Web-Resol Tudo sobre Limpeza Urbana e Resíduos Sólidos!
Physicists have developed a way to turn heat into sound and then electricity, suggesting a new way to effectively recycle waste energy.
"We are converting waste heat to electricity in an efficient, simple way by using sound, " said the scientist who led the effort, Orest Symko of the University of Utah. "It is a new source of renewable energy from waste heat. "
Symko‘‘s recycling devices are cylinder-shaped "resonators" that fit in the palm of your hand. Each cylinder contains a stack of material with a large surface area-such as metal or plastic plates, or fibers made of glass, cotton or steel wool-placed between cold and hot heat exchangers. Story continues below? advertisement
When heat is applied, the heat builds to a particular threshold where hot, moving air produces sound at a single frequency-like air blown into a flute.
"You have heat, which is so disorderly and chaotic, and all of a sudden you have sound coming out at one frequency, " Symko said.
The sound waves then squeeze what is called a piezoelectric device ("piezo" means pressure or squeezing). The pressure created produces an electric voltage. Symko says it is similar to when you hit your "funnybone" or the nerve on outside of your elbow, thereby generating that weird, painful pinch, which is actually an electrical nerve impulse.
Symko plans to test the devices within a year at a military radar facility and the University of Utah‘‘s hot-water-generating plant. (The U. S. Army funded the study in hopes the technology can be used to create a portable source of energy.)
Symko expects these devices could be used within two years as an alternative to the photovoltaic cells that currently convert sunlight into electricity, and could also provide a new way to cool laptops and other computers, and a to generate electricity from the heat released by nuclear power plant cooling towers.
Artigos Relacionados
Check Also
Egypt reviews Red Sea waste management system – Dailynewsegypt
Egypt’s Minister of Local Development and Environment, Manal Awad, and Red Sea Governor Walid El-Barqi held an extensive meeting to review the performance of the governorate’s waste management system and discuss measures to improve environmental services and operational efficiency. The meeting, held during Awad’s visit to the Red Sea Governorate to mark World Environment Day, focused on assessing current challenges facing waste collection, sorting, recycling and disposal operations, as well as identifying priority actions to strengthen the system’s performance. Awad stressed that the government places significant importance on developing an integrated waste management system in the Red Sea Governorate, given its strategic importance as one of Egypt’s leading tourism destinations. She emphasized the need to comply with environmental and technical standards governing sanitary landfills, waste treatment facilities and environmentally sound disposal practices. During the meeting, officials reviewed the current status of waste management operations in Hurghada, including collection, transportation, sorting, recycling and final disposal activities. Discussions also covered the infrastructure upgrades required to improve system efficiency and ensure the proper operation of sanitary landfill facilities. Yasser Abdullah, head of Egypt’s Waste Management Regulatory Authority, presented updates on temporary waste collection and sorting sites and outlined measures to strengthen operational management and oversight. He highlighted the importance of improving monitoring mechanisms for waste handling activities and maximizing the recovery of recyclable materials while reducing informal and unregulated practices.