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Re: Microwave Hothead
Posted by: Alex"Thunderbucket"Murray (IP Logged)
Date: May 30, 2004 10:54AM
<HTML>Interesting idea, maybee not so far fetched.
I happened to be having a conversation with my brother(During one of our friday nite, let's have some rum and cokes in the garage) The conversation was about the feasabillity of using a microwave system to heat the hot water in the water tank of his house( He has just purchased a new house in Mission, British Columbia, Canada.) The discussion of using microwave heating of hot water for use in a home went something like this; How would you attach a microwave unit to a hot water tank?
How would you sheild against accidental burns from microwave radiation?
How much energy would be required to heat 35 gallons of water thereabouts, using microwaves?
Hasn't anyone thought of this one before?
My answers to my brother were based on my(Limited) knowledge gained from my 20 years as a heavy duty mechanic.
While i am by no means an expert in the field of Thermodynamics, it was obvious to me that the microwave oven's sole means of creating heat was by vibrating water molecules very rapidly.
Ergo, the theory was that; the microwave approach would use less energy to bring the water to temperature.
Someone please stop me if i'm so wrong in my vague understanding of the principals involved here.
The fellow who offered up that post on using microwave bursts to generate steam doesn't seem that batty to me.
"But then i'm only a back yard inventor"
Alex.</HTML>
I happened to be having a conversation with my brother(During one of our friday nite, let's have some rum and cokes in the garage) The conversation was about the feasabillity of using a microwave system to heat the hot water in the water tank of his house( He has just purchased a new house in Mission, British Columbia, Canada.) The discussion of using microwave heating of hot water for use in a home went something like this; How would you attach a microwave unit to a hot water tank?
How would you sheild against accidental burns from microwave radiation?
How much energy would be required to heat 35 gallons of water thereabouts, using microwaves?
Hasn't anyone thought of this one before?
My answers to my brother were based on my(Limited) knowledge gained from my 20 years as a heavy duty mechanic.
While i am by no means an expert in the field of Thermodynamics, it was obvious to me that the microwave oven's sole means of creating heat was by vibrating water molecules very rapidly.
Ergo, the theory was that; the microwave approach would use less energy to bring the water to temperature.
Someone please stop me if i'm so wrong in my vague understanding of the principals involved here.
The fellow who offered up that post on using microwave bursts to generate steam doesn't seem that batty to me.
"But then i'm only a back yard inventor"
Alex.</HTML>
Re: Microwave Hothead
Posted by: Arnold Walker (IP Logged)
Date: May 30, 2004 12:46PM
<HTML>Your microwave water heater would use about three or four times as much
energy.
Try doing a pot of coffee in a mircrowave oven and a Mr Coffee while metering the amps you are burning......
At the same time,I seem to remember Henry Ford,Hewlett Packard ,and Bell started out as "backyard" inventors.</HTML>
energy.
Try doing a pot of coffee in a mircrowave oven and a Mr Coffee while metering the amps you are burning......
At the same time,I seem to remember Henry Ford,Hewlett Packard ,and Bell started out as "backyard" inventors.</HTML>
Re: Microwave Hothead
Posted by: Alex (IP Logged)
Date: May 31, 2004 02:37AM
<HTML>Hey Arnold, Thanks for the heads up!!
Still there may be something to this microwave idea, I remember a friend of mine who was with an early warning radar site in the desert, he used to joke about the times they would cook chicken on a platter above the radar dish.
Never could tell with this guy, but it sure was fun listening to him go on about very unmillitary use of millitary equipment.
Using a pulsed method, Hi Freq, low amps, there may be a way.......Still....
I'll try tesing a few bit's an pieces, see what happens.
Alex"Thunderbucket" Murray</HTML>
"Bill Lear hired the so called crackpots, and look where it got him"
Still there may be something to this microwave idea, I remember a friend of mine who was with an early warning radar site in the desert, he used to joke about the times they would cook chicken on a platter above the radar dish.
Never could tell with this guy, but it sure was fun listening to him go on about very unmillitary use of millitary equipment.
Using a pulsed method, Hi Freq, low amps, there may be a way.......Still....
I'll try tesing a few bit's an pieces, see what happens.
Alex"Thunderbucket" Murray</HTML>
"Bill Lear hired the so called crackpots, and look where it got him"
Re: Microwave Hothead
Posted by: Mark Stacey (IP Logged)
Date: May 31, 2004 05:56PM
<HTML>Alex This keeps coming up and really needs to be in a FAQ section.
Expanding on Arnold's answer.
If you take an electric element in say an electric jug for boiling water, the heating part is totally immersed in the water and ALL the energy is put into the water. Yes there will be losses from heat radiated from the water etc that is an insulation problem not a energy transfer problem.
A microwave oven takes electricity, converts it to microwaves beams it into the oven and then heats your cup of coffee. Each step has losses.
Yes micro waving a cup of water is more efficient then putting a cup of water into a conventional oven and relying on the radient energy for the wall elements to heat the water. But you don't have to do that ie crudely the electric kettle puts the heat inside the water rather than putting it in from the outside.
Cheers
Mark Stacey
www.cncprototyping.co.nz</HTML>
Expanding on Arnold's answer.
If you take an electric element in say an electric jug for boiling water, the heating part is totally immersed in the water and ALL the energy is put into the water. Yes there will be losses from heat radiated from the water etc that is an insulation problem not a energy transfer problem.
A microwave oven takes electricity, converts it to microwaves beams it into the oven and then heats your cup of coffee. Each step has losses.
Yes micro waving a cup of water is more efficient then putting a cup of water into a conventional oven and relying on the radient energy for the wall elements to heat the water. But you don't have to do that ie crudely the electric kettle puts the heat inside the water rather than putting it in from the outside.
Cheers
Mark Stacey
www.cncprototyping.co.nz</HTML>
Re: Microwave Hothead
Posted by: Peter Heid (IP Logged)
Date: June 01, 2004 07:46PM
<HTML>Maybe the microwave would be more suided to something that needs a fast, high energy pulse for steam generation such as a gun or canon for firing projectiles by steam ?
Just fun thoughts
Peter Heid</HTML>
Just fun thoughts
Peter Heid</HTML>
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