulse motor. After the engine is started and up to speed, fluid is introduced
into the transmission, turning the pulse motor, which requires 200 rpm to start.
After the pulse motor is started, the transmission is disengaged and only
electrical power is provided, unless heavy loads require direct engine
assistance. This allows a fuel sipping, economy miser, conversion to a monster
horse power, muscle machine, almost instantly on command!
The
Tesla engine’s main components are nothing more than a series of flat discs,
which besides being the active elements of the Tesla combustion engine, can also
act as a flywheel for the pulse motor. Unlike a normal gas turbine engine that
has fan blades in it’s compressor section, the Tesla pump has no such
encumbrances, using instead laminar flow bladeless elements or discs that
represent proportionally lower load as the input air to the compressor is
throttled back for an idling condition. When input air is removed, the
compressor represents almost no load to the engine, drawing in a high vacuum.
This configuration would not be possible with a conventional bladed type
turbulent flow compressor section which would continue to load the engine and
shaft, creating unacceptable parasitic drag.
Volvo
has recently introduced a concept car which uses just this principle but is
using a bladed turbine engine coupled to a Tesla high frequency generator which
feeds an electronic motor drive control to adjust the frequency and therefore
the speed of a Tesla polyphase induction motor. This full size concept car by
Volvo is reported to perform very nicely while at the same time attaining 45 mpg
at a speed of 55 mph. Volvo has coined the car as “The Environmental Concept
Car” or ECC. The only mechanical part of this system that is not Tesla’s is
the turbine engine. Tesla claimed efficiencies for his engine, without the
benefit of the electric drive intermediary, operating alone, that would match
the performance of the Volvo ECC. Tesla made claims, based on actual test
results, that the engine would achieve an efficiency of 60% at the shaft when
used with gasoline. That is about two to three times what our piston engines of
today are capable. Tesla’s engine would also require almost no maintenance,
require no crankcase oil and would operate for millions of miles if high quality
main bearings were employed, which are the only wear prone component.
PETROL
AND HYDROGEN HYBRID RESEARCH.
Chinese
researchers have found that by using petrol and hydrogen fuel mixtures, engine
pollutants were reduced and fuel economy was increased using lean mixtures of
both fuels. The engine the tests were carried out on was a Chinese made “492
Q” which is a 4 cylinder, 4 stroke, water cooled engine of 612 cubic
centimetres capacity. The petrol
was fed into the engine via a conventional carburettor while the hydrogen was
mixed externally with air and supplied at a constant rate of 750 grams per hour.
Carbon monoxide emissions decreased with the percentage of hydrogen used. The
amount of hydrocarbons in the exhaust depended upon fuel temperature and the
quenching effects of the condensed fuel layer on the cylinder wall. Incomplete
combustion due to these and other factors increased hydrocarbon emmissions.
Increasing the fuel/air mixture reduced hydrocarbons up to the stoichiomatric
ratio. (the mixture at which all the air and fuel are reacted) Beyond this point
the mixture is excessively lean at which point it burns more slowly and also
contributes to incomplete combustion and hydrocarbon output. Nitrous oxide
emmissions are reduced by lowering the amount of oxygen in the fuel mix and
reducing the temperature and duration of combustion. Reducing oxygen also
increases hydrocarbon emmissions, so a balance between the two pollutants has to
be found although rapid burning can reduce both.The conclusion that researchers
came to was that adding a small amount of hydrogen to a petrol/air mixture can
make rapid burning and an improvement of emission characteristics possible.
ELECTROLYSIS
CELLS.
Electrolysis
is the process of producing hydrogen and oxygen from electricity and water.
The
electrical resistance of water is high, about 100 ohm/cm. This resistance can be
lowered chemically by adding a salt (sodium chloride),an acid (sulphuric acid)
or an alkali (sodium hydroxide). Salts and acids are more corrosive and are
normally not used because of this. The two most common electrolytes are
potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide. Sodium hydroxide is less conductive
but cheaper than potassium hydroxide and so is economically more
attractive.Ideally distilled water is used as electrolytes produce chlorides and
sulphates in the presence of tap water impuities. These chemicals slowly corrode
the electrode material although in practice 314 stainless electrodes and tank
water seems to work OK.
The
hydrogen and oxygen can be collected as a combined gas as in “Browns Gas” or
individually by using separators. These are normally membranes or diaphragms
between the anode and cathode to keep the gasses apart. Materials such as
artificial fibre cloth, rubber cloth or metallic mesh can be used. Remember that
if the gasses are not separated there is a substantial risk of explosion as
mixtures of between 4% and 75% hydrogen in air and between 4% and 94% of
hydrogen in pure oxygen are explosive.
The
minimum voltage required to split water is theoretically 1.24 volts. Efficiency
is typically 35% at this voltage. Some commercial electrolysers operate at 1.9
volts with a cell efficiency of 65%, while some advanced cells using platinum
electrodes are up to 73%. However as with most things there is a trade off in
that above 1.48 volts, the cell begins to produce heat. This point is called the
thermoneutral voltage. The graph shows the range that the cell operates most
efficiently. This is the area between the thermoneutral voltage (upper limit)
and the reversible voltage (lower limit below which no hydrogen is produced)
where the electrolysis reaction absorbs the heat. In general lower voltages and
higher temperatures mean improved efficiency.
A
pair of electrodes in a container of electrolyte makes up one cell. Individual
cells may then be connected in
series or parallel. In series connection, each cell shares an electrode
connection with the next cell (see diagram) while in a parallel connection, each
cell’s anode (positive electrode) is connected to the positive supply while
each cathode (negative electrode) is connected to the negative supply.
Advantages
of using a series connection are supply can be high voltage and low current,
less floor space due to thinner cells, all cells share a common electrolyte bath
allowing freer circulation of the electrolyte. Disadvantages are that high
voltage and low current combine to give lower current efficiencies, each cell
must be identical to avoid overloads giving higher initial costs.
Advantages
of using a parallel connection are that individual cells can be isolated without
affecting neighbouring cells, a higher current density is possible resulting in
densities approaching 100%, and a longer service life is possible. (25 years or
more) Disadvantages of a parallel connection are because of the low voltage and
high current, large electrical conductors are needed to keep the electrical
resistance low, more floor space is required because each cell is separate and
there can be problems with lack of electrolyte circulation.
NEXT
MEETING.
ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING.
This
will take place first, for the purpose of electing next years committee members.
This is normally a very brief event, usually only extended by the lack of
volunteers coming forward. (There always seems to be something really
interesting up on the ceiling that people keep looking at!) So lets keep it
short and then we can get on to the interesting part of the evening which is
the.......
MONTHLY
MEETING.
This
month’s meeting will be held on the second Friday of the month once again,
this time being:
This
month we will have our very own Ashley and Alan continuing on from last
month’s talk by David on using frequencies in healing. Our dynamic duo will
show what frequencies and harmonics are all about in this audio \ visual
demonstration.
We
will also show a short documentary on how Alternative Energy is creeping into
the lives of the major power producers in England. This recent video which deals
mainly with wind, water, and solar power, is about some quite major projects
that have been undertaken in this country in their effort to reduce the
pollution caused by coal fired power stations.
Just
a reminder not to forget your $3 entry and something to share for supper. It
should once again be an interesting night so I hope to see you all there!
Phrenetic
Phrase answer: Under the weather!