Well, it's nice to see some investment but I wonder why a mining company is interested.
The decision by Mine-A-Max Corporation to diversify its interest came about after reviewing the possibilities of the diamond fly wheel battery
developed by German and American scientists.
The use of diamond film predicts great improvements over carbon fiber to withstand the severe centrifugal force of the spinning fly wheel.
Diamond considerably lighter and stronger than carbon fiber and all other materials, will make possible greater speeds and more complete
storage of energy.
Automobiles utilizing the fly wheel battery technology is planning to be introduced commercially to the public in the near future.
Mine-A-Max Completed its Rhombic acquisitions with the purchase of fifty percent of the ''Active Engine,'' an ultimate browser that searches
the internet for answers to inquiries throughout the day and night without the attention of the user and fifty percent of the Fax Key.
The Fax Key is a simple device to send, store and receive secure facsimile documents without demanding any action beyond the insertion of a
key. Both the sender and the receiver are freed from the need to key in pass codes or instruction sequences. The security provided would be
equivalent to that provided by more complex protocols without demanding error prone extra steps.
A variety of products offer secure communications to fax users. The competitive advantage of this design would lie in its ability to offer
convenient and flexible security at low cost.
The Fax Key would be a separate device, able to operate with any fax.
Mine-A-Max Corporation will be required to supply 25% of the funding with Rhombic Corporation to supply 75% of the R & D costs for the
Fly Wheel Battery, and each company will share at 50% each on the R & D costs of the ''Active Engine'' and the Fax Key.
The diamond fly wheel battery will be developed in Columbia, Missouri, in the proposed diamond film plant of Rhombic Corporation.
The ''Active Engine'' and the Fax Key will be produced in Vancouver, B.C.
Now, I don't like flywheels for several reasons. First, the problem is not really the strength of the rotor, it is maintaining the vacuum. A high-speed flywheel needs 10-4 to 10-5 Torr which means an expensive enclosure that will literally melt down if it fails. Maintaining such a high vacuum for years is a real problem. Second, the energy densities and costs that have been demonstrated with flywheels do not compete well with the new generation of batteries.
It is laughable to even think of using flywheels on automobiles. I saw a presentation by the Chrysler engineer that developed the "Eagle" (a NASCAR liquid natural gas turbine - regenerative braking - flywheel storage technology demonstration project) a few years back. The flywheel's precession caused huge problems -- the car would literally try to flip itself if it hit a bump. I talked to a DOT safety guy after the presentation -- he just shook his head.
I also don't like the Active Engine (but don't know enough to really ding it). The problem I have with searching the internet is that there is too much information, and in the technical areas, every grad and undergrad in the world has a web site that mentions what they are studying. If the Active Engine can winnow the wheat from the chaff it would be great. Otherwise I will just use the free search engines that let me specify which domains to search.
I do like the idea of the fax key but have some questions about how secure it is. It is just a lockout device or does it encrypt the transmission? The second case has some real possibilites.
Overall, the real technologies to focus on with this company are the IEC (neutrons without radioactive materials) and diamond-based power transistors and radar diodes. |
