GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

Geothermal energy is the natural heat generated from within the earth. Undemeath the earth’s relatively thin crust, temperatures range from 1000 to 4000 C and in some areas, pressure exceeds 20,000 pounds per square inch (Psl).

Geothermal energy is most likely generated from radioactive thorium, pot assium and uranium dispersed evenly throughout the earth’s interior which produce heat as part of the decaying process. Volcances, hot springs, geysers and fumaroles are natural clues as to the presence of geothermal resources near the surface and perhaps where economic drilling operations can tap their heat and pressure. About 10 percent of the worlds land mass contains accessible geothermal resources and could provide several million quads of energy annually.

Geothermal energy is derived using the earth’s natural fluids to extract thermal energy that can be sent through turbines to generate electricity or be used directly e.g. direct heating and industrial process heat. Conventional oil and gas drilling methods are primarily used to extract ge0thermal resources using harder drill bills to combal corrosion and high temperature. As it is uneconomical to transport the thermal energy over long distances, the end use is often located near the source.

OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY CONSERVATION

OTEC utilizes the temperature different between warm (26 C) surface waters of low latitude tropical oceans and the cool deep waters (5-10 C) lying below a depth of a few hundred meters to run a turbine and a generator via a heat exchanger and a suitable medium (e.g. ammonia or low pressure steam).

OTEC is a method of using solar energy stored as a temperature difference in the oceans.The earth’s oceans absorb solar radiation the major part of which they store as thermal energy in the warm surface waters. On the other hand, cold water layers move slowly from polar regions towards the equator at depths of less than 100 m. Thus, a vertical temperature difference of up to 25 C exists throughout the year at many tropical locations According to the fundamental laws of thermodynamics, this temperature gradient can be exploited as an energy source.

The ocean thermal gradient does not vary significantly from day to night and hence can be regarded as a steady source of energy. It does have however, a seasonal variation which increases with the distance from the equator.The natural power potential of the thermal gradient energy is estimated to be as large as 10 W (10 TW). Obviously it is not technically feasible to extract all this energy.

A fair estimation would be approximately 10 W as against the world installed electrical generation capacity of the order of 10 W.In India activities in this area are coordinated by the OTEC Cell at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. A feasibility study of setting up a 5 to 8 MW pilot R & D OTEC plant off the main Anandman Islands is ready and a proposal for a feasibility study for installation of a 100 MW OTEC plant off Madras is under consideration.

Wave Energy

Waves result from the inferaction of the wind with the surface of the sea and represent a transfer of energy from the wind to the sea, The amount transferred depends on the wind speed, the distance over which it interacts with the water, and the length of time for which it blows. The largest concentraction of potential wave energy is located between the 40 and 60 latitudes in both the northern and southern hemispheres.Wave power systems convert the motion of the waves into usable mechanical energy which in lum can be used to generate electricity. These systems can be floating or fixed to the seabed offshore, or may be constructed at the edge on a suitable shoreline.

Wave energy is being extensively researched in several industrial countries, particularly Japan, Norway, U.K. and U.S.A.In India the research and development activity for exploring wave energy started at the Ocean Engineering Centre, Indian Institute of Technology. Madras in 1982 Primary estimates indicate that the annual wave energy potential along the Indian coast is between 5 MW to 15 MW per meter.

Hence theoretical potential for a coast line of nearly 6000 KW works out to 60000 MW approximately. However, the realistic and economical potential is likely to be considerably less.Various wave energy systems are now being studied. Theoretical and experimental work is in progress on the optimisation of various system components. An oscillating water column device has been designed and tested at the IIT, Madras, in laboratory conditions. An experimental energy power plant of 150 MW capacity is going to be installed at Vizhinjam beach near Trivandrum in Kerala.

Tidal Energy

Energy can be extracted from tides by creating a reservoir or basin behind a barrage and then passing tidal waters through turbines in the barrage to generate electricity. Tidal energy is extremely site specific requires mean tidal differences greater than 4 metres and also favourable topographical conditions, such as estuaries or certain types of bays in order to bring down costs of dams etc.

Since India is surrounded by sea on three sides, its potential to hamess tidal energy has been recognised by the Government of India. Potential sites for tidal power development have already been located. The most attractive locations are the Gulf of Cambay and the Culf of Kachchh on the west coast where the maximum tidal range is 11 m and 8 m with average tidal range of 6.77 m and 5.23 m respectively. The Ganges Delta in the Sunderbans in West Bengal also has good locations for small scale tidal power development.

The maximum tidal range in Sunderbans is approximately 5 m with an average tidal range of 2.97 m. The identified economic tidal power potential in India is of the order of 8000-9000 MW with about 7000 MW in the Gulf of Cambay about 1200 MW in the Gulf of Kachchh and less than 100 MW in Sundarbans.

The Kachchh Tidal Power Project with an installed capacity of about 900 MW is estimated to cost about Rs. 1460/- crore generating lectricity at about 90 paise per unit. The techno-economic feasibility report is now being examined.

Energy Sources

The change which is threatening the existence of life is another factor forcing to consider alternate energy sources. However the energy sources to be adopted will have to meet the varying needs of different countries and at the same time enhance the security of each one against the energy crisis or energy shortage that have taken place in the past. The factors that need consideration for the search for new energy sources should include:

(i) The global energy situation and demand

(ii) The availability of fossil sources

(iii) The efficiency of the energy sources

(iv) The availability of renewable sources

(v) The options for nuclear fission and fusion.

Available Energy Sources
1. Petroleum
2. Natural Gas
3. Coal
4. Nuclear Fission
5. Nuclear Fusion
6. Introduction to Batteries
7. Solid State Batteries
8. Fuel Cells
9. Super capacitors
10. Photo-voltaic cells
11. Photo-electrochemical Cells
12. Hydrogen Production
13. Hydrogen Storage
14. Biochemical Energy Conversion Processes

Energy

Non - Renewable energy:

As we passed our days in routine life, we are in need of more energy to run the life without a vast change in lifestyle. Because of we are in lack of energy for more years.
Also we damage our environment by consuming non-renewable sources of energy generated from fossil fuels such as coal and crude oil.

Renewable energy:

Hence, alternative sources of energy have become very important to today’s world. These sources, such as the SUN and WIND, can never be played out and therefore these are called renewable.
Their use can, too long lives reduce chemical, radioactive and thermal pollutions.

"In inflation everything gets more valuable except money"
Yes, current inflation led us to hike prices. Mainly the inflation rate was marked by the crude oil prices.
Current crude oil price is shown below.

Command prompt or DOS program Using VB6.0

As an embedded programmer we are in need of accessing the devices through application software’s for a level of automation. But still in lot of small companies are using the ERP related software written in FoxPro, Clipper, Dbase, etc.., these are all working in DOS only.

Getting Data from a device from visual basic software is easy.
But the intermediate software in VB6.0 is very easy to accessing the hardware’s. Anyhow we can’t run in DOS mode,

If you run the .EXE file made in VB it will come back to windows again.

Here is very very simple and better idea: Set – Visible = False for all the forms in your software.

This will helps you. If you want further more just feel free to contact me through your valuable comments.

Embedded Devices Security

To secure the devices embed with the application software’s which can works with desktop or laptop computers. This concept was come from the feedback of the manufacturers that, the software’s are pirated from onsite devices and they are try to manufacture the device.



Idea:
All the micro controllers have built in EEPROM’s , so we can easily store the encrypted serial number of the device which is tested ok.
How can we store the serial number every time while we are using the unique hex files? We can finish this by a special application software which should communicate with the controller, it should incorporate the below steps
1. Software must be the kind Quality and test report generator.
2. First the software should have the ability to program the serial number of the device.
3. After finishing the testing of a device, the report should be update in a database.
4. The serial number should be unique (the database should have to increment automatically when we finished testing.
5. Should be like a test and inventory control database software.

Print via DOS mode using a DotMatrix printer in VB 6.0.

Q:
Hi Iam preparing a report on VB6. I wish to have my report printed in the DOS mode using a DotMatrix printer. How will I do it, since Iam not working on the command prompt. Is there any way to solve this issue? Are there any general rules irrespective of the tools used to undertake such printing ? Any help/suggestion in this regard would be highly appreciated.
Answer:
I wrote a driver module using windows API's for DOS print through VB 6.0. If you want the Module please send me your mail ID via comments in the bottom of this Post. Or simply copy and paste the solution below . if you have any doubt in this feel free to ask me...
Program:

Declare Function PrinterProperties Lib "winspool.drv" (ByVal hWnd As Long, ByVal hPrinter As Long) As Long
Declare Function ExitWindowsEx Lib "user32" (ByVal uFlags As Long, ByVal dwReserved As Long) As Long
Public Declare Function DefineDosDevice Lib "kernel32" Alias "DefineDosDeviceA" (ByVal dwFlags As Long, ByVal lpDeviceName As String, ByVal lpTargetPath As String) As Long
Public Const DDD_RAW_TARGET_PATH = &H1
Public Declare Function GetUserName Lib "advapi32.dll" Alias "GetUserNameA" (ByVal lpBuffer As String, nSize As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function ClosePrinter Lib "winspool.drv" (ByVal _
hPrinter As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function EndDocPrinter Lib "winspool.drv" (ByVal _
hPrinter As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function EndPagePrinter Lib "winspool.drv" (ByVal _
hPrinter As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function OpenPrinter Lib "winspool.drv" Alias _
"OpenPrinterA" (ByVal pPrinterName As String, phPrinter As Long, _
ByVal pDefault As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function StartDocPrinter Lib "winspool.drv" Alias _
"StartDocPrinterA" (ByVal hPrinter As Long, ByVal Level As Long, _
pDocInfo As DOCINFO) As Long
Private Declare Function StartPagePrinter Lib "winspool.drv" (ByVal _
hPrinter As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function WritePrinter Lib "winspool.drv" (ByVal _
hPrinter As Long, pBuf As Any, ByVal cdBuf As Long, _
pcWritten As Long) As Long
Dim lhPrinter As Long
Dim lsp As Integer
Dim hsp As Integer
'------------------------------------------------------------
Function load_pr() As Boolean
Dim lReturn As Long
Dim lDoc As Long
Dim MyDocInfo As DOCINFO
lReturn = OpenPrinter(Printer.DeviceName, lhPrinter, 0)
If lReturn = 0 Then
MsgBox "The Printer Name you typed wasn't recognized."
Exit Function
End If
MyDocInfo.pDocName = "AAAAAA"
MyDocInfo.pOutputFile = vbNullString
MyDocInfo.pDatatype = vbNullString
lDoc = StartDocPrinter(lhPrinter, 1, MyDocInfo)
Call StartPagePrinter(lhPrinter)
End Function
'---------------------------------------------------
Function send_pr(sss As String) As Boolean
Dim lReturn As Long
Dim lpcWritten As Long
'Dim sWrittenData As String
'sWrittenData = "How's that for Magic !!!!" & vbCrLf
sss = sss & vbCrLf
lReturn = WritePrinter(lhPrinter, ByVal sss, Len(sss), lpcWritten)

End Function
'--------------------------------------------------------------------
Function unload_pr() As Boolean
Dim lReturn As Long

lReturn = EndPagePrinter(lhPrinter)
lReturn = EndDocPrinter(lhPrinter)
lReturn = ClosePrinter(lhPrinter)

End Function

The workgroup Information file is missing or opened exclusively by another user in VB 6.0

The below code will be helpful if you have the error like

The workgroup Information file is missing or opened exclusively by another user in VB 6.0

Public cn As ADODB.Connection

Public Function DBConnect() As Boolean

On Error GoTo OpenErr

Dim MSDatabase

Dim str As String Set cn = New ADODB.Connection

cn.CursorLocation = adUseClient

str = "DBQ=" & App.Path & "\db.mdb;" & "DefaultDir=" & App.Path & ";" ' database name and directory

str = str + "Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb)};"

str = str + "PWD=dbb;UID=admin;" ' password & user id

str = str + "DriverId%;FIL=MS Access;MaxBufferSize 48;MaxScanRows=8;PageTimeout=5;SafeTransactions=0;T hreads=3;UserCommitSync=Yes;"

cn.ConnectionString = str

cn.Open DBConnect = True

Exit Function

OpenErr:

MsgBox "Error Opening " & MSDatabase & vbNewLine & Err.Description, vbCritical, "Open Database Error"

DBConnect = False

End Function

'You just use the above code it will work nicely instead of Jet OLEDB 4.0

Technology

Technology has affected society and its surroundings in a number of ways. In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced economies (including today's global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of the Earth and its environment. Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms.

However the Technology grows Up …. Up …. Up the life style and natural resources goes down………. Down …………… down………… .

So please be harmless to nature and protect
our world.

Birth of Technology

Birth of Technology
Technology is a broad concept that deals with usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects ability to control and adapt to its environment. The human race's use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools.
The use of tools by early humans was partly a process of discovery, partly of evolution.Human ancestors have been using stone and other tools since long before the emergence of Homo sapiens approximately 200,000 years ago.

The discovery and utilization of fire, a simple energy source with many profound uses, was a turning point in the technological evolution of humankind.



Science and Technology
Technology is often a consequence of science and engineering — although technology as a human activity precedes the two fields. For example, science might study the flow of electrons in electrical conductors, by using already-existing tools and knowledge. This new-found knowledge may then be used by engineers to create new tools and machines, such as semiconductors, computers, and other forms of advanced technology. In this sense, scientists and engineers may both be considered technologists; the three fields are often considered as one for the purposes of research and reference.

The distinction between science, engineering and technology is not always clear. Science is the reasoned investigation or study of phenomena, aimed at discovering enduring principles among elements of the phenomenal world by employing formal techniques such as the scientific method.[8] Technologies are not usually exclusively products of science, because they have to satisfy requirements such as utility, usability and safety.

Engineering is the goal-oriented process of designing and making tools and systems to exploit natural phenomena for practical human means, often (but not always) using results and techniques from science. The development of technology may draw upon many fields of knowledge, including scientific, engineering, mathematical, linguistic, and historical knowledge, to achieve some practical result.