The answers to the questions in this section of the site are written and/or edited by Dr. Yan Beliavsky.
Question:
Electricity from seawater? It looks like a perpetual motion machine.
Answer
a) First of all, the electricity does not come from seawater, but from the heat of seawater, river-water, and the surrounding air. Fluid enters the device at temperature T, cools, and comes out at a lower temperature. The temperature differential ΔT, the amount of a fluid in the flow, and the heat capacity of the fluid determine the amount of heat energy E1 which is taken from the flow (e.g., from seawater). It is important to point out that a plant using PGEW is fully consistent with the first and second laws of thermodynamics. The processes of energy generation are not considered here (we obtain the energy E1 by flow cooling). And it is obvious that the heat pump will expend physical work ΔP for its operation.
b) The coefficient of performance (COP) of a heat pump is equal
to COP = (E1 + ΔP) / ΔP. This coefficient characterizes the ratio of heat quantity (supplied to the fluid to be heated) to the energy expended for device operating. It value is greater than 1 and is unlimited theoretically. Realistically, home air conditioners have a COP value of about 2 (in winter, home air conditioners operate as heat pumps).
The project’s objective is to reduce inner energy consumption and dramatically increase the COP value. Based on current (2024) technologies, this is impossible. The new technology based on PGEW brings us hope.
Question:
The concept of PGEWs is unexpected and generates critical response during the first reading. However, careful analysis shows that there are no internal physical contradictions. Congratulations!
Indeed, the PGEW give us opportunity to understand the processes in your Vortex Chamber and in Vortex Tubes (the Ranque effect). Vortex Tubes have been in use for about 80 years, but they are not widely used in industry because of their low efficiency. You are talking about the widespread use of the PGEW principle in technology. On what is your optimism based?
Answer:
The vortex tubes operate using compressed air. The pressure gradient is created by swirling flow. Gas jets create a powerful sound. These circumstances determine the emergence of PGEWs. However, the process of air compression inside compressors expends considerable energy (electricity). Therefore, as a source of cold and/or heat, vortex tubes are not effective. They found the largest application in the processing of natural gas (natural gas is stored in a deposit under high pressure).
Understanding of the PGEW physical processes in vortex tubes can improve their efficiency. But in general, I think that the direct use of vortex tubes and similar devices (use of compressed gas as the only source of energy) is not effective.
The PGEW principle provides an opportunity to manufacture much more efficient devices. For example,
the pressure gradient can be created by rotation of a tank filled with air (with low energy consumption in a motor, bearings, etc.). The siren can serve as a source of starting sound, creating a powerful sound with low electricity expenditure.
The frequency of the sound will correspond to resonance conditions that dramatically increase the capacity of the starting sound.
A big task lies ahead. At the moment I cannot discuss facility design details (as the patent is pending), but reason for optimism certainly exists.
Question:
I think, your optimism is excessive. In my opinion, the “new power generating industry” will does not work. Indeed, the coefficient of performance (COP) of the heat pump for an idealized cooling cycle can be represented as a ratio of temperatures, COP=T1/(T1 – T2), where T1 and T2 are temperatures (in Kelvin) of heat transfer agents to be heated and cooled respectively. If, as you say, we take heat from the sea water at a temperature of 20 °C and convert it to 120 °C, the COP = 3.9. Moreover, this is maximal idealized value. Considering the fact that the efficiency of the steam turbine of an electric generator is no more than 30%, I do not see any prospects.
Answer:
Very important question!
a) The efficiency of an electric generator is the ratio of the electric power to the heat energy supplied to the beginning of the cycle. If the efficiency is equal to 30%, this means that 70% of the heat is lost. In the steam turbine this lost heat is escape with steam-water mixture at a temperature of 100 °C. Usually this heat is discharged into the environment.
The new installation (which is currently being patented) includes two heat pumps (both operating on the PGEW principle). It is hoped that the efficiency of the installation will allow this principle to be implemented in practice.
b) Saying that PGEW is a natural “heat pump”,
you need to remember quotes (” “).
PGEW is the wave process of energy transfer. The result of the PGEW propagation is the heat transfer (cooling one zone of the volume and heating the other zone). In terms of thermodynamics, the processes of heat transfer are nonequilibrium and irreversible processes.
In additional, a “working fluid” is not involved in wave propagation processes. So, I think that the use of “cooling cycle” approach to PGEW is incorrect.
The widely known devices Heat Pipe can serve as the illustration of the above. The Heat Pipe is closed pipe partially filled with liquid. It transfers heat bottom-up. If a Heat Pipe is bottom heated, the liquid boils producing the steam. Steam at the top of the Heat Pipe heats fluid to be heated and condenses. The Heat Pipe is a closed system having a circulating fluid with constant mass. There are processes of evaporation and condensation of working fluid inside the devise. But, it is impossible to apply to a Heat Pipe the approach of the thermodynamic cycle. Indeed, the efficiency of the idealized thermodynamic cycle is given by ratio (T1 – T2) / T1, where T1 and T2 are working fluid temperatures (in Kelvin) inside heater and cooler. In Heat Pipe T1 = T2 (the temperature of evaporation is equal to the temperature of condensation). And according to formula above, the efficiency of Heat Pipe must be equal to zero. However, these devices operate with very high efficiency.
Question:
I’m interested in your research, and would like to learn out about the physics of temperature separation in detail. So, I would like to conduct some CFD (Computation Fluid Dynamics) simulations to investigate the flow physics.
Answer:
I welcome your intention to find out about the physics of temperature separation.
I think that numerical modeling can describe the hydrodynamics of a vortex chamber (pressure and velocity fields) quite well. But CFD will not be able to describe the temperature effect.
If you need to calculate the characteristics of a thermodynamic system having a large amount of radiation heat transfer, you are sure to use a CFD program, including a block of radiation heat transfer.
The same is true in our case. We need to create a theory and methodology for calculating heat transfer by PGEW and to add the appropriate unit to the CFD program.
Question:
A physical model with strong gravity is used in your article to describe the conditions of the existence of PGEWs. Can PGEWs exist inside the earth’s gravity?
Answer:
I believe that the gravitational field of the earth is too weak, so the pressure gradient created by the earth’s gravity is small, and the PGEW will not arise (or will be very weak). However, this phenomenon should be checked.
At the same time, the influence of the PGEW phenomenon must be considered in the atmosphere of large planets and in the “atmosphere” of the sun
(see Hypothesis).
Question:
You write that the PGEW is a kind of elastic sound type wave. But at the same time you point out that in PGEWs oscillations are absent. In my opinion, the propagation of sound type waves should always be associated with the oscillatory process. From where does this mistake come?
Answer:
That is not so. There are kinds of elastic waves in which there is no oscillation, such as shock waves.
Usually, the source of elastic waves (sound) is oscillating or pulsating processes. However, such waves can also be generated by a single disturbance.
Examples of such processes include a one-time clap, thunder in the atmosphere, a rupture of an inflatable balloon. The source of waves of this type are: a single mechanical impact, a single expansion of the air column in the spark breakdown zone, an expanding rarefaction wave.
In textbooks on hydrodynamics, a physical model is considered – a piston in a long tube. This model is used to obtain the formula of sound velocity. The piston “instantly” starts to move at a constant velocity. The elastic compression wave moves before it. On the back side of the piston the expansion wave moves in the opposite direction. These waves are real and are easy to record. The physical nature of these waves is ordinary elastic “sound” type waves, but the oscillations are absent.
Question:
What is the status of this project?