Embodiments of an apparatus for generating electric power from flowing seawater are disclosed. Embodiments form fluid channels having magnetic fields through which seawater will flow. Electrodes are arranged with respect to the fluid channels and connected together such that electric power is generated as seawater flows through the channels.

A electrical generator that uses wasted heat that emanates from an external heat source to generate electricity. The generation of electricity is based on known thermo-electric principles, electro-chemical principles, magneto-hydro-dynamic principles, the Hall Effect, and electro-static principles. The electrical generator uses a plurality of plates of different thermo-electric conductive materials to generate electricity. Those plurality of plates are stacked on top of the other in a certain order. Each plate has the same array of through holes. Those through holes form an array of lineal channels through the stacked plurality of plates.

A buoyant hydrodynamic pump is disclosed that can float on a surface of a body of water over which waves tend to pass. The pump incorporates an open-bottomed tube with a constriction. The tube partially encloses a substantial volume of water with which the tube's constriction interacts, creating and/or amplifying oscillations therein in response to wave action. Wave-driven oscillations result in periodic upward ejections of portions of the water inside the tube that can be collected in a reservoir that is at least partially positioned above the mean water level of the body of water, or pressurized by compressed air or gas, or both. Water within such a reservoir may return to the body of water via a turbine, thereby generating electrical power (making the device a wave engine), or else the device's pumping action can be used for other purposes such as water circulation, propulsion, or cloud seeding.

An apparatus providing mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion generates electrical current by moving a conductive fluid in the presence of magnetic field. The motion of the fluid is induced by a mechanical energy source and the generated electrical current is directed to a useful load. The proposed apparatus utilizes a conductive fluid as a “liquid rotor” has substantially different radial velocity distribution than the conventional, prior art solid rotor. The apparatus includes an inverter, controlled by the flow of the conductive fluid, to generate a train of pulses as an output, where the pulses are used by an associated transformer to provide an AC output voltage.

A buoyant hydrodynamic pump is disclosed that can float on a surface of a body of water over which waves tend to pass. The pump incorporates an open-bottomed tube with a constriction. The tube partially encloses a substantial volume of water with which the tube's constriction interacts, creating and/or amplifying oscillations therein in response to wave action. Wave-driven oscillations result in periodic upward ejections of portions of the water inside the tube that can be collected in a reservoir that is at least partially positioned above the mean water level of the body of water, or pressurized by compressed air or gas, or both. Water within such a reservoir may return to the body of water via a turbine, thereby generating electrical power (making the device a wave engine), or else the device's pumping action can be used for other purposes such as water circulation, propulsion, or cloud seeding.

In some examples, a system can include an electronic device and a cooling system that transfers heat among other components of the system. The cooling system can include a pipe that contains a fluid, for example. In some examples, the cooling system can further include a magnetic piston, one or more electromagnetic coils, and a power supply. The electromagnetic coils and power supply can generate a magnetic field that moves the piston to cause the fluid to circulate in the fluid pipe. In some examples, the cooling system can further include a magnet and one or more pairs of electrodes coupled to a power supply. The magnet, electrodes, and power supply can generate a Lorentz force that causes a conductive fluid to circulate in the fluid pipe.

A buoyant hydrodynamic pump is disclosed that can float on a surface of a body of water over which waves tend to pass. The pump incorporates an open-bottomed tube with a constriction. The tube partially encloses a substantial volume of water with which the tube's constriction interacts, creating and/or amplifying oscillations therein in response to wave action. Wave-driven oscillations result in periodic upward ejections of portions of the water inside the tube that can be collected in a reservoir that is at least partially positioned above the mean water level of the body of water, or pressurized by compressed air or gas, or both. Water within such a reservoir may return to the body of water via a turbine, thereby generating electrical power (making the device a wave engine), or else the device's pumping action can be used for other purposes such as water circulation, propulsion, or cloud seeding.

An osmotic energy conversion system includes a housing having a first inlet and a second inlet, an MXene lamellar membrane located inside the housing and configured to divide the housing into a first chamber and a second chamber, and first and second electrodes placed in the first and second chambers, respectively, and configured to collect electrical energy generated by a salinity-gradient formed by first and second liquids across the MXene lamellar membrane. The first chamber is configured to receive the first liquid at the first inlet and the second chamber is configured to receive the second liquid at the second inlet. The first liquid has a salinity lower than the second liquid, and the MXene lamellar membrane includes plural nanosheets of MXene stacked on top of each other.

A method of producing a charge separation in a plasma having a low particle density which comprises a plurality of electrons and a plurality of positive ions. The method includes generating a magnetic field and passing the plasma having a low particle density along a first axis through the magnetic field. The magnetic field is generated having a component which is perpendicular to the first axis and is configured so as to deflect the plurality of electrons from the first axis and allow the plurality of positive ions to travel substantially undeflected along the first axis. Also provided is a magnetohydrodynamic generator and a low earth orbit thruster making use of the charge separation mechanism.

A method of producing a charge separation in a plasma having a low particle density which comprises a plurality of electrons and a plurality of positive ions. The method includes generating a magnetic field and passing the plasma having a low particle density along a first axis through the magnetic field. The magnetic field is generated having a component which is perpendicular to the first axis and is configured so as to deflect the plurality of electrons from the first axis and allow the plurality of positive ions to travel substantially undeflected along the first axis. Also provided is a magnetohydrodynamic generator and a low earth orbit thruster making use of the charge separation mechanism.