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Garbage to Carbon Fiber to Energy Storage?
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    Deusk
     
    February 2013
    I just wanted to run this idea past the OSE community, as I will be trying to find out if it is possible during the next 4 years of my Engineering degree.

    All of these these processes have been done individually before and by others but I wonder if it is possible on a small scale?

    To:
    1. Create a cheap (from recycled aluminum and open source circuit boards) process to depolymerize organic waste (plastic etc.) into its respective gasses/oils.
    2. Rather than using the Oil for typical things, turn it into the plastic that is specifically used to make Carbon Fiber (Polyacrylonitrile) and if only a small % of the gas/oil created can be used for this, put it back into the beginning of the system to break it down further.
    3. Extrude (spin?) this plastic and put it through the slow process of carbonization.
    4. Wind this carbon fiber into extremely strong and cheap flywheels
    5. Use multiple flywheels in small but secure/strong vacuum containers using active magnetic bearings (magnetic bearings that don't use rare-earth magnets) for the lowest possible friction and energy loss.

    And hopefully you now have a cheap type of energy storage as well as a way to make cheap super strong carbon fiber from garbage?

    Any initial thoughts on the feasibility of this idea?

    Thanks!
     
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  • Vote Up0Vote Down
    PDEPDE
     
    February 2013
    A man by the name of Jack Bitterly was researching this in the mid 90's. http://www.damninteresting.com/the-mechanical-battery/
    Despite what this article says the main problem he faced was canceling out the magnetic eddy currents.
     

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  • PDE February 2013
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