On Oct 7, 5:26 pm, "Calif Bill" wrote:
"Wayne.B" wrote in message

news


On Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:07:53 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

This is what I was thinking, but since my thermodynamics training is
insufficient, I'd like to enlist your help.
Besides your technical expertise (sorry I can't say the same for your
political judgement) you're down there where the water is warm.
What we need is a heat extraction process that will at least add
locomotion power to a boat.

Actually you need a temperature "difference" to extract mechanical
power. Most of the sea water power schemes that I've seen rely on
using the temp difference between warm water on top and cool water
from the depths. That might work for a stationary power plant but
would create way too much drag for a useful boat.

Thermocouples will work in heat alone. Proposals to help fuel economy by
placing thermocouples along the exhaust pipe to turn waste heat into
electrical energy.

Power it with one of those "Bobbing Duck" toys that If I remember
right are filled with ammonia. They are also heat engines.

Thermodynamics, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHrg, nightmares of grad school.
Statistical Mechanics, deriving all the laws of physics and even
entropy from basic statistical considerations was taught by a great
guy but I simply could not get it. EVERY DAY, he'd come to class,
draw a box and start putting dots in it, sometimes they were labelled
to be distinct and sometimes all identical. When deriving physical
laws, he insisted on using a weird system where e=h=c=G=1 so he did
not have to keep writing them down and he therefor lost me entirely.
I despaired of passing and just hung in there in spite of flunking
every test. DAMN if he didnt pass me. Turns out, there were two guys
who dropped out and he passed me cuz I was so stubborn than god. To
this day, at least once a week, I have nightmares of this. I gave up
a good job amd moved all the way across the country for grad school
and NOW I am failing, AHHHHHHHHH, then I wake up.