How to Generate Power in a Post-Apocolyptic World

A steam powered generator:

gizmodo.com...


I just want to know where to get one, or at least the schemadics to build my own.

why not use solar cells? they are gonna be more useful then the amount of electricity u will get out of a steam gen, an sun rays arent anything u need to lug back an forth to yer gen lol.

If I could build a Solar Power generator, which I suppose is 100 times harder to do than a steam powered one, I would build it.

there's even an older thread on it, see

www.abovetopsecret.com...

all in all, hydro is best if your location offers it. stirling engines are preferrable to steam because it's a closed system and requires little or no maintanance and can be used with any heat source and sink. ie solar, normal fuel, - even geothermal, if you intend to squat in the Yellowstone Park during SitX, that is.

An alternative to hydro power...a low water-head vortex power-plant



The vortex basin


The complete installation


section of vortex-basin

source

Austrian engineer, Franz Zotlöterer, has constructed a low-head power plant that makes use of the kinetic energy inherent in an artificially induced vortex. The plant can be installed with a water drop as little as 0.7 meters.

The system is similar to one set forth by Viktor Schauberger, except that it has a dual purpose of aerating water, whereas Schauberger's design was optimized for generating electricity.

In Zotlöterer's system, the water's vortex energy is collected by a slow-moving, large-surface water wheel, making the power station transparent to fish. There are no large pressure differences built up, as happens in normal turbines. The cost of construction for such a plant is half that of a conventional hydroelectric installation of similar yield; and the environmental impact is positive, instead of negative.

The same vortex-principle applied to wind-power

source

Air hitting Energytower is led into it and accelerates as the tower's inner radius decreases. Inside the tower, a vertical-axed three-blade rotor starts to rotate. The accelerated air increases pressure and temperature along the inner walls of the tower, generating a relative pressure drop in the middle of the tower – the eye of the tornado. The pressure gap creates a chimney effect in the tower which also adds to the rotation of the rotor. The low pressure in the middle of the whirl enables a fast release of air from the tower whereby new air can be taken in.

[edit on 26-2-2008 by citizen smith]

Originally posted by Trance Optic
why not use solar cells? they are gonna be more useful then the amount of electricity u will get out of a steam gen, an sun rays arent anything u need to lug back an forth to yer gen lol.

Nice idea, but when the p00 hits the fan and were going commando in the woods, where are we going to get solar cells?

why not buy em now? lol they have a huge selection on google an other sites, backpack cells, cells for your hat to run your phone an lappy, i mean this stuff is already out there why not utilize it?

your going commando you arent gonna have time to make a power plant of anysize cept unfoldable.

And if the sky goes dark for a few years with dust? Batteries from vinegar as was done in the days of the pyramids. They go half a volt each.

[edit on 26-2-2008 by Illahee]

reply to post by Agent Styx


How about a solar powered steam generator.

pointfocus.com...

reply to post by hoppy


Mother hell. I thought that was still just an idea in my head!

Oh well. What's a light bulb sales man to do?

Choronzon,

What exactly do you need the large amounts of power for. You can get hand cranked units for cell phones and laptops and t.v.'s. You could build 12v car battery chargers using an old bike and the alternator from a pick up truck.
If your going commando, what are you powering?

[edit on 26-2-2008 by Tinhatman]

[edit on 26-2-2008 by Tinhatman]

The hippie steam generator is the bee's knees by the way. Thanks for posting.

[edit on 26-2-2008 by Tinhatman]

reply to post by Agent Styx


I've posted a video from this site before on the survival forum, and is definately worth looking at if you want to buy plans to build the two-cylinder steam engine

There are lots of basic methods for power generation, really, the only parts you can't do without are some decent wire, and decent magnets.. those two things, and you should be able to construct some kind of power generator if you're smart..

A old electric weed whacker motor and a squirrel cage will give you a great starter system for a low profile VAWT. Some ware I saw a site with free plans I will see If I can find it. I plan to scale it up and power my garage with 12 volt lighting

reply to post by Choronzon


how are you goung to build a steam engine , or hydro plant or in fact any power plant ?

IMHO your options would be limited to :

human powered alternator

a small wing turbine - light weight collapsible aluminium construction with cloth covered blades

I think the consensus here, correct me if im wrong, is that realistically we'd have to get our ideas together ahead of the apocalypse and start working, because once your all commando in the woods, its most likely too late.

I do like the hand driven alternator idea. I've also seen hand-driven flashlights and radios.

Here is a link to an article about a knee brace that generates electricity.

Uses might include extending the battery-life of implanted drug pumps, powering artificial limbs, reducing the load of batteries that soldiers carry into the field, and bringing electricity to remote areas of poor countries.

Still at the prototype stage so apparently is quite unwieldy but it's a step in the right direction.

And here is another link - this one is quite far off in the future, but they are looking at the nano tech required to make the fabric generate usable current. They say 5 years at least before any commercial use would come about, but everything from you tent to your boxer shorts could be charging batteries as you go about during the day so you can have some light and entertainment and night.

I think with all these sort of things the actual outcome will be quite small and varied amounts of electricity, so you would probably want to combine various methods. And devices are getting ever more efficient at using small amounts of current.

Originally posted by Now_Then
your boxer shorts could be charging batteries as you go about during the day so you can have some light and entertainment and night.

If you design and get a patent on that idea alone, you 'd make millions from just selling the idea to Ann Summers

reply to post by Now_Then


on a similar note - from the dregs of my own mind - it occus to me how much power for such things as :

NVG . radio , head torch etc could a soldier gerearat with a kinetic / impact generator in the heels of his combat boots ?

it would need to be charging a back up batery for when he stops marching

PS - i would NOT want to fight with a ` knee brace generator ` strapped to my leg

Doing some nosing around looking for the best appliances to scavenge my squirrel cage from and ran across a bit of genus called the wind belt. I am going to build one of these for sure.

Wind Belt

Unfortunately it requires horsepower to turn an alternator. A good quality racing one that will last for years takes between 3.5 and 5 horsepower. Your blades and gearbox or pulley system can help a bit getting up to speed but it still takes power. Everyones answer is hydro generation. This sounds good but they way the armed forces of the world are taught to scout and engage is at the waters source and follow it downstream until contact is made.