BILLW@SRI-AI.ARPA (02/24/84)
From: William "Chops" Westfield <BILLW@SRI-AI.ARPA>
a066 23-Feb-84 14:54
BC-PATENTS ADV25
(For release on Saturday, Feb. 25)
By STACY V. JONES
c.1984 N.Y. Times News Service
WASHINGTON - The holder of a number of patents on charged aerosol
power systems has invented, with federal support, what he calls an
incredible power fence, capable of supplying cheap electricity over
wide areas.
Alvin M. Marks, president of Advanced Research Development, Inc., in
Athol, Mass., was granted patent 4,433,248 this week for a power
generator that employs charged aerosols, wind, solar energy, and
gravitation. The development was supported with a total of about
$300,000 by the National Science Foundation, the Department of
Energy, and the Solar Energy Research Institute.
Solar energy is used to distill water and send the steam to a tank
atop the fence, where it condenses. Gravity moves the water; under
pressure, it forms the charged aerosols, which are then blown by the
wind to create electric power. Marks calculates that a fence one
kilometer ( 5/8 of a mile) long and about 300 feet high would, with a
wind of 12 miles an hour, provide 25 million watts. The construction
cost including towers and supporting cable is estimated at $10
million, but the electric power is expected to cost only one cent per
kilowatt hour. He expects commercial use of the invention to start in
about a year. His earlier charged aerosol inventions have so far been
used chiefly in air purification.
Commercial rights are available in the United States and Western
Europe through Advanced Research Development, Inc. Marks has donated
rights to this and other energy-related patents through the World
Energy Foundation for free use by developing countries. He was
formerly president of the Marks Polarized Corp. in Whitestone, N.Y.,
which operated in the field of three-dimensional motion pictures,
using his inventions.
...
-------jonab@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Jonathan Biggar) (02/24/84)
In article <16843@sri-arpa.UUCP> BILLW@SRI-AI.ARPA writes: > Solar energy is used to distill water and send the steam to a tank >atop the fence, where it condenses. Gravity moves the water; under >pressure, it forms the charged aerosols, which are then blown by the >wind to create electric power. Marks calculates that a fence one >kilometer ( 5/8 of a mile) long and about 300 feet high would, with a >wind of 12 miles an hour, provide 25 million watts. Just what is going to happen to birds that fly into this 300 foot rainstorm of charged droplets? (Crispy critters. :-}) Second, what is going to happen in the first big electrical storm? Doesn't 300 feet make a good height for a lightning rod? Jon Biggar {allegra,burdvax,cbosgd,hplabs,ihnp4,sdccsu3,trw-unix}!sdcrdcf!jonab
KIRK.TYM%OFFICE-2@sri-unix.UUCP (02/25/84)
From: Kirk Kelley <KIRK.TYM@OFFICE-2> I wonder how much would it cost to build one of these fences for the modest needs of one family. Or if it requires the quoted huge dimentions to work. Also, are there positive or negative ions as a by-product? -- kirk