Re: Open Source Energy Project Proposal

[Jones Beene]

Apologies for the last message somehow escaping the spell-checker, which is set to be always on - but it has its own mind towards the end of the week.   As for some more thoughts on the open source suggestion: there are (were) a few organic chemists on this forum in the past, so here is a $64 question for anyone who has looked into the sonochemistry of such things as biomass. First the setup. Nice web page on sonochemistry: http://www.scs.uiuc.edu/suslick/britannica.html Second: A primary intermediary besides ethanol and methanol is Formaldehyde - HCHO - the simplest aldehyde; melts at -92°C, boils at -21°C, and is soluble in water; a flammable, poisonous, colorless gas with a suffocating odor which most of us associate with highschool biology (early imprinting). Pure gaseous formaldehyde is uncommon, since it readily polymerizes into a plethora of chemicals based on whatever it is in contact with, including itself. One assumes that this is part of its toxicity and power as a preservative. But the interesting thing is the molecule in the context of cheap biomass and water. Look at the formula and you can see it all spelled out. Unfortunately nature is never that simple. Normal high temperature chemistry cannot convert carbon and water directly in one step into anything that does not give substantial CO or CO2. This is parasitic as very much of either of those two gases kill the economics of what is to be suggested. And even if water and biomass could yield substantial formaldehyde + ethanol - so what - what is the use? Obvious, my dear Watson. It is in the aforementioned polymerization potential. Formaldehyde combined with more biomass or with intermediates such as ethanol or whatever comes out of the sound-bath. This can equate to many valuable partially oxidized fuels, as a bulk mixture which will substitute for gasoline. Perhaps it can all be done in a single step if one can limit the CO and CO2 (parasitic) oxidation.. By the way, as to the carbon, US coal still costs under $40/ton or 2 cents a pound. How close is dry biomass to that? Cut that biomass with water and you have raw materials at an average price of under 8 cents a gallon and a wholesale value of about 20 times that much ... plus unlimited demand as it is a PC home-grown substitute for Arab oil - and the farm/forestry lobby will pounce on it like stink on a papermill. BTW the wholesale price of $3 gasoline is about $1.60 and the rest goes to taxes and some small profit at the station. Is the sonochemistry of a biomass slurry the answer to avoid CO and CO2 parasitic oxidation before you get mostly ethanol, methanol, formaldehyde, and the other liquid fuel substitutes ? Can sonochemistry be combined with electrolysis to advantage ?   Jones