April 17, 2013
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Earth Day Special – “Baby”
“Baby”
The man next to me sat with a leather briefcase handcuffed to his wrist. Naturally, it made me curious.
This occurred at an energy symposium in Manhattan. Con Edison reps were delivering powerpoint presentations about offshore wind turbines, and manning (sic) booths with real solar panels on display, and touting the glory of ethanol. I suspected that the contents of the briefcase cut across all that propaganda….
His accent was so thick I couldn’t understand the gentleman without seriously focusing in on what he was saying. The bag on his wrist contained an invention. His invention. He felt it would radically alter the world’s economy. I noticed his back become rigid in his chair, and sensed his emotion. Whatever was in his briefcase meant as much to this man as an only child. Whatever was in the bag was his “baby.”
He explained to me that his invention was a kind of VALVE, a pressure valve, for burning FUEL OIL.
He held the patent for it. This is real; it exists. THE VALVE CAN BURN FUEL OIL 30% -HOTTER!
The man explained to me how the valve was able to burn fuel oil 30% hotter – that means – his valve can get 30% more energy out of fuel oil. It’s like finding 1/3 more oil than all the world presently has available.
This is a major invention. As the fuel is being fed into the combustion chamber it passes through this valve, the valve pressurizes the oil – which heats it. But without the presence of oxygen it cannot ignite.
The oil is pressurized as a vapor, and heated by the valve to the point where the molecules themselves begin to break down – emitting their molecular binding energy into the combustion chamber. Voila! 30% more heat!
I ran off to get Con Ed’s top guy at the symposium. He brought an aide along. The briefcase was unlocked, and the inventor brought diagrams out. They spoke together in a huddle. I stood listening in, an outsider at this point. The discussion didn’t last very long. The Con Ed big shot turned to me, and said flatly, “We can’t use it.” “We’d have to retool all our boilers – this burns too hot for our present boilers. It would cost a billion dollars.” He walked off with a shrug.
I turned to the inventor. He was gone. I never got his name. He’d taken his “baby” with him.
* * * * * * * * *
Currently, there is another “baby” in the neighborhood, but it’s not in a briefcase; it’s in a warehouse in Middlesex, New Jersey. And this “baby” has a name – FoFu.
FoFu is the name for Eric Lerner’s “baby” – something called an aneutronic reactor – that is, it produces no neutrons and therefore is a safe, not radioactive source of fusion energy. FoFu stands for Focus Fusion. It’s going to make a tiny star-like plasma out of boron gas. The machine now under construction is a proof of concept device, which means it will prove that a tiny fusion reaction is occurring, and that much more energy is being given out than being put in.
It ain’t easy to raise a “baby.” They give you all sorts of problems. Right now, the optical switching is a problem. Twelve switches have to turn on simultaneously – within a hundredth of a NANOsecond! “Nano” means billionth of a second. The “baby” has the hiccups until the timing of the switches gets perfected.
You can follow “baby’s” blog at http://www.focusfusion.org. You can register and become a godparent!
The project needs investment funding and other assistance. But this “baby” also promises to change the world’s economy, and get us off oil once and for all. Let’s try to help it grow up healthy and strong. It’s a healthy, Earth-friendly, thing to do.
