Hydrothermal Biomass Motor Fuel (Sermonette)

[Frederick J Sparber]

-----Original Message-----
From: Edwin Strojny <estrojny at freeway.net>
To: vortex-l at eskimo.com <vortex-l at eskimo.com>
Date: Sunday, June 14, 1998 1:17 PM
Subject: Re: Hydrothermal Biomass Motor Fuel (Sermonette)

Ed Strojny wrote:


>At 08:46 AM 6/14/98 -0600, you wrote:
>>Since food production is a basic necessity, the availability of low cost
>>energy to support agriculture worldwide is essential.
>>
>>Regards,   Frederick
>>
>>
>Ideas on converting or using natural products to usable fuel in vehicles
has
>been a challenge to me for many years.
>
>Ideas I have had and tried but were unsuccessful:
>
>Use of carbohydrates in a fuel cell to generate electricity.

Easy, ferment it to hydrogen,ethanol,acetone, butanol, or pryolyze it to CO
+ 3 H2 and convert it to Methanol, or use the PNL process
and Hydrothermally convert it to Methane and CO2.

The PNL Hydrothermal system powers itself as
long as the biomass ratio is 10% or more in the water-biomass slurry. Good
way to get rid of sewage sludge that is processed by engines burning the
methane that the bacteria are making.

>Reduction of carbohydrates directly to hexane by electrolysis. Put a pound
of sugar in the oven at 400 F and see what you get. Then dissolve a pound of
sugar in a half-gallon of water and put in a pressure vessel that will
withstand at least 1,000 psi and put it in the same oven at 400 F and see
what you get. :-)

C6H12O6 + 6 H2O + Heat ----> 6 CO2 + 12 H2 if
you have the right catalyst in the water, then
you can use the H2 and CO2 to EXOTHERMALLLY synthesize about any organic
product you want. That is how Nature makes FOSSIL FUELS.

If you stop at lower temperature Hydrothermal
Conversion you get H2, CH4, C2H4, and various
volatile alcohols and a "Pyroligneous"fuel that will burn in an I.C. Engine.
Why go to all of that High-tech CRAP?

If nothing else you can light a fire in an old wood stove and set a Stirling
Engine on top of it.   :-)

Too much energy going into the electricity, unless you are using Solar
Photovoltaics and they ain't cheap yet.

>Reduction of CO2 by electrolysis to methanol.

Without Hydrogen, Ed?

Takes 24 kilowatt hours per pound of hydrogen with electrolysis of water.

At 10 cents/kW-hr that's $2.40/pound for the Btu equivalent of a half gallon
of gasoline. :-)
>
>Since Fleischmann and Pons' discovery, I gave up on these approaches.

Not a very good idea, Ed.   :-)

Regards,    Frederick
>
>Ed Strojny
>
>