Hygroelectricity - Electricity Collected From the Air

[funkfool]

Someone is finally catching up to Tesla...

Story here:

A REPORT PRESENTED at the recent 240th meeting of the American Chemical Society described the capture of electricity from the air - much like how solar cells capture sunlight - and using them to light a house or recharge an electric car. Imagine using similar panels on the rooftops of buildings to prevent lightning before it forms. Scientists already are in the early stages of developing such devices.

Our research could pave the way for turning electricity from the atmosphere into an alternative energy source for the future,” said study leader Fernando Galembeck, Ph.D. His research may help explain a 200-year-old scientific riddle about how electricity is produced and discharged in the atmosphere. “Just as solar energy could free some households from paying electric bills, this promising new energy source could have a similar effect,” he maintained.

“If we know how electricity builds up and spreads in the atmosphere, we can also prevent death and damage caused by lightning strikes,” Galembeck said, noting that lightning causes thousands of deaths and injuries worldwide and millions of dollars in property damage.

Nikola Tesla, for example, was among those who dreamed of capturing and using electricity from the air. Itís the electricity formed, for instance, when water vapor collects on microscopic particles of dust and other material in the air. But until now, scientists lacked adequate knowledge about the processes involved in formation and release of electricity from water in the atmosphere, Galembeck said. He is with the University of Campinas in Campinas, SP, Brazil.

Scientists once believed that water droplets in the atmosphere were electrically neutral, and remained so even after coming into contact with the electrical charges on dust particles and droplets of other liquids. But new evidence suggested that water in the atmosphere really does pick up an electrical charge.

Galembeck and colleagues confirmed that idea, using laboratory experiments that simulated waterís contact with dust particles in the air. They used tiny particles of silica and aluminum phosphate, both common airborne substances, showing that silica became more negatively charged in the presence of high humidity and aluminum phosphate became more positively charged. High humidity means high levels of water vapor in the air - the vapor that condenses and becomes visible as “fog” on windows of air-conditioned cars and buildings on steamy summer days.

“This was clear evidence that water in the atmosphere can accumulate electrical charges and transfer them to other materials it comes into contact with,” Galembeck explained. “We are calling this ‘hygroelectricity’, meaning ‘humidity electricity’.”

In the future, he added, it may be possible to develop collectors, similar to the solar cells that collect the sun to produce electricity, to capture hygroelectricity and route it to homes and businesses. Just as solar cells work best in sunny areas of the world, hygroelectrical panels would work more efficiently in areas with high humidity, such as the northeastern and southeastern United States and the humid tropics.

Galembeck said that a similar approach might help prevent lightening from forming and striking. He envisioned placing hygroelectrical panels on top of buildings in regions that experience frequent thunderstorms. The panels would drain electricity out of the air, and prevent the building of electrical charge that is released in lightning. His research group already is testing metals to identify those with the greatest potential for use in capturing atmospheric electricity and preventing lightning strikes.

“These are fascinating ideas that new studies by ourselves and by other scientific teams suggest are now possible,” Galembeck said. “We certainly have a long way to go. But the benefits in the long range of harnessing hygroelectricity could be substantial.”

Download the story in pdf format here.

[Irving]

Seems like dissolving thunder storms before they can get rid of their energy naturally could be a pretty bad thing.

[68Charger]

Seems like dissolving thunder storms before they can get rid of their energy naturally could be a pretty bad thing.

why?

lightning rods do this, they send/receive ions to prevent a static charge from building up to a point where it can jump to/from the clouds as a lightning bolt.

[Mtn.man]

Tesla they Rock,,,

Oh you mean the dude that blew up a huge portion of Siberia...

[TFOGGER]

why?

lightning rods do this, they send/receive ions to prevent a static charge from building up to a point where it can jump to/from the clouds as a lightning bolt.

Actually, lighting rods are designed to attract and direct strikes so as to prevent damage (by providing a clear path to ground). A company here in Colorado designs and implements "dissipation arrays" that are designed to disperse and discharge atmospheric charge buildups BEFORE there is enough energy potential to initiate a lightning strike. The company is LEC, and their arrays are in use at the majority of refineries and oil storage facilities world wide. One of my good friends worked for them as an engineer several years ago.

[Irving]

why?

lightning rods do this, they send/receive ions to prevent a static charge from building up to a point where it can jump to/from the clouds as a lightning bolt.

I'm honestly not sure. I only ever took one class about weather. I guess it depends on how dissipating the lightning would effect the storm over all.

[68Charger]

Actually, lighting rods are designed to attract and direct strikes so as to prevent damage (by providing a clear path to ground). A company here in Colorado designs and implements "dissipation arrays" that are designed to disperse and discharge atmospheric charge buildups BEFORE there is enough energy potential to initiate a lightning strike. The company is LEC, and their arrays are in use at the majority of refineries and oil storage facilities world wide. One of my good friends worked for them as an engineer several years ago.

I'm not inclined to enter a lengthy debate on this, but I'd submit that a "dissipation array" is made up of an array of lightning rods... it's all in how they're deployed for a particular environment... each rod can only dissipate so much energy, only for a cone of area, and only to devices that they are electrically copuled... by making an array, you create an area that's protected...

if you size/configure the lightning rod in such a way that it can't dissipate the energy fast enough to prevent a strike, then it will certainly attract it, and your conductors to ground will have to be orders of magnitude larger to carry the extreme currents present in a lightning event without damage.

[rondog]

I wonder if there's ever been any research on using ocean currents to drive turbine generators......helluva lot of power in the oceans, waiting to be tapped.

[68Charger]

I wonder if there's ever been any research on using ocean currents to drive turbine generators......helluva lot of power in the oceans, waiting to be tapped.

you'll chop those fish into little bits!!!!

[BigBear]

you'll chop those fish into little bits!!!!

Ban oceans!!! It's for the fish!