Intuitive Interactions: Research Needed page

In writing a number of articles proposing methods of using technology to combat human-induced climate change, I have found a few areas where additional research is needed to exploit these technologies for the benefit of the people and creatures of this planet. These are in the form of down-loadable articles in pdf format. I shall be adding to them and editing them periodically, so please look back from time to time. Please email me with any comments or suggestions for improvement you may have.

These articles are all copyright. If you want to print them in any newspaper, magazine or journal, please contact me. If you want to use the ideas for your own research, however, all I ask is that you let me see the results of your research work. If you succeed in obtaining postgraduate degrees, other qualifications or publications, you may wish to put in a one line acknowledgement of this source - I ask nothing more.

Gas Separation using Continuous Gas Centrifuge: This is an area where more research work needs to be done. Gas separation by a cascade of gas centrifuges is used in the nuclear industry for isotope separation; here the molecular weight differences are tiny, less than 0.25% usually. In industrial processes, molecular weight differences are one or two orders of magnitude bigger, making the separation far easier. There are industrial applications of continuous liquid centrifuge, for instance the separation of cream and milk; in principle, the separation of gases using a multi-disc centrifuge is no different.
To read this document, click here:
Internal Combustion Engine Water Injection: By injecting sufficient water into the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine, it runs more efficiently (nearly 60% reduction in fuel consumption for the same power output) and much cleaner. It is possible to eliminate the presence of NOx, CO and unburnt fuel in the exhaust gases and so obviate the requirement for a catalytic converter.
To read this document, click here:
Electricity Grid Stability: The rise in the quantities of renewable energy being put into the grid has had a detrimental effect on grid stability, which depends at present on generation being dominated by the large rotating masses of the steam powered generators that use fossil or nuclear fuels. Because of this, many renewable generators are capped, which results in a large proportion of the available renewable energy being unused. This document proposes a scheme for control of the grid that ensures stability whilst ensuring the maximum use of renewable sources and minimising the electricity generated by steam turbine driven alternators.
To read this document, click here:
Wind Turbine Design: Current wind turbine designs use 3-bladed rotors with a radius of 27m or more where the blade tips travel at around 200 km/h. This is noisy, inefficient and makes them susceptible to erosion and damage from hail-stones and bird-strikes. The blade profile is only truly efficient at the lowest wind velocities. The proposed design can have 36 or more blades that maintain an optimum profile at all wind velocities and other air conditions.
The same mechanism can be applied to the propellers of fixed-wing aircraft, to the rotors of helicopters, or to the impellers of high bypass jet engines. The availability of an optimum impeller profile at all conditions of air velocity, temperature, pressure, density and humidity will bring significant benefits to fuel consumption. The same technology can be applied also to the turbines of generator kites, see item 3 above.
To read this document, click here:
Lifeboat Design: I often watch a program on BBC2 (UK TV) called "Saving Lives at Sea" about the voluntary activities of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, (RNLI). As I watch, it often seems to me that their work could be facilitated by some design improvements to the vessels and systems that they use. This document makes some proposals and I would welcome feedback from those involved in the RNLI regarding the practicality of these ideas.
To read this document, click here:
Ultimate Recycling: For long-term sustainability of our environment, we need to do much more recycling and ultimately discard nothing to landfill and dump nothing into the sea or into the atmosphere. This document considers how to handle the majority of our manufactured products when they reach the ends of their lives.
To read this document, click here:
Compostable Waste Disposal: Currently much compostable waste goes to landfill. This document proposes a method whereby all compostable waste is used to generate high quality garden or agricultural compost plus methane gas for domestic use. Compostable waste includes garden waste, food waste and disposable babies' nappies. This could generate a significant net income for the local authorities that are responsible for disposal of such waste.
To read this document, click here:
Landfill Mining: Landfill sites used since the start of the industrial revolution contain increasing amounts of valuable recoverable minerals such as lead, zinc, copper and tin. As these substances become scarcer and the price increases, it will become more attractive to mine these ancient landfill sites to extract these minerals. More recent landfill sites may contain plastics that can be recycled or sequestered. The landfill area thus rendered free of harmful substances could then be used for agriculture or housing.
To read this document, click here:
Making Electric Vehicle Propulsion Batteries Safer: Electric vehicle propulsion batteries can suffer random faults that cause them to catch fire; this can also happen as a result of a road accident. These fires cannot be extinguished, so they are catastrophic and the whole vehicle and contents are totally destroyed. This document proposes a means of making such batteries safer and of limiting the extent of the collateral damage when a cell fails.
There have been some disastrous fires at recycling facilities where vehicle propulsion batteries have spontaneously caught fire. This document also contains proposals for making the recycling of such batteries safer and easier.
To read this document, click here:
Can a Child have more than one Father? There is anecdotal evidence that some people have traits of appearance, behaviour or inherited characteristics that cannot be explained by observation and records of ancestors. Looking at the research reported in Wikipedia on sperm blocking by the ovum, it is clear that there are gaps. It is not clear whether sperm blocking occurs when one sperm is received, or when the fertilisation needs of the ovum are completed.
To read this document, click here:
Electrolytic Chromatography This is a process that can be used for the economic extraction of scarce minerals from seawater and also for cleaning up industrial waste streams by removing environmentally harmful components.
To read this document, click here:

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"Intuitive Interactions"

The Research Needed page of John McCulloch's website