Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Science Nuts about energy Nuts about energy To find what common nut is the best heat source when burned. In today’s world, almost everything we do needs power from fossil fuels or waterfalls. This obviously presents a problem for our limited natural resources and our atmosphere. Many alternatives have been proposed and some used. Most, like solar power and wind power, require certain weather conditions not common in many locations. Others, like nuclear power, create waste problems. Scientists consider this impending “Energy Crisis” to be avoidable and they point out that good progress is being made. One such instance was at the recent Detroit auto show, (where all the American car companies show the year’s new models) when Ford showed a working prototype of a car run completely on fuel cells. The working portion was no taller than the wheels and you could attach different accessories, like seats and shells, to the basic chassis. You may want to know what burning nuts would have to do with the world energy crisis. Well, you may be surprised. As I said before, fossil fuels are limited and you can’t dam every river so what could replace those coal piles in the train yard, what could replace those emergency propane tanks for camping? Nuts. You might think that that is crazy, absurd or stupid; but the average nut is actually very flammable. An ounce of peanuts in controlled lab conditions can produce 694 Btu’s of energy. That is a lot of power in such a small package. There is a natural reason for this. All plants want their offspring to live so they use every trick to get their seeds to survive. Nuts contain a lot of stored nutrients and fat and fat burns really well. They also contain a good amount of oil which also burns well. Well, due to cost issues, you really can’t replace coal with peanuts. On the other hand, my sources have shown that they would make very good replacements for a small propane tank or a fire starter. They burn well, they are portable, and plus they are edible! It could be the perfect emergency kit. A large tin of nuts, a tin for water and a few matches, it could make millions. But what nut does burn best? Does it burn better ground or whole? These are some of the questions I hope to answer. To conduct a proper experiment, you need proper background so I have included a good deal of technical information with my research: Calorie is the metric unit of heat measurement. The small, or gram, calorie (cal) is usually specified in science and engineering as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 g of water from 14.5° to 15.5° C. The temperature interval is sometimes specified in other ways. The definition now generally accepted in the United States, and standard in thermochemistry, is that 1 cal equals 4.1840 joules (J). A slightly different calorie is used in engineering, the international calorie, which equals 1/860 international watt-hour (W h). A large calorie, or kilocalorie (Cal), usually referred to as a calorie and sometimes as a kilogram calorie, equals 1000 cal and is the unit used to express the energy-producing value of food in the calculation of diets. Calorimetry is the science of measuring a quantity of heat (expressed in calories), as distinct from thermometry, the science of measuring the intensity of heat (expressed as temperature). A calorimeter is the instrument used to measure the amount of heat; one widely used type consists of an insulated container of water, a stirring device, and a thermometer. This is what I am recreating. A heat source is placed in the calorimeter, the water is stirred until equilibrium is reached, and the rise of temperature is noted by reading the thermometer. Therefore, because the heat capacity of the calorimeter is known (or can be measured by using a standard heat source), the amount of heat liberated can be readily calculated. In my experiment this is slightly harder due to less regulation to my conditions. The heat absorbed by the water will be proportional in all three nuts. When the heat source is a hot object of known temperature, the specific and latent heat may be measured as the object cools. Latent heat is the one of the things we were just tested on. It is not associated with a change in temperature, but is the heat absorbed by a substance as it changes from one state to another, as from liquid to solid or vice versa ( I like that word for some reason). When the heat source is a chemical reaction, such as the burning of a fuel, the reacting substances are placed in a heavy steel vessel called a bomb. The bomb is placed within the calorimeter, and the reaction is started by ignition with an electric spark. I have a slightly different method for measuring the heat output. It is essentially a primitive calorimeter that I developed from a science website that now has ceased to exist. It consists of a tuna can size receptacle at the bottom to hold the burning substance, a large insulator around the tin and a can of water suspended above the burning object. You record the time and temperature of the water. It is small and portable so it is fit fir emergencies. One problem that was frequently mentioned in my research was that the nuts would be hard to ignite. Many possible solutions were given such as matches, candles, oil, and cardboard. I will find which works best and use it in my experiment. Another point raised was the point of how crushed nuts would do as opposed to whole nuts. I have decided to test both and include results. In my experiment there is no control group because it is a pure comparison between objects. You may be wondering if there are other criteria aside from the most heat emanated to determine the best heating source. Well there are. The first is how long it burns. Obviously this is a two bladed sword; you don’t want a nut that burns out in five seconds but you also don’t want one that has a pathetic flame for five hours. The other is scent. My crack team of aromathologists (my family) will determine if there is any odor. I can’t really comment if it is good or bad though as that is subjective. So in summary I’m looking at heat given off, any scent, and its longevity. BTU: British Thermal Unit, This is the main unit for heat. It is measured as the amount of heat to rise the temperature of one gram of water one Celsius degree. It is equal to one Smell: Smell will be rated on a 0-3 scale. 0: no smell, 1: faint smell but definitely present, 2: solid smell, there is no mistake there is a pile of burning nuts in the room. 3: Overpowering smell, VERY strong odor. Aromathologists: A group of people determining if there is a scent due to burning nuts in this experiment. Crushed: This is a state of crushing of the nuts. The smaller nut pieces should get stuck in a 1/8 inch strainer. Nutrient Count in the experimental nuts Nutrients In Brazil Nuts Units Value per Total lipid (fat) g 66.22 6 1.301 18.773 Carbohydrate, by difference g 12.80 0 3.629 Fiber, total dietary g 5.4 0 1.531 Selenium, Se mcg 2960.0 529 40.043 839.160 Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid mg 0.7 0 0.198 Pantothenic acid mg 0.236 0 0.067 Fatty acids, total saturated g 16.154 0 4.580 Fatty acids, total monounsaturated g 23.016 0 6.525 16:1 undifferentiated g 0.324 6 0.092 18:1 undifferentiated g 22.382 9 6.345 22:1 undifferentiated g 0.000 0 0.000 Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated g 24.129 0 6.841 18:2 undifferentiated g 23.807 9 6.749 18:3 undifferentiated g 0.062 1 0.018 20:4 undifferentiated g 0.000 0 0.000 Carbohydrate, by difference g 6.098 Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid mg 0.000 Fatty acids, total saturated g 1.954 Fatty acids, total monounsaturated g 6.985 Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated g 4.449 Nutrients in Almonds Units 1 oz (22 whole kernels) Carbohydrate, by difference g 5.469 Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid mg 0.000 Fatty acids, total saturated g 1.147 Fatty acids, total monounsaturated g 9.542 Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated g 3.586 “Energy Crisis?” Chemical & Engineering News June, 2001 63-64 USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 14 - 16 (July 2001) “Calorimitry” The Encyclopedia Britannica 1999 “Calorie” The Encyclopedia Britannica 1999 “Calorimeter” The Encyclopedia Britannica 1999 I believe that the crushed Brazil Nuts will perform best because the crushed state will allow more of the surface of the nut to burn. The crushed state will also release the oils inside and allow them to burn better. Brazil Nuts also have a much higher fat and oil content. 1. 1 15 ½ cm wide and 17 ½ cm tall can, both ends cut out and it must have 4 holes punched 1 cm from top that are exactly opposite 5. 30g each of Shelled, dry roasted Brazil Nuts; Shelled, dry roasted peanuts; Whole, raw almonds 7. Thermometer, must be able to record between 0 and 110 C 1. Pour all of the water into soup can. Make sure the water is room temperature. 2. Crush 15g of each type of nut to previously stated definition of crushed. 3. Place the whole almonds in the tuna can and place it on the ground. 4. Suspend the can of water over the largest can and secure 5. Light the nuts and quickly place the large can around the nuts where the water can is right over the nuts. 6. Record water temperature at 2 minute intervals until the fuel runs out. 7. Repeat steps 1 – 6 with the other varieties of nuts. 2 26.2 25.6 26 29.1 28.4 28.5 24.1 23.7 23.7 4 33.9 33.7 33.6 37.8 36.9 37.3 29.6 28.1 27.8 6 38.7 38.6 38.9 46 45.1 45.8 35 34.9 33.1 8 44.4 44.5 45 56.1 55.8 54.9 39.6 39 Out 10 50 49.7 49.7 65.3 65.4 66 41.2 41.9 X 12 54.3 55.1 54.2 72.5 73.1 74 Out Out X I really had to tone down the ability of the nuts to raise the water temperature. The nuts had so much energy when burned I had to double the amount of water, halve the amount of fuel and eliminate most insulation to get the experimental data above. The previous versions were unacceptable because the water kept boiling. I also found I could not run the whole nut portion of the test because they were impossible to light. The Brazil Nuts were much denser than the other nuts. This was a very interesting experiment. The nuts all burned surprisingly well. The Nut that preformed best was the Brazil Nut. It burned longer and hotter than any of the other nuts. The runner-up was the peanuts. They burned almost as long but not nearly as hot. The final nut was hard to light and not very strong so it was not able to perform like the others. This nut was the Almond. There was no odor for any of the nuts so that wasn’t a factor. That brings me to my conclusion; I think that clearly the Brazil Nuts out- performed all the other nuts in both energy released and time burned. This also is a better nut because it is denser than the other nuts. (See Chart Below) Types of Nuts Peanuts Brazil Nuts Almonds Weight of 100ml of nuts (In Grams) 34 59 29 This chart also shows us a possible reason for the difference in performance. As you can clearly see; the nuts placed in order of performance in the same order as they did in density. This is a plus for the denser ones because a denser fuel source is a more easily transported one. Also, another reason that the Brazil Nuts did so well was that they seemed to contain more oil when crushed than any of the others, because, as you know oil burns rather well. The answer to the question, “Would the nuts work as an energy source?” appears to be “Yes”. The ability to heat water (and probably food as well) promotes the little nut fueled burner. It works well as food too (Yum!). I think this clearly shows that the Brazil Nuts are the best heat source and that my idea of a nut burner is somewhat practical. But not everything in my experiment went as planned. Most of the occurrences were small and easily changeable; like the problem of finding a thermometer that didn’t have to be held. Another was finding rubber bands that fit the cans; I fixed that by finding 10 rubber bands all the same size and using them. Other larger inconveniences came when I found that the water kept boiling and so I could not track a temperature increase due to latent heat. This did prove though, that the nuts could boil water even when only burning a small amount of nut. The other major unexpected event was the need for a squeegee to get all the oil out of the nut crusher. If I could go back and change some things I definitely would. For starters I would use a few more different types of nuts for a wider scan of what might work. Another thing I would change would be the liquid I measured the temperature through. I would choose something that boiled at a very high temperature so I could use more of the nut in my testing. The final thing would be to make the rubber bands stronger. At least three times one or two rubber bands broke during the testing. This didn’t affect the results at all but the two times three or all four bands broke necessitated me starting over. I definitely want to do some more research and testing on this cool topic. Some questions tickled me while I was writing and testing. Some were: “What nut contains the most oil?” and “What nut contains the most flammable oil?” I also want to know what other nuts I should test. I’ll have to do more research and testing to answer these questions. Bibliography: “Energy Crisis?” Chemical & Engineering News June, 2001 63-64 USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 14 - 16 (July 2001) “Calorimitry” The Encyclopedia Britannica 1999 “Calorie” The Encyclopedia Britannica 1999 “Calorimeter” The Encyclopedia Britannica 1999 Word Count: 3453
Copyright © 2005 College Term Papers, INC All Rights Reserved.