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Interesting engineering news and general interest to get you through the week.

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Add Fertiizer for Extra Gas
Clipped to the Drawing Board by Sean  
Canadian and English researchers have reported the results of a chemical engineering study for a new method of producing methane gas from old oil wells.
The system involves feeding fertilizer into the wells and this then takes advantage of the natural process which occurs when microbes slowly degrade oil into methane, the chief ingredient in natural gas.
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Jonno (92) Senior board member | 2007-12-14 14:47:29
always a new angle to come from - some fairly spectacular claims - the chemical engineering sitting behind this seems sound - maybe there is a vast new energy source just waiting to be developed
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Tess () Newbie | 2007-12-14 14:50:22
I've got this vision of microbes on steroids - super microbe to the rescue of planet earth -
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Zed () Newbie | 2007-12-14 14:54:17
well if it does actually work, I see a lot of upside - what's the downside ? it all sounds too good to be true - there's an old saying - if it looks too good to be true - thats because it probably is
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Bruce () Newbie | 2007-12-14 15:22:04
I'm not a chemical engineer, but fertilizer - ammonium nitrate? mixed with hydrocarbons - doesn't that = explosives ?
there must be more to this than meets the eye - maybe thats part of the process - a controlled chemical reaction (commonly known as an explosion)- just got to make sure that it doesn't erupt
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Pat () Newbie | 2007-12-15 15:29:36
I've had a quick Google and can not find any other data on this - I wonder if it's just a beat up to coincide with the Bali Conference ?
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Aziz () Newbie | 2007-12-15 15:31:47
sometimes these chemical research projects look good in the lab - but I'm just having a few problems envisioning the logistics of filling these wells with fertilizer
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Bibby () Newbie | 2007-12-15 15:35:21
Quite a lot of what if's - but IF it is a "real" solution - the logistics certainly won't be an issue - just remember the old saying - what goes up - must come down - well the same process that pulled the oil out would be reversed and fertilizer pumped in
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DesD () Newbie | 2007-12-15 15:40:50
I've got this vision of the chemists beavering away in a back room laboratory - locked away from the real world - and then getting that Eureka moment - having found the answer to solve a huge energy issue
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Spud () Newbie | 2007-12-15 15:43:16
So this Eureka moment - a bit like jumping out of the bath and running through the streets naked shouting Eureka ?
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Moz () Newbie | 2007-12-15 15:46:46
creating these chemical reactions in controlled laboratory conditions is one thing - but getting the process to work in the field could be a completely different ball game - personally I need to see a lot more information before I would start getting my hopes too high - I've been wrong before - but lets see the results and the practicalities first
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Bruce () Newbie | 2007-12-15 15:49:56
yeah, I would like to see more hard data on this before mortgaging the house and buying shares in fertilizer companies -
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Cam () Newbie | 2007-12-15 15:53:10
I see all of the above points - good and bad - but if it does "have legs" ? - what an absolutely brilliant discovery - sure there will be plenty of things to work out along the way and techniques to develop - but what huge potential - just go for it
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Friday 14 December, 2007 06:02 AM
 
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