Pollution Engineering - January 2009 - (Page 19)

ver the past year, the staff here at Pollution Engineering has kept its collective eyes out for descriptions of new technologies that could help improve our environment and our lives. This year, there was a huge emphasis on energy-related ideas. Solar panels were mounted over parking lots, cemeteries and even on floating man-made islands. Windmills spilled into our waterways and off our shores. The blades were redesigned so that the machines could safely be placed on rooftops of high-rise buildings and not be overwhelmed structurally by the forces they tried to harness. Two large solar farms were constructed to focus the sun’s rays to superheat water. Engineers in 2008 built walls that can clean the air o contact, or generate elecon tricity as the sun shines on the building. They placed windows that can be pla transparent or opaque on command. The o search for ene energy took us from the depths of the oceans to the stratosphere. There were also a few that raised eyebrows. One m machine claimed it could be started and would continue to produce w power with no external energy source. Upon closer e examination, we determined that it only w worked as long as a battery was connected to it. One fellow wanted to attach large-diameter pipes to high-rise buildings or on the sides of mountains. His idea was that the air was colder and would naturally fall down the pipe where it could drive a turbine. Not every idea becomes technology. But there is a point in the evolution of everything that works when once it did not, and such advancements may never have taken another step were it not for dedicated inventors who refused to give up. It is in honor of these visionaries that we present the 10 technologies that PE’s editors think could have an affect on this industry in 2009 and beyond. They are not presented in any particular order and the magazine makes no claims on any of their capabilities. Some are ready for production, others barely past theory. But these O 10 inventions will be worth keeping an eye on this year. 2. Power to the Neighborhoods Another way to control CO2 emissions would be to not produce any. A company named Hyperion suggests they may be able to provide nuclear energy to neighborhoods of 20,000 average-size American homes or the industrial equivalent. Their solution is a small nuclear facility. The main reactor is buried deep underground. There are no moving parts and no maintenance required. The unit is secure as there is no access; it can remain thus sealed for 10 or more years. The pumps and generators are located aboveground for easy access. Such small-scale nuclear power has been used to drive Navy submarines and warships for many years without incidence, lending credibility to the concept. Security would be easier than defending a large facility with huge stacks. 1. Capturing CO2 With national carbon control on the horizon, new technology for the capture CO2 has been in high demand. Two new technologies on this front have stood out. The first comes from the Georgia Institute of Technology, which in 2008 announced a new material that will provide a low-cost method of capturing CO2 from smokestacks of coal-fired power plants. The material is called hyerbranched aminosilica and was detailed in the Journal of the American Chemical Society on March 19, 2008. The material is not difficult to manufacture. Tests showed it was able to adsorb the gas at temperatures between 50° and 75°C. It can be regenerated by heating it to between 100° and 120°C. The gas could then be stored deep in the ocean, or in abandoned coal mines or empty petroleum reservoirs. 3. Are You Using that Ocean? Japanese scientists are working on a design for massive floating power generators. A group from Kyushu University is exploring the use of huge cleantech generators that would float at sea. The rigs would incorporate massive photovoltaic generators and turbines, and could generate as much power as a nuclear facility according to scientists on the project. At 2 kilometers by 800 meters, the massive flowats would each generate about 300 megawatts of electricity. The rigs would have the dual purpose as de-facto nurseries for seaweed and algae; LEDs would shine light into the seawater, stimulating the growth of aquatic plant forms, which in turn absorb CO2 and attract fish and plankton. Graduate student Jeffrey Drese displays a tubular reactor filled with the hyperbranched aminosilica adsorbent dispersed in sand. The reactor is used to test the new material for its ability to capture CO2. The second interesting item is a rock called peridotite. It is commonly located in the Earth’s mantle. Scientists from Columbus University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York say that they only need to bore down to this layer and inject heated water containing pressurized CO2. The rock naturally reacts with the gas to form a solid carbonate similar to limestone or marble. JANUARY2009 www.pollutionengineering.com 19 http://www.pollutionengineering.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Pollution Engineering - January 2009

Pollution Engineering - January 2009 Contents The Editor’s Desk EnviroNews PE Events Legal Lookout Green Connections Ten Top Technologies for 2009 Old Fashioned Chemistry Emitting Education NGWA Reports from Its Annual Meeting A Wood and a Pond Company Technical Profiles Filtration/Membrane Products Flow and Level Monitoring Equipment Classified Marketplace Advertisers Index State Rules

Pollution Engineering - January 2009

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.