Thread: Static Electricity Generator

Would it be possible to make a machine that could effectively conduct and channel static electricity in the air and turn it into electricity to power a large scale machine?

What kind of machine are you talking about?

A supercomputer. But I just want to know if I can channel static electricity to a usable power source, if so, how, what kind of machines I may need and how much it might cost.

What are the power requirements?

A sustained couple megawatts.

Megawatts? Seriously? You won't be getting that from the atmosphere. Are you a billionaire?

What about a lightning bolt?

Most of the energy from a lightning bolt is converted to heat and light...plus they don't happen with enough regularity for a viable power source.

What if equip the computer to a robot with a propulsion system and then fly it into a lightning bolt?

That's comic book material.

How much power exactly can I get from static electricity?

So are you writing a story or something?

No, trying to find out if some things are worth investing in.

You'd get a lot more juice at lower cost and more reliablity from solar.

Who is John Galt?

(*ha, edit, I wrote that without realizing that he is a forum moderator.*)

Originally Posted by MacGyver1968

You'd get a lot more juice at lower cost and more reliablity from solar.

Or, the local Power Company! Get hold of an old, high school Wimshurst machine, make up a whole bunch of capacitors by filling empty beer bottles to the bottom of their necks with salt water solution, wrap aluminum foil around 'em bottom up to the start of the neck, immerse them in a plastic tub of salt water. Using screw-cap beer bottles is easiest: poke 1/8" hole in the center of each cap, pass a 1/8" copper rod through the hole, to extend well into the solution inside, solder them in place (most caps are steel). Connect all the rods together in parallel, keeping wiring well up away from the tub below. Submerge a rolled-up piece of aluminum foil about 10 layers thick, made to 1/2" width, bend it over the edge of the tub to keep it in place: this is your other connection point.

You can charge the hell out of this big capacitor, then use the charge built up to produce a spark across a fixed gap in parallel with it, connected to a heavy coil of wire separate from the tub, mounted stationary, having maybe 10 turns, separated widely. A smaller diameter secondary coil 3" in diameter wound on a PVC pipe, very fine wire, perhaps #30, though it can be heavier, length about 3 feet, centered in the big outside coil, mount all rigidly so nothing tips over. Ground the bottom end of this coil, extend the top end upwards a couple inches, start cranking, and,

You might just think ya got that guy's Tesla power source. If nothing happens, disconnect a few beer bottles. If nothing STILL happens, substitute a luminous tube (neon sign) transformer for the static machine. A word of caution: Emptying the beer bottles all at once to hasten completion of the project may impair your ability to finish it! jocular

Is there a difference between an "Admin" and a "Moderator"? jocular

By static electricity, I assume you mean triboelectric effect?

To get a very high power density, one would need to isolate a very large charge.
The problem is that the trapped electrons repels each other, so they prefer to disperse.
If we can't get a high charge density, then we can't get a high power.

The better one I've seen a cool one by georgia tech
Triboelectric Generator Produces Electricity by Harnessing Friction | Georgia Tech Research News