Thermal

Harnessing waste heat to produce electricity

By Darren Quick

21:13 November 19, 2009 PST

That heat emanating from your computer as you sit reading this article amounts to nothing more than wasted energy. And your computer is not alone. More than half of the energy consumed worldwide is wasted, most of it in the form of excess heat. But new research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) indicates it might be possible to harvest much of the wasted heat produced by everything from computer processors to car engines and electric powerplants, and convert it into usable electricity. This kind of waste-energy harvesting might lead to mobile phones with double the talk time, laptop computers that can operate twice as long before needing to be plugged in to mains power, or energy plants that produce more electricity for a given amount of fuel. Read More

Non-Lethal Thermal Laser prototype only works on nudists

By Darren Quick

01:07 September 22, 2009 PDT

Non-lethal weapons are intended to have reversible effects on personnel and material. They provide soldiers with another option when lethal force isn’t considered to be the best first response to a situation. One non-lethal weapon prototype that is being evaluated by U.S. military is the Thermal Laser System, which attaches to a rifle and uses a laser to create a heating sensation to repel adversaries. Unfortunately, current trials indicate that clothing nullifies the weapon's effectiveness. Read More

First Suncatcher solar dishes to be used in Arizona

By Paul Ridden

15:56 September 2, 2009 PDT

Tessera Solar and Salt River Project have just announced that they'll partner to construct a 1.5 megawatt solar generation installation in Peoria, Arizona. The proposed output from the Maricopa Solar LLC project might not sound too impressive, but when combined with the news that the 60 dish installation represents a template for much bigger operations to come and will be the first commercial plant to use Suncatcher technology - things just got interesting. Read More

Treating tumors by blasting nanotubes with a laser

By Darren Quick

22:33 August 11, 2009 PDT

Current heat treatments for human tumors, such as radiofrequency, have shown promising results over the last couple of decades, even though they apply only a single-point of heat to the tumor. However, a new technique could prove much more effective by using nanotubes to apply heat throughout the tumor. Scientists found that by injecting the man-made, microscopic carbon tubes into tumors and heating them with a quick, 30-second zap of a laser, they were able to effectively kill kidney tumors in nearly 80 percent of mice. Read More

Capturing more heat from low-temp resources to aid geothermal power

By Darren Quick

01:29 July 20, 2009 PDT

Geothermal power is cost effective, reliable, and environmentally friendly, but it has previously been limited to geographic areas near tectonic plate boundaries. New technologies, such as that employed in the Raser low-temperature binary geothermal plant, promise to expand the opportunities for geothermal plants. Now scientists at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have devised a method for capturing significantly more heat from low-temperature geothermal resources to further boost the possibility of virtually pollution-free electricity. Read More

First-ever flexible ceramic heat shield material

By Darren Quick

20:48 July 16, 2009 PDT

Take note of the name ZircoFlex, because it will most likely, in our not-so-humble opinion, immediately become part of the lexicon and bag of tricks of every automotive, marine, aerospace and industrial manufacturer, fabricator, constructor, inventor and race engineer on the planet. We've previously written about Zircotec’s plasma sprayed ThermoHold coatings, which when applied to the surface of metallic and composite components can reduce surface temperatures by up to 33 percent. Until now, the process has had two major limitations being the need to treat parts directly using 14000ºK plasma sprays and the natural brittleness of ceramic coatings which has limited their use up to rigid substrates. Patent-pending ZircoFlex™ is a flexible ceramic heat shield material that will be available in a roll, offering a low-cost, easy-to-apply solution to the thermal protection of vital engine components. The product is set to revolutionise the use of ceramic materials for heat protection in a wide range of applications. Read More

ZPO tower Dubai - stunning and sustainable

By Jeff Salton

19:37 June 29, 2009 PDT

From the land of opulence – Dubai - comes another amazing feat of architecture and engineering to add to the emirate’s extravagant skyline. The spiraling tubular design for the Za'abeel Park Observation (ZPO) Tower incorporates roof gardens, extensive solar paneling and geothermal cooling and ventilation in an organically inspired structure topped by three observation deck "petals". Read More

World's largest Solar Power Tower Plant now on-line

By Paul Evans

18:33 May 1, 2009 PDT

Made up of more than 1200 mirrored heliostats surrounding a huge 54 story high tower, the world's largest solar power tower plant is now on-line near Seville in Spain. Developed by Spanish engineering company Abengoa, the PS20 plant generates 20 megawatts of electricity, enough to supply 10,000 homes. Concentrating solar thermal technology has been used in desert areas in Spain and the southwest U.S. for decades and is seeing a resurgence as utilities seek to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Read More

Thermoteknix VisIR 640 Thermal Imaging System

By Matt Kennedy

18:34 February 23, 2009 PST

I'm pretty sure I'm not the target market for high-end thermal imaging cameras like the VisIR 640 from Thermoteknix, but I want one anyway. I want it in the same way that I desperately wanted the X-ray specs advertised on the back of my Iron Man comics when I was 12. In this case, the object of my boyish compulsion features a 640 x 480 infrared sensor, integrated voice recorder, 1.3megapixel color camera, plus an innovative swiveling lens design which provides greater shooting flexibility, and like many examples of ex-military tech, it opens up a huge range of potential applications on civvy street. Read More

Heat resistant exhaust coating helping vehicle manufacturers meet Euro 5 emissions standards

By Loz Blain

June 4, 2007 We've spoken previously about the amazing heatproofing properties of Zircotec's ceramic thermal coating. Extremely heat resistant, the coating has been put to use by several Formula One teams to move heat out of the engine bays of their race cars. Now it seems this highly effective spray-on coating could have a part to play in emissions reduction and assisting engine manufacturers in meeting the strict Euro 5 emissions standards while contributing to power increases. Read More