15-11-2012, 05:09 PM
The Bloom Box
1The Bloom Box.ppt (Size: 4.97 MB / Downloads: 172)
Background Info
Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Bloom Energy is a company that was founded in 2001 by K.R. Sridhar
Bloom Energy has created an innovative technology that can change the way the world generates and consumes electricity
The “Bloom Box” is a unique on site power generation system that uses new fuel cell technology with roots in NASA’s Mars program
What is the Bloom Box?
a collection of fuel cells, skinny batteries that use oxygen and fuel to create electricity with no emissions
made of sand that is baked into diskette-sized ceramic squares and painted with green and black ink
The fuel cells are stacked into brick-sized towers sandwiched with metal alloy plates
The Bloom Box consists of these fuel cell stacks that are housed in a refrigerator-sized unit
How does it work?
Oxygen is drawn into one side of the unit, and fuel (fossil-fuel, bio-fuel, or even solar power can be used) is fed into the other side
The two combine within the cell and produce a chemical reaction that creates energy with no burning, no combustion, and no power lines
about 64 stacks of fuel cells can power a small business like a Starbucks franchise
The device was originally invented to produce oxygen on Mars but when NASA scrapped the Mars mission, Sridhar reversed his Mars machine, pumping oxygen in, instead of making oxygen
Conclusion
Sridhar has ambitious goals for his Bloom Box, planning not only to place it in every American home in 10 years, but also in homes in Africa, India, and China
His next goal is to start with “America’s First Family”; he “want(s) a Bloom Box next to the [White House] organic vegetable garden,” and says “It’s about seeing the world as what it can be.”