Notices by A.C. Tupper (actupper@scicomm.xyz)

I have to say, Australia is doing a lot of really exciting things when it comes to renewable energy and electrification.

The Fully Charged Show visits Janus Electric, a company converting diesel big rigs to electrics with swappable batteries.

Worth a watch!

https://youtu.be/9eYLtPSf7PY

#ElectrifyEverything #ElectricVehicles #EV #Australia #RenewableEnergy

Today's magnesium combustion brain bubblegum: adapting the Allam-Fetvedt Cylce to utilize magnesium instead of carbonaceous fuels.

Unlike a normal A-F cycle, you wouldn't have to introduce oxidizer or tap off excess CO2 and H2O. The CO2 would be consumed in the combustion process.

The big trick would be efficient removal of the MgO and C ash from the supercritical gas stream prior to turbine utilization without incurring huge pressure drop penalties. 🤔

I wonder if this would be one of the rare instances where a Tesla turbine actually makes sense, given the high density of supercritical CO2 and its ability to work with abrasive fluids. The centrifugal forces and blade alignment could help with the separation process, acting as a cyclone separator and turbine in one. That would certainly be handy. You would probably need a positive pressure stream of clean gas near the bearings to prevent particulates.

Wikipedia Links:
A-F Cycle: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allam_power_cycle

Tesla Turbine:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_turbine

Magnesium Oxide:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium_oxide

Because I'm incorrigible, I just spent the last hour doing the specific energy and energy density math for Magnesium combustion in a Carbon Dioxide atmosphere, comparing it to the same metrics for Lithium Ion batteries.

Assuming you can get a conversion efficiency of 40% (optimistic, to be sure), Mg/CO2 is, per kWh:

- A quarter the weight of Lithium Batteries
- Half the volume of Lithium Batteries

Pretty compelling reasons to peck away at the idea, IMO.

#renewableenergy #climatechange

I've talked about this Magnesium / Carbon Dioxide reaction before as part of my various rambles on utilizing Magnesium as a circular, renewable fuel.

CO2 is ideal as an oxidizer for Magnesium combustion, as it's easily compressible, relatively safe, (too) widely available, and will reduce down to a solid once burned with Magnesium. This allows for a completely closed combustion system, no air in, no exhaust out.

It can even be used as a working fluid for supercritical power cycles.

If you were filling your CO2 tank with CO2 captured from say, atmospheric or emission sources, you could even say with a straight face that the system is carbon negative.

Even if you couldn't guarantee the CO2 was truly being taken out of circulation, the system would still be carbon neutral.

And magnesium has none of the big scarcity/toxic metal mining problems nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries do.

Stakeholders Before Shareholders should be an enforceable bedrock principle of business law.

Are you a company enriching your shareholders by harming/neglecting someone impacted by your actions? That's theft, or at best negligence.

We can't afford this blinders-on mentality that economic growth will always result in better conditions for all stakeholders, it simply isn't true.

#economics #business #politics #degrowth

Is it sometimes messy figuring out who's a stakeholder? Yes.

Is it harder than just keeping track of who owns shares? Yes.

We shouldn't let that difficulty or complexity stand in the way of attempting to build better systems. IMO at the core of any better system is that fundamental acknowledgment that impacts must be accounted for before any reward (profit).

Back on magnesium combustion again. This time trying to envision an open cycle burner that uses ambient air. The big challenge is capturing a significant portion of the magnesium oxide fumes emitted during burning. Wondering if a post-combustor cyclone separator makes sense. Magnesium oxide would separate out of the gas stream for collection prior to interacting with a turbine. If steam is a desirable working fluid, that chamber could act as a flash boiler.

There's certainly enough high grade heat on the table for steam, and depending on how it's introduced could help pull fine magnesium oxide particulates out of the gas stream.

On the other hand, you could introduce any other working gas in this chamber as well. Compressed air for instance. The vortex would allow for thorough mixing and heat exchange prior to being sent to a turbine/expander.

The whole system could also work with Supercritical CO2, I think.

This Christmas I was gifted a wonderful puzzle/educational game called Turing Tumble. The game slowly introduces fundamentals of boolean logic and imperative programming in a engaging approachable way. It's predominantly aimed at young women, with a puzzle book with a Manga adventure wrapped throughout. I'm only part way through (just solves the one shown), but looking forward to fully exploring it! #educational #gamedesign #comics #puzzle #stem

@TechConnectify I've noticed this too, unfortunately. I'm finding it's leading me to overexplain in threads to try and cover all the bases, which only works sometimes.

@blender Blender has come so far since that first Open Movie project. Congratulations to the whole team for a job well done!