From the alternative
fuels file -- Chew Chew is a 12-wheeled robot completely powered by food. The
"gastrobot," which made its public debut in August at a robotics conference in
Hawaii, is based on research dating back to the 1930s that explores the production of
energy from food. Chew Chew's "stomach" is a microbial fuel cell (MFC), a device
that uses a population of bacteria (in this case E. coli) to break down food and
convert chemical energy into electricity. Chew Chew only eats sugar cubes because these
are almost entirely broken down by the microbes. The microbes produce enzymes that break
down carbohydrates. "Every time you break a large molecule like glucose into smaller
molecules you release electrons," says inventor Dr. Stuart Wilkinson of the
University of South Florida in Tampa. These electrons are harnessed to charge a battery by
a reduction and oxidation (redox) reaction. Wilkinson says that the gastrobot is analogous
to digestion in mammals since an equivalent lung, heart and gastric pump are all necessary
for successful energy extraction. Typical output of the cell using pure glucose as a fuel
is around 1W per liter of "stomach contents," and a single cell produces
anywhere from 0.5 to 0.9V, depending on the organism and mediator used. Early applications
for gastrobots may include lawnmowing, using the grass clippings for fuel.
Free Info - Circle 400
An
update -- back in May 1996, we reported on this page the successful demonstration of a
200 hp motor that used high-temperature superconductor (HTS) technology. The latest
version, successfully run this July, is a commercial-scale unit rated at 1,000 hp. Instead
of copper wires on the rotating shaft, the HTS wires used, produced by American
Superconductor Corp., Westborough, MA, are made from a ceramic compound. "Our HTS
wires not only operate with higher electrical efficiency, they are able to carry more than
100 times the power of copper wires with the same dimensions," said Greg Yurek, chief
executive of American Superconductor. "The higher power density of HTS wires makes
the global industrial motor business increasingly profitable through reductions in
manufacturing costs by 25 to 40 percent. These cost decreases are achieved through the
implementation of innovative designs and size reductions -- up to a factor of three in the
size of industrial motors -- all made possible by HTS technology." The 1,000 hp HTS
motor was developed with Rockwell Automation under the DOE's Superconductivity Partnership
Initiative. A 5,000 hp HTS ultra-compact motor should be ready for testing in Spring 2001,
and American Superconductor is also working under a U.S. Navy contract on design concepts
for 33,000 hp ship propulsion motors.
From the alternative
fuels file -- Chew Chew is a 12-wheeled robot completely powered by food. The
"gastrobot," which made its public debut in August at a robotics conference in
Hawaii, is based on research dating back to the 1930s that explores the production of
energy from food. Chew Chew's "stomach" is a microbial fuel cell (MFC), a device
that uses a population of bacteria (in this case E. coli) to break down food and
convert chemical energy into electricity. Chew Chew only eats sugar cubes because these
are almost entirely broken down by the microbes. The microbes produce enzymes that break
down carbohydrates. "Every time you break a large molecule like glucose into smaller
molecules you release electrons," says inventor Dr. Stuart Wilkinson of the
University of South Florida in Tampa. These electrons are harnessed to charge a battery by
a reduction and oxidation (redox) reaction. Wilkinson says that the gastrobot is analogous
to digestion in mammals since an equivalent lung, heart and gastric pump are all necessary
for successful energy extraction. Typical output of the cell using pure glucose as a fuel
is around 1W per liter of "stomach contents," and a single cell produces
anywhere from 0.5 to 0.9V, depending on the organism and mediator used. Early applications
for gastrobots may include lawnmowing, using the grass clippings for fuel.