calling Maxwell's Daemon

[nul-points]

@Omni

the circuit is there to provide a load on the battery (it draws current by charging C2, which is then used to energise inductor L2)

the current draw will discharge capacitor C1, as expected, in the absence of the battery

the battery may well sustain larger currents by using lower impedance loads (presumably with a resulting reduction of operating voltages) but i haven't yet extended my tests to investigate this variable - at the moment i'm characterising the thermoelectric behaviour of the present system configuration

(i'm sure it's clear enough that these cells weren't constructed with a view to providing sufficient output for consumer-level applications)


@mark

thanks for your erudite and timely comments re. IR spectrum energy

hopefully, my user tagline gives a clue that any reference to Maxwell's Daemon here may be a little 'tongue-in-cheek'

what conversion mechanisms do you feel are likely contenders for producing an excess of DC electrical energy from comparatively high-frequency IR energy?

(i'm not questioning the possibility of IR conversion - my view, so far, is only that any excess energy gained by the system is of a heat-related origin)


thanks for your interest, gentlemen

[Omnibus]

See, I'm not at all interested in consumer-level applications. It seems puzzling to me, though, that the battery can be recharged at these current levels. But my question regarding current was more connected with possibilities to correctly measure it which I'd be interested to do with my equipment. Unfortunately, I don't have apparatus capable of masuring current in the uA range. Therefore, I would be interested to see if you'll observe the effect with higher currents. All this would be to clarify the nature of the excess energy and confirm its reality. Is this your own invention or is something known which you are developing?

[XS-NRG]

It is voltage that decides if the battery charges or not clown.
Current has got nothing to do with that.
If your voltage is too low you can connect it to a 100.000 Amp capable supply but the thing isn't going to charge one uV.

[Omnibus]

It is voltage that decides if the battery charges or not clown.
Current has got nothing to do with that.
If your voltage is too low you can connect it to a 100.000 Amp capable supply but the thing isn't going to charge one uV.

spam

[Omnibus]

Voltage may be above the thermodynamic value for an electrochemical process to take place but if no current passes then there will be no electrochemical reaction taking place -- that is, there will be no recharging. It's the current that characterizes the rate of an electrochemical reaction.

Here in this case it is puzzilng that the current is very low and yet there is a boost in the voltage upon recharging (that is, anode and cathode of the battery have undergone the necessary electrochemical conversion to get higher Gibbs energy potential difference than when battery is depleted). One thing that has to be seen, as was mentioned, is whether or not that is just the temprature dependence of the emf. As I understand, even at this point it can be eliminated as a probable cause, maybe. That has to be studied more. Then, the other point that was made, that the capacitors may somehow act as galvanic elements should also be dismissed on view of the low current level. So, there's something not very clear anout what's going on there.