Hydrogen - The future fuel?

Photo by sippakorn yamkasikorn on Unsplash

Have you ever wondered what entities were the most important ingredients for the creation of this universe??.... They were matter & energy. The energy caused matter to reconstruct itself to form what we call the present universe. Energy can be of many types, like heat, electricity, chemical, etc. 

But where can we harness this energy from??.... Fuels are substances from which we can extract energy. Even our beloved star, sun uses fuel to power itself. It has immense storage of hydrogen which it uses to produce energy by nuclear fusion. It is said that the sun produces 3.846×10²⁶ W of energy. Now, what if we can use the same hydrogen to produce energy for ourselves??

HYDROGEN AND ITS EXTRACTION

It is very interesting to know that the very first element in the periodic table can produce 286,000 joules/mole of energy. It is observed that the energy produced by burning 3785 gms of petrol is equivalent to that of 920 gms of hydrogen, It is a very light gas, thus it rises above the atmosphere and is not available in pure form. 

It needs to be extracted from substances like water. There are many ways to extract hydrogen - Gasification, Electrolysis, Fermentation, etc.  Now let us see how this gas is used as fuel currently.

CURRENT SCENARIO 

Currently, there are two major technologies where this is used, Internal combustion engines (Chemical to Heat) and Hydrogen fuel cells (Chemical to Electrical). In IC engines the gas is mixed with diesel in appropriate proportion and burned together, this has caused to reduce the emissions and cost of fuel comparatively.

 Whereas in the Fuel cells extract the electrical energy produces by oxidizing of the gas. The by-products of this process are water, electricity, and heat. This electricity is then used to drive the motors. Fuel cells are praised for the fact that they produce almost zero emissions. 

There are hydrogen filling stations similar to petrol stations to refuel. It has also been used in space rockets, and the water produced after burning hydrogen is used for drinking.

Storage is the main problem regarding this fuel. As hydrogen has a low ignition point and is very light, it has a high chance of leakage. Thus, handling this gas is hazardous.

IS HYDROGEN THE FUTURE FUEL?

While the demand for clean and green energy is increasing, this technology can prove an important player to cater the needs, but if we talk about emissions, currently most of the gas is produces by hydrocarbons in natural gas which causes emissions anyway.

 If we focus on producing Hydrogen in a cleaner way producing the gas by electrolysis of water (electricity supplied should be from clean source), then we can eliminate this problem. This is the main drawback for this technology, Tesla motors CTO Elon Musk has been a long time critic of this for the same reason.

CONCLUSION 

Hydrogen as an element has very dense and high-quality energy, it releases enough amount of energy through the fusion reaction to the power of our solar system (sun). It would be of huge benefit for mankind if we can harness this energy, although efforts have been made like fuel cells. 

For the time being this alternative fuel is not very reliable and unclean due to its production process. 

However, with more research and improvement in clean ways of extracting the gas and efficient harnessing of energy this can prove a a promising alternative to conventional fuels with E.V.s. 

REFERENCES - 

• Energy- https://personal.utdallas.edu/~metin/Merit/MyNotes/energyScience2.pdf
• Hydrogen production - https://aleasoft.com/green-hydrogen-fuel-future/

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Sounds that can kill - Introduction to sonic weapons

In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. It is a form of energy. But is this energy comparable with the energy produced by modern day weapons??.....

A weapon is anything which causes physical damage to the target, usually this damage is caused by delivery of energy in different forms like heat,and kinetic, etc Weapons mostly rely on the concept of impact collision of energy on the target .

Most conventional weapons rely on chemical energy (explosives) as their destruction mechanism, either to explode on target, like bombs, or to create kinetic energy, like a bullet. 

The chemicals in the weapons are ignited to convert the chemical energy to other forms of energy. A chemical weapon attack occurs in two phases: delivery and dissemination. The delivery phase refers to the launching of the rocket, bomb, or artillery shell. 

The dissemination phase involves the dispersal of the chemical agent from the weapon. Chemical via a variety of mechanisms including but not limited to; ballistic missiles, air dropped gravity bombs, rockets, artillery shells, aerosol canisters, land mines, and mortars.

 There are another type of weapons in which they use stored electrical energy as their source, called as electrical weapons obviously. Electric weapons generally fall into two categories: directed-energy weapons (DEWs) and electromagnetic (EM) launchers.

 DEWs send energy, instead of matter, toward a target, and can be separated into three types: laser weapons, particle-beam weapons, and high-power microwave (HPM) or radio-frequency (RF) weapons. EM launchers use electrical energy to throw a mass at a target, thus making them distinct from directed energy.

 

Then comes sonic weapons, as we know sound is also a form of energy, these weapons use sound energy(vibrations) as their source. Sound in specific range of frequencies have different effects. Sound is mainly categorised in three types based on the frequencies. 1. Infra sound (0-20Hz),  2. Audible range(20-20,000Hz),  3. Ultrasonic(>20,000Hz). 

The sound we mostly hear is in the audible range only. It is observed the ultrasonic sound waves can cause discomfort among humans like nausea, vomiting, dizziness, etc. Many a times such sound emitters have also been used for crowd controlling by the US. 

One more interesting incident is the attack on US embassy in Cuba, where almost all the staff experienced similar symptoms at the same week accompanied by a chirping sound. While the  reason behind this is not clear, experts believe that it may be an attempt to use sonic weapons.

 

The Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) which produces a 30 degree cone of audible sound in frequencies within the human hearing spectrum (20 Hz - 20 kHz) is mostly used to broad cast long range audible signals, mostly by navy, government officials, etc.

 

An LRAD was used by the crew of the cruise ship Seabourn spirit in 2005 to deter Pirates who chased and attacked the ship. More commonly this device and others of similar design have been used to disperse protesters and rioters in crowd control efforts.

 

Another sound factor is power, usually described using a unit of measurement called a decibel. Decibels are used to measure the power of audible and inaudible sound, both of which produce effects. 

Any sound begins to become physically painful at about 120 decibels, although at lower levels it can cause discomfort. At about 130 decibels it becomes unbearable. Prolonged exposure of high power sound such as that of large speakers in an event can cause damage to our eardrums in some cases the damage can be permanent.

 

High power sound waves can also damage the target if impacted on them. The phenomenon of resonance can also be used to design such weapons. One can make any target resonate with the help of the weapon(say resonator weapon), which will cause physical damage to the target. 

One can easily see the damage caused by resonance when an opera singer can break a wine glass. If one could make ..Say any vehicle resonate through the weapon, just as the singer makes the glass to resonate, this can prove a ground breaking invention. While research is still going on this field and the way to design weapon, these can change the whole scenario  of modern combats.

 

This still being introduction for this topic, we shall work on developing this concept. We will introduce advanced articles on this topic where we will discuss about the weapons in detail.  One can suggest their ideas in the comments, we are all ears.

 

Reference -

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_weapon
• https://blog.bitcad.io/sonic-weapons-ddc0d6d688a2
• https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a557759.pdf
• Use of sonic weapon in Cuba  -https://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/devices/finally-a-likely-explanation-for-the-sonic-weapon-used-at-the-us-embassy-in-cuba

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Secret behind invisible cameras - One Plus Concept 1

The One Plus Concept One

Yes, you heard it right. The Chinese giant in mobile industry unveiled their One Plus Concept One at the CES2020. This is one of its kind and the first phone which has rear cameras which are invisible. 

The cameras are invisible only until the camera app is opened. Earlier Oppo had launched their under screen front camera phone in a later year, but this is the first of it's kind. 

The design is inspired by one of the most elegant luxury sports car, McLaren 720S. McLaren being their partner for this concept, the phone features a glass roof panel that can alter its tint and control the amount of light allowed through.

 Additionally, the One Plus Concept One design integrates both glass and leather, using the same stylish, premium quality leather specially tailored for McLaren’s own cars.

The body-

Concept One gets its color from its inspiration car. Just as the McLaren it has a beautifully toned papaya orange back. This is made by the finest quality of leather just as used in cars. The frame of the device is made up of PVD (physical vapor deposition) coated aluminum rather than an oxidized aluminum layer.

 One Plus also added a thin layer of 24 karat gold to make the frame shiny. But it’s not the most interesting part of this.

 

Invisible camera-

The rear triple camera with flash is always invisible when not in use, once the camera app is opened only then they are visible. Thanks to the electrochromic glass technology, inspired by the car's sunroof. 

This technology is not new but is the first time used in smartphones. This will benefit a lot when it comes to the sleek and elegant design of the camera, as shortly when there are phones with 5-6 cameras. Where this will help hide the bulky rectangle of cameras or their irregular placements to get a more aesthetic design. 

The the phone takes a mere 0.7s for the glass to transition from solid black to fully clear, faster even than the camera itself takes to fully activate, and it uses almost no power.

You can watch the teaser here 

 

The technology-

A normal glass is made up of a single glass pane. If we see more sophisticated glasses they are made of two panes, with insulation between them. The electrochromic glass is made up of glass with two electrodes on both sides and liquid crystal ions sandwiched between them. 

There are ions present to travel from one electrode to another. To understand the working of this glass we need to go back to school chemistry, the electrochemical cell. Whenever a current is applied to the two electrodes the ions in the solution move towards the opposite charge electrodes. 

Similarly in electrochromic glass the opaqueness is adjusted by the flow of Lithium ions.

The observer is at left

As we can see above, in the transmissive state the Li ions are on the  left side, hence light is able to pass through the glass and it turns transparent. Whereas when we apply a reverse voltage the ions travel to the outer surface electrode reflecting all incoming light and making the glass opaque. 

Once the ions travel the other side one may remove the current, the ions need no external energy once they are soaked on the other side. Once a reverse voltage is applied they travel back to the previous side electrode.

The future-

While this being one of the most advanced technology in tinting, this can be used in combination with a solar cell. Some amount of light falling on solar cells is reflected, using the darkened glass we can absorb the reflected light, of course, no window can be completely transparent or opaque, and the levels need to be adjusted. 

Do comment if you can find any more future applications for this technology. You can find similar technologies here 

Reference-

• One Plus Concept One -

1.  https://forums.oneplus.com/threads/introducing-the-oneplus-concept-one.1167337/
2. https://www.xda-developers.com/oneplus-concept-one-invisible-camera/

• Electrochromic glass technology - https://www.explainthatstuff.com/electrochromic-windows.html

 

 

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The most underrated force on our planet

Photo by Guillaume de Germain on Unsplash

Have you ever wondered, what actually drives the universe?..............., what helps nature do its daily chores? ..............

 

Yes you guessed it right, it’s the forces that are responsible to do the above jobs, popularly they call it "The laws of physics”. First of all let us understand what a force actually means, it is nothing but a quantity which tends to change the position of the body on which it is acting. 

E.g. when you to try to move a heavy stone, you are intended to change the position of the stone by applying a force with your hands.The stone need not move ,but it definitely is acted upon by a force produced by you.

There are various types of force which happen to occur in nature like, gravitational force(causes objects to fall), normal force(one in the above example), magnetic force, spring force,etc. But the most underrated force is the Frictional force. I call this force an underrated force due to the fact that we take this force granted in our day to day life

 

Now you might wonder, what exactly is this friction force? This force arises when two surfaces are in contact with each other, somewhat provides resistance to motion when in contact. 

Try to rub your hands against each other, they will become warm after few seconds. This is the frictional force which causes the heat. Frictional force is present everywhere around us, even the mobile you are holding or the laptop on your lap is experiencing this force. 

To quote a dialogue of the movie 3 idiots "Pen ke nib se leke, pant ke zip tak...har jagah friction hai sir,....up down...up down..."I modified it a bit, but it is as simple as that.

 

This force is many times an undesirable force due to the fact it causes wear and tear of the surfaces in contact, but to mention you cannot stop a moving car without friction, which is used when we apply brakes. 

This friction also causes wear and tear of the tyres and we need to consume more fuel for overcoming this destructive resistance force. Now one may wonder, what if there was no friction?......wont we need very less fuel to travel?.....imagine we can travel from Mumbai to Goa in only few drops of fuel.......yes we can if there was no frictional force to overcome. 

You just need to set a speed and the car will move at that speed continuously till it reaches Goa(provided the road is straight)...isn't that fascinating?...but hold on, one cannot even move the car even a single inch, due to the fact there is no driving force which is provided due to the friction between tyres and road. 

The wheels will move, but the car will stand still. Hence, friction force is very important to carry our daily activities. You cannot even walk without this force

 

This force is also desirable in many applications like brakes as mentioned above, to write on blackboard with chalk, to sharpen our kitchen knife and so on. Even to light a simple matchstick you need friction. The most revolutionary discovery of mankind, to control fire...was possible only due to application of friction. If friction force had not been there, even the evolution process won’t have taken place.

 

Now you may agree with me of how neglected this force is in our day to day life. Friction can be as constructive as destructive it can be, and one cannot deny the importance of this , if not in the universe at least on earth and in our life.

 

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Future of India - E.V.(Electric Vehicle)

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

 

INTRODUCTION - 

 

Electric Vehicle a.k.a. EV as the name suggest are vehicles which work on electricity as their primary source of energy as compared to the conventional vehicles which use petroleum fuels(petrol, diesel, etc) as their energy source. The EV uses electric motors to provide the motion of the wheels required for mobility of the vehicle. These electric motors are driven by electric current which is supplied by the batteries located within the vehicle. 

These batteries need to be charged from time to time, the function is similar to our phone batteries where we need to charge it once it’s drained. Electric vehicles have been researched since the 19th century, but these came into limelight once humanity realized the depleting amount of non-renewable fuels and the hazards caused by burning these. 

Electric vehicles have been accepted worldwide as the future of the automobile industry. Companies to name few - Tesla, BMW, Nissan, etc have been manufacturing these for the general public throughout the EU and America. But are these really the future of the Indian automobile industry?

 

CURRENT SCENARIO OF IC ENGINE VEHICLES - 

 

As we all know, the combustion of fossil fuels releases harmful gases like CO_2, CO, SOx, NOx, particulate matter, etc. , which is the major contributor to the air pollution not only n India but also in many developing countries like China, Brazil, etc.

IC engines have been used for about more than a century in vehicles, but in the near future this technology may strive for existence due to the ill effects of the fuel being used. 

The Indian automobile the industry currently heavily relies on the IC engine vehicles to meet it sales targets, and due to unavailability of proper EV charging infrastructure the consumers are also inclined towards IC engines.

 The government being implementing strict norms such as BS6 lately, still, it only reduces the ill effects but does not eliminate, which will not help in the long run.

 Thus, it is a decent time to switch to EV. Currently, IC engines contribute around  96% *of the total sales in India in the fiscal year 2019 with EV contributing mere 3.5%*.Even if there is an increase in sales of EV these years, most of them only use it for short trips, there is very little reliability as the charging infrastructure is not developed enough in India.

(*average values)

 

CURRENT SCENARIO OF EV - 

 

The central and state governments have launched schemes and incentives to promote electric mobility in the country and some regulations and standards are also in place. 

While the country stands to benefit in a large way by switching its transport from IC engines to electric motor-powered, there are challenges like lack of charging infrastructure, high initial cost and lack of electricity produced from renewable energy. 

Some of the initiatives by the central government are National Electric Mobility Mission plan 2020 which aims at granting incentives to increase sales on EV, F.A.M.E.(Fast Adoption and Manufacturing of hybrid and EV) which is a part of the former initiative which also aims for granting incentives like the reduction of taxes, flat incentives, etc for construction of EV charging infrastructure as well.

Automobile giants have launched few EV in India like - TATA Nexon, Hyundai Kona electric, MG ZS, etc but none of them have been a success till now due to the sole reason of less demand for EV.

SCOPE OF EV IN INDIA - 
 

The EV if the thought about replacing IC engines for the sole reason for increasing pollution won’t completely eradicate the problem but have only a minor effect. This is due to the reason then most of the electricity in India is still produced by coal power plants, as coal also produces the same harmful gases this transition won’t have a major effect of the environment as such.

Even if we do promote the sales of EV, consumers are driven away due to the unreliability of fuel, for lack of charging infrastructure. Although many companies like Tesla are planning to build their own chain of charging stations, India still falls way behind in it. The government has been issuing tenders for building charging stations lately to boost the EV ecosystem in India.

CONCLUSION - 

EV - 

PROS 

• Clean and less pollution-causing depending on the electricity production derivative.
• Silent operation compared to IC engines
• Incentives provided by the state as well as central governments
• Comparatively simple construction 

CONS 

• Less reliable wart. IC engines due to lack of charging infrastructure
• Costly as of now(mainly due to batteries)
• The mindset of Indian consumers still not ready to accept
• High-end technology(less skilled labor available)

 

IC engine -

PROS 

• More reliable due to fuel availability
• Comparatively low cost
• Repairing and maintenance becomes easy as labor related to it is abundant

CONS 

• Increase in air and noise pollution
• Very complex construction`

 

While the replacement of IC engines being inevitable for the automobile sector, EV seems to be a promising replacement. To tackle the environment impact by IC engines by replacing it with EV, India should first concentrate on producing clean and green electricity through solar, wind, tidal, etc.

 Then it needs to improve the EV charging infrastructure so as to build trust among customers when it comes to reliability for long routes. One can say that EV is the future of automobile industries not only in India but all around the world.

 

REFERENCES - 

• https://www.financialexpress.com/auto/car-news/electric-vehicle-market-in-india-evolution-challenges-and-solutions/1738148/
• https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/mahindra-starts-making-coronaviruscombating-aerosol-box-at-nashik-plant-56196
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_industry_in_India

Above information are my views, may differ from actual results

 

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