51–60 of 104 posts
This is like the ultime HN article. * Born hacker * Issues of race and oppression * Entreprenuer spirit * Issues with patents * Big companies stifling innovation Someone should write "Inventors at Work".
* Experts tell him it won't work and point out the PhD thesis (or equivalent) that "proves" it... however, he is attacking the problem in a different way that the expert did not expect.
Speaking of inventors, does anyone know how inventors ever get a foothold? I had a cool idea for heating swimming pools to ambient air temperature (think giant heat sinks). But do I get giant heatsinks built for me to test? How do I find out if this is already patented? How do I sell it?
Hmm... Getting that to work is quite a feat for a kid. Lawn-mower engines usually cannot be operated sideways. I wonder if he was lucky enough to have a 2-stroke motor, or if he managed to keep the engine vertical?
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That entropy always increases? How exactly does that apply in the case of focusing photons?
Another way of stating it is that heat flows from hot->cold. You can't concentrate the light/heat from a blackbody source to more than the temperature of the source. So you can't focus sunlight to more than 6000k however many mirrors you use.
As a trivial example disproving your claim, energy from the Sun can be collected in solar panels that can be used to run devices that can hit any temperature you want. For an extreme example, for fusion experiments they produce temperatures of over 11,000,000 degrees C.
For another trivial example, most of us have refrigerators that can transport heat energy from a colder place (the inside of the fridge) to a warmer place (your kitchen).
He will change the world if he can get 50-60% efficiency. Photovoltaic cells would be out and parabolic mirrors aimed at a heating elements would take their place - even better, tubes running under asphalt streets all circulating water through JTEC heat exchangers. A huge unmet need is extraction of heat energy at lower temperature differentials - it could put to use tons of waste energy at industrial plants, your ca…
That, of course, would still be a real challenge. I didn't see any specifics, but notice his ceramic membrane was built to withstand 400 C. That's very hot.
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Cover it with an insulated top when not in use. Your pool is colder than ambient because the top surface is constantly evaporating, leaving behind the slower moving molecules. A solar heater would work better (if you have sun) because it will absorb more energy than ambiant air convected over the same area. And you would need a fan for a heatsink if its wasn't windy. http://www.amazon.com/SmartPool-SunHeater-Above-Gr…
Your pool is colder than ambient because the top surface is constantly evaporating, leaving behind the slower moving molecules. Sounds like a way to save on air conditioning costs to me. Put a heat exchanger to the pool and heat your pool while cooling your house.
Speaking of inventors, does anyone know how inventors ever get a foothold? I had a cool idea for heating swimming pools to ambient air temperature (think giant heat sinks). But do I get giant heatsinks built for me to test? How do I find out if this is already patented? How do I sell it?
Cover it with an insulated top when not in use. Your pool is colder than ambient because the top surface is constantly evaporating, leaving behind the slower moving molecules. A solar heater would work better (if you have sun) because it will absorb more energy than ambiant air convected over the same area. And you would need a fan for a heatsink if its wasn't windy. http://www.amazon.com/SmartPool-SunHeater-Above-Gr…
Sorry guys, I got there first: http://pics.ww.com/v/jacques/renewables/concentrator/ Patent pending ;) Yes, I realize there is a lot more to it than that. However, there have been solar concentrators of all kinds of varieties, I've built a couple of proto-types the one in the pictures above was one of the more promising ones because it allows the collector to be stationary. Interesting tidbit from that experiment, it…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cover it with an insulated top when not in use. Your pool is colder than ambient because the top surface is constantly evaporating, leaving behind the slower moving molecules. A solar heater would work better (if you have sun) because it will absorb more energy than ambiant air convected over the same area. And you would need a fan for a heatsink if its wasn't windy. http://www.amazon.com/SmartPool-SunHeater-Above-Gr…
Your pool is colder than ambient because the top surface is constantly evaporating, leaving behind the slower moving molecules. Sounds like a way to save on air conditioning costs to me. Put a heat exchanger to the pool and heat your pool while cooling your house.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know about that. It sounds like it could be a good idea to me. Ambient air temperature varies 25 degrees or so from night to day. The pool is going to tend to gravitate towards a temperature between the ground temperature and the average air temperature throughout the day. If you want to heat the pool in the Fall and Spring, just circulate the water through an air-source heat exchanger in the afternoon, and t…
Yeah, that's what I had in mind. I just don't know where to start. It seems like an obvious idea so it's probably not patentable. But I guess if I came up with a specific implementation then maybe that would be? I still have no idea how to get someone to manufacture it, or to mass produce and market it myself.