Wednesday, April 9, 2014

My To Do List For Later...

EBL posted a link to the new energy from seawater process. link

I've already made a few comments over there noting (a) The process is energy intensive; and (b) it's interesting in that onboard an aircraft carrier with limitless (nuclear) energy, it could be useful for generating fuels which would have to otherwise be delivered. This is a logistical advantage.

I have to dash off for several hours (and had to post date this by two hours), but if I had time, I would do the following:

Write out the chemical steps for the entire process, and construct a Born-Haber cycle for the whole thing to pinpoint the uphill thermodynamics -- I suspect it's the 2H+ + 2e- --> H2(g) reduction.

Show how they use the H2 in the water-gas-shift reaction (WGSR) but don't mention the CO involved. This is really old school WW II German technology. On the other hand, perhaps they've invented a new way to reduce CO2 to hydrocarbons more directly than the WGS reaction followed by Fischer-Tropsch.

Third, I'd go to the US Patent & Trademark website and look for disclosure using keywords and also the NRL as the assignee. The Navy can and has withheld patent disclosure for national security reasons.

3 comments:

The Dude said...

I thought that was Born-Dassweg cycle, but I sometimes go gaga about such things.

chickelit said...

Sixty reminds me of my father's German, learned by word of mouth from fellow GI's in postwar war Germany:

Was is los?

No, wash your own damn clothes!

The Dude said...

I am certain his was better than mine. Jey, sometimes bad puns aren't even bad in one language, much less two! Say lavee!