Sunday, February 18, 2007

Idea for maximizing heat transfer...Hot Attraction!

It has been observed that high voltage attracts a flame.  How about using this concept to attract a heating flame to an object you want heated?  The flame bends to either go toward or away from the higher voltage.  By using electricity in this way, a heating system could be maximized.  

Some applications might be – furnaces, cooking, welding, etc.  Think of having the heat source at one electrical potential and the heat sink at another electrical potential, as shown below.









Thinking more along these lines, maybe electricity could be used to direct heat on a hot or cool surface – such as an automobile engine block, refrigerator, or a cooking stove surface.  Think of placing electrical charges on or in the heater to channel the heat where you want it to go, changing the path of heat transfer.  You could have a temperature profile within a heated or cooled body.  See below.








Maybe the transition metals in the periodic table that act like both an insulator and conductor could be used to block or direct heat flow – a heat traffic cop.

If interested in this concept, a good place to investigate might be the use of flame detectors (coherers) used in early radio years.  In these radios, a flame was actually used for extracting the audio signal from a carrier wave – an early diode.  Maybe combine this flame detector technology with what is known about the Peltier Effect – heating or cooling with electricity.
Possible Start Building Blocks –
  • Existing concepts for furnaces, heat transfer, etc.

  • USPTO Class/Subclasses for "How-To" ideas – 219/548, 361/234
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