Is Salt Energy?

Well, (from Wikipedia) sea water contains about 3.6% sea salt, and sea salt is made up primarily of 55% chloride and 30% sodium. Now these components are not particularly useful as a fuel or energy source (perhaps the sodium if you could extract it somehow). This also completely ignores the energy required to extract the potentially useful minerals (which would far exceed any gains).

Piezo power generation is not the answer either (it cannotr be used for even moderate levels of power generation and it requires vastly more energy to make than you will ever get out, and unless the laws of chemistry and physics have changed, sea salt is not a primary component).

If I hear one comment regarding someones bright idea of using electrolysis powered by the extracted hydrogen in the sea water with the spare energy used to electrically extract the sodium from the salt so that it can be burned as an energy source and put the oil companies out of business I will SCREAM. But sadly, would not be surprised.

I don't know about energy from NaCl salt. Other salts such as NaClO3, NaClO4, KClO3 KCLO4, or even KNO3 and NH4NO3 (notice all of those have the extra Oxygen's) along with many others can react to form lots of kinetic energy. Of course your not going to get much of any of those out of sea water.

Kinetic energy??? Only if you drop it or it explodes and flies off somewhere.

I have it, a vehicle powered on baking soda and vinegar! Or better yet those chemical tablets that the TV wanted us to get our moms to get, do you remember "Fizzies"? That's it, I want a Fizzies powered card. That would be really cool. Really messy but cool. Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

One needs to define "salt", and the context in which it is being used.

Ammonium nitrate is a salt. The largest ever explosion in the chemical industry (Germany, 1922) was caused by the use of small charges being used to break up a stockpile of many tons of ammonium nitrate (useful as an agricultural fertiliser, among other things). The ammonium nitrate detonated, creating a huge crater and many lives were lost.

Potassium nitrate, another salt, is one of the three components of gunpowder.

Uranium hexafluoride, a salt that happens to gasify readily, is a useful intermediary for the separation and preparation of fissile materials for power generation using nuclear reactors.

Common salt, sodium chloride, has little scope for being used as an energy source.

PWSlack,

I had read that the largest non nuclear explosion ever was in WWI, when the French tunneled under no-man's land and emplaced thousands of tons of explosive (I believe it was ammonium nitrate) near the German trenches over a period of many weeks. It was set off to devastating effect, as the shock wave killed German troops over a large area. Unfortunately for the French, their aerial reconnaissance of the day couldn't distinguish the dead soldiers slumped over in the trenches from live ones, and it was not exploited.

We used 40 lb ammonium nitrate canisters as cratering charges to create obstacles in roads or passages to prevent vehicles and tanks from crossing when I was in the Combat Engineers. Ammonium nitrate has a low detonating velocity like dynamite, which makes it ideal for "heaving" dirt, debris, or rocks, as opposed to high detonating velocity explosives which can cut steel.

The standard application for a tank trap was called the "triple nickel 40" and was 5 charges, 5 feet apart, 5 feet deep, arranged in 2 rows (one of 3 charges and one of 2) across each vehicle lane. This made a crater big enough to stop a tank cold. (Just a little reminiscing on my part)

And lets not forget the Oklahoma City blast next to the Federal building, and the possible use by terrorists in the future.

Fertilizer, fuel oil or similar flammable substance and a means to detonate it: BOOM!

Greg

PWSlack laments: "Common salt, sodium chloride, has little scope for being used as an energy source."

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True, but if you combine it with an equal mass of antisalt (opposite charge and spin, and it always comes out the bottom of the shaker) you get one hellacious bang, gamma rays, and a buttload of neutrinos. Jeeze, PW, how'd you think I got all these moving violations (waving 31 court summons before monitor)?

-e

No, but it's good for melting ice.

Almost. It lowers the freezing temperature of the solid water it is in contact with, thereby rendering it liquid during its dissolution. The measured temperature remains almost the same, though the dissolution is slightly exothermic.

Talking about salt... from Ocean.

There is a way to use it in a energy system. Like Salt Cell.

Salt cell can be used for store thermal energy.

So you can heat it up to 1500 degress celcius before it melts. Then use a sterling machine to generate mechanical energy. From the mechanical, you can conver it to Electricity. It will last 4 hours before to reach a not usefull temperature.

Please explain the need for salt at all. The scheme illustrated needs it only as a carrier and storage medium to take the energy from one form to another.

One could use anything else that will withstand 1500degC before melting, not necessarily a salt.

Yes... you are right!!

I just make reference to Salt, because this is the topic of this discusion not what is the best material to store 1500 degrees Temperature :).

Based on my original post, although you didn't mention electrolysis, you did mention Sterling engines - heating up salt to <1500 degrees using some sort of handy fuel (coal or wood perhaps)? to power a sterling engine to produce mechanical movement and then convert it to electricity.

aaaaaahhhh. Just a small scream, mind you.

Screeming will drive yu no where. Think about it :):

With a 5mtrs diameter Parabolic mirror, salt can reach up to 900 degrees celcius. Enough for 4hrs energy. For sure depends the area where you are. I am in Mexicali, Mexico and here is posible.

This 900 degress celcius will be your hot temperature side which will be tied to the hot chamber of the Stirling machine. The could chamber will be cooled by the watter you have at home. So, you can get also hot watter from it.

regards!

Jack ulates: "aaaaaahhhh. Just a small scream, mind you."

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Yeah? That's what you think. It took awhile, but I heard it all the way up here in The States. Krakatoa ain't got nothin' on you.

-e

Check out www.climatewell.com. This is a Swedish company that makes a solar storage device using salt.

Pity they don't mention what type of salt it is on the site.......Oh, there it is LiCL. Don't expect to be implementing anything like this with sea salt thou.

I think you have to attach a magnet to it to make salt more efficient... the same way it works for cars.

?????????

Could you perhaps explain?

Interesting... could you be so kind to explain or send some lonks where to refer for?

Let us not forget throwing it over your shoulder for good luck just before you open your utility bill!

Greg

howie doing?

i posted the original is salt energy?

i really liked the throwing over the shoulder method. thanks for my help understanding capabilities of salt. i especially like the salt air conditioner web site. it just seems to make sense that if in a third world by the ocean you could have water byproduct and salt as a source of fuel. too good to be true? well you guys put me in the correct direction thanks for the input...

cheers

Heya... Salt water can be used as energy, in areas where fresh water meets salt water. If you seal the 2 liquids off in two chambers with a membrane between them you will have a functional osmosis system.

This provides about 1mW per square meter. Or the same as you dropped the water from 270 meter height.