Harry T. Roman's Blog, page 10

Thomas Edison – An American in Paris

Dateline: Paris, France

Event: Universal Exposition

Year: 1889

The Back Story

August, 1889 finds the great inventor in need of rest and respite from: the stress of opening a massive new laboratory (1887-West Orange); the great growing pains of the new electrical industry; many business matters needing attention; exciting new areas for exploitation; recovery from a lab accident and burns; and a “double-super-secret” project underway in Room 5 in the invention factory. Edison is tired and finally listens to his wife to take some time off–a long holiday and a tour of Europe, starting with attending the Universal Exposition in Paris and later visiting Germany and London.

Paris in Late Summer

With his very young and lovely wife Mina at his side, and herself sporting a magnificent new $3,000+ gown, the Edison’s are the toast of the great city, with many dinners in his honor, awards bestowed upon his now graying mantle, and many well-wishers and dignitaries anxious to meet the great inventor. Edison, never one to enjoy formal dinners, weathers the storm with much support from his captivating and socially adroit wife.

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Edison Paris exhibition

His display of electrical products bedecked in red, white and blue lights illuminates a full acre of exposition space; and features a complete central lighting station. Much to the delight of 30,000 visitors, Edison phonographs are a big hit as well.

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This large painting by Abraham Archibald Anderson was obtained in Paris, and now hangs in the grand staircase of the Edison Glenmont mansion. Mr. Anderson served as a friend and interpreter for Mr. Edison while in Paris.

A tour of the new Eiffel Tower was a special highlight for the Edison family, as a special guest of Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the designer and tower engineer. Coincident with Edison in Paris, famous American wild-west entertainers Colonel William F. Cody and Buffalo Bill happened to be visiting the great city, adding to the jubilant air of the late summer weather. Edison also found time to visit The Louvre (not to his general liking) and Louis Pasteur at the famous Pasteur Institute, fully appreciating the new “germ theory” advanced. A firm acolyte of basic research, Pasteur nevertheless took delight at how Edison made practical and important advances from basic science.

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The Eiffel Tower-built in 1889-an original sketch, an advertisement for the exposition, and photo today.

Next Stops…Germany and London

On to Berlin to meet with the famous scientist Hermann von Helmholtz, industrialist Werner von Siemens, and others, with time allotted to attend a scientific conference then in session. In London, Edison visits the landmark Edison central station at Holborn, using direct current generators delivering 110 volts of load serving voltage. Bittersweet this was, as it was apparent in London that other notable electrical designers were making rapid advances in AC power.

A Super Secret Pleasure Awaits

Arriving home in early October, a relaxed Thomas Edison is delighted to learn of the progress of the super-secret experiments conducted by trusted associates John Batchelor and W. K. L. Dickson, with a new, strange-looking building constructed on the eastern side of the West Orange complex.

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That strange-looking building that greeted Edison upon his return from Paris—the original Black Maria, the world’s first motion picture studio.

There in the demonstration space was what appeared to be an optical lantern of sorts connected to a phonograph, and aimed at a projection screen. A flickering hand-cranked image of Dickson appeared, which eerily uttered “Good morning, Mr. Edison, glad to see you back”. This was the first operable motion picture camera…not just silent pictures, but with sound. Such sensational media would not be witnessed regularly in movie theaters until the late 1920s, but Edison and his team had shown it possible decades earlier. Welcome back indeed Mr. Edison!

Thomas Edison said, “If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves …”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Thomas Edison – Inspirational Quotes for Fall

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Edison and his lovely wife Mina

In his time, Thomas Edison was the most famous man of his period when the major means of mass communication worldwide were newspapers and magazines. This was a far cry from today’s virtually instantaneous social media platform options.

As an entrepreneur extraordinaire, Edison was always sought out for interviews and comments. Reporters and journalists just loved his quotes about life, invention and work. Here are some inspirational quotes below, selected in honor of the new school season.

“My desire is to do everything within my power to free people from drudgery and create the largest measure of happiness and prosperity.”
“I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it.”
“To have a great idea, have a lot of them.”
“If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”
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Edison and his Edison Effect device-the forerunner of the vacuum tube, and the taproot of modern electronics

Here, Edison is telling us not to be afraid of failure……

“If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward.”
“The world owes nothing to any man, but every man owes something to the world.”

Here is a surprise quote, stated by Edison in 1910:

“I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. I wish I had more years left.”

Talk about anticipating the energy future of the country!

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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Thomas Edison – Interesting Facts

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Young Tom, 1878, the year of his phonograph patent.

Readers always enjoy interesting facts about Edison, so here are some to ponder.

Edison nicknamed two of his children he had with his first wife “Dot” and “Dash” in honor of his early telegraph days.

Edison’s first patent was for the Electrographic Vote-Recorder, which was granted by the U.S. patent Office on June 1, 1869. At the time, Edison was 22.

Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of the wireless telegraph, was Edison’s friend. He used the patents made available by Edison for his invention of the wireless telegraph.

Today’s General Electric Company was originally founded as the Edison Electric Light Company by Thomas Alva Edison to market his incandescent lamp and other electrical products.

At his legendary West Orange facility, (opened in 1887) Edison combines invention and manufacturing, creating the integrated manufacturing facility….. from rail-delivered raw materials to finished products for sale…with R&D labs as the inspiration for new product development. In 1910, he employed 10,000 workers on a manufacturing complex comprised of over 40 buildings, on 25 acres of land, to make his products for sale around the world.

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Friends and camping buddies-Edison, John Burroughs (famed environmentalist) and Henry Ford posing in Ft. Myers, Fl.

Edison is responsible for creating the first re-chargeable alkaline storage battery—his famous nickel-iron battery, originally intended for the electric vehicle market; but expanded to include many other applications…quite likely his most prolific product.

In 1929, Edison was given one of the first honorary Academy Awards for his work in founding the motion picture industry. This celebration marked the approximate 40-year anniversary of the original motion picture achievements of Edison, and his building of the first motion picture studio—the Black Maria.

After leaving school at an early age, Thomas Edison was essentially home-schooled by his mother, who was actually a formally trained normal school teacher, then unemployed and caring for her family. She gave him four great things to remember and profit by:

Do not be afraid to fail. Keep trying, learn from failure; and try again.


It is OK to work with your hands and your head. Not everything important comes from books. Experience the world and learn from it.


Read across the entire span of literature, not just what you like.


Never stop learning, keep improving yourself.

 

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Edison in his chemistry lab at West Orange- a picture of confidence and command.

Motion pictures, according to Edison in a prominent magazine interview, would be the new way to teach classroom students. This he proclaimed way back in 1911. Today with the advent of the Internet and smart boards, movies are commonplace in the classroom.

Today we boast how iPods and other recording devices free listeners from radio stations, practically decentralizing music. Edison did this originally with his phonograph which decentralized having to listen to music only from a live band or concert.

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Thomas Edison said, “If I were a school teacher, I would put lazy pupils to studying bees and ants. They would soon learn to be diligent.”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Edison Recognizes the Top Ten Solar States

It wasn’t so long ago folks were interested in getting more solar-electricity generated and used in actual applications. Today, there isn’t a state that does not have goals in place for this energy resource, or renewable portfolio standards that specify how and when solar generated electricity will be implemented. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, here below are the top ten states in early 2018 showing their rank, the amount of solar electricity generating capacity installed ( in MW-megawatts) and the number of homes “solarized”. Edison was very interested in solar energy way back in 1910. He would be smiling now.

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Experience tells us the sun does not shine consistently across the U.S. as the map shown below indicates. It can vary quite a bit across a state, even across a small state like NJ where it is 13% more sunny in the southern half of the state. Not all states can be as sunny as the southwestern states. Dealing with those differences is what solar engineering is all about. Not so much sun as you would like basically means you need more solar panels to meet your needs-so solar system size is the answer and a consequent increase in installation costs to accomplish this. Smart engineering and energy conservation combined can make solar work in most areas.

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Solar panels come in handy module sizes that can be plugged together to get the job done. How many you need for say your own home depends upon the electric load you have, the amount of sunshine available at your site, time of day you want to serve the load while the sun is available, and back-up power availability either through the local utility or via your own battery storage.

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Panels can be installed directly on home roofs, adjacent garages and even incorporated into ground-mounted arrangements. Various tax credits are available to help defray installation costs, so jump in and learn about this exciting option for your home. Make Edison proud!

Thomas Edison said … “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. I wish I had more years left.”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Edison Smiles at Vertical Farming

The idea of farming is being re-imagined, no longer a horizontal area of land, but a vertical affair instead, stretching up into the air. Could this be a way to introduce farming into the urban environment and put people back in touch with where their food originates?

Vertical plant growth can be through hydroponics [where roots are immersed in a pool of water and nutrients], or aeroponics [where roots are misted with water and nutrients]. Artificial lighting is used to provide the “solar” input. But no soil is needed.

A look at the benefits of controlled growth vertical farms:

Year-round production
No need for pesticides
Weatherproof against harsh weather/temperatures
Water conservation-may be up to 70% savings in use
Less spoilage
Food sold locally in urban areas requires little transportation costs/emissions
Requires less space than traditional horizontal farms
Urban farms can make use of old abandoned factory buildings
Creates local jobs and industries for expanded tax base.

Some downsides:

Not all crops can be grown this way- would still need to use traditional farming
Artificial lighting can be energy intensive, leading to energy emissions, and higher food costs.

Are we likely to see a massive shift to vertical farming? It’s probably too early to know for sure, but some interesting trends are happening. Consider, at Sky Greens in Singapore, one ton of greens is produced each day using vertical farm techniques.

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Sky Greens is a single-story vertical farm.

Give it a look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X8E7MmeYL4.

Newark, NJ, based Aerofarms operates several farms. Its global headquarters hosts a 70,000 square foot vertical farm, [the largest in the world] capable of harvesting 2 million pounds of produce every year. Check it out at http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-aerofarms-the-worlds-largest-vertical-farm-in-newark-2016-2.

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A rendering of Aerofarms’ new facility, the world’s largest vertical farm—built on an old manufacturing site.

Even though vertically grown leafy vegetables are a bit more expensive, consumers like the freshness and locally grown nature of it all. Costs are not prohibitive and likely to improve with time and technological advances. Keeping those artificial lighting energy costs down is a challenge that needs to be addressed.

In his later years, Edison was growing large crops of special plant varieties in Florida in an attempt to find a substitute for natural rubber. If successful, he would have established large farms in Georgia and Florida dedicated to growing the plants. Certainly, farming technology would have interested him.

Thomas Edison said, “I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it.”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

How Old are Successful Tech Entrepreneurs?

[image error]Read the popular press and you conclude that successful entrepreneurship is the domain of the young, what with the personalities we see so prominently in the news regarding high tech, and information based companies. Folks tend to think youth is favored for really great ideas and innovations.

Consider….would investors bet their money on high–energy youthful entrepreneurs over the older “silverbacks” with lots of hard-knocks experience….thus missing out on some great potential opportunities? Might older entrepreneurs be too ingrained in the status quo as opposed to younger folks who have little to tie them down to what already exists, and thus are better potential “disruptors” that can laser focus on the new business?

A recent study that involved researchers from the U.S. Census Bureau and MIT has developed some interesting facts about entrepreneurship. In a nutshell, the researchers concluded:

The best entrepreneurs tend to be middle-aged.
Among the very fastest-growing new tech companies, the average founder was 45 at the time of founding.
A given 50-year-old entrepreneur is nearly twice as likely to have a runaway success as a 30-year-old.

Work done at the Kellogg School seems commensurate with these findings. Basically, the longer you have been around, the better your chances of success.

Industry disruption does not have to come from outsiders. Silverbacks with loads of experience and market savvy can make a big difference.

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Will this change how investors fund new start-ups and older entrepreneurs? Are we going to see a shift in business investment strategies?

Edison innovated and disrupted things throughout his life, his experience and determination so highly focused on the tasks at hand; and he never let failure stand in his way. Look at these stats about his age and major accomplishments:

Revolutionized telegraphy – 27
R&D Labs concept – 29
Phonograph – 30
Light bulb – 32
Electric utility – 37
Establishes General Electric – 43
Movies – 46
Edison cement – 52
Storage batteries – 63
Spreads R&D Labs to U.S. Navy – 68
Artificial rubber – 80

Thomas Edison said, “If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves …”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Edison Admires New Water-Battery Technology

Think about an energy storage device that can store intermittent solar and wind energy in the form of hydrogen gas…..a kind of manganese-hydrogen battery. This water-based battery is under prototype development at Stanford University, and if successfully scaled up, can be recycled 10,000 times for use directly on the utility grid.

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Postdoctoral scholar Wei Chen holds a prototype of Stanford’s water-based battery.

Manganese sulfate, a cheap, abundant industrial salt that is used to make dry cell batteries, fertilizers, paper and other products is the secret sauce in this technology; allowing hydrogen to be formed and stored and converted back to electricity later.

The Stanford team, working under US Department of Energy funding, estimates that over the expected lifetime of the energy storage system (10 years), it would cost a penny to store enough electricity to power a 100 watt lightbulb for twelve hours.

According to DOE estimates, about 70 percent of U.S. electricity is generated by coal or natural gas plants, which account for 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions. Shifting to wind and solar generation is one way to reduce those emissions but it creates new challenges involving the variability of power supply.

The Stanford team is now performing some heavy duty engineering to meet demanding grid-scale performance criteria. The palm-size prototype uses platinum as a catalyst to spur crucial chemical reactions. This material is expensive, so the team is concerned with cheaper ways to make the manganese sulfate and water combination charge and discharge correctly.

Editor’s Deep Dive

https://news.stanford.edu/press-releases/2018/04/30/new-water-based-e-energy-storage/
https://cleantechnica.com/2018/05/03/stanford-researchers-announce-inexpensive-water-based-battery-to-boost-grid-storage/

Thomas Edison said, “The world owes nothing to any man, but every man owes something to the world.”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Batteries for Electric Utility Support

In Springfield Missouri, the local utility (Cities Utilities) and a battery manufacturer (NorthStar) are demonstrating how battery storage can help reinforce and extend the life of a substation in a growing area of the city. They are joining a movement in the utility industry to use batteries to defer costly system reinforcements.

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The 1,140 installed 12-volt lead acid batteries will help smooth the substation’s load as the weather heats up, and allow it to postpone or perhaps eliminate the need for costly upgrades in an area where commercial and residential electric load growth is growing. NorthStar sells lead acid batteries around the world, largely for use in vehicles, cellphone towers and backup power systems.

This is NorthStar’s first foray into the utility energy storage market, confident the project will demonstrate that its batteries can play a role in managing the electric grid. This utility-business partnership has the support of clean energy advocates.

Batteries can be a very viable alternative to traditional reinforcements to utility substations, which often can involve additional distribution infrastructure or perhaps local generation. Batteries are relatively cheap, modular and can be deployed in months; and if necessary, even moved.

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Tom cradles his legendary Nickel-Iron storage battery

The utility/manufacturer team will closely monitor the $1 million, 1.1 MW battery system, especially as increasing summer temperatures impact the local grid served by the substation. Charging and discharging the batteries in a balanced manner is important to monitor and assess as well.

Why choose lead acid batteries? While lithium batteries are much lighter, can charge more quickly and generally have longer lifespans than lead batteries, they also require cobalt, a mineral with an escalating price and potential supply challenges in the future. And the lead in nearly all batteries is recycled. Recycling systems don’t yet exist for lithium batteries.

Can you envision Thomas Edison smiling down on all this, so visionary in his development of battery systems way back in the early 1900s! And don’t forget, our modern electric utility system stems directly back to old Tom and his central station concept and electric distribution system demo in New York City in 1882.

Thomas Edison said, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Thomas Edison Admires Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells as a “Killer App”

Fuel cells are both fascinating and highly promising. Edison actually tried his inventive hand at very early fuel cell technology— see a previous blog we published at www.edisonmuckers.org/fuel-cells-with.... Nationally, we first learned about fuel cells during the U.S. space missions of the 1960s where they were used in the Apollo moon landing vehicles [remember: “Houston we have a problem!”]. Today they are being touted as possible clean energy sources for our oil-addicted, and terribly polluting, internal combustion engines.

One of the special fuel cell technologies, known as molten carbonate fuel cells, is especially promising. Operating at high temperatures, this fuel cell can be used to recycle/capture carbon dioxide from power plants, and while doing so, generate clean electricity as well to supplement the output of the power plant it is attached to. Think of it as a gateway to carbon dioxide [and thus carbon itself] sequestration.

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How a molten carbonate fuel cell works

Think of a large coal-fired power plant or perhaps a natural gas-fired hybrid power plant that is producing electricity, and also pumping out carbon dioxide. What if it is possible to attach a piece of equipment to these power plants that literally filters out the carbon dioxide, stores it; and allows that carbon rich air stream to be used for the fuel cell to generate its own clean electrical power? People would salute that don’t you think-after all it’s a win-win for the earth’s air quality.

Carbon dioxide in the normal fuel cell’s operation is recycled because it plays an active part in the electrochemical process within the fuel cell. By breaking this recycling loop, the carbon dioxide can be concentrated, stored and used for other purposes; or perhaps injected into the ground. Fresh carbon dioxide would always be available as the operational fossil-fired power plant would generate it.

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A molten carbonate fuel cell plant for use with an existing or new power plant

At the James M. Barry Electric Generating Station, operated by Southern Company, FuelCell Energy Inc. and ExxonMobil, working under Department of Energy agreements will host a test of fuel cell carbon capture technology. Typical existing carbon capture processes at power plants consume energy. This technology has the potential to increase electricity production, reduce costs and lead to a more economical method of large-scale carbon capture; and allow our nation to continue to use its vast coal and natural gas resources. Thomas Edison would applaud the fuel cell work done so far and anxiously await more progress!

Editor’s Deep Dive

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/515026/fuel-cells-could-offer-cheap-carbon-dioxide-storage/
http://corporate.exxonmobil.com/en/technology/carbon-capture-and-storage/advanced-carbonate-fuel-cell-technology/advanced-carbonate-fuel-cell-technology

Thomas Edison said, “If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves …”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.

Thomas Edison’s World Value

Many people ask what was Edison worth at the time of his death? Estimates vary from about $2 million to $12 million in personal wealth; but that misses the more important point about Edison’s value to the world.

Think first about what his four major inventions have done for our standards of living worldwide—recorded sound, motion pictures, electric light bulb and utility system, and R&D labs. Just these alone substantially changed our world. In 1996, Life magazine proclaimed him the “Man of the Millennium”. Let that sink in. That is the man of the last 1,000 years. Today is 2018. One-thousand years ago was 1018. What was the world and society like back then?

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Thomas Edison’s legendary West Orange Labs where on 25 acres of land, 10,000 employees worked with the great inventor to change the world! Most of the buildings on the site were built using his special concrete.

Thomas Edison died in 1931, and yet today 87 years later, his great inventions together represent 10% of the world’s gross national product; and since the world economy is about $60 trillion annually, Edison’s achievements today represent approximately $6 trillion worldwide. To further put this in perspective, the U.S. gross national product is about $20 trillion annually.

Consider what other economists have claimed about this man…..his achievements are probably responsible for one-fourth of all the current jobs on the planet. Since there now are about three billion jobs on planet Earth, that would mean 775,000,000 jobs are directly attributable to the genius of Edison and his system of turning raw ideas into marketable products. And there is the key….his system. Edison is the ultimate process guy, project manager extraordinaire, who reduces innovation to a series of simple steps, actually codifying the innovation process of the late 1800s into a technology-driven, team-based method of making new products. It does not matter which technology you chose to innovate upon, the steps are the same….a process for all time, as fresh today as at the inception of his invention factory (his early term for R&D labs).

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Arguably the greatest building in the Thomas Edison pantheon, and to the world economy….the Edison invention factory….the first commercial R&D lab.

This paradigm leads to commercial R&D Labs-which every major company in the world duplicates from Edison’s legendary West Orange Labs before he dies in 1931. It is copied at the federal level during World War II to counter the German U-boat threat; leads to the first national lab (U.S. Naval Research Lab), a model for the Manhattan Project during WWI and all the national labs that follow. Last year, the United States spent over $500 billion on research lab activity at all levels – private companies, academia, and federal labs.

In closing, consider how nationally the schools are revamping the middle school curricula to include studying what Thomas Edison did at West Orange. Students are investigating project design challenges using head and hands, and team-based activities to solve real-world problems. We call this curricula STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Math; and it is sweeping the nation and world. Teachers know the value of STEM and they are coming in record numbers with their students to the Thomas Edison National Historical Park [TENHP] in West Orange to learn about it.

Inside the invention factory is what can be considered the “first maker-lab”, Edison’s heavy machine shop, where prototypes were made and later tested. Today our children through their STEM programs have maker labs to make their 3D prototypes.

Thomas Edison is as relevant to today as he was when he started changing the world. His principles for change are dynamic, and continue to inspire today and future generations of inventors and entrepreneurs. At TENHP we now reach out to schools around the world using advanced telecommunication techniques allowing students and teacher around the world to enjoy a guided tour of the invention factory from the comfort of their classrooms. Thomas Edison would love this!

Thomas Edison said, “Anything that won’t sell, I don’t want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success.”
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Left: Intel-Edison module now available world-wide for developers. Right: The “Tommy” award given by the Edison Innovation Foundation.