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on December 7th, 2011% ![]() ADDITIONAL AQUATHERM SOLAR POOL HEATERS RECEIVE NSF-50Still the first and only manufacturer of solar in the U.S. to be NSF-50 listed.
Swimmers at the Terravita Golf Community in Arizona enjoying the free warmth of their solar heater.
Lakewood, NJ – June 20, 2011 – Aquatherm Industries, manufacturer of solar thermal heating systems for swimming pools, has announced its Sunlite and Ecolite products have passed the strict testing criteria set forth by the National Sanitation Foundation and are now NSF-50 listed.
The standard, which is required by most U.S. states, concerns the safety, durability and toxicity of products that are used in public or commercial swimming pools, spas and other recreational water facilities like water parks.
“The certification of Aquatherm helps assure homeowners and operators at recreational water facilities that their passive solar radiant heaters are free from unacceptable levels of contaminants and perform and continue to perform effectively under the intended use conditions,” said Dave Purkiss, General Manager for NSF International’s Water Treatment and Distribution program.
Certification testing includes: material safety, corrosion resistance, design and construction, product marking, dimensional testing, hydrostatic pressure testing at 1.5x the working pressure, design burst pressure testing at 2.0x the working pressure, head loss or pressure loss testing, 20,000 cycle high/low pressure testing, high temperature burst pressure safety testing, marking, and labeling requirements.
“Now, more than ever, pool owners need to be assured that the only byproduct of their solar pool heater is warmer water and a longer swimming season,” said Dave Sizelove, Aquatherm’s President & CEO. “With the addition of Sunlite and Ecolite, all Aquatherm products are now listed NSF-50, which means we can provide that piece of mind.”
At the time of this release, Aquatherm is still the first and only manufacturer to receive NSF-50 certification for solar pool heating systems.
Aquatherm Industries is the largest manufacturer of solar pool heating systems in the United States, with a management team consisting of over 100-years combined experience. Aquatherm manufactures several of the industry’s leading brands of solar pool heating collectors, including the Solar Industries and Ecosun collectors. for more information on Aquatherm Industries, its products or its dealer network, contact Molly Friar, Aquatherm’s Sales & Marketing Manager at 1-800-535-6307, extension 226 or by email at mfriar@warmwater.com.
on December 6th, 2011% ![]()
GOSHEN – Goshen College students need more sunny days this year because they are hoping to heat the water at the campus REC center by using sunshine.
This has been in the works for the past three years now. Students helped design and build most of the project themselves.
Right now, solar energy is only going to be used to heat the showers at the REC center but students and teachers say they want this to catch on throughout campus and around the world.
“the aim of this is to replace the use of natural gas, which would normally be used in a boiler to heat the water,” said John Buschert, a physics professor at Goshen College. “Instead, we are heating it from solar energy.”
The way it works is tubes absorb heat from the sun and heat up the water. the hot water, which can reach temperatures of 150 to 180 degrees, is stored in a giant outdoor tank.
The system can be used year round and has the ability to store heat for three to four days, so even on cloudy days the showers will still be warm. the gas boiler can be used as a backup in extreme cases. the idea is to replace natural gas but more importantly have less of an impact on the environment.
“it is not a particularly good time economically to do it. We are not going to make money on this system in any sense,” said Buschert. “but we are going to reduce the amount of carbon we are putting into the atmosphere.”
Today, it starts at the REC center at Goshen College but tomorrow it can be the world.
on December 6th, 2011% ![]()
When most people think about solar energy, they think about using it to power light switches, televisions, and various other electronics. have you ever thought about using solar to create homemade heating? Solar energy can be used to heat the very home you live in. With rising heating costs for those in colder climates, this may seem like a dream come true.
Homemade heating is becoming more popular for those in colder climates. However, your home itself isn’t the only thing that requires heating. You also use heat for any hot water you use in your home. Solar power can be used to heat almost anything.
If you have a furnace that uses natural gas as a way of heating your home, you will need to make an investment in an electric furnace in order to use solar power. the average family in colder climates spends over $2,000 a year heating their home with natural gas. when you cut that bill out completely, you will save several hundreds of dollars every month. That money can be used to do something else like save up for a vacation or a new vehicle.
Using solar power to heat your home is the best thing you can do for yourself and the environment. You can enjoy the idea that you are not making a large ecological footprint, and at the same time your finances will be thanking you. Eliminating both your power and your heating bill means you can be more self sufficient.
Homemade heating can change your life. With the money you will save, you can live more comfortably than you did while you were having to pay those obscenely high power and heating bills. Because solar energy is a renewable source, you will never have to worry about it running out.
on December 6th, 2011% ![]()
Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ:CECO) percentage change dropped -0.82%, to close at $7.30 and its overall traded volume was 1.69M shares during the last session against its average volume of 2.55M. CECO shares were trading within the range of $7.25-$7.48 while its opening price was $7.45. The 52-week range of the stock is $6.84-$27.60. at current market price, the market capitalization of the company stands at $553.74M and it has 75.85M outstanding shares.
Career Education Corporation (CEC), through colleges, schools and universities that are part of the CEC family, offers education to a diverse student population of over 116,000 students in a variety of career-oriented disciplines. It has more than 90 campuses that serve these students are located throughout the United States and in France, Italy and the United Kingdom and Monaco. Its institutions includes American InterContinental University (AIU), Brooks Institute; Colorado Technical University (CTU), Harrington College of Design, INSEEC Group (INSEEC) Schools, International University of Monaco (IUM), International Academy of Design & Technology (IADT), Istituto Marangoni, Le Cordon Bleu North America (LCB), and Sanford-Brown Institutes and Colleges. CEC organized its businesses across four segments: University, Health Education, Culinary Arts and International. On April 15, 2010, it acquired IUM, an international business university. In November 2011, it sold Istituto Marangoni.Tellabs, Inc. (NASDAQ:TLAB) moved up 2.22%, to close at $4.14 and its overall traded volume was 2.87M shares during the last session the stock had average daily volume of 4.17M shares. TLAB opened the day at $3.99, it made an intraday low of $3.98 and an intraday high of $4.15. The 52-week range of the stock is $3.67-$7.31. at current market price, the market capitalization of the company stands at $1.51B and it has 364.95M outstanding shares.Tellabs, Inc. is engaged in designing and marketing equipment and services to communications services providers. The Company’s products and services enable its customers to deliver wireline and wireless voice, data and video services to business and residential customers. It sells its products domestically and internationally through its field sales force and distributors/partners. The Company’s customers are primarily communication services providers, including local exchange carriers (LECs), global wireline and wireless service providers, multiple system operators (MSOs) and competitive service providers (CSPs). Its customer base also includes distributors, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), system integrators and government agencies. The Company operates in three segments: Broadband, Transport and Services.Capstone Turbine Corporation (NASDAQ:CPST) soared 8.65%, to close at $1.13 and its overall traded volume was 5.90M shares during the last session the stock had average daily volume of 2.74M shares. CPST opened at $1.09 and is trading within the range of $1.07-$1.13. The stock has a 52 week low of $0.74 and 52 week high of $2.14. The market capitalization of the company stands at $293.52M and it has 259.75M outstanding shares.Capstone Turbine Corporation (Capstone) develops, manufactures, markets and services microturbine technology solutions for use in stationary distributed power generation applications, including cogeneration (combined heat and power (CHP), integrated combined heat and power (ICHP), and combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP)), resource recovery and secure power. In addition, Capstone microturbines can be used as battery charging generators for hybrid electric vehicle applications. Microturbines allow customers to produce power on-site in parallel with the electric grid or stand alone when no utility grid is available. there are several technologies that are used to provide on-site power generation (also called distributed generation), such as reciprocating engines, solar power, wind powered systems and fuel cells. In January 2011, the Company expanded the FPP to include total microturbine plant operations.Natus Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:BABY) fell -0.12%, to close at $8.32 and its overall traded volume was 140,747.00 shares during the last session with the total traded volume of 204,594.00 shares. BABY opened the day at $8.45, it made an intraday low of $8.22 and an intraday high of $8.45. The 52-week range of the stock is $7.43-$17.50. at current market price, the market capitalization of the company stands at $243.86M and it has 29.31M outstanding shares.Natus Medical Incorporated (Natus) is a provider of healthcare products used for the screening, detection, treatment, monitoring and tracking of common medical ailments in newborn care, hearing impairment, neurological dysfunction, epilepsy, sleep disorders, and balance and mobility disorders. The Company’s product offerings include computerized neurodiagnostic systems for audiology, neurology, polysomnography, and neonatalogy, as well as newborn care products, such as hearing screening systems, phototherapy devices for the treatment of newborn jaundice, head-cooling products for the treatment of brain injury in newborns, incubators to control the newborn’s environment, and software systems for managing and tracking disorders and diseases for public health laboratories. Natus categorizes its products into three categories: Hearing, Neurology and Newborn Care. In October 2010, it acquired Medix I.C.S.A. (Medix).Verisign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) gained 0.84%, to close at $33.70 and its overall traded volume was 1.55M shares during the last session the stock had average daily volume of 1.70M shares. VRSN opened the day at $34.16, it made an intraday low of $33.62 and an intraday high of $34.33. The 52-week range of the stock is $27.00-$37.73. at current market price, the market capitalization of the company stands at $5.36B and it has 159.07M outstanding shares.VeriSign, Inc. is a provider of Internet infrastructure services. It provides domain name registry services and infrastructure assurance services. Its business consists of Naming Services segment, which consists of Registry Services and Network Intelligence and Availability (NIA) Services. Registry Services operates the authoritative directory of all .com, .net, .cc, .tv, and .name domain names and the back-end systems for all .jobs and .edu domain names. NIA Services provides infrastructure assurance to organizations and is consisted of Verisign iDefense Security Intelligence Services, Managed Domain Name System Services and Distributed Denial of Service mitigation. On August 9, 2010, it sold its Authentication Services business, which included Business Authentication Services, User Authentication Services and its investment in VeriSign Japan K.K. In November 2010, it ceased the operations of its Content Portal Services business.
on December 6th, 2011% ![]()
Compared to gas and heat pump pool heaters, installing a solar pool heater is now the most practical way keeping your pool water at the right temperature year round. given that your pool enjoys 4 to 5 sun hours per day, a solar pool heating system is very much feasible. Depending on your home’s location, a good solar power-operated pool heating system allows you to extend swimming seasons for up to twelve months. While it costs a substantial amount of money to get installed, it has absolutely has operating cost. it does no use fuel which means no pollution. Another great thing about a solar pool heater us that it can last up to 20 years, comes with a 10-year manufacturer’s warranty, with minimal maintenance required.
While there is solar heater equipment that you can buy for a couple hundred bucks, the overall cost of installing a complete solar pool heater system for an average size of pool can cost up to $3,000. despite the high cost of installation, it saves much on its operating and maintenance costs. To understand the savings that this type of water heater yields, you must first understand how the system works.
All solar pool heater system works with a solar collector, filter, pump and flow control valve. it operates under simple mechanisms. first, the water is pumped from the pool to the solar collectors where the water is warmed by the sun. the warm water is then pumped back into the pool for your enjoyment. the solar collector refers to the device through which the pool water is delivered and heated using solar energy, the filter traps the debris carried by the water through the pumps, the pump provides the force that drives the water into the from the pool, into the collector, and back to the pool. the flow control valve is an automatic or manual device that regulates and diverts the flow of pool water to the solar collector.
A solar pool heater works with two types of solar collectors; the unglazed and glazed pool heating collector. an unglazed solar pool heating collector is less expensive than the glazed collectors since it does not use glass covering. Instead, it used heavy-duty rubber and plastic protectors that are treated for ultraviolet (UV) protection. it works great on indoor pools during the cold climates. on the other hand, the glazed solar pool water heating collector are made with copper tubing on aluminum plates with iron-tempered glass covering, which somewhat increases its cost. During cold weather applications, it captures solar heat more effectively than the unglazed collector. Therefore, it is more effectively when it comes to year-round pool heating operations and can work under any climate conditions. usually, the service life of these collectors would depend on the climate and how tedious it is used in solar heating applications. Both the unglazed and unglazed collectors have freeze protection which is useful during extremely cold.
Although solar pool heating systems are pretty much ideal for all types of pool, there are some factors that must be considered before deciding to install one in your very own swimming pool, since a system costs a substantial amount of money. the actual cost of the system,installation, and its payback period would depend on many factors. With that, try to evaluate your pool site’s solar resource. Solar heaters are usually energy efficient and low maintenance but it will do no good without sufficient exposure to sunlight. also, have its actual size measured to buy a heating system that is proportionate to its size. Determine the working efficiency of the solar pool heater that you intend to buy. then compare the system costs of the heater systems that you intend to buy and consult a trained solar technician for advice and additional information. After doing you homework you should end up with the most effective solar pool heater and be on your way to substantial long term savings.
on December 5th, 2011% ![]()
With the Mepa board deciding tomorrow on the IPPC permit of the new (BWSC) extension to the Delimara power station (MCC at 10am), attention in past few days has been split between the issues connected to the BWSC plant and its use of heavy fuel oil and a proposal by Norwegian company Sargas to create electricity by capturing all flue gases from the Delimara plants and capturing carbon dioxide for export.
This proposal is known as ?carbon capture and storage?.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a range of technologies that hold the promise of trapping up to 90% of the carbon dioxide emissions from power stations and industrial sites. It involves collecting, transporting and then burying the CO2 so that it does not escape into the atmosphere and contribute to climate change.
There are three main techniques:
The post-combustion process involves scrubbing the power plant?s exhaust gas using chemicals.
Pre-combustion CCS takes place before the fuel is placed in the furnace by first converting coal into a clean-burning gas and stripping out the CO2 released by the process.
The third method, oxyfuel, burns the coal in an atmosphere with a higher concentration of pure oxygen, resulting in an exhaust gas that is almost pure CO2.
Once the CO2 has been trapped, it is liquefied, transported ? sometimes for several hundred miles ? and buried, either in suitable geological formations, deep underground saline aquifers or disused oil fields. the last method is often used in a process called ?enhanced oil recovery?, where CO2 is pumped into an oil field to force out the remaining pockets of oil that would otherwise prove difficult to extract.
The technology is not cheap ? up to 40 per cent of a power station?s energy could end up being used to run the CCS scrubbing and transport systems and experts estimate the average cost of retro-fitting Britain?s aged power stations at about ?1bn each. Pipes to transport the CO2 to suitable burial sites could cost ?1m per mile. the oldest power stations may end up being uneconomical to refit.
All the components of CCS have used by oil companies and chemical engineering plants for decades. But, so far, only a small pilot project at Vatenfall?s Schwarze Pumpe power station in northern Germany has connected all the different stages of the CCS chain together. the pilot is an oxyfuel boiler that can generate 30MW of heat and around 12MW of electricity.
But the proposal made locally by Norwegian company Sargas has attracted opposing views.
On the one hand, an expert in renewable energy said: ?It is another expensive scam. you cannot burn a mixture of oil, coal and biomass (where is that to come from?) without the release of carbon dioxide. Yes, they can clean up the particulates − carbon, sulphates etc, but this is normally done in any modern power station and does not need to be floating anywhere.
?The proposed plant will certainly produce more carbon dioxide than a pure gas plant.
?The scam part is that the EU considers the burning of biomass to be alternative energy on the basis that the biomass is renewable, though there have recently been calculations showing this not true − you can burn a tree in minutes in such a plant but it then takes 10 years to replace! I assume that they are intending to import wood from Norway to fuel this plant but that would be expensive. if they want a low cost floating power plant we can find them a ?cheap? redundant Russian nuclear submarine!
?The real answer is for the Malta government to recognise that the whole carbon dioxide scam is a fraud that is in its death throes so they should not take any decisions on alternate energy but go ahead with the cheapest source which will be natural gas from fracking that the world is swimming in and so will be at a low price for the next several hundred years.?
On the other hand, Tolga Temuge, formerly of BirdLife Malta, had this to say: ?It is misleading to call this technology a ?zero-emission? technology. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) involves capturing of global warming gas carbon dioxide (CO2) and other toxic substances and then ?storing? (dumping) it somewhere else, for example in the oil fields in the ocean.
?Leakage is a serious environmental concern and long-term leakage rates could also cancel out any climate benefit, as does the increased energy requirements of CCS technology.
?Additionally, the captured CO2 needs to be transported to its storage and CO2 emitting fuel is burned for this transportation.
?In a nutshell, this technology provides more benefits to the dirty coal industry than it does to climate. Coal is the most polluting fossil fuel, and it is misleading to attempt to refer to it as ?clean? energy.
?CCS focus is all wrong. European governments need to focus on energy efficiency and investments in renewables such as solar and wind.
?In Malta?s case, it is clear that Malta will fall behind its set goal of reaching 10 per cent renewable energy production by 2020. By extending the Delimara power plant the government is already investing in polluting technology by opting for heavy fuel oil. Sargas?s CCS technology however does not seem to be an alternative to this extension but rather an alternative to the planned gas pipeline.
?And the company?s claim that its technology will be cheaper seems like the argument is a matter of choosing the less costly alternative between CCS and gas pipeline, which has got nothing to do with addressing the climate change problem by investing in renewable energy technologies.?
The largest carbon capture and storage pilot plant fitted to a live power station in the UK opened last month, at a coal-fired plant in Yorkshire.
The equipment will trap some of the exhaust fumes produced by the Ferrybridge plant, operated by Scottish and Southern Energy.
The development is a welcome one for the fledgling CCS industry, which has suffered major blows recently. Last week, Chancellor George Osborne postponed the ?1 billion funding promised by the government for a full-scale pilot plant, saying it could not be awarded on an ?unrealistic timescale?. On Monday, his fellow Treasury minister Danny Alexander said it would not be awarded until the next Parliament, ie 2015.
That followed the collapse of the proposal at the Longannet power station in Scotland. ?The development of viable carbon capture technology is central to the UK?s climate change and energy security objectives,? said Ian Marchant, SSE chief executive. ?We believe pilot projects such as this will be crucial in establishing when and how the technology can be developed.? Marchant added that CCS plants would also be needed on gas-fired power stations, which SSE is in the early stages of planning at a site in Peterhead, Scotland.
Several of the highest profile CCS projects have already been scrapped, including the Longannet plant which had been frontrunner in the competition, leaving a handful of less advanced proposals still under consideration.
on December 4th, 2011% ![]()
Bill Lauer: Medical marijuana proponents should considerimpact on those with addictions
Dear Editor: Until proponents of medical marijuana address keyconflicts, the bill should not progress. While marijuana has itsmedical benefits, it is poison to many us that suffer from thedisease of addiction. I am not arguing if marijuana is addictive ornot. I am saying that marijuana use is intertwined with alcohol andother drug abuse to the point that smelling marijuana is a triggerfor other addictive behaviors.
Smoking or growing marijuana is not limited to an individual’senvironment. the smell, which is a trigger for many addicts,permeates a much broader environment. A person smoking in theirapartment affects the entire building and the common areas. Whoserights prevail?
As a property manager and maintenance worker I have the right toa safe workplace, as evidenced by the ban on smoking in theworkplace. the smell of marijuana is more harmful to me thancigarettes. What about the person in Apartment B who is subject toApartment A’s marijuana smoke? do they have the right to live in atrigger-free environment? What about their right to peacefulenjoyment of their premises?
Imagine the impact on sober living houses. one person has aprescription for medical marijuana, and the other’s cocaine use istriggered by the smell. Whose rights prevail?
Bill Lauer
Gerri Witthuhn: Lawmakers should do their part topromote green building
Dear Editor: As temperatures make their ominous descent down thethermometer, we find ourselves cranking up the thermostat. Everydegree on that dial might as well have a dollar sign by it sinceeach blast from the furnace is sure to be costly. with Wisconsin’sunemployment rate nearly 8 percent, it’s increasingly difficult forus to pay these bills.
Passive solar heating, ENERGY STAR appliances, rainwaterharvesting and natural lighting are a few common sense solutionsthat yield huge savings. our community, its banks, and ourgovernment must support the implementation of these natural assetsand encourage the transformation of traditional building. Residingin an octagonal home while enjoying a panoramic view of a sunnysnowscape and collecting free heat from Mother Nature is a scenariothat has arrived.
Across the country, states are promoting the construction andretrofitting of buildings that are National Green Building Standardor LEED certified. If our lawmakers encourage the standards set bythese green rating systems, Wisconsin too can reap the benefits.now it’s our turn to truly tap into this resource. Let’s not getleft behind in the cold.
Gerri Witthuhn
James Leonhart: thanks to Evjue Foundation for supportof Celebrate Children Foundation
Dear Editor: As the holidays approach, we hope your readers willtake a moment to reflect on the challenges facing our community’syoungest children. Wisconsin’s child poverty rate increaseddramatically last year, from 16.7 percent in 2009 to 19.1 percentin 2010, according to the American Community Survey released Sept.22, and racial and ethnic disparities regarding poverty and incomeremain a huge issue. the Celebrate Children Foundation’s mission tosupport early childhood education and quality birth to five carebecomes increasingly more urgent in light of these trends which areexpected to continue.
CCF works to help communities throughout Wisconsin create themost effective child care and early learning systems for ourstate’s youngest children. Research confirms that more than 90percent of brain development occurs in a child’s first five years.when children are nurtured in warm, positive environments with anemphasis on good nutrition, opportunities for developingrelationships with caring people, hearing rich language andlearning through exploration, they are headed for success in schooland beyond.
We want to publicly thank the Evjue Foundation for their recentgift to support CCF’s efforts and the implementation of YoungStarin Dane County. YoungStar is Wisconsin’s innovative, quality ratingand improvement system that rewards high-quality child care,investigates and rates providers and makes it easier for parents tochoose the best child care.
To learn more about CCF and the YoungStar initiative, visitcelebrate-children.org.thanks again to the Evjue Foundation for their generous gift to thechildren of Dane County.
James Leonhart
Susan Weber: I’m taking precautions to protect recallpetitions
Dear Editor: Just wanted to let you know. People like medownloaded our own petitions for family and friends as we wereconcerned about petitions being collected by the opposition andbeing thrown out. I know of several people in my community thatwent this route. I am still collecting signatures and plan to handdeliver them to a recall office. I am not a very political personand have never participated in any kind of political action beforeother than voting.
Susan Weber
Jill Forster: Kids should take photos of deer, not killthem
Dear Editor: I own a 100-acre wildlife sanctuary in Wisconsin. Iam so upset that the State Journal carried a hunting story with ayoung boy and a weapon — and he killed a deer.
I thought this was just for the small town backwoods people andtheir papers. I think it is child abuse to say “good kid.” you totethat rifle and put yourself in harm’s way to kill a deer. Why not apicture of a kid really happy with a nice PICTURE of an eagle, orhawk, or sparrow, or deer?
I really would like to not have to see the young boys forcedinto “manhood” by killing a deer. at Thanksgiving dinner, I heardone girl tease a boy: you missed that deer. He did not sayanything. this boy is nice and sensitive and very handy with carwork and such, but he does not want to hunt. the family just thinksit’s great and every boy and girl should learn to hunt. Why? Thereare many of us who would hate to have to kill a deer to eat. Manywho are vegetarians. I eat meat once in a very great while, butvery seldom.
The moral issue is at stake here. We need to show young men andwomen, it is OK NOT to hunt. It is also great to take pictures ofdeer alive. the DNR should be helping us set up learning programs.Learn the truth about wolves, black bear, as well as trees, andplants. so many people really enjoy nature, and do not view killingand guns as part of nature.
Jill Forster
Send your letter to the editor to . Include your full name, hometown andphone number. your name and town will be published. the phonenumber is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letterto 250 words or less.
on December 3rd, 2011% ![]()
Four USC professors are working on a project that could potentially help build structures on the moon.
Berok Khoshnevis, professor of industrial and systems engineering and the project’s principal investigator, will present the proposal today at a conference in Washington, D.C.
NASA chose to fund this project, along with 29 others, in August from a pool of nearly 800 proposals. Each proposal receives approximately $100,000 for one to develop feasible structures, according to a NASA press release.
Khoshnevis; Anders Carlson, an assistant professor of architecture and director of the Master of Building Science Program; Neil Leach, a visiting professor in the school of architecture; and Madhu Thangavelu, a professor of astronautics in the Viterbi School of Engineering and lecturer in the school of architecture, will lead the project.
The project takes Khoshnevis’ Contour Crafting device, a 3-D printer that uses cement to build structures layer by layer, and converts the structure for use on the moon.
Khoshnevis began work on his Contour Crafting device in 2000, and it was named one of the top 25 inventions by the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006.
The team is currently working on a prototype of the Contour Crafting Simulation plan for Lunar Settlement Infrastructure Build-Up. Right now, the team is developing a nozzle system that would heat lunar soil into a consistent paste that could be used like cement in the terrestrial Contour Crafting device.
“NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is an expert in processing lunar material. they make the lunar simulant material we use for testing. it has the same composition of the soil on the moon,” Khoshnevis said. “We have gotten some of this material, so we are melting this material at USC and trying it out at contour crafting and building smaller structures.”
Khoshnevis said the next step is “actually building something useful.” The team will go to NASA’s testing facility in Arizona, Desert Research and Technology Studies, or D-RATS, after it develops the machinery.
“We’ll take it to Arizona and use the soil there and, using the sun power and the build structure, do what is supposed to happen on the moon and give the first try on earth at the D-RATS site,” Khoshnevis said.
Khoshnevis said scientists are very familiar with the conditions of different soils on the moon as a result of NASA’s previous research, and the sand in Arizona is similar to the kind found on the moon.
The Lunar Contour Crafting device would be used to build basic infrastructure, such as landing pads, aprons to guard against debris from landings, hangars and shields to create shade. The self-assembling device would use solar energy.
“The electrical energy that we create can drive different machinery as well as a heater that melts the lunar heater,” Khoshnevis said. “Then it extrudes the molten material, which is like lava, out of a nozzle that is contour-crafting. On a layer-by-layer basis it builds these different structures.”
The device will use sulfur-based material, but because the melting point of sulfur is close to the higher temperatures reached on the moon, shields made of ceramic materials, which have a lower melting point, will be used to create shade.
Once such an infrastructure is in place, Khoshnevis said, habitable structures could be a travel destination for space tourists. Communication devices could be put on the moon, a more stable environment than in orbit where they are hit with space debris, and a telescope on the moon would give researchers a clearer view of the universe because the moon has no atmosphere.
Building structures on the moon would also provide a way for testing the possibilities of going to other planets.
“Whatever you want to try on Mars or other planets would be easier to test on the moon first,” Khoshnevis said. “It only takes three days to get there.”
Though Khoshnevis said building permanent structures on the moon might not happen in his lifetime, it could happen during the lifetimes of current students.
“The human is a brand new species,” Khoshnevis said. “While some people think everything that could be invented [has] already been invented, I believe that we are just at the beginning and that we haven’t scratched the surface of what we can do. It’s a good feeling to be on the front lines of those discoveries.”
on November 29th, 2011% ![]()
Mention solar technology and most people automatically assume that solar panels are involved in one way or another. while this is generally true, the concept of passive solar energy has been used from thousands of years to heat structures. the trombe wall is one form of low tech used in passive solar for heating a home at night.
The trombe wall is named after Felix Trombe, a French inventor who created the modern version in the 1950s. the basic idea behind the wall is the manipulation of thermal storage and heat release. Put in simpler terms, the wall is used to capture and hold heat during the day and release it in the evening. in doing so, the wall becomes a repository for heat much like the pavement on a parking lot during the day.
To understand how the trombe wall functions, it helps to first contemplate how passive solar energy works as a heating process. A simple example suffices. Imagine you drive to the grocery store. you park in the parking lot and head inside. you are there for no more than 30 minutes. When you come out to the car, what has happened? It has turned into an oven this is passive solar at its finest. the sunlight has heated up every dark surface in the interior of the car, which then radiates heat. during the summer, sitting down on the seats can be a delicate maneuver, particularly if you are in shorts
What if you could capture this heat during the hottest periods of the day and slowly release it at night when temperatures drop? this is exactly what the trombe wall is designed to do. the average trombe wall is between 8 and 16 inches thick. It is typically made of concrete. on the exterior face, the wall is covered with a heat absorbing material. this can be a painted on dark color or absorbent material. A double layer of glass is then placed about an inch outside of this and forms the exterior of the structure. It looks a little odd to have a wall inside of glass, but the heating impact is significant.
As sunlight penetrates the glass, it heats up the surface of the concrete wall. the wall then absorbs the heat at a rate of about an inch an hour. by the end of a sunny day, you have a concrete wall that is heated up much like the rocks in a sauna, although obviously not as hot. the double glass serves to insulate one side of the wall. Once the temperature in the area starts to cool below the heat level of the trombe wall, it will start to emit heat. the heat rises. Vents and small fans can be put in to circulate the warm air into the interior of the home where it can be funneled to rooms in use. this can be done day-after-day so long as the sun hits the wall.
Solar power is a complex energy platform and involves much broader techniques then just solar panels or water heaters. Passive solar can be a powerful way to deal with heating issues and the trombe wall is one example of this.
on November 29th, 2011% ![]()
Nature abhors waste and so every material on earth is useful. Man can only say a material is useless when he has not found the means of converting it to something useful. Author Richard Dawkins rightly said: “Nature is a miserly accountant, grudging the pennies, watching the clock, punishing the smallest extravagance.”
At the recently concluded Lagos International Trade fair, the University of Lagos was represented by the Hardware Laboratory of the Physics Department with an array of equipment produced locally to convert waste to wealth so as to aid Nigeria’s march towards becoming one of the top 20 economies in the world by year 2020.
In this interview with Vanguard in Lagos, Dr Henry Boyo, Senior Lecturer and Head of Hardware Development Laboratory, University of Lagos says that for Nigeria to move forward, it needs its own indigenous technology, tailored to meet its peculiar needs just as Japan did.
He had his doctorate in Japan and worked with their research laboratory for three years and that gave him some exposure into solutions to national problems in Japan. he said once corruption and misappropriation of funds are eliminated, and proper investment made in research and development, then and only then will Nigeria be self-reliant.
As a technologist, what do you think is Nigeria’s most pressing problem?
One problem with Nigeria is energy and it’s a very shameful thing because all efforts by government and individuals to solve this problem have been futile. You see, people who import generators would want to safeguard their business so they don’t want a situation where generators will no longer be required.
They never wanted the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to succeed. and then PHCN itself being a government agency, has its own problems like ineffective distribution and generation, so most of the efforts are being sabotaged here and there.
In Italy for example, the government supports private generation and distribution of energy as long as it is from a renewable source. it could be solar, wind, biogas or biofuel. So looking for a balanced point between the government and generator importers (because we want to take both interests into consideration), I feel that bio-diesel could be a neutral point for generation because if we use bio-diesel which is renewable energy, we can still use our normal imported generators.
Then PHCN is also useful because it serves as a backup to the normal electricity and moreover, PHCN cannot provide all the energy we need so definitely, these back-up services are inevitable so I feel that for such reasons, we have to develop the use of biofuel.
We can get bio-diesel from oils of the jatropha plant, vegetable and palm kernel, either edible or non-edible oil. our farmers in most cases are interested in edible products because the market is not restricted. if you plant jatropha, then you are cultivating toxic plants just to satisfy the international requirements.
Most international investors prefer jatropha because it is not edible and the problem of goats and cows eating them does not arise because if they do, they fall sick and die so jatropha seems to be their best option for bio-diesel.
But in many African nations, cows, sheep and goats move around freely so we don’t want to endanger their lives with this toxic plant.
The western world will prefer jatropha but it is not good for us because it will be harmful to animals so I am looking at a situation where the traditional African farmer can be rich through production of palm kernel oil (non-edible oil). there is also the palm oil which is edible.
We are not likely to use the palm oil for the production of bio-diesel because it has a lot of free fatty acids and therefore likely to form soap, so it is not economical using palm oil.
But the palm kernel oil is better. So we can now say that if we plant more of these trees, and may be have a kind of co-operative society that separates edible palm from non-edible palm, then it pays us to cultivate more oil palm vegetation than jatropha but the farm management system will ensure that those ones meant for human consumption do not find their way to the bio-diesel market and those for bio-diesel do not find their way to the edible oil market.
Can that be done effectively in Nigeria?
Well, we need to discipline ourselves and then set up a mechanism that will ensure that. if we can discipline ourselves in such minor issues, then we would be able to manage our economy in a better way because without such discipline, our Vision 20-20-20 will never become a reality.
Former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown recently said that Nigeria’s economy has the capacity to grow by more than seven per cent if it had critical infrastructure like stable power, do you agree that stable power is the most important thing Nigeria needs at this time?
It’s not only because of power. Power is just a minor factor out of the many factors. Constant power supply starts from discipline. once you eliminate corruption and misappropriation of funds, invest properly into research and development and then have our indigenous technology, we can be self-reliant.
But even if we get the discipline aspect right and there is no traditional technology developed for our environment, we will always run into problems. Electricity is not Nigeria’s technology, we imported it from abroad and then we have to fine-tune it to meet our needs.
That is part of the reasons we are now developing our own local raw materials and sources of energy and local forms of energy generation. I look at bio-diesel as a prospective option to solve this problem because it is something that can be done either on an industrial or private scale.
The bio-diesel tank was developed and built here and then we looked at the problem of bio-diesel being very expensive because the raw material itself is already very expensive.
What are the raw materials?
We are looking at vegetable oil and palm kernel oil. You may be surprised that while vegetable oil costs about N240.00 per litre, palm kernel oil costs almost N250.00 per litre. So if palm kernel oil which is non-edible oil should be an option for production of bio-diesel, then it means that we must find a way of reducing production cost.
Now, normal production time takes about 18 – 24 hours using transesterification of the oil but the method we have designed can produce the bio-diesel in one hour so we hope that this reduction in production time will translate to economic advantage bringing down the price of bio-diesel per litre.
Where do you think the government can come in to help make the raw materials cheaper and the bio-diesel more affordable?
Well, it’s just a newly developed product. We developed it in August and won the Best Research Award for the Faculty of Science at the University of Lagos Research fair and based on that, we were asked to represent the University at the last Lagos International Trade fair.
So it’s just showing up into the market but charity begins at home. University of Lagos needs bio-diesel so let us use it in our own environment first and convince ourselves that it is suitable and economically viable before we can sell it to the public.
Is bio-diesel environment-friendly?
Yes, it is environment-friendly because we use biodegradable materials/organic materials such as palm kernel oil, and the final diesel does not contain sulphur which is part of the environmental contaminants. it does not cause smoke and emission of carbon dioxide.
It’s considered as one of the renewable energy sources along with solar and wind energy. while solar may not be able to produce energy for heavy machineries like boilers and heaters efficiently, bio-diesel can run high duct engines and these engines can be used for earth-moving equipment, heavy machinery and others.
So definitely, there is need for hybridized energy. Solar will provide substantial energy for home-lighting, light power equipment such as electric fan, television, etc but may not provide sufficiently for industrial machinery. the cost is not economical but with biofuel, you use existiACng diesel engine so you don’t need to do any modification to your existing machinery. all you need to do is change the fuel.
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