Indian American teen invents 20-second charger

 Winner of Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award 2013, Eesha Khare has invented a device that could charge any device in less than 20 seconds.

An 18-year-old Indian-American girl has invented a super-capacitor device that could potentially charge your cellphone in less than 20 seconds.

Eesha Khare, from Saratoga, California, was awarded the Young Scientist Award by the Intel Foundation after developing the tiny device that fits inside mobile phone batteries that could allow them to charge within 20-30 seconds.

The so-called super-capacitor, a gizmo that can pack a lot of energy into a tiny space, charges quickly and holds its charge for a long time, NBC News reported.

Khare has been awarded USD 50,000 for developing the tiny device.

She has also attracted the attention of tech giant Google for her potentially revolutionary invention.

According to Khare, her device can last for 10,000 charge-recharge cycles, compared with 1,000 cycles for conventional rechargeable batteries.

"My cellphone battery always dies," she said when asked about what inspired her to work on the energy-storage technology.

Super-capacitors allowed her to focus on her interest in nanochemistry -- "really working at the nanoscale to make significant advances in many different fields."

The gadget has so far only been tested on an LED light, but the good news is that it has a good chance of working successfully in other devices, like mobile phones, the report said.

Khare sees it fitting inside cellphones and the other portable electronic devices proliferating in today's world.

"It is also flexible, so it can be used in rollup displays and clothing and fabric. It has a lot of different applications and advantages over batteries in that sense," Khare added.

Eesha Khare shared the year's Intel Young Scientist award with Henry Wanjune Lin.

Seventeen-year-old Lin who belongs to Shreveport, Louisiana has come up with data that will allow future scientists to unearth certain mysteries about dark matter and energy, all associated with astrophysics.

Meanwhile, the top honour at the Intel competition was bagged by 19-year old Ionut Alexandru Budisteanu from Romania.

Budiesteanu won the Gordon E Moore Award for using artificial intelligence to create a viable model for a affordable, self-driving automobile.

The car costing $4,000 features a 3-D radar and cameras to detect traffic lanes that'll help curb road accidents.

Named in honour of the Intel co-founder, the Moore Award offers USD 75,000 to the recipient as scholarship funds.

Posted on 24 May, 2013

22 Tips - How to Reduce Auxiliary Power Consumption of 500/600/660/800 MW Sets ?

22 Tips - How to reduce Auxiliary Power Consumption of 500/600/660/800 MW Sets ?

Auxiliary Power Consumption (electrical energy needed to run the Unit at variable loads)

1.    Conduct Energy Audit of the Units/Plant every year by an efficient Energy Auditor

2.    Implement all the recommendations of the said Energy Auditor for the Units/Plant

3.    Identify and plug all energy loss points of the Units/Plant to the extent possible

4.    Improve Unit overall efficiency (36% for sub-critical & 42% for super-critical)

5.    Improve Unit Heat Rate (close to 2300/2000 kCal/kWh for sub-critical/super-critical)

6.    Maintain Unit PLF close to 90% (for 330 days in a year/nearly 8000 running hours)

7.  Reduce Specific Coal Consumption (0.5 - 0.6 kg/kWh) by sustained optimization of combustion in the boiler using suitably blended coal (60% ‘F’ Grade + 40% ‘D’ Grade)

8.   Reduce Specific Oil Consumption in the steaming Boiler (close to 1.0 ml/kWh)

9.   Reduce DM Make-up Water Consumption in the steaming Boiler (close to 1.0%)

10. Carry out routine/preventive/annual/capital maintenance of all load bearing equipments including their prime movers of the Unit as per recommendations of respective OEMs 

11. Maintain desired voltage/frequency level for the auxiliaries when the Unit is in Bus

12. Keep Unit Transformers in service when the Unit is in Bus beyond 10% rated load 

 

13. Use combination of Steam Turbine Driven (2x50% running at 100% rated load) & Electric Motor Driven (1x50% kept as standby) Boiler Feed Pumps for running Unit

14. Or use Motor Driven Boiler Feed Pumps with Multi-Stage Variable Speed Drive (with planetary gears) Vorecon (3 x 50% E-motor + Vorecon) for running Unit

15. Use VFD for the prime movers of all other load bearing equipments for the running Unit

16. Keep all standby load bearing equipments of the Unit in switched off/standby mode 

17. Maintain desired Condenser Vacuum (around 76 - 80 mm of Hg) in the running Unit

18. Maintain optimum back end temperature (around 130⁰C - 140⁰C) in the steaming boiler

19. Maintain unburnt carbon in fly/bottom ash of the steaming boiler on lower side (~1%)

20. Run the Unit at Base Load (100% Rated Load) on 24x7 basis

21. Maintain ash evacuation/disposal of the steaming boiler in dry mode except exigency

22. Maintain optimum illumination level in the Plant (use energy efficient lamps)

Posted on 14 May, 2013