mayf;
A long time ago I invented an electrolytic ramjet for undersea
propulsion---once in motion the H2 and O2 gases produced by the electrolysis
reduced the overall density and increased the velocity of the combined water
and gas exiting the duct thereby providing a net thrust. It was a whimsical
fallout of another project but I did get a patent award.
The device had obvious limitations (the performance fell off with increasing
depth and the formation and collapse of bubbles is "noisy"--a disadvantage
for military applications).
My calculations and design documentation are buried too deep in my archives
for a quick look, but I can say that the voltage is a function of the
electrolysis cell size, design configuration, and the electrical
conductivity of the water, but that gas production is directly proportional
to the total current flow passing through the water.
Lots of interesting design trade-offs. Once you exceed the minimum 1.2
volts, the actual design voltage will be much higher and depends on how much
current you want to push through a given volume of water of a given
conductivity ( salty sea water has an electrical conductivity of about 7
mho/meter--much less than copper, and distilled water is much lower still).
As for your question about greenhouse gases reflecting heat back towards the
earth---I think the incoming radiation from the sun has a different wave
length than the radiation reflected back upwards. So the green house gases
are transparent to the sun's incoming radiation but opaque to the radiation
reflected back upwards so it gets trapped---I'd check with Fred Singer's
global warming web site to be sure.
Lance
----- Original Message -----
From: "drmayf" <drmayf@mayfco.com>
To: "LSR" <land-speed@autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, July 07, 2007 3:39 PM
Subject: [Land-speed] OT: Green House Gases.. and an Electrolysis Questionor
2..
> Too hot to work out in the shop much today so I figured I would sit
> around and scratch my brain a bit.. Been thinking about green house
> gases and how they work. Co2 and methane, I think (dangerous) heat the
> earth by reflecting infrared heat back downward. Ie they trap the heat
> in the atmosphere. Now here is my question...if they reflect the heat
> back inward wouldn't they also reflect the heat from the sun in those
> wave lengths back into space? Seems that would be a net zero gain. Any
> atmosphericic chemists or other smart people out there that can explain
> it to me?
>
> Next, how the heck do I figure out how much hydrogen and oxygen are
> produced for given voltage, current and electrode sizes? I know that
> electrolysis works at a minimum of 1.2 volts and just milliamps, but
> what if the volts was say 12 volts or 24 volts or 40 volts and 20 amps?
> If the electrode is too large will it be effective as a gas producer
> because the current density is lower?
>
> mayf, way off and far out in a hotter than hell pahrump...
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