Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

But heaven forbid not on removing solids
Lets stick to the final solution on that matter

cheers

The boating goods store I work at now sells water balloons. We also have a couple of slingshot options. Latex thickness is a tricky balance with water balloons though. Too thick, and it can be thrown back at you, too thin, you get yourself. They all work if you are just dropping them off of a balcony hitting passerbys.

Yup!!!!!!

Making a living at farming only really has about 20% do to with actually growing things! The other 80% is all about business, Marketing, Logistics, Labor, reducing costs, etc.

I just took a peek at this website.. but I am not really understanding how this engine would be much better for the environment and differ so greatly from the problems IC engines experience? I mean their website states that fuel is injected and atomised and that they can use biofuels or normal petrol/diesel etc... the main difference between this steam engine and IC engines is that the combustion in this steam engine heats water that then drives a piston or whatever as opposed to the combustion directly moving a piston?
I am not saying that it isn't a great invention or has great potential but I still doubt that this kind of engine could compete with the green credentials of electricity and an electric motor if the resources are properly sourced.
A lot of the fuels that are described as possibilities for this steam engine are sourced from waste products... but are they really waste products (a lot of that stuff should be used as fertiliser back in the soil not as fuel) and if they are will there be enough of it to really power a large scale transition to this kind of system?

It's just one development in steam, there are more. I think the solution is not using one or the other, but combine the best of different solutions to come to the most optimal kind of energy production or propulsion. Isn't AP in essence not a combination of different solutions (aqua culture with hydroponics)?

I am not disagreeing with you about trying different things... I was just making the point that for vehicles (which is one of the applications they seem to be pushing) powered by IC engines that steam engine you linked to didn't seem like a much better environmental option...
Although large scale power plants or off grid electricity generation is probably a great application for some types of steam engines... like those sunlight focused towers to create steam... seems great

Yea there are lots and lots of applications for steam, personally i just dont see transport as one of them.
But apparently my opinion is wrong.

For a starter, steam engines don't need a gear box, which generally accounts for a staggering loss of power of around 20%. They also don't need a fan, which also takes about 5% of the power.

Given the use of the same fuel, a steam engine can already win 25% efficiency just by not having those components.

The design of steam engines is also much more simple and robust. Hence less maintenance, less cost, less break downs. They are known for being in service for easily much, much more time than IC engines. I think that makes already a big difference for the environment, given the same fuel use.

I'm sure that with some proper investigation we can find way more arguments for steam and against IC.

Man, this thread has gotten REALLY off topic! Can we get back to the SLO topic and solids removal/treatment please, it was quite interesting.

p.s. As a mechanical engineer I can say with surety that IC trumps steam, cheaper, smaller, safer, less noisy and what not. It's part of the core degree courses that every mechanical engineer everywhere studies. That being said i haven't read any of the research or references quoted here, engineers everywhere are also proven wrong every day, that's the fun of life, as someone, yamiva i think, pointed out very correctly even if you have done something all your life a child could come along and teach you something about it!

That thread has gone so far off topic that you have to specifically mention the topic so people know what topic they should get back to.

Didn't the topic get answered wayyyy back anyhow? I can't remember now

Yea Domani, good luck condensing your steam without a fan. Also good luck having no power left at higher speed without some sort of gearing.

The topic was discussed briefly only. More than half the pages of the thread are a separate discussion :/

Man, because you use steam for dry cleaning you now know it all? Grow up!