Ex NASA Engineer, Super Soaker Inventor Touts Solid State Heat-2-Power
Ex NASA Engineer, Super Soaker Inventor Touts Solid State Heat-2-Power
10th January 2008
A former NASA engineer, most famous for inventing the noted "Super Soaker" squirtguns, may be on the track of a radical new energy technology which could have important implications for power generation.
Popular Mechanics reports that Lonnie Johnson, late of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, believes he may be able to hugely increase the efficiency of converting heat into electricity. Dubbed the Johnson Thermoelectric Energy Conversion system, it's a "solid-state engine" which uses temperature differences to drive a closed hydrogen loop in which protons move across a membrane. This generates electricity, drawing energy efficiently from the heat source. Johnson thinks it will easily scale up to the megawatt range.
Full story
10th January 2008
A former NASA engineer, most famous for inventing the noted "Super Soaker" squirtguns, may be on the track of a radical new energy technology which could have important implications for power generation.
Popular Mechanics reports that Lonnie Johnson, late of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, believes he may be able to hugely increase the efficiency of converting heat into electricity. Dubbed the Johnson Thermoelectric Energy Conversion system, it's a "solid-state engine" which uses temperature differences to drive a closed hydrogen loop in which protons move across a membrane. This generates electricity, drawing energy efficiently from the heat source. Johnson thinks it will easily scale up to the megawatt range.
Full story
PermaLink - Ex NASA Engineer, Super Soaker Inventor Touts Solid State Heat-2-Power
