Harnessing Non Solar Radiant Energy

[habanabasa]

I have tried to get help uploading files but am getting no response to my emails to 'contact us'.

If you know a way to contact someone who runs this site please post me me the details in an answer.

Thanks


I am sorry but my figures won't upload - you won't be able to reference them until I get this sorted out.

Every surface in the universe constantly radiates and absorbs radiant energy.
No one has ever been able to harness it. The rewards to mankind for being able to do so are huge.
At room temperature, on a unit area basis, any good emitting surface will radiate just under half the energy of sunlight (solar radiant energy) and will do it 24/7 whereas direct sunlight is only available on average 5 hours a day.

My paper below, shows the very simple principle that geometries must follow in order for radiant energy to be collected. Once the principle is understood, it boggles the mind as to just how simple and self evident it is.

It is a long post - please let me have your comments.

John




Harnessing Radiant Energy

John D Jeffery, 17 Springbrook Pde, Idalia, Queensland, 4811 Australia
March 17, 2009

Abstract.
It is shown how non solar Radiant Energy can be harnessed as an energy source. A basic principle that enables Radiant Energy to be harnessed is proposed. A number of geometries that meet the proposed basic principle and which may be used to harness radiant energy are disclosed.

Introduction of the problem.
Radiant Energy has long been seen as a potential source of clean, abundant and free energy. The problem has been that no successful or viable method of collecting this energy has previously been found.
In the article by Dr Sudhir Panse 1992 “Non-spontaneous radiative heat transfer”, Panse suggested “small isolated pockets may exist in the Universe, or can be created, in which entropy decreases and heat engines exceed Carnot's efficiency limit”. He proposed some geometries that might achieve this.
In K M Browne’s 1993 article “Focused radiation, the second law of thermodynamics and temperature measurements”, being a study in response to S. Panse’s paper, Browne examined two geometries proposed by Panse to focus radiation from a number of objects to heat another to a higher temperature. What Browne showed was that while the geometries looked functionally correct when the target and emitter were drawn in point form, the situation changed when they were drawn with finite sizes and thus did not achieve Panse’s objectives. Browne limited his study to the situation where energy is transmitted between like bodies. He did not examine the possibilities where the bodies were of different sizes.
Browne showed that not all of the radiant energy from the emitting body impinged upon the target body of the same size.
The geometries in both cases are such that for all the radiant energy from the now finite sized emitters to fully impinge upon their targets, then the target surface area must be greater than that of the emitter. The larger surface areas of the targets enable them to re-radiate the energy absorbed from the emitters without a discernable change in temperature.

The solution.
In order for the paradox proposed by Panse to work as suggested, the target surface area had to be smaller than that of the emitter whose total energy was transmitted to the target. Because the temperature of a body increases or decreases until its energy inflow and outflow are equivalent, such a target body, having a smaller surface area, would then have an elevated temperature relative to the emitter as it will be receiving emissions from a larger surface area.

It is proposed that the basic principle of radiant energy collection should state
“For bodies with equivalent emissivities, the emitting surface area of the source of the radiant energy, which is radiated to a target, must be larger than the total emitting area of the target”.


Proposed geometries.
A small number of geometries have been studied and a number of them were found to satisfy the proposed basic principle of radiant energy collection. Based on this there is a strong probability that more geometries will be discovered that will satisfy the proposed principle. Some of the studied geometries that satisfy the proposed principle are briefly described below. One of the descriptions includes calculations to illustrate the target’s temperature rise.

Exacting details of construction have purposefully not been provided. The intent is to provide a framework and ideas so that readers can determine their own optimum ratios and sizes for building or calculating or indeed to extrapolating on the geometries presented to formulate their own geometries that satisfy the proposed principle.


Scaled ellipsoids in series with larger radiant energy sources and smaller targets.
In this geometry an ellipsoid is created as shown in figure 1. Located at the first focal point is an emitting disk that is oriented to the y axis. This disk completely fills the ellipse at the focal point so only one side of the disk faces into the ellipse. At the other end of the ellipse there is a round aperture that is also oriented to the y axis. This aperture is set further out than the focal point from the centre of the ellipse. In so doing the aperture is smaller in diameter than the emitting disk. The exit aperture of the first ellipsoid becomes the entrance / emitter to the next scaled smaller ellipsoid. Each ellipsoid increases the efficiency of the device.

By varying the location and hence diameters of the emitter and aperture, the proportion of radiant energy that will pass through the aperture from the emitter will vary. Configurations can be computed that would allow more radiant energy than what would be emitted from an emitter had one been placed in the aperture to pass through the aperture. Measurements given in the diagram below are provided as a guide only.

The energy of the emitter would be reduced as its radiated energy would be greater then its received energy. Consequently its temperature would be reduce and there will be a difference between its temperature and the ambient temperature. This could be exploited.

It is also possible to replace the first aperture with a target so sealing the ellipsoid. The other scaled ellipsoids would then not be necessary. In a properly configured device, more radiated energy would be absorbed by the target than it emitted and consequently its temperature would rise.


Smaller half ellipsoid attached to a half of a larger ellipsoid with emitting disk and target vane.
This geometry as shown in figure 2 has a strong mono directional flow tendency. Little of the radiant energy emitted by the emitter or the target is returned to the emitter.

In the configuration below, the target is a thin vane or wing projecting into the ellipse as shown. The join between the two ellipses is a straight mirror surface. The diagram is exaggerated for illustration purposes.

Within the ellipsoid and the trumpet shapes used below, the direction of the beams is not immediately apparent or intuitive. The ray direction within the device can be explained as follows: The emitted radiant energy emanates in every direction causing a vast preponderance of the rays that strike the wall of the ellipse or trumpet to do so with some angular direction. This angular direction is modified every time the ray again strikes the wall. The result is that most of the rays travel in a corkscrew like manner around the inside surface of the ellipse or trumpet. This device exploits that feature.

The emitter emits the radiant energy which corkscrews its way down the inner edge of the narrower ellipse and then onto the larger ellipse where it continues to corkscrew its way towards the thin end of the larger ellipse. It then strikes and is absorbed by either side of the vane. Note that there is clockwise and anticlockwise corkscrew direction of the rays.

Those photons that do not strike the vane or are not absorbed are reflected back towards the emitter. Most of them will strike the vertical central mirror and be reflected once more towards the target vane.

The vane emits radiant energy and because it is thin, most of the rays travel towards the near wall of the ellipse. The rays strike the wall of the ellipse and then most will corkscrew outwards, always near the inner surface of the large ellipse, towards the vertical mirror. The mirror reflects them causing them to corkscrew back towards the vane where they are once more absorbed.


A trumpet mirror discharging into half of an ellipsoid.
The trumpet mirror has an advantage in that random radiant energy from 180 degrees is ingested at its small end and discharged as a narrower beam at its large end. Rays that do not approach the big end from the correct angles are reflected and prevented from passing back through the trumpet. The trumpet has therefore a limited one way effect. The output beam from the trumpet, though it might appear to be conical, is a series of numerous cones one inside the other, all with different implied focal points.


A trumpet mirror discharging into an elliptical mirror which has a very long distance between the focal points.
The configuration shown in figure 3 is currently in the process of being built.
The discharge from the trumpet was found to be very complex and no means have yet been found to focus it directly. The approach used has been to beam the output from the trumpet towards an elliptical mirror which has a very long focal point separation. The intended result is that the reflection from the mirror will be nearly parallel over this large distance. The nearly parallel beam is to be intercepted by a parabolic mirror so giving a very small image at the parabolic mirror’s focal point.

The angle at which selected evenly spaced beams emanated from the trumpet were determined. CAD drawings were made with the trumpet, elliptical mirror and parabolic mirror in place. The locations where the beams from the trumpet struck the elliptical mirror were plotted. Ray diagrams were drawn for the rays that would be reflected from those locations to their corresponding positions on the image at the other focal point. The size of the image at the other focal point was determined from elliptical mirrors that had short focal lengths. Rays were plotted from the top and bottom of each location on the elliptical mirror to the top and bottom of the corresponding location at the other focal point - two beams for each location. The reflection of the rays incident on the parabolic mirror were drawn. A small circular image resulted at the focal point of the parabolic mirror.

It is assumed that the mirrored surfaces are fully specular, that the ambient temperature is 300K and that the emissivity of both the emitter and the target is 0.95.
The entrance to the small end of the trumpet has a diameter of 14 mm. Assume the diameter achieved for the final focus is 3.0 mm.
Assume that the target has a collection surface area the same size as the final focus and that the target is perfectly insulated and can only radiate through the collection surface area.

Area of trumpet entrance (sq mm) = PI * (14/2)2
= 153.938
Area of final image circle (sq mm) = PI * (3.0/2)2
= 7.0686
We use the Stephan-Boltzmann formula to compute the energy radiated.

P = eσT^4

Where e is the emissivity of the emitter
σ is the Stephan-Boltzmann constant
= 5.6703 x 10-8 watts / m^2 K^4
T is the Temperature of the emitter in Kelvin

Calculate the energy radiated from the emitter into the trumpet.
= 0.95 * (5.6703 x 10-8 ) * 300^4 *153.938 / 1000000
= 0.0671677 watts / sec
Calculate the energy normally radiated from and absorbed by the target.
= 0.95 * (5.6703 x 10-8 ) * 300^4 *7.0686 / 1000000
= 0.0030842 watts / sec

If the total energy from the emitter is absorbed by the target then the target temperature will rise until equilibrium is reached between the amount of energy it absorbs and the amount that it radiates.
The amount of energy absorbed by the target is
= ambient radiant energy + energy from emitter
= 0.0030842 + 0.0671677 watts / sec
= 0.0702519 watts / sec

We rearrange the Stephan-Boltzmann formula to calculate the implied temperature of the target when it reaches equilibrium (at which time it is emitting 0.0702519 watts / sec from an area of 7.0686 sq mm).

T = 4√ (P/eσ)*area / sq m

Target temperature = 4√ {0.0702519 / (0.95 * (5.6703 x 10-8 )) / 706.86} * 100K

Target temperature = 655.4K

Notice also that much of the re-radiated emissions from the target will be radiated into the environment of the target and only part of its emissions will be radiated back towards the parabolic mirror from whence it will make its way back to the emitter. The result of this will be that the environment of the emitter will get colder and the environment of the target will get hotter.

In summary.
Because of this disclosure, these findings will be examined and tested by others, not all, not many, but some. I may not be the first to produce a working model. Others may have that honour, confirming or debunking thereby my observations and determinations.

Critiques and criticisms of this paper are welcome.

I am hopeful that these small beginnings will grow into something much larger. They herald a brighter and cleaner future for mankind.

Contact details
John Jeffery johndjeffery@gmail.com

References
K M Browne J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 26 (1993) 16 - 19, Focused radiation, the second law of thermodynamics and temperature measurements.

S Panse 1992 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 25 28-31 Non-spontaneous radiative heat transfer.

[BenTheMan]

Exacting details of construction have purposefully not been provided. The intent is to provide a framework and ideas so that readers can determine their own optimum ratios and sizes for building or calculating or indeed to extrapolating on the geometries presented to formulate their own geometries that satisfy the proposed principle.

You're not doing a very good job of convincing people that you've constructed devices which contradict the second law of thermodynamics (i.e., perpetual motion machines) with statements like this.

[habanabasa]

This site is impossible - now I can't delete the incomplete post above. I will not be back.

[habanabasa]

This site is impossible - now I can't delete the incomplete post above. I will not be back.

[BenTheMan]

You probably need a minimum number of posts.

[habanabasa]

[This site is impossible - now I can't delete the incomplete post above. I will not be back.

[CheskiChips]

Thanks Ben, I hope that this doesn’t mean that I have to post a bunch of useless inane questions just to pump up my numbers. It can be done but serves no purpose for the site and members. And anyway, the word `probably`in your reply cautions me against doing that.

I have written to the address given below in the `contact us`section but have not yet received a reply.

Go to the cespool.

[habanabasa]

This site is impossible - now I can't delete the incomplete post above. I will not be back.