Overclock.net › Forums › Industry News › Technology and Science News › [Engadget] Urine-powered generator produces six hours of electricity per bathroom break
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

[Engadget] Urine-powered generator produces six hours of electricity per bathroom break

post #1 of 55
11/8/12 at 10:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
We've all heard the expression "haste makes waste," but how about waste making energy? At the fourth annual Maker Faire Africa in Lagos, Nigeria, a quartet of teenage girls ages 14 through 15 have created a urine-powered generator. This eco-friendly energy source cranks out six hours of electricity for every liter of human bodily fluid by separating the excretion's hydrogen with an electrolytic cell. While this method of human waste disposal seems promising, the device has the potential to be a pee-powered biobomb and will need more than its limited safety measures before you're able to pick one up at your local hardware store. However, if this can help us save a few bucks on our energy bill, then we need to introduce these girls to these guys posthaste.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/08/urine-powered-generator/
http://makerfaireafrica.com/2012/11/06/a-urine-powered-generator/
My System
(15 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel i7-3770k P8Z77 Galaxy GTX 670 CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
790GB Total LITE-ON Corsair H50 Windows 8 
MonitorMonitorKeyboardPower
Acer GD235HZ BenQ 2420T DAS Keyboard CORSAIR 650W 
CaseMouseMouse Pad
Cooler Master HAF-X 942 Razer Deathadder 2013 Steelseries QcK+ 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
My System
(15 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel i7-3770k P8Z77 Galaxy GTX 670 CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
790GB Total LITE-ON Corsair H50 Windows 8 
MonitorMonitorKeyboardPower
Acer GD235HZ BenQ 2420T DAS Keyboard CORSAIR 650W 
CaseMouseMouse Pad
Cooler Master HAF-X 942 Razer Deathadder 2013 Steelseries QcK+ 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #2 of 55
11/8/12 at 10:51pm
Any progress...is good progress.
Piquant PC
(15 items)
 
Unchained CM Scout Of The Drunk Onions
(13 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5 2500K @ 4.6GHz - 1.4Vcore AsRock Extreme3 Z68 1155 Board XFX 5770 G Skill Ripjaw X 1333Mhz 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Seagate 1Tb Sony Optical Lazer mugen rev b Windows Se7en 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
AOC 24" 1920 x 1080 Agama 32 Key Standard OCZ ModXStream 700W Corsair 650D 
MouseMouse PadAudio
Logitech G500 Steelseries Cloth Gaming Pad Asus Xonar DG 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Q8200 @ 3.15 with 1.318 VCore Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3L XFX Radeon HD5770 4GB A-Data 1600Mhz 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
1TB Seagate Barracuda Samsung x24 optical drive Windows Se7en Home Asus 24" 1920x1080 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
G110 Eagle 600W PSU CoolerMaster Scout G500 
Mouse Pad
Steelseries 10" Mousepad 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Piquant PC
(15 items)
 
Unchained CM Scout Of The Drunk Onions
(13 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5 2500K @ 4.6GHz - 1.4Vcore AsRock Extreme3 Z68 1155 Board XFX 5770 G Skill Ripjaw X 1333Mhz 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Seagate 1Tb Sony Optical Lazer mugen rev b Windows Se7en 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
AOC 24" 1920 x 1080 Agama 32 Key Standard OCZ ModXStream 700W Corsair 650D 
MouseMouse PadAudio
Logitech G500 Steelseries Cloth Gaming Pad Asus Xonar DG 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Q8200 @ 3.15 with 1.318 VCore Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3L XFX Radeon HD5770 4GB A-Data 1600Mhz 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
1TB Seagate Barracuda Samsung x24 optical drive Windows Se7en Home Asus 24" 1920x1080 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
G110 Eagle 600W PSU CoolerMaster Scout G500 
Mouse Pad
Steelseries 10" Mousepad 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #3 of 55
11/8/12 at 10:52pm
Wonder how much power it actually pushes...id like to install a urinal near my PC and keep this thing going strong.
Bankai!
(16 items)
 
The Maiden Voyage <First Build Ever>
(13 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
Intel i5 2500k Asrock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 Gtx 560ti Twin Frozr II 2gb Edition Gtx 560ti Twin Frozr II 2gb Edition 
RAMHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin ... Western Digital 500gb RE2's ASUS Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SA... Thermaltake Frio Overclocking-Ready 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Win7 Home Premium 64bit ASUS VG236HE Black 23" Logitech G19 Black 104 CORSAIR Professional Series HX850 
CaseMouseMouse PadAudio
NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Logitech G400 Black RAZER Sphex Stock on Asrock for now. 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz ASUS M4A78 Plus BFG 260 OC G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RP Lite-on DVD 22x Windows 7 64bit HP 16:9 20" Widescreen 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Dell throw away RAIDMAX QUANTUM RX-700 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V S RAIDMAX Scorpio ATX-868WBP Logitech G5 
Mouse Pad
The Desk 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Bankai!
(16 items)
 
The Maiden Voyage <First Build Ever>
(13 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsGraphics
Intel i5 2500k Asrock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 Gtx 560ti Twin Frozr II 2gb Edition Gtx 560ti Twin Frozr II 2gb Edition 
RAMHard DriveOptical DriveCooling
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin ... Western Digital 500gb RE2's ASUS Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SA... Thermaltake Frio Overclocking-Ready 
OSMonitorKeyboardPower
Win7 Home Premium 64bit ASUS VG236HE Black 23" Logitech G19 Black 104 CORSAIR Professional Series HX850 
CaseMouseMouse PadAudio
NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Logitech G400 Black RAZER Sphex Stock on Asrock for now. 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz ASUS M4A78 Plus BFG 260 OC G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RP Lite-on DVD 22x Windows 7 64bit HP 16:9 20" Widescreen 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Dell throw away RAIDMAX QUANTUM RX-700 700W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V S RAIDMAX Scorpio ATX-868WBP Logitech G5 
Mouse Pad
The Desk 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #4 of 55
11/8/12 at 10:53pm
Does the pee produce more power if I eat asparagus?
Cerberus
(11 items)
 
~Trinity~
(8 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel 2500K 4.8GHz 1.44v AsRock Z77E ITX MSI TF2 GTX 660 G.Skill 1600MHz 8GB 
Hard DriveCoolingOSMonitor
SPINPOINT F4 1TB Antec 620 WINDOWS 8 PRO 64BIT AOC 1920x1080 
KeyboardPowerCase
Skiller Corsair 650w Elite 120 Advanced 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
A8-5600K ASROCK A85X EXTREME 4-M RADEON HD 7560D 4 GB G.SKILL 1600 
Hard DriveOSMonitorCase
SAMSUNG SPINPOINT F4 320GB WINDOWS 8 PRO X64 AOC 1600 X 900 XION SLIM DESKTOP M-ITX 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Cerberus
(11 items)
 
~Trinity~
(8 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel 2500K 4.8GHz 1.44v AsRock Z77E ITX MSI TF2 GTX 660 G.Skill 1600MHz 8GB 
Hard DriveCoolingOSMonitor
SPINPOINT F4 1TB Antec 620 WINDOWS 8 PRO 64BIT AOC 1920x1080 
KeyboardPowerCase
Skiller Corsair 650w Elite 120 Advanced 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
A8-5600K ASROCK A85X EXTREME 4-M RADEON HD 7560D 4 GB G.SKILL 1600 
Hard DriveOSMonitorCase
SAMSUNG SPINPOINT F4 320GB WINDOWS 8 PRO X64 AOC 1600 X 900 XION SLIM DESKTOP M-ITX 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #5 of 55
11/8/12 at 10:53pm
I don't get how it works. Does it use the acidity of pee to fuel the electrolysis, or is there a catalyst for electrolysis naturally occuring in it? Or am I missing something else that needs to be patented very quickly?
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 55
11/8/12 at 11:12pm
  • GingerJohn
  • The trick to flying is to fall and miss the ground
I'm a little dubious about this.

Have a look at the picture:
pic (Click to show)
IMG_4498-550x412.jpg


Here is the supposed operation:
  • The urine goes into the electrolytic cell - OK
  • Hydrogen gas is separated out - requires power but less than is generated - plausible
  • Hydrogen gas goes through a water filter - OK but how does it get there?
  • Then the gas somehow goes into the green tank? Where is the pump? How is it pressurised? Are we to believe that the tube glued onto the outside of the tank is gas and pressure tight?
  • The gas goes through a drying filter and into the generator - OK but why use a very inefficient IC generator?

I don't doubt the science all that much, what I doubt is that the product shown does anything.

I would be willing to guess that the green bottle is a perfectly normal gas bottle - feeding perfectly normal gas into a tri-fuel generator, the rest of the setup is bogus and the tank "inlet" tube is just glued to the outside.
Edited by GingerJohn - 11/8/12 at 11:24pm
Main
(19 items)
 
Work Rig
(17 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5 2550k P8P67 Pro Sapphire HD 7950 G.Skill RipJaws X 1600 Cas 9 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveCooling
Corsair Force 120 WD Blue 500GB WD Caviar Green 1TB XSPC RayStorm 
CoolingCoolingCoolingCooling
RX240 MCR 220 EK 7950 Copper Acetal  DDC-1T 
OSMonitorPowerCase
Windows 7 64-bit Dell U2311H Corsair TX 750W CoolerMaster CM690 II 
MouseAudioAudio
G500 Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 Asus Xonar DX 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i7 860 Asus P7P55D - Pro Asus EAH 5850 4GB G.Skill Ripjaw 1600 Cas9 
Hard DriveCoolingCoolingCooling
WD Caviar Blue EK Supreme HF Full Copper Swiftech MCR120 XSPC RX120 
CoolingCoolingOSMonitor
EK FC5850 Copper Plexi EK DCP 2.0 Win7 Home 64bit BenQ EW2420 
PowerCase
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Antec Sonata Elite 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Main
(19 items)
 
Work Rig
(17 items)
  		 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5 2550k P8P67 Pro Sapphire HD 7950 G.Skill RipJaws X 1600 Cas 9 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveCooling
Corsair Force 120 WD Blue 500GB WD Caviar Green 1TB XSPC RayStorm 
CoolingCoolingCoolingCooling
RX240 MCR 220 EK 7950 Copper Acetal  DDC-1T 
OSMonitorPowerCase
Windows 7 64-bit Dell U2311H Corsair TX 750W CoolerMaster CM690 II 
MouseAudioAudio
G500 Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 Asus Xonar DX 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i7 860 Asus P7P55D - Pro Asus EAH 5850 4GB G.Skill Ripjaw 1600 Cas9 
Hard DriveCoolingCoolingCooling
WD Caviar Blue EK Supreme HF Full Copper Swiftech MCR120 XSPC RX120 
CoolingCoolingOSMonitor
EK FC5850 Copper Plexi EK DCP 2.0 Win7 Home 64bit BenQ EW2420 
PowerCase
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Antec Sonata Elite 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #7 of 55
11/8/12 at 11:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by un-midas touch View Post

I don't get how it works. Does it use the acidity of pee to fuel the electrolysis, or is there a catalyst for electrolysis naturally occuring in it? Or am I missing something else that needs to be patented very quickly?

It doesn't work and anyone who thinks it does is frankly, a needs a bit of mental adjustment, to say it as nicely as I possibly can. And it looks like there are many such people on engadget.

First of all "hours" is not a measure of electricity... Come on. Second of all, they're just doing electrolysis to produce H2. There's nothing innovative or useful about this, and also, there's no reason to use urine instead of water unless dirty water is extremely limited or something.
Game
(12 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5-3550 @ 4.2 Ghz AsRock Extreme 4 eVGA GTX 670 FTW @ 1300 Mhz 4x4 GB Samsung 30 nm @ 1850 8-11-11-28-1N 
Hard DriveHard DriveMonitorKeyboard
Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 samsung 830 120gb SSD Achieva Shimian 27" Rosewill Mechanical Browns 
PowerCaseMouseAudio
SeaSonic X650 Gold Corsair Carbide 300R CM Storm Xornet Logitech g330 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Game
(12 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5-3550 @ 4.2 Ghz AsRock Extreme 4 eVGA GTX 670 FTW @ 1300 Mhz 4x4 GB Samsung 30 nm @ 1850 8-11-11-28-1N 
Hard DriveHard DriveMonitorKeyboard
Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 samsung 830 120gb SSD Achieva Shimian 27" Rosewill Mechanical Browns 
PowerCaseMouseAudio
SeaSonic X650 Gold Corsair Carbide 300R CM Storm Xornet Logitech g330 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #8 of 55
11/8/12 at 11:20pm
this looks like a regular fuel cell that someone peed in
Six
(15 items)
 
For Sale: Alienware M18x
$1,500 (USD)
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
3930k Asus Rampage IV Gene Asus GTX 670 DCUII x2 SLI Samsung 30nm 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Crucial M4 256x2 Raid0 none Corsair H80 Windows 7 Ultimate 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
Samsung S27A750D Razer Black Widow Corsair AX750 Silverstone FT03 
MouseMouse PadAudio
Mionix Naos 3200 Alienware Fiio e11 + AD700 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Six
(15 items)
 
For Sale: Alienware M18x
$1,500 (USD)
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
3930k Asus Rampage IV Gene Asus GTX 670 DCUII x2 SLI Samsung 30nm 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingOS
Crucial M4 256x2 Raid0 none Corsair H80 Windows 7 Ultimate 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
Samsung S27A750D Razer Black Widow Corsair AX750 Silverstone FT03 
MouseMouse PadAudio
Mionix Naos 3200 Alienware Fiio e11 + AD700 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #9 of 55
11/8/12 at 11:20pm
I call BS

http://nathan-lee.com/blog/2012/11/07/urine-powered-generator-theyre-taking-the-piss/
Numba1Stunna
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5 750 @ 3.8mhz Asus p7p55D E Gigabyte 5870 1GB G. Skill Ripjaws DDR3 4GB 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Kingston SSD Now V Series 128GB + 12TB HD Storage 2X DVD Burners Windows 7 x64 24' 1920 X 1280 & 19' Pannel 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech G9 Gaming Keyboard OCZ Extreem Gamer 700W Antec 900 Logitec G5 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Numba1Stunna
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5 750 @ 3.8mhz Asus p7p55D E Gigabyte 5870 1GB G. Skill Ripjaws DDR3 4GB 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Kingston SSD Now V Series 128GB + 12TB HD Storage 2X DVD Burners Windows 7 x64 24' 1920 X 1280 & 19' Pannel 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech G9 Gaming Keyboard OCZ Extreem Gamer 700W Antec 900 Logitec G5 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
post #10 of 55
11/8/12 at 11:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by trcvrs View Post

It doesn't work and anyone who thinks it does is frankly, a needs a bit of mental adjustment, to say it as nicely as I possibly can. And it looks like there are many such people on engadget.
First of all "hours" is not a measure of electricity... Come on. Second of all, they're just doing electrolysis to produce H2. There's nothing innovative or useful about this, and also, there's no reason to use urine instead of water unless dirty water is extremely limited or something.

Not true. Apparently there is a benifit to using pee instead of water. From the article,

Here’s an article from 2009 when researchers proposed this in the US

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/news/2009/july/02070902.asp

The important numbers : A … “nickel-based electrode to selectively and efficiently oxidise the urea. To break the molecule down, a voltage of 0.37V needs to be applied across the cell – much less than the 1.23V needed to split water. ”
Numba1Stunna
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5 750 @ 3.8mhz Asus p7p55D E Gigabyte 5870 1GB G. Skill Ripjaws DDR3 4GB 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Kingston SSD Now V Series 128GB + 12TB HD Storage 2X DVD Burners Windows 7 x64 24' 1920 X 1280 & 19' Pannel 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech G9 Gaming Keyboard OCZ Extreem Gamer 700W Antec 900 Logitec G5 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
Numba1Stunna
(13 items)
  		  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5 750 @ 3.8mhz Asus p7p55D E Gigabyte 5870 1GB G. Skill Ripjaws DDR3 4GB 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Kingston SSD Now V Series 128GB + 12TB HD Storage 2X DVD Burners Windows 7 x64 24' 1920 X 1280 & 19' Pannel 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech G9 Gaming Keyboard OCZ Extreem Gamer 700W Antec 900 Logitec G5 
View all
  hide details  
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Technology and Science News
Overclock.net › Forums › Industry News › Technology and Science News › [Engadget] Urine-powered generator produces six hours of electricity per bathroom break