Nexus - 0223 - New Times Magazine-pages

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SUPERCRITICAL WATER form this sort of chemical reaction is so per square inch—more than sufficient to The war against toxic waste could be promising it has attracted the attention of propel the largest ocean steamer afloat or to won with a simple ingredient—water. the Pentagon. The US Department of move eighty laden freight cars in one train. Supercritical water, that is. Unbeknown to Defense and Department of Energy have The machine seems to be simply an air most, water can exist in a fourth state of funded over a dozen projects with a view to compressor of the simplest sort. matter apart from as 4 liquid, solid (ice) or commercialising the technology. It consists of one small cylinder (six gas (steam). It can be a supercritical fluid Participants include General Atomics horsepower), with a balance weight of 75 with some interesting properties, e.g., it Corporation, San Diego, California; Eco pounds, which runs the entire apparatus; will mix with oil, and it causes salts to set- Waste Technologies of Austin, Texas; and another small cylinder, five inches in diam- tle out of solution. Even more amazing, Modell Development Corporation, eter, with seven inches stroke, compresses the supercritical water can cause substances Framingham, Massachusetts. the air into the tank from which the power containing hydrogen and carbon to 'bum' Supercritical water technology has __ is utilised. without creating smoke or other lethal potential in the safe disposal of chemical Under the piston plate the inventor has residues. weapons, €.g., nerve gas, in purifying waste placed two layers of bars containing eleven It was a French scientist, Baron Charles water discharged from sewage plants, and different minerals, the magnetic influence Cagniard de la Tour, who mixed the first in toxic waste destruction where conven- of which is the secret of the inventor. batch of supercritical fluid in 1821 by heat- tional incineration methods leave residual The advantages he claims are durability, ing water in a pressure cooker made froma__ toxins. economy and simplicity. Experts have sealed cannon barrel. He noticed that as (Source: From James Wilson, Qutrider cxamined the machine and pronounce it a the water reached a certain temperature, it Report, jimwils@aol.com(JimWils), 6 success. stopped sloshing when he rocked the can- August 1994, via NEXUS OnLine!) In submitting his design to the govern- non. The water was too hot to stay liquid, ments named, Mr Timmis claims that the and the pressure too high for the water to WHATEVER HAPPENED TO...? pneumatic generator can not only be become a gas—thus it became ‘supercriti- Several newspapers have referred to a applied to war vessels as a motor, but can cal’, new invention by one William Timmis, be used as a defence against hostile attacks Today, the little-known properties of which, if successful, will revolutionise by means of air chambers placed behind supercritical water are being rescarched by motive power. the armour plating. scientist Jurgen Steinle in his basement lab- The inventor is an unpretentious English (Source: Scientific American, 4 August oratory at the University of Karlsruhe in mechanic residing in Pittsburg, PA, who 1888, page 69; taken from KeelyNet BBS via Germany. One of Steinle's experiments claims to have invented a machine by NEXUS OnLine!) involves using a steel reaction vessel, really which untold motive — a commercial-style pressure cooker, fitted power can be stored : ; with a porthole-type lid, and positioned used without the Sundial Vandalism inside an explosion-proof test chamber as expenditure of fucl. . O- far an extra precaution. The story goes that - ‘ er Jurgen Stcinle has shown that supercriti- he has been engaged cal properties emerge when the temperature for two years in per- inside the vessel is increased to 705° fecting the invention, Fahrenheit, and the pressure reaches 3,200 and is now negotiat- pounds per square inch. ing with the govern- In Steinle's experiment, the reaction ves- ments of England, sel is filled with a mix of 70 per cent water Russia, and the and 30 per cent methane, the main ingredi- United States for the ent of natural gas. Next, commercial-grade sale of the right to use oxygen is injected into the chamber his discovery which, through a line and valve. The result isajet if after examination of smokeless blue flame which bums fora proves to be what he few seconds, then slowly shrinks and dis- claims, will revolu- appears. However, after cooling, analysis tionise the motive of a water sample reveals no trace of powers of the world. methane whatsoever, All that remains is He claims to be pure water and carbon dioxide. able to create a pres- The ability of supercritical water to per- sure of 20,000 pounds success. In submitting his design to the govern- ments named, Mr Timmis claims that the pneumatic generator can not only be applied to war vessels as a motor, but can be used as a defence against hostile attacks by means of air chambers placed behind the armour plating. (Source: Scientific American, 4 August 1888, page 69; taken from KeelyNet BBS via NEXUS OnLine!) NEXUS ¢ 53 SUPERCRITICAL WATER DECEMBER 1994 - JANUARY 1995