Latest Inventions

posted by admin on Nov 23

BP have created a way to squeeze even more oil out of an existing oilfield - saving both them and us money.

Basically they have found a way to divert high-pressure water underground so that it only flushes out the oil rich seams rather than just flooding out through ‘empty’ cracks, routes, gaps or as they are known in the trade ‘thief zones’.

The Technique.
Many area of oil can be extracted from the ground by forcing it out with water. High pressure water is forced into one end of the oil seam and it pushes along the rock strata and out into a collecting area.

Normally the ratio of oil to water coming out is heavily in favour of water at the other end as once the water has flushed out some of the less dense areas, most of the water flows through these rather than forcing out the heavier oil-filled areas. Once the percentage of water gets to high, the land is abandoned.

What’s new?
Recently, BP in Alaska have been working on a new polymer that can actually help block off the entrance to these ‘thief zones’ making sure that the water flushes out the oil instead. This polymer expands when heated and causes a diversion - helping to retrieve more oil from the seams.

So far they have extracted half a million barrels more than existing techniques! As a result of these amazing achievements, they have started using this technique in other areas including Prudhoe Bay and Milne Point, as well as other across the globe.

In addition, you can actually change the temperature needed to create the polymer to swell allowing for all sorts of other factors to be taken in to consideration at every oil seam. These enhanced oil recovery techniques will be of great use in making better use of existing locations, saving extraction companies a fortune (and making them richer of course).

However, the opposite could happen. It could mean that smaller oilfields that were not viable for mining before by the large companies may now be plundered with this enhance technique. This could end up affecting many more regions, and possibly smaller locations much closer to towns and villages.

On a happy note:
There could be another benefit to this underground technique - BP are working on ideas to add more carbon dioxide to the water they use to flush the oils seams. Now this would mean that they would be depositing waste products underground so reducing the amount that is released into the atmosphere.

Yes, it would help to reduce their own carbon footprint, but they are not alone. The idea seems to be common knowledge and many companies and governments are hoping to pump waste gases into previously emptied oil or gas fields under the oceans.

Sounds great short term - but isn’t that like burying a body in your back yard and hoping that the next owners don’t try to build a pool……..

posted by admin on Nov 6

There is talk of another attempt to beat the land speed record.

A British team have come up with a car that has the potential to break the current land speed record of 763 miles per hour, held since 1997 by the Thrust SSC (super-sonic car).  And by some way.

The Bloodhound SSC:
Their new vehicle will apparently cover the length of a soccer pitch in the blink of an eye - literally. In one sixth of a second it would have travelled the entire distance at 1.4 times the speed of sound, and it would only take 34 seconds to travel 10 miles…..

Made from carbon fiber and precision made titanium parts, this vehicle will be assisted by not only a Typhoon jet engine, but also a Falcon Solid-Fuel rocket engine and a V12 racing engine.  The jet engine fires first getting the vehicle up to 100mph in 5 seconds, then the rocket engine takes over, powering from 300mph to over 1000mph.

It would have hit the speed of sound at 761mph, so there would have been an ear-shattering sonic boom as the car just kept on accelerating.

After having only traveled just over 1 mile, the record will have been broken and the vehicle will be coming to a stop, with the engines cut, the brakes deployed and the parachute inflated.

Why Do This? 
If successful, this record will also have overtaken the low-altitude flight speed record too - which currently stands at 994mph.

Out of the 109 years the land speed record has been contested, it has been held by the British for 65 of those.

Due to the immense forces of the speed and acceleration, the vehicle needs to withstand more pressure than a submarine - requiring the protection from forces of around 12 tonnes per square meter.  The wheels will be turning a over 10,500 revolutions per minute creating a g-force of around 50,000 times that of gravity.

When Will It Happen? 
Needless to say, the construction of such a precise machine has yet to be authorised, but if allowed, the crew are hoping to begin work next year (2009) and they hope for a world record attempt by 2011.

Who is crazy enough to drive the super sonic machine?  Who has the experience to handle such tough conditions?  Why, Andy Green - the RAF pilot who currently holds the land speed world record of course!

To see The Guardians computer generated video of the Bloodhound in action, go to their site.

posted by admin on Oct 19

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posted by admin on Oct 9

Oxfordshire in the UK could see the first commercial use of nuclear fusion to create energy.

Unlike all existing nuclear energy plants that create energy splitting particles (nuclear fission), this hoped for technology would be squashing particles together under immense pressure and temperature until they fuse together and release all their energy (nuclear fusion).

Why Fusion?
For decades science and technology experts have been working with the idea of copying the suns natural processes and to create and abundant supply of carbon-free electricity (even more important in today’s society).

Needless to say the process needs extreme heat - just like the sun itself - for this to occur and it could also be as dangerous as a normal nuclear power plant if if goes into ‘meltdown’. However, all the experts believe that this couldn’t happen - but then they go on to say that ‘if it did…..’ it would only be low-level radiation that was leaked out across the countryside! Well, they would be fools to tell us otherwise.

In addition, this method also has a much shorter life-span than contemporary reactors of only 12 years, so would need to be replaced every decade.

Is it better than existing energy-creation methods?
Previous attempts to perform nuclear fusion have actually used more energy than they managed to create, but the physicists are hopeful that they can change that in the future.

An international group headed by British scientists have put all their faith in HiPER. They believe that this ‘reactor’ will be built in the next few years and place Britain at the cutting edge of nuclear fusion research. Nuclear fission we know creates a huge amount of radioactive waste - and can be very dangerous in the event of an ‘accident’. Not so here, apparently.

Professor Mike Dunne is leading the team and hopes to create a ‘miniature sun’ here on earth - offering a solution to the worlds energy needs in the long term. He advises that this will be a source of carbon-free power which uses sea-water as its fuel - AND generates minimal radioactive waste.

Sounds perfect, doesn’t it?

posted by admin on Sep 27

We are on the verge of SmartGarments being the norm!

Apple and Nike have been cooperating on some technology that will combine their sales power with the latest technology. They are hoping to make iPods that will only work if you are wearing certain Nike clothes. After Digital Right Management went free-for-all with 7Digital, the leading companies need the ball back in their court.

This might seem like a weird venture with the intention of just selling more clothes to people, but thinking about the possibilities it offers, it’s not that bad an idea.

What are the Benefits:
Well, the basic theory for this technology at the moment is for a companion component of Apple’s iPod to be inserted into a piece of Nike footwear and possibly clothes.

The software in this component would enable the ‘wearer’ to monitor their athletic performance, such as tracking their heart rate or counting the distance travelled in a set time. Great for athletes who are serious about their performance and to improve their achievements.

There is also talk for the software to be able to act almost like a GPS cross SatNav, allowing the runner/walker/rower to be alerted as to the best route to an endpoint or specific location such as a restaurant or scenic route.

There is even talk of this component being able to warn the wearer of damage to the sports shoes or other equipment which could affect performance or safety.

Great idea in my book - especially if you are serious about your outdoor pursuits.

What are the arguments against:
Well, the main concern is the exclusivity of the whole deal - basically you can’t get the software to work unless you have purchased certain items of clothing. You are almost being forced to buy certain products that you may not otherwise have purchased.

In theory wouldn’t need to buy these exact clothes and an iPod if you were going to use a standard mp3 player of your choice with separate pedometer and heart rate monitor and when you also carried around a GPS phone or SatNav gadget and did it all yourself.

I’m afraid that this attitude is a bit narrow minded in my eyes, as we are always made to buy the exact equipment that inventors invent otherwise they wouldn’t make any money from their efforts and wouldn’t bother inventing a whole host of other great stuff.

Can you imagine a world where Ford made parts that fitted a Volkwagen, Nokia made phone components that fitted onto a Siemens handset or Boeing traded mechanical parts with Airbus? It just wouldn’t happen - so why can’t Apple and Nike make clothes that only work with their personal parts?

Why should we be able to buy cheap superstore running shoes to use with the special iPod when they haven’t contributed at all to the technological advances that made it possible?

Anyway, the chirping alarm would keep going off from the moment you put them on, to tell you that they were no good for running and the soles were too thin!

Why use cutting edge technology in cheap equipment? Would you fly for 10 hours in a ‘plane if the spare parts were all made by your local dollar store?