At this very moment, in backyards across America, 10-year-old sadist explorers with too much free time are conducting experiments that may very well change the face of energy. Their work--burning ants, sticks or their sister’s dolls with a magnifying glass and the power of the sun--encompass the same guiding principals as one of most cutting-edge energy-creation technologies available today. Looking like
half-finished funhouses plunked into the desert, solar concentration plants involve targeting sunlight through a well-positioned cadre of mirrors to heat liquids, which can be pumped through boilers, producing sustainable, steam-powered energy. Your 10-year-old could do it; he just needs a much bigger magnifying glass.
But while the concept is simple, problems do arise. Like how do you avoid wasting all that good steam? Water can’t be pumped through a boiler, it would turn to steam too quickly. What you need is a solution that can survive through three states of matter transformation, only changing forms under extreme conditions so the steam, like the sunlight can be targeted. With a product they call ‘liquid salt,’ Bethlehem chemical manufacturers
Dynalene are hoping to corner this as-yet untapped marketplace, giving your 10-year-old’s giant magnifying glass something more productive to burn.
“A pump cannot pump steam, it has to be liquid,” Dynalene President and CEO Satish Mohapatra explains. “We are trying to use salt that will melt at that temperature, stay liquid and won’t boil until it gets to the boiler.”
After establishing a customer base for coolants and other transfer fluids in the mid-nineties, Dynalene collaborated with
Lehigh University and
Ben Franklin Technology Partners to create their flagship research project. From this research, Dynalene went on to patent several chemical products for use in pharmaceutical manufacturing and even cemented two patents. Since their inception in 1993, Dynalene has found applications for their heat transfer fluids ranging from industrial machinery to fuel cell technology. But their latest venture into the green energy sector brings the company back to its roots. After receiving $41,146 from Ben Franklin Technology Partners to expand planned production for their ‘liquid salt’ solution, Dynalene once again announced a partnership with Lehigh University, giving them the resources they need to reach the full potential of the sustainable energy marketplace.
“This funding from Ben Franklin will go to Lehigh University and the professors and students will be working with us, which will give us more brain power so we can develop a good product more quickly. Without this funding, it might have taken us years,” says Mohapatra. “And these are big projects, requiring millions of gallons. As you can imagine, a lot of work will come from that so we will be looking to add jobs as well. Once we get our purchase order in the next year, things are going to start moving very fast.”
Source: Satish Mohapatra, DynaleneWriter: John Steele