Microwave-Based Recycling Method Yeilds Oil - And Perhaps Much More
B1ackwater
by : RENA MARIE PACELLA
I’m not sure if I’m watching a magic trick, or an invention that will
make the cigar-chomping 64-year-old next to me the richest man on the
planet. Everything that goes into Frank Pringle’s recycling machine—a
piece of tire, a rock, a plastic cup—turns to oil and natural gas
seconds later. “I’ve been told the oil companies might try to
assassinate me,” Pringle says without sarcasm.
The machine is a microwave emitter that extracts the petroleum and gas
hidden inside everyday objects—or at least anything made with
hydrocarbons, which, it turns out, is most of what’s around you. Every
hour, the first commercial version will turn 10 tons of auto
waste—tires, plastic, vinyl—into enough natural gas to produce 17
million BTUs of energy (it will use 956,000 of those BTUs to keep
itself running).
Pringle created the machine about 10 years ago after he drove by a
massive tire fire and thought about the energy being released. He went
home and threw bits of a tire in a microwave emitter he’d been working
with for another project. It turned to what looked like ash, but a few
hours later, he returned and found a black puddle on the floor of the
unheated workshop. Somehow, he’d struck oil.
Or rather, he had extracted it. Petroleum is composed of strings of
hydrocarbon molecules. When microwaves hit the tire, they crack the
molecular chains and break it into its component parts: carbon black
(an ash-like raw material) and hydrocarbon gases, which can be burned
or condensed into liquid fuel. Pringle figured that some gases from
his microwaved tire had lingered, and the cold air in the shop had
condensed them into diesel. If the process worked on tires, he
thought, it should work on anything with hydrocarbons. The trick was
in finding the optimum microwave frequency for each material—out of 10
million possibilities.
Pringle has spent 10 years and $1 million homing in on frequencies for
hundreds of materials. In 2004 he teamed up with engineer pal Hawk
Hogan to take the machine commercial.
Their first order is under construction in Rockford, Illinois. It’s a
$5.1-million microwave machine the size of small bus called the Hawk,
bound for an auto-recycler in Long Island, New York. More deals loom:
The U.S. military may use Hawks in Iraq on waste such as water bottles
and food containers. Oil companies are looking to the machines to
gasify petroleum trapped in shale.
Back at the shop, Pringle is still zapping new materials. A sample
labeled “bituminous coal” goes in and, 15 seconds later, Pringle
ignites the resulting gas. “You see,” he says, “why they might want to
kill me.” —RENA MARIE PACELLA
- - - - -
OK ... this is a GOOD idea. The 17:1 energy-out -vs- energy-in
ratio (I'm assuming with some ideal material) is damned good -
plus the microwave generator won't have any moving parts.
Microwaves can be tuned to shake the hell out of various
kinds of chemical bonds. The limitation for this process
is that you'll probably only be able to run one kind of
material through it at any one time. If you switch from
tire rubber to PVC plastic to people manure you'll have
to switch frequencies each time also. This isn't a big
limitation, it just means the thing isn't a general-
purpose toss-in-anything waste recycler.
Even more interesting than recycling waste organics is
what they described him doing with coal. The USA in
particular is nearly MADE of coal - more energy
potential than all the oil in the mid-east. The trick
is getting the energy out of coal without spewing lots
of sulfur, heavy metals and ash into the air.
Microwave treatment can conceivably be used to 'liquify'
coal efficiently - ie get it to bond with hydrogen or
hydroxyls to yeild methane (natural gas) methanol (great
motor fuel) and heavier liquid fuels compatible with
diesel engines and heating plants. Proper tuning of
the microwaves offer the potential of highly selective
reactions ... ones that can leave the sulfur and metals
in coal behind.
Conventional 'liquification' technology also does this
but the energy in/out ratio isn't very good. It requires
a lot of heat and pressure plus expensive catalysts in
order to bond hydrogen or water to the carbon. Faux
diesel made in this manner just breaks even at about
$3.50/gal.
As for oil shale though ... I think Shell already has hit
on the ideal method. They "steam" it out of the ground by
pumping 400-degree water down into the formations and
then collecting the oil that rises through the porous
stone. Advantage : leaves the ground intact, no strip
mining required. The parts of the USA that aren't made
of coal are probably made of oil shale.
Now if he can just find a way to make microwaves knock
one of the hydrogens out of water in an energy-efficient
manner ...
2 H2O -> H2 + H2O2 ?
Peroxide is a useful industrial chemical. Pretty good
rocket fuel too.
lora...@cs.com
> http://www.popsci.com/popsci/flat/bown/2007/innovator_2.html
>
> by : RENA MARIE PACELLA
>
> I'm not sure if I'm watching a magic trick, or an invention that will
> make the cigar-chomping 64-year-old next to me the richest man on the
> piece of tire, a rock, a plastic cup--turns to oil and natural gas
> seconds later. "I've been told the oil companies might try to
> assassinate me," Pringle says without sarcasm.
>
> The machine is a microwave emitter that extracts the petroleum and gas
> hydrocarbons, which, it turns out, is most of what's around you. Every
> hour, the first commercial version will turn 10 tons of auto
> million BTUs of energy (it will use 956,000 of those BTUs to keep
> itself running).
>
> Pringle created the machine about 10 years ago after he drove by a
> massive tire fire and thought about the energy being released. He went
> home and threw bits of a tire in a microwave emitter he'd been working
> with for another project. It turned to what looked like ash, but a few
> hours later, he returned and found a black puddle on the floor of the
> unheated workshop. Somehow, he'd struck oil.
>
> Or rather, he had extracted it. Petroleum is composed of strings of
> hydrocarbon molecules. When microwaves hit the tire, they crack the
> molecular chains and break it into its component parts: carbon black
> (an ash-like raw material) and hydrocarbon gases, which can be burned
> or condensed into liquid fuel. Pringle figured that some gases from
> his microwaved tire had lingered, and the cold air in the shop had
> condensed them into diesel. If the process worked on tires, he
> thought, it should work on anything with hydrocarbons. The trick was
> million possibilities.
>
> Pringle has spent 10 years and $1 million homing in on frequencies for
> hundreds of materials. In 2004 he teamed up with engineer pal Hawk
> Hogan to take the machine commercial.
>
> Their first order is under construction in Rockford, Illinois. It's a
> $5.1-million microwave machine the size of small bus called the Hawk,
> bound for an auto-recycler in Long Island, New York. More deals loom:
> The U.S. military may use Hawks in Iraq on waste such as water bottles
> and food containers. Oil companies are looking to the machines to
> gasify petroleum trapped in shale.
>
> Back at the shop, Pringle is still zapping new materials. A sample
> labeled "bituminous coal" goes in and, 15 seconds later, Pringle
> ignites the resulting gas. "You see," he says, "why they might want to
A very useful and important article.. thanks.
Oh.. And another private individual has already discovered a way to
microwave water to produce Oxygen and Hydrogen.
He was working (and succeeding) to kill cancer cells (I guess due to
their unique resonance frequencies) and accidently zappped some water
and produced the combustable gas.
My understanding of the reaction is that it too, produces excess
energy after energy for sustaining the microwave output is
subtracted.
tims...@gmail.com
> On Dec 6, 4:57 am, b...@barrk.net (B1ackwater) wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> >http://www.popsci.com/popsci/flat/bown/2007/innovator_2.html
>
> > by : RENA MARIE PACELLA
>
> > I'm not sure if I'm watching a magic trick, or an invention that will
> > make the cigar-chomping 64-year-old next to me the richest man on the
> > planet. Everything that goes into Frank Pringle's recycling machine--a
>
> - Show quoted text -
DO you sell recycled PVC pieces? Call me at626-215-2451.