In Tokyo studying...

Lately, all I have been doing is studying Japanese. I have been making some progress with the engine, but it is taking more time than I expected due to the language barrier. Also, I have started private lessons and it is taking a considerable amount of time to study Japanese.

I have still been keeping up with my version of the "Spreadsheet for Life" and studying everday.

Hopefully, soon I will be able to get this engine completed and post a video of it in operation. Will post more soon!

Examples of Thermo-Acostics in Action

Here are a few examples of how a thermo-acoustic engine works. I am very surprised at how often the engine is mislabeled on the internet. Some folks are calling it a laminar flow stirling engine!

The engine is not a stirling engine, because standing waves are propelling the piston back and forth due to oscillation, not necessarily due to air motion. Stirling engines run off of air motion.
Check out this professors example. The explanation is in Spanish, but this is an international blog so you'd better get tough!!!



Anyway, the engine that I've designed will run based off of this theory. Interesting is it not?

Once I have a small one constructed, I plan on using a fresnel lense as an energy source for the engine. A small lense properly spaced should provide more than an ample heat source. What is a fresnel lense? How much power does it have? Did you know you can melt glass and concrete with a fresnel lense?



Perhaps you can see where this is going?
Stay current for the latest on the science projects!

Thermoacoustic design is finished.

Now, I have a completed design. It did not take too long to make because there are tons of stirling engine forums that have some pictures and plans that are available for one to gander at.

Yesterday afternoon, I rode the bike down to Shinjuku to a hobby supply shop to see how difficult it would be to round up materials. It was amazing; Japanese stores have everything a hobby engine builder could ever hope for. The primary parts I need are Pyrex test tubes, brass bar stock, small bearings, small copper rods, brass machine stock, and a graphite insert (the hobby store did not have the last two parts.)

Unfortunately, there is another issue. I need a solid graphite plug to act as a piston inside a brass housing, and it must be machined. But that is a problem for another day. I intend only to work on this little project 30 minutes a day in order to have a little something to write about that is 'energy' related. First, I will need to locate a machinist who can take care of this. That means, I need to memorize some words and short sentences so that I can speak with him!

This section will continue after the weekend. It will take some time to track down the machinist. He should know where to find the brass stock and the graphite.

Thermoacoustic Model Engine

Today, I had some free time. During my free time today I thought about designing a small engine, a thermoacoustic engine for fun. These engines are very old and the theory for them is based off of the principle of using energy to generate dynamic standing air waves.

The engines can run off of any heat source. In particular, I was thinking about using a Farday lense made from plastic to generate heat for the engine. The thermoacoustic engine is very similiar to a stirling engines, with the exception that they have fewer moving parts ( and therefore less maintenance.) Also, the gearing arrangement on the crankshaft does not exist thanks to the fact that there is only a displacer piston.

It is my intention to eventually round up the parts and make on here at the house. The engine will be rather small, but should none the less run effectively.

Check out this link on Wikipedia to look into the design theory. LINK

Look for some more posts soon on this topic.

Yamaguchi

The second day of my trip was marked by a brief trip to Yamaguchi. Before I left my buddy's place, he printed out a map and marked where to go. Shimonnoseki was the name of the JR station on the far right. In the middle of the map is the aquarim in town, and the "Good" mark is of course a big red temple. At least that is what the kanji read!

(Photo of the local train pulling into the neighborhood near my friend's place.)

The area was quiet. There were no tourists, there weren't really many people moving about. the forecast the day I went was calling for rain, but it did not rain at all! Guess I got lucky!

I walked from the station to the bridge that crosses from the island of Honshu to the island of Kyushu. The bridge is reminiscant of the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco California.

Along the way there were many interesting sites. The most apparently obvious sight was a gas stand near the station. The gasoline price is in yen per liter. 181 yen per liter is about 6.45 USD per gallon. A bit higher than the US. I used an exchange rate of 107 yen per dollar to figure this out.

The next point of interest, that I stumbled upon was an old British customs house. Perhaps a hundred years ago or so, the Yamaguchi prefecture was a large industrial center.

(Old British Clearing House)

Like every town in Japan, Shimonoseki is modern. There is a large viewing tower, and there is a large river walk style area that is loaded with small cafe's, resteraunts, and bars. Since, I went in the middle of the day, I just stopped at a convenience store and bought a soft drink. It was just to muggy to eat.

The riverwalk had an aquarim with a giant dinosaur exhibit in the front of it.

Below is a photo of the dinosaur's head and a view from the river walk.

(Dinosaur's Head!)

(Sea-walk view)

After walking past the riverwalk area, I arrived at the "Big Red Temple". It was very interesting. Below are some photos of the temple's guards.

After safely passing into the temple, there were some opportunities for some great photos.

After touring the temple and looking at everything there at some length; I began to walk towards the bridge. The bridge is massive. At it's bottom there was a small fishing village. It reminded me of some Italian style fishing villages in Europe.

At the base of the bridge there was a war memorial to a famous battle fought long ago. A long time ago two rival samuari clans fought a huge battle at Shimonoseki and there was a war memorial built by the base of the bridge.

Very interesting looking memorial. The memorial also shows off the huge bridge!



Since the walk back was really far, I decided to take a bus. On the bus, I was rather confused as to where exactly I was supposed to insert the coins to pay the 200 yen fare back to the station! So, I had to ask the bus driver who was obviously not used to being around foreignors! It was a great cultural experience!


The next post will be a mixed post with a little of all three topics included!

Kokura, Japan

Click on the title for a map that will show you exactly where Kokura is in Japan.

Kokura is very easy going compared to Tokyo. After taking this picture, I wondered if these handle bars for standing passengers have ever been used?

Grocery Store

After arriving at my friend's house in Kokura the first order of business was dinner. So we headed over to the grocery store that was down the street. The food in Japan is very different than the food in America, but I like it. At the grocery store, there was a fish stand that had this unique Welcome display.

(I couldn't resist...)

There are all sorts of foods for sale that you do not typically see else where. For instance, Onegari, which is rice with some sort of fish inside. (It is in the triangular package.)

Fish, obviously folks in this part of the world love fish. Most of the time it is eaten raw like sushi. However, some people like sashimi, that is sushi without the rice.

(It takes some getting used to having your food watch you!)

The most colorful stand in this grocery store however was the kimichi stand. Kimichi is a dish from Korea that you can get in Japan. It is spice and cabbage mixed together, and is typically eaten cold.

(Would you eat this man's Kimichi?)

Food in Japan is costs a little more than it does in the America's, but it is reasonable. Typically the serving sizes are smaller, and perhaps this is why people here have a much higher life expectancy. Also the lifestyle here is much more physical. People walk more, ride bikes more and so forth.

Breifly here is a comparsion a 5kg bag of rice.

Weight Control Theory Thought.

In an early post, "Spreadsheets for Life" I mentioned the whole "Metabo" problem here in Japan. When I was in Kokura at the grocery store, I developed a theory about it. Perhaps the reason for "Metabo" syndrome was due to economics. For instance, a 5kg bad of rice costs around $20 US Dollars.

A peice of bread that involves no cooking, preparation or anything costs only $0.90 US Dollars. Perhaps a substantial portion of the population here is shifting their diet and this is causing them to gain weight? Just a theory, but since I first came to Japan in 2003 I have seen more and more Western foods in the stores.

After going to the grocery store, we ate dinner and retired. I was fairly beat up from all the activity today. It was really warm in Kyushu, and the train ride while exhilirating was exhausting.

Tomorrow look for a post on a trip to Shimonoseki in the Yamaguchi Prefecture!

Prime Time and Bullet Trains

Sunday I went to Shinjuku and purchased Shinkansen (Bullet Train) tickets. The staff there was very helpful, and they quickly set me up with a reserved seat ticket from Tokyo station to Kokura station in Kitakyushu Japan. My trip began in the early AM on Tuesday. I thought if I got up early then I would miss the majority of rush hour.

Tuesday morning the Yamanote line was not that crowded. Sometimes the station employees use poles to squeeze passengers into the cars! After arriving at Tokyo station it was really easy to find the Shinkansen platform. There were huge signs all over the place pointing one in the right direction.

The hard part was not looking at all the gift shops. They are everywhere. I looked at a TONS of stuff at the station. When I arrived at Kokura station I knew I would have to give a couple of gifts to my friend. In Japan when you stay at someone's house you should give them a small present. In this cause, I bought a couple of small gifts for him and his wife. A small bottle of wine, some Japanese sweets, and some rice crackers.



There were literally hundreds of these little gift shops in the station. They were everywhere. There were small cafes too. Many people obviosly liked this one. The floor at this particular spot was interesting. It was an Edo era map of Tokyo!


Once the shopping was done took a couple escalators up to the platform and waited for the Nozumi (the name of the Shinkansen line). It was interesting. The cleaning crew was lining up to begin to clean the train! It was oddly militant in appearance, but the pink uniforms were great!


Once the cleaning crew boarded, the train left. However, 3 minutes before the tickets departure time the train returned, spotless, and empty. I quickly headed for my seat and got ready for the 5 hour journey across Japan to the island of Kyushu.

Once the train got underway the conductor came around and checked everyone's tickets. I really do not understand why though. Before one can enter the station one must have their tickets checked. I suppose that it is tradition. Regardless, it was no problem.

Once my ticket was checked and all, I got up and walked around some. The train has little vibration, and it is literally flying! The only experience I can even compare it to is riding a helicopter at low altitude! In order to take some pictures of the Japanese country-side I had to turn on the camera's high speed shutter mode! The country side of Japan is beautiful, but the infrastructure is highly modern. Just like the Shinkansen, there are aspects of traditional Japan blended with super high technology.

I tried to many photos of the rural countryside, but it was difficult to do. Japan is really an ultra-modern nation with highly developed towns. There were areas where there were rice-fields and small forests though.

(Mountains)

(Rice Fields)

INSIDE THE SHINKANSEN

The interior of the Shinkansen is wild. There are vending machines, that have tea, soda, water, and coffee for sale.

There is of course a restroom that has super modern fixtures. Japanese people really enjoy ultra modern toilets. Toto is the name of the company that sales them. Here's a link to their site!

LINK

There is also a wireless service inside the train, as well as plug-ins for PC's. There were quite a few salary-men busy working when I was walking around taking these photos.

(An electric outlet is by every seat.)

(Salaryman checking email on the Shinkansen)

THE MOOD

After a couple hours a lunch cart came around. So, I bought a bento. Also, I purchased a recreational beverage called, "Prime Time". The logo on the Prime Time can speaks for itself.

Most of the people on the train either slept, went in the compartment between cars to talk on their cell phones, or quietly worked on their PC's. However, a picture is worth a thousand words. This gentleman's disposition speaks for the mood on the Shinkansen.

If you travel to Japan then you must go somewhere via Shinkansen. The Shinkansen blends traditional Japanese service, and high technology. Here's a link to JR Railways English website. LINK

Tonight look for a post on Kokura, Kitakyushu and Yamaguchi prefectures! I apologize for the delay, but my friends computer just was not compatible with my camera!