New propulsion sytems for ships

My friends at www.independencegreenyacht.com have a good solution. We'd like to find $2.5 million to build the prototype. Other vessel designs could follow. The present plan is for a 60' pilothouse aluminum yacht that utilizes solar (or shore power) to charge batteries and also crack hydrogen from the water she is floating in. The hydrogen is stored in low pressure tanks absorbed in a metal hydride foam-like matrix. Metal hydride has an affinity for hydrogen and absorbs it as the gas looses the heat created in the cracking process and cools. It is very safe to store in this form. The electric azmithing pods run for limited distances and speeds on solar and batteries. When more speed or distance is required the metal hydride is slightly heated to release hydrogen for conversion to electricity in a fuel cell. Range on fuel cell alone is about 1200 miles. The main drawback is the time it takes to produce the hydrogen, estimated at two months by solar alone. Much less time is required if shore power or another 24 hr. source such as wind turbines are used. Perhaps future designs could use hybrid motors to generate while anchored in currents or with the addition of sail, when motorsailing. Emissions from the cracking process is oxygen (returned to the atmosphere) and a bit of heat. Emissions from the fuel cell is primarily water (returned to the seachest or cracked again). The way most folks cruise, the usual trip would not totally deplete your hydrogen stores. You'd take a trip and while you visit some exotic shore your vessel would automatically refill the tanks! All the technology involved is proven and currently in use in other application. The yacht will be well found and built by a yard with experience in coast guard and navy vessels. We couild advertise "FREE FUEL FOR LIFE' with every vessel sold!

 

Thanks for the info, WK. I'll visit the site clamly.
In the meantime, here the correct link: http://www.independencegreenyachts.com/index.html

Cheers.

 

Thanks for the correction GG. My feeble memory forgot to pluralize "yachts". They're still trying to construct the first one. I have no commercial ties to the firm but am anxious to assist them to see the idea float. The money is out there somewhere. The potential exists to revolutionize many modes of transportation besides marine with these existing technologies. The components have just not been combined in this way as yet.

 

The present plan is for a 60' pilothouse aluminum yacht that utilizes solar (or shore power) to charge batteries and also crack hydrogen from the water she is floating in.

A houseboat would be a good choice as it has vast roof areas to create electric.

The owners of these boats usually expect to USE the upper deck , for the water slide , and BBQ , perhaps a sun shade over 90% of the upper deck might satisfy the owners.

Folks swim off these pleasure palaces , so anchoring in fast running rivers may loose a few first kids..

FF

 

capacitance...

...for the vast majority of boaters although that's ushering in a generation of challenges with solid waste disposal.

blue water commercial ships will have multiple niche generation plants that produce power for specific applications, each the most efficient in its own right and the sum total calculating to less drag, less power, and less fossil fuel per pound of cargo.

ships will be deeper, wider, longer and slower. more goods will come with each load, and the loads will come less often. our yards will be a mess, and our infrastructures will be overloaded until we get the tempo down. build warehouses wherever you are. and hope for steady demand.

those in the middle, non-commerical blue water sailors under power and specailty commerical carriers such as regional cruises and so on, will either be very expensive to operate or under sail. the middle ground will prove to complicated for the average player.

 

Well, some future commercial vessels will not even have a crew...or almost.
The "Buque Pesquero Inteligente Polivalente" (Multipurpose Intelligent Fishing Vessel) being developed in Spain (BAIP 2020 project) will run on gas as well as an hydrogen plant, feed with the fishing wastes, to produce part of the electricity aboard.

More info (in spanish) here: http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2008/06/29/ciencia/1214757273.html

Cheers.

 

here's my thought on cogeneration -- manage the food chain from natural organic waste versus man-made spoils of fishing or hunting.

follow the order of energy consumption established by nature, not artificually established by our own practical priorities at any given time. and that order is litterally the food chain.

organic matter that can be consumed by higher order life, such as waste fish oil and parts, should find its way back to the food chain for efficient consumption by orders of life that consume such biproducts. from shark to fish. natural waste, which in itself is lower order food, should be used to cogenerate power needed to produce food for higher order life, such as methane production for say a power plant.

its a more efficient, sustainable model. and what this says is that human waste is the first order of business. for example, a significant challenge are private and commercial ships that dump their holding tanks at sea. we are far better served simply focusing on technology that converts our own waste to energy while giving spoils of fishing to those that feed upon this organic matter. and intelligenty so, in balance with these creatures environment.

it would be a glorious day when all fishing vessels can pull up to wastewater plants to fill their fuel tanks for the next voyage.

 

Vortex Induced Vibrations

"A novel approach to extract energy from flowing water currents. It is unlike any other ocean energy or low-head hydropower concept. VIVACE is based on the extensively studied phenomenon of Vortex Induced Vibrations (VIV), which was first observed 500 years ago by Leonardo DaVinci in the form of “Aeolian Tones.” For decades, engineers have been trying to prevent VIV from damaging offshore equipment and structures. By maximizing and exploiting VIV rather than spoiling and preventing it, VIVACE takes this ‘problem’ and transforms it into a valuable resource for mankind."

More at: http://www.vortexhydroenergy.com/

Cheers.

 

With fuel prices below $50 a bbl , a lot of high priced "alternates" will not be competative.

FF

 

malnutrition

Just as well coconut oil is not going to be the fuel of the future. It's way too valuable for that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_G._Enig

Nutrition is everything.

Tomorrow morning, my son Ashley 20 and I have a consultation with a consultant orthodontist and a consultant facial surgeon to discuss the necessity for 2-3 operations to correct developmental abnormalities. Ashley’s upper teeth are out of line and do not meet the lower teeth on the left side of his lower jaw. The left canine is crooked, the upper jaw is narrow and the airways in his nose are partially blocked.

It is proposed that the upper teeth are separated from his upper jaw and are jacked apart over 5 weeks. This will involve dividing the upper palate and septum. Four teeth will be extracted, the right side of the lower jaw shortened and the lower jaw narrowed, so as to enable his teeth to meet evenly. Then we wait for the bones to knit. I am wondering if he should go through with 6 months of pain and healing.

Ashley’s predilection for breakfast cereals four times per day when he was growing up whilst living with his mother, could have contributed to this situation we now face. We were divorced in 1992 and he and his two brothers came to live permanently with me in May 2001. Since then, we have stayed carnivores. If it hops, squeaks, grunts or lows, it's in the pot.

Seriously, here's an article that offers an explanation for Ashley's face. It is thought provoking. Narrow faces = malnutrition it appears.
http://www.westonaprice.org/healthissues/facial-development.html

Regards,

Perry

 

Votex Induced Vibrations for Energy

Hello Guillermo,
I just happened across this video presentation:

Vortex Induced Vibrations for Energy
http://www.ns.umich.edu/podcast/video.php?id=499

 

Thanks Brian.
It looks like an interesting system, don't it? I've written them for more info.
Regards.

 

There's some evidence that they'd do better with ribbons than with round cylinders: http://www.humdingerwind.com/

Dave

 

New Technologies & Development Funding

Thanks Dave, very interesting. I passed that onto my Thai stepson who recently won a scholarship to study physics here in the USA.

There are potentially some VERY interesting new technologies that should emerge in this new 'energy conscience world'. I just hope a lot of them aren't stifled by the bad economy and insufficient funding

 

Hi Dave!
Nice to hear from you.
Interesting the using of fluttering wires to produce energy but, in spite of Humdinger's saying, I think they will not replace batteries as the system needs them to store energy for when there's not wind.

Brian,
I wrote the Vortex people, and they told me they are still in the developing stage, which will take them yet a couple of years before going commercial.

Cheers.

P.S.
Dave,
how's your kites propulsion system improving?
(I have not any kind of commitment with SkySails, I must say)