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O3 Fixer
Pump O3 into the stratosphere, Where we need it.e | |
BackGround:
The ozone layer lies between about 15 and 30Km above sea level and dispersed through the stratosphere peaking in density at about 20Km. It helps to block out harmful wavelengths of solar EM radiation known as UV B and C. It is getting thinner and putting our skin and the DNA of every living
thing on the planet at risk. We can wear sun block, but this increasing trend is resulting in Vitamin D deficiency because non-ionizing wavelengths of light from the sun are necessary to synthesize this chemical in our skin. Perhaps a sun block that only blocked out UVB radiation could help, but the underlying problem still exists.
ForeGround:
How to fix the ozone layer:
1) A hot air column. Make a Kevlar tube with a reasonable diameter (perhaps 1 meter) and an unreasonable length (between 20 and 35 Km). I should have another Kevlar tube inside it of a much smaller diameter (~10 cm). Allow Ozone to flow into the large tube at just enough pressure to fill 1m diameter of Kevlar at sea level. Force Hydrogen into the smaller tube at enough pressure that is slowly leaks out (I’m sure that is would also be a relatively low pressure given H2’s diminutive size). On the surface of the inner tube I think the H2 and O3 would react, releasing heat and water vapour. This is why I say Kevlar: because it has to resist the heat of reaction. I figure the whole column would rise into the stratosphere like a hot air balloon.
At the end of the column there should be holes to allow the gas to escape at just below the rate at which it is being pumped in. Voila: a self supporting O3-to-stratosphere delivery system. It would have to be located at one of the poles to decrease the necessary length and heat to cause lift. I suggest the south because that is where the O3 layer is thinnest.
2) Tube tether: Similarly, make a Kevlar tube or unreasonable length (20 to 35 Km). Make it with a diameter of about 10cm and thick enough to resist the gentle pull of it’s own weight against the Earth’s force of gravity. This time I chose Kevlar for it’s tensile strength. Leave it open at the end and attached to a ribbon that extends out of the atmosphere and is fixed to a counterweight that is in geosynchronous orbit. Begin pumping O3 into the Stratosphere through the tube. This one would have to be located on the equator to maximize the centrifugal force supplied by the counterweight.
Understanding the ozone issue
http://env.chass.ut...00y/know/ozone.html
"There is no point in trying to replace ozone. The amounts are far too large to be transported to the stratosphere. Furthermore, the Antarctic mechanisms are so efficient that they would easily destroy any added ozone." [Shz, Oct 05 2006]
Big gas-moving tower
http://www.cbc.ca/n...s_power_020821.html
Just build it 15-30 times bigger than planned... [ye_river_xiv, Oct 05 2006]
Enviromission
http://www.enviromission.com.au/index.htm
Previously named the Solar Mission Project, was due to be built in 2005, but as of 2006 has yet to finalize plans. [jurist, Oct 05 2006]
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/I figure the whole column would rise into the stratosphere like a hot air balloon/ |
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I'm dubious, due to the open-endedness, the weight of the Kevlar, the water being produced, and the comparatively small quantity of hydrogen gas. |
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Ozone is highly reactive and most likely none would survive transport: why not simply manufacture it in the upper atmosphere in the first place? |
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And while we're at it, why don't we pump all of the CO2 out of the atmosphere? |
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It's not that simple. I really doub that pumping O3 into the upper atmosphere would have all that tangible an effect. UV absorbtion happens by way of a cyclic reaction whereby O2 splits and becomes O-, which bonds to O2 to get O3. It's been a while since I did that assignment, but it's the process, not the existence of the O3 that results in the reuction in transmitted UVB. "Ozone depletion" comes about because of chemicals retarding, hindering or otherwise preventing the process. So pumping highly corrosive and volatile O3 into the atmosphere may well not help things at all. |
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OK, maybe I don't get it. Isn't the ozone hole from chemicals like CFCs binding to oxygen making a heavier molicule and floating them back down to earth? If that is the case, then putting more oxygen into the stratosphere whether it be O2 or O3 would eventually beef up the Ozone Layer as it dispursed. The "ozone cycle" turns one into the other as they absorb solar radiation. I just figure O3 would be more volitile and therefore hotter to give the tube adaquate lift. |
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You are so wrong, I don't even see where to begin. |
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In the upper atmosphere, ozone is formed naturally by the action of ultraviolet light on oxygen. The ozone then goes through a catalytic cycle, absorbing more UV every time it goes through the cycle, thereby doing the world a favor. |
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CFCs also absorb UV, but they break down to radicals that catalytically destroy the ozone without absorbing any more UV, not a good thing. (My former colleague did some of the original laboratory research work on those reactions.) |
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Whether the CFCs are responsible for the hole in the ozone layer is anyone's guess - it may have always been there. However, the general thinning of the ozone layer in recent decades does seem likely to be due to CFCs and other pollutants. |
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Either way, though, pumping more ozone into the upper atmosphere does seem like a worthy project, if we can figure out a realistic way to do it. |
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If we're going to use anything, it should be propane. No? |
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Umm, what exactly is the point of the Hydrogen being pumped through the tube in the first place? You are aware that an unreasonably tall tube can be heated by a moderately reasonable array of mirrors, thus causing the air in the tube to go up like the smoke from a chimmney. This process has been thoroughly documented, and can be used to generate power. So if you just stick an O3 generator at the bottom of one of these, you'll get energy, and ozone... There's one in Australia that's pretty big. Admittedly, twelve miles is vey unreasonable. Lemme see if I can scare up a link about it. |
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Hmm... hopefully you know that kevlar is not strong enough to serve as a connection between the ground and a satellite. I'm sensing an M-F-D Magic (just add Kevlar) coming on... but I'd rather see you explain this one. Might try fullerine tubing instead, although you'll be hard pressed to find tube sections of that material long enough any time soon. |
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//'There's one in Australia that's pretty big.// That project, recently renamed Enviromission, has not broken ground yet. [link] And judging from their June 2006 financial statements aren't likely to complete their project soon. |
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