Would an open source project would be fun ?

[Viv]

I have been thinking for a long time that we have a solid and fun hobby but one thing we lack is a smart answer for when we get asked "but what's it for" or "but what can you do with it" all the lots of noise answers are just fun for us but I was wondering if we cant actually do some thing useful with our hobby efforts and maybe some thing environmentally beneficial too.

So I throw the gauntlet down on this most auspicious of days (international talk like a pirate day) and challenge you all to think of a project we as a forum can all participate in that will be a benefit to mankind.

Lets see what the members can come up with for suggestions?

Viv

[tufty]

Pulsejet burglar alarm. For once, you'd be using the major "downside" of a pulsejet to your advantage, and thrust wouldn't be an issue, only reliable self-starting.

[Irvine.J]

hell yeah, have it fog kerosene like crazy so if their not out by the time the house fills with atomised kero.... BOOM!

Am I joking? I'll let you decide!

[Viv]

There does seem to be a smidgen of practicality missing but it would definitely count as fun

On the other hand I did think of a railway switching points heater based on a Reynst pot but it would not be as much fun as the burglar alarm.

Viv

[cicada]

What about all of that natural gas that oil rigs just burn off in the open? you could fuel a few large pulse jets with the gas to do things like make steam for various tasks like electricity or cooking.I bet pulse jetting the waste gas is much more earth friendly than just burning it.They would have to be reliable and not to loud (for a pj) and have high heat output.

[cicada]

Or what about a pulse jet organic waste burner? you could put in things like grass clippings and food and the pulse jet would dry and burn some of the waste than blow it into a furnace to burn the rest off.The pj would need to be drawing in fresh air though.

[Viv]

What about all of that natural gas that oil rigs just burn off in the open? you could fuel a few large pulse jets with the gas to do things like make steam for various tasks like electricity or cooking.I bet pulse jetting the waste gas is much more earth friendly than just burning it.They would have to be reliable and not to loud (for a pj) and have high heat output.

GE do a containerized gas turbine in the 2500 series that would run directly from the flare gas so its all ready covered, it would be better to run a liquefaction compressor and ship it back to a market place but what they call stranded gas is a huge environmental issue and always has been.

Viv

[larry cottrill]

Just about everybody's already seen this one, but at least it goes with this topic -- my old FWE water purifier, for those flooded areas where you don't have electricity but still have a barbecue propane bottle or two sitting around. Ha. This uses twin FWEs to boil the water and the propane chilling to re-condense it. The condensate runs down the under surface of the big cone and collects in the tiny cone down underneath. The entire structure would have to be sheet stainless, of course.

Note the built-in Helmholtz resonator "mufflers". Ha again. The two ovals in the water are floats for control of the valves (like toilet tank valves) -- one to let more water down onto the engines when the water level drops, one to shut off the propane if the level drops WAY down. The dirty water is poured in at the top around the propane tank.

Yawn, as Mark would say. Some R & D required.

L Cottrill

[Viv]

Yes I remember that one Larry, I had to wonder about how much heat was produced burning the propane to evaporative cooling available from it

I was thinking of the Reynst pot as a good industrial burner with low maintenance (as a lot of people have over the years I recall seeing a steel railway tie used as part of a switch heater assembly on my way to Niagara once by train and thought a Reynst pot or two would fit inside very nicely with room for cooling channels so it did not get hot.

Heres the results form a google search on rail way switch points heater and what it turned up, some interesting background information, its sure that with rising fuel prices more rail traffic will have to take up from road transport so its environmentally beneficial if it could run from bio diesel or ethanol directly.

http://www.hovey.ca/pdf/16359D%20Switch ... Manual.pdf

http://www.railsco.com/~cold_air_blower_systems.htm

http://www.railsco.com/~hot_air_blower_ ... heater.htm

Viv

[cicada]

Like this.

[Viv]

Hi Cicada

Do a search on patents for dryers and pulse jets and see what comes up, a lot of work has been done in this field over the years.

Viv