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Hey, NERDS!

Cracker Funk

Cracker Funk

Wanna help me make up some fake science?

We will be using electrolysis to pull the hydrogen from water molecules. Okay, that's real science.

The fake part comes in when we find a way to do it without using a bunch of energy. Somehow, it will be self-perpetuating.

I don't have the slightest care how unrealistic it is. I only care that we make it sound realistic.

This will not be a minor plot-point, but in fact is the entire basis for my next feature.

Interested parties should PM their email address to me, and the discussion shall begin later this week. :)
 
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Interesting stuff! I hadn't heard of HHO generators; some interesting reading there. I was put to mind of the E-Cat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Catalyzer), one of my favorite likely scams of last year. Think of Pons and Flieshmann went commercial, rather than looking for grant money! Oh, and the new device is a sealed black box they won't let anyone look at. Fantastic!

Anyway, as a big armchair nerd and fan of Theoretical Impossible Science, count me in, PM sent!

....look at me, still talking while there's science to do....
 
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Cracker Funk said:
We will be using electrolysis to pull the hydrogen from water molecules. Okay, that's real science.

The fake part comes in when we find a way to do it without using a bunch of energy. Somehow, it will be self-perpetuating.

I don't have the slightest care how unrealistic it is. I only care that we make it sound realistic.
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Please, clarify "sound" realistic.

Character A literally describes the basis for the movie plot point to character B in conversation but it's never seen, like the NOC list in Mission: Impossible or all the money being stolen by computer in Entrapment?

Or is there to be a budget for either a table top device, like the DIY time machine in the garage in Primer, or a substantially larger device in a facility, like the proof of concept laboratory in Source Code?

What's the volume of desired hydrogen product? Enough to power a car, a city, or destroy the planet's atmosphere?



Can you use "alien" tech as the "I don't have the slightest care how unrealistic it is" free pass?!
 
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So what's being done with the H's and the O's afterwards... I have a thought ;) An acidic plant growing in a slightly base soild could potentially be the positive and negative leads in the electrolysis. like a potato clock. then either the H's or the O's somehow channeled back into the ground to refuel the "battery".
 
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Got the PMs. Thanks guys! Will email when I get home later this week.

Hydrogen is a perfectly clean source of fuel. Er, well it will be, if we can figure out how to manufacture it without burning a bunch of fossil fuels in the process. So, our heroine is basically trying to save the world, by giving it an unlimited source of clean energy.

There will be a table-top machine. :)
 
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rayw said:
Agreed.

However, the process CF requested is the reverse of that: turning H2O into H2 + O, thereby destroying our finite water supply - for energy.


Soccer mom's gotta get Billy and Betty to soccer and ballet!
I'm cool widdat! :rolleyes:
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I was just thinking if he creates hydrogen from water then later burns the hydrogen its by-product of combustion is H20. So how are you destroying the water supply since it reforms to water? Not sure if it would be a loss to the water supply since it cycles back into the environment.
 
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The electrolytic reaction splits the water molecule into it's base elements (hydrogen and oxygen). When you apply a thermal action, the molecules (which have a natural affinity for each other) reunite to create water. The left over thermal break leaves the water in it's gaseous state (steam). The best part is that the water is at that point pure and can be consumed once cooled if routed through clean plumbing and held in a food grade container. In space, this would be useful because the ship's crew could drink the clean water then use urine (once filtered) to feed the HHO generator. The applications are awe inspiring.
 
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"2 H2 + O2 → 2 H2O(g) + heat
The result is water vapor or "steam"
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Is it a near 100% return process; 2 H2O split to 2 H2 + 2 O → 2 H2 + O2, makes 2 H2O + heat?

Where's the O2 coming from, then? The 2 O that got split off?
Yeah, this is some fun theoretical science (fiction).

You gotta use less energy for BOTH the split - AND - recombination of the water than the energy/heat release in the recombination stage.
 
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rayw said:
You gotta use less energy for BOTH the split - AND - recombination of the water than the energy/heat release in the recombination stage.
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That's the kicker. There is a paper that I read which reads more like a conspiracy theory than a scientific document but, if one tenth of the claims made by the author, who I can longer locate, are true, then the amount of energy required to split the water could be reduced by 99.6%. I have no empirical evidence of his claims, but it sure is fun to think about.
 
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