Schematic on Idea 94

A Schematic on Shields, the Quest

This is a schematic that was produced to try to make the Shields idea, as presented in Idea #94, operational. The idea here is to ionize a gas and separate it here using electrical and magnetic fields. If we can work with gases, it is a start. This may be new to me, but there is an off-chance as usual that it is already a thing in the world.

The thing you see in the middle is a glass tube, with something in the middle section of it. On both sides there are high-voltage devices that discharge into the gas, turning it into a charged plasma. I'm not expert in plasma physics, in fact I know very little of it, but it seems to be necessary that all the gas turns to plasma in order for this idea to really separate 100% the right and left gases of the apparatus. If it can't separate 100%,then it is a flow valve rather than a hard open-closed valve. Flow valves also find applications so we are cool. 

The spirals you see in the middle are actually electromagnetic coils. These coils are always outside of the glass (not in contact with the gases). The middle oval shaped glass around coil is actually a pocket the external environment inside the tube itself. The coils generate magnetic field, all around the central region, and this field permeates into the glass. This field exits the piece of the paper on both sides of the tube, for example, due to the polarity of the current on these coils. 

The way this should work is that a gas atom comes from the right, for example, turns into a gas ion and then starts sensing the Lorentz force, or rather its magnetic part. The way it feels the force as entering the region is displayed on the bottom and it will start doubling back. The ions will accumulate on the segment just behind the middle section, and gets ionized again, and so on. Hopefully, a flow pattern will keep the gas there trapped forever, for as long as the mechanism that ionizes the gas is operational. My chemistry limitations don't allow me to think this idea through for complete molecules, that is something I need to work on.

There are two cross sections showing the tube a little better. The one on the left (cut-B) simply shows the tube in that region is indeed a circular pipe of glass. In the middle section, it gets a little more difficult to explain. This is the cut-A in the position marked passing thought the first three coils on the left. It resembles a lot a steering wheel. There are holes in a steering wheel just as there are holes here, where the gas flow. These holes are the regions inside the areas that have double borders. The other areas just accommodate the coils so that they are closest as possible to the flow. It is a complex-shaped glass, I cannot imagine the hardship to actually manufacture it.

In retrospect, It might have been a better idea to actually imagine this tube as a rectangular shaped one. Let me do a redraw here and see where that lead us. 

This time I used permanent magnets instead of field coils, it just made more sense. 

But.. what possible reason would lead someone to build such a thing to regulate gas flow, if they can rely on the valves we use today?

The answer to that is speed. To date, it is unknown if the device presented above could respond quicker than regular valves. It is by nature a electromagnetic valve, controllable, and just things that can be controlled using currents and signals offer advantages. It is a different way to control flow, using different physics, and in general it is good to have more options at hand.  

Maybe you are changing concentrations on two gas chambers, mixing things, and in the end you mix both sides together when they are ready, only to flush the whole thing out with your final products. Over the course of many production cycles, it pays to have a valve that would act faster.

Maybe one of the gas chamber is a safety container, that contains a mixture that renders reactants inert, for example. In case of a faulty chemical plant, when the process gets out of hand, you need a valve that opens up quickly and stops a disaster from happening. 

That is it, that is my penny for the day. Thanks for sticking with my crazy wild ideas as usual, and leave a comment if you would like!

BANNER IMAGE CREDITS: NASA, ESA