Extended abstract aiche12d

Unlimited Power from Continental Drift, 284207
Donald I. Garnett, Industrial Chemicals, Retired E. I. du Pont de Nemours, Corpus Christi, TX
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Overview: Given a place to stand and a long enough lever Archimedes (1) said he could move the world. Donald I. Garnett (2, 3) observes that anchoring one continent to another with a cable will let the world’s continental drift (4, 5) move you, namely: it will provide all the energy needed to power the entire worlds electrical (6) and other needs. To capture the energy of the moving continents it will be especially convenient to catenary a cable across a fault line and let the mass of the cable plus any added weights desired be lifted in elevation against gravity by the moving apart of the continents. Recovery of that energy can be accomplished using an electric generator driven by the pull of the cable in restoring the cables initial position.
Restraining the movement of a continent the size of North America in theory could generate 10^10 times the electrical usage of the United States. In principle its’ restraint might stop or prevent earthquakes in California, Oregon and Washington.
The magnitude of the energy available exceeds that of tearing down the Rocky Mountains (in cable cars attached to electric motors) and dropping the rocks into the Pacific Ocean. Had the erosion by Nature of the Rocky Mountains not occurred it would be closer to equivalent but still inferior?
While this method may be applicable in many places at continental plate boundaries it is easily visualized for the Rift Valley in Africa. Places where a cable would acquire tension by continental plate movement being preferred. Movement at the face of any type fault however can be harnessed. Lateral, vertical, or oblique plate movement energy recovery can be accommodated by inclusion of a spring in the cable. Multiple echelon faults energy similarly can be harnessed using a network of spring loaded cables.
Methods: The energy associated with the drift of a continent is its ½ *mass * velocity^2 from a given anchor point. In this discussion the anchor point is another continental plate reachable by a cable. Across a fault where the movement is “apart” is especially preferred. The velocity is low but the mass is extremely large. The usual ½ mass times velocity squared is also (½*mass*velocity/410.3Kw)*velocity, or Power*velocity. With mass of a continent being say 10^22 lbs and velocity of 2.5 cm/year the power available is 10^15Kw or 10^10 times the total U. S. Electrical power.
The anchor points need not be capable of restraining the continent but may be any amount consistent with the intended power output. The small movement of the continent and the preferred relatively high velocity of the cable driving the generator begs for a velocity enhancement like a block and tackle arrangement or a geared reducer run backwards. In any event a 1000 fold block and tackle on top of another (for leverage per Archimedes) , etc., etc., will likely be in the final design. Other methods of energy recovery are possible, including:
(1) Spring compression and release, (2) Hydraulic lifting of water for use in turbines, and
(2) Hydraulic lifting of water for use in turbines on release.
(3) Gas compression and release.
Historically of course part of the energy of the continents movement has raised mountains and provides the force multiplier and accumulator of millions of years of potential energy generated by the continents movement. Recovery of that potential energy is available by tearing down the mountains, for example in cable cars connected to electric generators and dumping the rocks into the oceans continental trench. The Rocky Mountains, the Alps, the Andes and the Himalayas for example are available at present. Over time both energy and material (mountains) are conserved
Results: The result of using continental drift for essentially unlimited power for the human race is probably unfathomable, but nearly infinitely describable, including: No green house gasesThe hydrogen economy.
1. The elimination of nuclear power plants.
2. Electric cars with no emissions and other transportations.
3. Electric aero planes.
4. Unlimited agriculture from electric agro-lights. Production can become volumetric vice area limited, further postponing Malthus effects.
5. The largest possible scale for energy production ergo least cost.
6. Waste disposal reduced to near zero.
7. Industrial production with only carbon, water and electricity.
8. CO2 impoundment or removal for its carbon content for global climate control.
9. Oxygen supplementation of the atmosphere for enhanced ozone protection of earth.
10. Population explosion from all of the foregoing.
11. Focused power into space.

Conclusions: Unlimited power from continental drift for the human race contains the essentials for future growth and sustainability of the race.

Some Practical Considerations:
(more…)

In an economic unit (like the USA) the employed are paid a wage. That wage is dollars/employed. In our three dimensional world the 3 dimensions are orthogonal. One can move in one direction (say x) but not simultaneously in the other two (y and z). Building or manufacturing something in space requires effort (employed) in each direction (dimension). The cost of such manufacture is the wage rate (i.e employed)*(volume of production, i.e. the product of effort in the x direction * effort in the y direction * effort in the z direction).

Cost therefore is Employed*Employed*Employed*Employed, or Employed^4.
Ergo, GDP=k*Employed^4.

Half Order reactions and Scale determine economics:
1. The order of a reaction, like the hydroformylation of a double bond with a Rhodium triphenyl phosphine catalyst is half order, meaning that reaction rate is proportional to the square root of the catalyst concentration.
2. The investment in the reactor containing the catalyst/reaction is proportional to the cube root of the volume of the reactor. Annual costs for that reactor are proportional to it’s investment.
3. The price of Rh is relatively high ($2000/oz. in July, 2011) and if the proposed concentration in the reactor is 400 ppm, then for each carbonyl group added (H2=C=O or 30 lbs) the cost per pound of added product weight for once through use of Rh would be 2000*400*10^-6*14/30= 37.3 cents per lb.
4. An acceptable cost per pound of added product weight might be 5.0 cents per lb for catalyst cost, or nearly 10 fold lower than proposed. Rh recovery for recycle would normally be proposed.
5. Because of the reaction order and scale effect on reactor cost a preferred alternative would be to drop the Rh concentration by 100 fold while increasing the reactor volume by 10 fold.
6. Assuming a reactor investment of $1,000,000 for the 400 ppm case for 30*10^6 lbs of carbonyl with annual costs for maintainence, depreciation, taxes , insurance and other of $200,000/yr. the annual reactor cost would be 200,000*100/30,000,000=0.667 cents/lb of carbonyl. The larger reactor case would be 1.44 cents/lb of carbonyl cost.
Summary:
Case 400ppm 4ppm
Catalyst cost $/lb carbonyl 0.37 0.037
Reactor cost $/lb carbonyl 0.0067 0.0014
Sub total 0.377 0.0384

Conclusion:
The effect of scale and order combine to make an otherwise uneconomic proposal economic.

Agriculture, is primarily limited by area from the capture of the suns energy falling on earth.

While the industrial and agriculture revolutions have increased the number of dimensions being used, agriculture to date has remained limited to two dimensions and is therefore areal (n=2) not volumetric (n=3).

This limitation can be overcome by providing agro-lighting of the fields. They could/can become volumetric vice area limited. What is needed is a source for that electricity that is essentially unlimited.

One essentially unlimited source of electricity is to use continental drift as that source. As the continents move apart at a given fault line a cable across that fault can be loaded with weights and when the continents move apart the lifted weights can have their energy recovered. An accumulation of the energy of continental drift of the continents over millions of years exists in the mountains that it has built and some have been ground to dust (sand) by the winds powered by the sun and blown out to sea (e.g. off shore of the west Sahara desert of Africa). At such a place the gradient (of about 3%) down to the subduction trench can supply a head of >10,000 ft hydraulic head for a dredge supplied, reasonable length, pipeline driving a power station. All continents have such subduction trenches and gradients to them, arising from wind or water born deposits of ground up mountains, ergo the world power needs can be supplied by such.

Copyright, Donald I. Garnett, 7/11/2011, Corpus Christi, Texas.
Copyright, Donald I. Garnett, 12/6/2011, Corpus Christi, Texas.

t=time
kg=exponential growth rate constant for product or activity
n= number of dimensions of production activity, (1,2 or 3)

U. S. Patents
PAT. NO.Title
1 5,573,992 Process for the calcination/activation of V/P/O catalys
2 4,410,713 Preparation of furan compounds
3 4,278,563 Copper chloride containing catalysts
for the preparation of furan compounds
4 4,268,421 Preparation of furan compounds
5 4,243,593 Preparation of furan compounds
6 4,180,687 Reaction of formaldehyde in butynediol
7 4,172,838 Preparation of furan compounds
8 3,007,941Decarbonylation of furfural
549/505 502/243 502/330

If the result of repeated activities by mankind always results in learning, what is it that causes mankind to adopt a new learned procedure? Why does it always work no matter what the activity is? And why does it affect cost of manufacture differently for different products?

The post “The Geometry of Experience Curves” in this blog shows that the answer is: “That Men minimize their Time per unit of dimension”. Thus providing the incentive (less time spent by men) and the reason (geometry difference) for each product being different.

The geometry of experience curves can be seen on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EW1DnJg1qY

Economic hydroformylation with Rhodium