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| Science & Technology |
| Coal Powder fueled engine undergoes successful testing |
| 2008-07-26 |
| These tests of coal powder present significant proof of the Cyclone Engine's versatility in utilizing diverse fuel sources without modification of the engine's primary components and system design. In this specific instance, an additional propane torch was utilized to ignite the solid fuel particles. Over the last few months, the company has successfully tested a multitude of liquid fuels such as algae-based biodiesel, and gaseous fuels such as propane. This test, however, was the first for the Cyclone external combustion engine with a fuel in a solid, powdered state. "While the environmental merits of 'clean' coal are debatable," stated Cyclone's CEO, Harry Schoell, "it is still one of the most abundant, inexpensive and widely-used fuel sources we have in the United States." |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #8 Actually it is possoble to build thorium reactors and these don't produce plutonium. |
| Posted by: JFM 2008-07-26 16:04 |
| #7 Perhaps the solution found in Mad Max III would be cheap and suitable: power from pigsh*t? :) |
| Posted by: borgboy 2008-07-26 16:03 |
| #6 I recall the Nazis and Jap(ane)s(e) were trolling around in similar vehicles circa '44 - '45... |
| Posted by: borgboy 2008-07-26 16:01 |
| #5 It's a little known fact, but the amount of thorium, a radioactive element usable in nuclear reactors, in a kilogram of coal has more energy density than the coal itself does by an extremely large margin. In addition, burning coal in any form releases radioactivity from items such as thorium into the atmosphere. Tell that to the greenies who want to stop nuclear power (none of them want to build more coal plants, but a coal planet vents more radioactivity in a year than a nuke plant will in a century). |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2008-07-26 15:26 |
| #4 external combustion engine shipman. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2008-07-26 15:03 |
| #3 And rings, you'd need diamond rings. |
| Posted by: .5MT 2008-07-26 13:00 |
| #2 Also consider the hazards of transport and storage. Coal dust and flour dust are explosive mixtures and how they are delt with might be an interesting engineering challenge. |
| Posted by: tipover 2008-07-26 11:16 |
| #1 The use of coal dust plasma engines has been around for a long time, even before WWII. basically wafting the dust around in air, combustion is very thorough and there is a lot less waste of fuel. However, its pollutants are problematic. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-07-26 10:42 |