New member. Introduction post.

[innov8r]

hello everyone,

been reading anonymously for a bit and thought i'd introduce myself finally.

long story short, been trying to get out west for most of my life. first time in wyoming was in the early '60s as a kid when my parents were traveling around. only really remember cody and the black hills. about 10 years ago flew into denver and drove around cheyenne and laramie (felt the wind and thought, 'that will make electricity'). also, drove back through (md resident - what a police state)from salt lake city about 8 years ago. hate taxes¹/gov't/etc, want to be left alone and looking for like minded people. i have lots of skills ranging from roofing to programming and looking for more freedom than i see on the east coast. i'll probably end up divorced since my wife will not leave here, but what the heck, nothing lasts forever. the idea of cameras at every traffic light just does not bode well. ammo is drying up and the number of cops just keeps increasing. i want out. started looking for alternatives after running across the FSP (thought they made a mistake picking NH).

read one of Boston's books (the police one) and liked it. writing a sci-fi novel and a non-fic work also.

As I said I am in effect a high end janitor.  I operate and repair a large number of mass spec's and chromatographs and the facilities that support them for a grouping of universities.  They study the interaction between large air masses and the ocean.  I only do data and sample collections.  I kinda fell into the job because I have alot of shipboard electronics experience.  That and I prefer to live way ... way .... WAY out in the boonies.

at some point i'll need a GC to tweak my plastic->diesel idea. hope you can help lost_in_samoa!


i like shooting/guns and am tired of feeling like the odd man out. gonna be driving to portland, oregon sometime in the next month to see my parents and want to stop in sundance (or thereabouts), any suggestions on what/who to see? recommended motels/ campgrounds?

thanks to everyone for all the info i've already gotten from this forum!


[1] for ex. brooks adams (great grandson of John Adams) - 1878 atlantic magazine 'all taxation is an evil'

[wyomiles]

Howdy innov8r, and welcome, if you are coming back through from Oregon in late June you could meet a whole bunch of us in person at the get together. Or maybe delay your trip a little?
I am also wondering about your plastic to diesel idea. I have worked with a fischer tropsch system and am now working on a system that turns wood into syngas and then to alcohol. Maybe we can trade some info?

[MamaLiberty]

Welcome! If you are coming to Sundance, don't miss visiting Newcastle and the FSW bunch here. We have what we believe is the sweetest deal in Wyoming - the beautiful Black Hills, mild winters and lots of good neighbors! PM for directions.

[innov8r]

Howdy innov8r, and welcome, if you are coming back through from Oregon in late June you could meet a whole bunch of us in person at the get together. Or maybe delay your trip a little?
I am also wondering about your plastic to diesel idea. I have worked with a fischer tropsch system and am now working on a system that turns wood into syngas and then to alcohol. Maybe we can trade some info?

thanks wyomiles! as slow as i am, it might be june before i get going!

hadn't heard of fisher-tropsch (not in my college organic chem book). the little i do know now is that it requires higher temps and pressures. so has the state of the art improved much from the '20s? breaking down organics into CO & H seems like an energy waste though, since you have to then reform the bigger molecules.

the plastics-> diesel thing requires much lower temps and very low residence times. it really just breaks down long chain molecules, which is nice because diesel is kind of 'soup' of C9-C18 from what i understand.
the doctoral thesis paper that a german guy wrote outlines and details the process fairly well. he used all manner of plastics. i would avoid the halogenated( pvc) and oxygenated ones (PET). the conversion rate was better than 80%.

i will be happy to share notes!

[innov8r]

Welcome! If you are coming to Sundance, don't miss visiting Newcastle and the FSW bunch here. We have what we believe is the sweetest deal in Wyoming - the beautiful Black Hills, mild winters and lots of good neighbors! PM for directions.

thanks MamaLiberty! i'll will swing by Newcastle.

liked your '101 books'! haven't seen your '179' book available on half.com yet, so i guess i'll have to resort to amazon.

[wyomiles]

Is this ,more or less ,what you are talking about?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_depolymerization

[innov8r]

well, yeah mostly. it is thermal depolymerization, but it's anhydrous.
the paper described using nitrogen as a carrier gas. 500 degrees C for 10 minutes converted
~100% of polypropylene. obviously the lower the temp you can get away with, the less methane, ethane etc. you end up with. they're fine of course, but they ain't diesel.

20 years ago i worked some on a process to convert tires. they are problematic because of the hodge-podge of ingredients. sure, butadiene and styrene are nice to get back, but carbon black? titanium oxide and steel belts? broken down polyester cord (oxygen as pollutant)? big plant/process required. upside- all the free raw material you could want.

the scope was too big. trying to put everything under the tent so to speak. lots of people devoting lots of time to solving the big problem, instead of breaking it down to little problems to solve. the german guy's paper was good but he was stuck with trying to deal with all plastics. pvc broken down makes corrosive halides etc., when all i want is hydrocarbons.