New Power Source for Electronics – Maybe Even Cyberware One Day
Alan Epstein, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, has created a tiny (quarter-sized) jet engine that could provide electricity to just about any electronic device. I love the idea – but did we really need a new way to expend fuel? At least it appears to run on non-petroleum-based fuels.
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/10/10/microengine_tec.html
A tiny gas-turbine engine that fits on a quarter could replace batteries currently used to power laptops, cell phones, radios, and perhaps even home generators.
The engine works on the same principle as a jet engine: a compressor sucks in air from the outside and compresses the air. Fuel injectors add fuel to the compressed air and the mixture gets ignited. (Epstein’s engine will run on a variety of fuel, including kerosene, propane, ethanol, methanol or hydrogen.)
The hot gas produced expands rapidly to turn a turbine, which turns a coil inside a magnet to create electricity.