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 16

Invention Design Ideas From A Successful Businessman.

We have all been there. We have a great idea for a product, but we can’t quite get it to look how we want, or do what we want. But we keep trying.

Some people, however, go without one half of the process and their products are sometimes highly desirable and amazingly stylish - but generally they don’t last long and can damage your brand name.

Or they are fantastic at what they do and amaze all who witness their achievements - but they look like a machine rather than a work of art. There is a limit to what the general public will have in their homes or gardens, and it has nothing to do with snobbery.

So make sure you get both parts right with your inventions.

What makes a product successful?

Well, it isn’t just what it does that makes it a must have. It is the whole energy surrounding it that makes it a winner. Sometimes the design is just perfect - but if it doesn’t get into the public eye in a favourable climate, it is a loser. It needs to surprise people with its character.

Take Fair Trade for example. Noone used to pay the premium for that 20 years ago - now it couldn’t be more trendy to have your coffee and chocolate brandishing it’s fairtradeability. And Harry Potter. Noone wanted to know him the first few dozen times J K Rowling took him to the publishers.

The product also has to do everything that is expected of it - and for a very long time. If a product gets a reputation for breaking easily it could easily make it a failure. Also it needs to be easy to use - it’s no good having great technology and software if the buttons are too small for anyone to use or it only works in certain places.

Think of the problems you have with the products and technology you use, and try to overcome them. However, don’t forget that it is other people you are making this for as well. So, unless you are aiming for a niche market (narrow fitting shoes/people allergic to bee stings/underwater weddings) try to cater for everyone’s needs, specialise later if you want.

So, what makes a product iconic?

Well, this one is a bit different although still about timing to a certain degree. You need to have the product associated with something in the buyers memory, so they know and love this product by association, by memory.

Take the whole range of products being re-released now that remind everyone of their childhood/ their school days/ their mums cooking/ their granma’s kitchen. All these things are embedded in our memories as happy times so we remember those products and desire them as we get older. Think of the current sales of ‘old stuff’ on eBay at the moment. People are even buying incomplete sets and games off the Internet just to keep hold of that piece of their past.

The same thing needs to be incorporated into products being designed today. Will this stick in the mind of your customer? Will they enjoy using it? Will they like how it looks - what it does - what it represents - how it helps them? All these things will be setting the future for your product and of course your current sales.

What new technology is just around the corner?

There is lots of work at the moment with materials, which have little changed over the past decade or so. For example, there is just different types of plastic rather than a whole new concept.

Nanotechnology could soon change all of that. There is hope for some amazing new ideas and products to enter the market based on this new technology. For example, a paint containing nano particles of carbon could actually make the car it is painted onto photovoltaic - therefore able to power itself. That’s some exciting stuff to look forward to!

Based on James Dyson interview in STUFF

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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

STUFF LIVE - The UK’s Leading Technology Show

Here is your chance to see the newest technology and computer games around today.

See exclusive gadgets

Play the latest video games

Quiz the experts

Chill out in the STUFF lounge

Hear the worlds best Hi-Fi

Touch tomorrows technology

Play Guitar Hero on stage

And win loads of great prizes

All at:

ExCel, LONDON - 31 October - 2nd November 2008

Book now to avoid the queues……

WWW.STUFFLIVE.CO.UK

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?