Fresnel Lens SOLAR STEAM BOILER VACUUM TUBE STEEL WOOL METAL NANOPARTICLES 

You might consider using something under the container to slide it in and out of the sunlight. That would help to keep your hands out of the sunlight and also avoid shocking the glass with a sudden cooler temperature. Also, love the ominous music at the end when the squirrel appears.

The steel wool is heated without water present, this turns it a matte blackish blue color. I agree, shiny metal is not good for solar collection heat exchanging. The advantage is steel wool has a tremendous surface area directly contacting the water.

I am looking for about 50 PSI with a larger volume. Also if higher pressure is needed, a steel pipe inside of a glass vacuum could be the answer. If large enough glass is available, then glass-vacuum,inner glass, oil/element/steel or copper. The oil would transfer a lot of the heat to the encased water tube/boiler.

Not sure, this is for steam engines vs drinking. If you are making tea or coffee, the dark leaves or beans replaces the steel wool.

This would be a good idea for getting distilled water! Using the cling wrap/littler marble method you can condensate the water using the cooler ambiente air into another container. A taller, trasparent wide glass/plexiglass tube can hold the boiler inside and at the same time keep the steam from escaping while letting the sunlight in. Good for having usable water during emergencies!

I Suggest you make a pair of Variable cross polarized sunglasses.Before you damage your retinas if you haven't already

lol that squirrel. :D Now convert a delorian to run on a stirling type engine using fresnel lens on panels around the vehicle, which channel the light to a central structured chamber. Still be a piston car

It sure seems like large scale water heating for something like steam power generation or heating a dwelling would be extreemly difficult to accomplish this way given the localization of the hear source and needing to reposition with sun movement. However, using this as a method to heat a surface for cooking seems like it would be a slam dunk. BBQ (as previously mentioned) or even a large griddle surface etc. Thanks for the video!

Only wish I could have seen this when it was first posted.Great video!! Does this remind anyone of steam powered power plants? Knowing little about the fuschl lens workings just with what little knowledge I have of this can definitely see a power plant that could operate solely by the use of these lenses.Most the steam powered plants sit abandoned for different reasons I'm sure.But one shot in the dark is they don't cater to big fossil fuel oil companies or coal companies.The use of these lenses is definitely a renewable energy source.Can't see many side effects to the environment either.The sun drives everything else so why not power generation.Hopefuly you've kept at this and discovered even more about it..Seen one video where a guy was trying to generate power from steam but was using it's pressure to drive small generators he had demised from small two-cycle engine's.He simply took out the spark plug and ran the engine backwards by the steam power. As a result turning the flywheel where he had the generators. The problem he was facing was a material that could take all the heat generated by the lenses. He could not control the amount of heat he was melting steel, copper, glass any type of pipe he tried.. Assuming these pressure systems are in need of very high pressure more so then what would be generated from boiling water alone like that of a water heater or a pan of boiling water for tha matter.. The last I heard he had some success with a titanium pipe to resisting the heat energy created by the lenses. Ironically this video came up after I had viewed an abandoned steam powered power plant. I'm the outside the box type thinker and two and two makes four every time.Can just see this as a reality in the future. One has to agree that water as well as the sun are the two most nurturing substances in the known Galaxy no life can exist without these two factors in play.. There's energy in equation one just has to figure out how to harness it. And to what angle to come at it from. Like I said hopefully you are still hammering out this I'm going to say technology. Like the great tempest of the pass keep hammering...👍✌️

Try some carbon fiber roving. It's carbon, which is non-toxic (may have sizing/die lubricant agents that you'll want to wash off) and it's naturally black. Roving is essentially what fabric is woven from, and it poofs up really nice. I've used it several times to make electrodes for carbon-zinc batteries that had to be really small and flexible, and it's electrochemically stable over very long periods in ridiculously caustic conditions. Love the vids, keep up the good work!

Hi Daniel. Like your work much, but would love to see a solar powered steam engine. Definetly can imagine it with the vacuum flask you did your experiment above. You can even use a number of those simultaneously, possibly with additional lens for each other flask, and connect them to single preasure chamber (and possibly extra watter reservoir) by some valved tubing. Would that design have some point in it, or would it be much easier to simply slap there a solar panel instead?

have you considered using two bottles, linked together with a hose? one bottle would be for heating using the Fresnel lens, and would have a hose going into a hot water tank, and the cold water would be fed from the bottom of the hot water tank and be linked by a hose to the bottle being heated. as the water heats, it will rise up in the hose to the top of the hot water tank, causing a siphoning from the cold water bottle which would resupply the hot water bottle - a closed loop if you will.

Not user if this one is, the borosilicate tube will. I need to test the tea thing today.

Oh I love these glass jar experiments. .

Dan, you really need to follow this steam through to the end and make a working steam engine that produces a goodly amount of electricity, enough to run several appliances or an A/C unit. Something worth building to help in living "Off Grid."

Just superheat it in concentrated sunlight or with a torch. It turns a nice deep blued, the same color as the surface collectors of evacuated tubes.

It's amazing how easily you can boil water with the sun!

Do you wonder how much heat the shiny steel wool is reflecting away? i wonder if there's some kindof black stainless-steel-wool-like material. i guess you could spray/dip black paint onto it, but i'd expect the heat (and the flex of the steel-wool) to deteriorate the paint, it may chip-off into the water. Perhaps special heat paint (exhaust paint)

oh, i think i found it.Hi dan.i'm going back to the trough mirror video to ask some questions on parabolas and heat collection. i love your work.

Impressive, cant wait to see steam boiler built

been thinking about using this as a replacement for nuclear power since like 2001, nice to see a proof of concept, never thought of steel wool! I strongly encourage anybody with the wherewithall to find a turbine and an alternator ;)

I actually do... enjoy your videos dan.. you are passionate about what you do and for the right reasons and doing the business model you have in the right way... through kinda open source/freemium type model... which is the way business is moving.. give the idea away for free anyone can make it themselves.. but you do offer finished units and kits etc at a reasonable price.. and bing... you are chocolate chunk ice cream and not prune ice cream... difference of night and day folks.... you CAN make money by paying it forward by giving the idea or design away freely and then just charging for what you BUILD and sell to people who maybe want to have such who cant for whatever reason.. oh btw.. the dog is a very nice addition to the video channel and like I have a cat who helps me develop as well.. his name is Mr. Bill Clinton (Yes that is his registered name when I adopted him)

I wonder if this could be used to heat homes in the winter ? Like a series of sealed drums full of water or oil, and heat it with the Fresnel lens, then the heat will radiate throughout the day ?

Yes, but they stress easier with heat changes.

This video turned a little squirrelly at the end :),Tks for all your great video posts.

Thanks Dan. I was using a regular camping kettle with a satellite dish parabola (burns wood real fast!) and wondering why it would only sizzle and not get a nice boil on... obviously losing too much heat from the crappy spout, its not insulated, and of course its chromed so its reflecting energy back also!

I've thought about using Fresnel lenses to supercharge a solar heat system because I live in a cold climate, but the cost of any lenses is prohibitive. I don't know all the measurements, but I've wondered how much energy could be harvested combining a Fresnel with a sun-tracking system to direct the light at a target. Probably not enough to be worthwhile where it is overcast or has a lot of snow when it's cold.

That bottle was luminous!

Could you attach that to a pressurised system leading to a Tesla turbine to generate power? Just recently watched integza’s video on Tesla turbines and it seems like this combination could genuinely be a game changer if scaled up to a big enough scale

Can a Fresnel lens be used to generate enough steam to run a generator and generate a useful amount of electricity?

Is this water safe to drink or to cook with?

Hey Dan, How about using a mirror to get a horizontal beam of focussed light? And then behind the object you make a white screen (Or another mirror for double focus) so the beam won't burn something when you remove the object.

Hey great video ! Which material could i use if the fresenel lens temperature goes upto 800 degrees C. ?

How could you set that up to say.... heat a swimming pool. Will the focal point heat water directly or would you have to have a transfer medium?

That looked really cool before you adjusted the camera at 2:50. Very interesting video.

Your awesome! I think this is the science ideas of future energy. This is the inventiveness we need to move forward.

Maybe you could set this experiment up again on a cloudy or partly cloudy day to show the power loss? I live in the NW so I dont have the sun you do but on a nice day I could see putting this to good use. Also, what does a lens like that cost?

The lens size is kind of impractical in a rl situation. What if you had a bed of smaller lenses like on a solar panel with the water piping in one end and out the other like a reverse radiator effect? the distance to the water would be much shorter too wouldn't it? Still as much heat per cell but a lot more cells and replaceable. Same with the Parabolic mirror, a lot of smaller dishes under a ceramic hob or hot plate and when you want less heat turn more dishes away from the light source.

I wonder if the reflective natural of the steel wool is shoving off the light. I suspect so. I'd imagine if you could overcome this it'd be even more efficient.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. can one leave the lens at a set angle or must one follow the sun meticulously? any further developments are eagerly awaited. Martin Brandt

I dont understand why does the metal help the water to heat up?Would it work better if some kind of a black object was used in the water?

would you show videos of making thermal acoustic engine? Will the steel wool make a good conductor of heat, cos Iam thinking of getting the heat from upstairs down to kitchen through thick copper tubes insulated with ceramic for cooking purpose

As aluminium conducts heat a thousand times faster than steel, would an aluminium element work better? It also wouldn't rust.

Hey Dan, thank for sharing your work. is that water drinkable after boiling with steal wool or do you think it had metal fragments left in it? Maybe a quick sterilizing process perhaps?

Maybe this has been asked and answered but I've been theorizing about this. Can you use this boiling method with sea water in a type of desalinization set up. What I've been wondering about is using the steam created to power a generator which would be used to power a tracking/positioner for the lens. Then once the steam condenses you would have filterable water to drink.

Why on earth did you not show what you are using to heat the water?

I'm sorry if this is not the right way to do this. I am completely new to computers and stuff. I was hoping to ask Dan some questions, if that is possible. Can someone tell me how?

Is the insulation of the double glass container good enough to boil water with no lens?

Can this technique be used with a closed loop black pipe system for generating steam and power a steam turbine?

You have boiled water using stainless steel wool in Tevana tumbler. If someone boils water like this and gets / traps its steam as distilled water if this water will be healthy / drinkable in the long run....! Any advice.

If you built a steam engine using this method, how much energy could you collect from this compared to solar cells using equivalent sunlight?

Not sure I understand the application of such a vacuum flask as a boiler. In order to use the steam, it has to be under pressure. It's the pressure which drives a piston, which turns a generator shaft. However, you say in the video you can't put the lid on the flask because it'll just turn into a bomb (presumably from the pressure build-up. What use is such a glass container that can't withstand useful pressure? Boilers may lose heat (though professional ones are also insulated) but they are made out of metal so they can withstand high pressure, which is what they essentially output for energy. Am I missing something?

Why not use aluminum wool since it has a better heat conductivity.

try copper tubes with copper cable chunk in it, then smear the tube with thin carbon powder. hmm i miss it so much, make some small version of them to move 3 dc volt dynamo every day, then collect them on some board, then make paralel electric circuit of them.

What kind of eye protection do you use...will a welding helmet with a number 10 lens be ok???

. wouldn't this degrade the integrity of the "glass" and cause more molecules than normal to be consumed when used for beverages after a test like this? .

Suppose that one was able to use the already commercial evacuated SHW tubes as the basic structure, would filling the tubes with copper wool (already with say AMCRO selective surface) i) would the 'wool' prevent thermosyphon from happening and ii) would having the wool inside the evac tubes be enough to create steam instead of hot water?? Clency

What about copper wool? or aluminum but not sure if it exists.

What else can be used instead of Stainless steel wool....? Say stainless steel mini orbs or nuts bolts or copper chunks or what....?

I wonder if using a fused quartz crucible would hold up to greater heat and internal pressures.

Dan, really like your videos..I would like to ask you a question....do you use a video convertor, compressor. Thanks Rick

Dan, I have a question. When you magnify the suns rays are they harmful to your eyes?

i was wondering about this very idea. have you come up with any thing. i have some ideas but am still collecting materials. i am thinking of 5 55 gallon drums linked and filled with water. have a metal boiler set up with water circulating between the storage and boiler. just in the brain storming stage. if you would like to exchange ideas it would be appreciated.

Why do you use the insulating vacuum glass container? Will it have the same effect when using normal (single layer) glass container? Thanks

I wonder how much more efficient copper wool would work?

What warehouse are you getting the glassware from? and did they sell it to you without a business license? cause if you could drop their link.... ummm I need some badly.. coffee pots and pyrex dishes and my home chemistry set up for green energy development (open source of course) ummm I can only do so much... and some warehouses have pretty good prices on like boiling flasks and like erlenmeyer flasks and like condensors and like lots of neat stuff that I can do a lot more with ..... LOL

Can galvanized pipe be used to distill water or will the fresnel lens break down the coating and taint the water.

hi dan, I'm interested in making solar cells enough to run my window air conditioner. It cost me double to use it. i've seen your videos but still not clear on connecting the ends on a row of cells,and the backing, " what is it made of" how to seal the entire cell. I have dyslexia and it's a mess. THANK YOU!

Will the glass hold high pressure steam if used as a boiler ?

Thank you for the great comments:-)

Maybe fill the tank with an oil and the steel wool. Then put a metal pipe with water in the middle so you can build pressure.

great idea .. glass can't stand pressure ... application may come later ..

Kingspan Thermomax solar themal evacuated tube heaters would be ideal, The fresnel lens system could be used to supercharge the system.

yout should try boiling water in a plastic bottle i know you can do it over a fire the bottle just cant have air or somthing like that

I wanted to see what was focussing the sun's rays!

so using this you could keep a small pond from freezing?

Great video, I love what you're doing. Can you get fresnel lenses that focus in a line, as opposed to a dot? as in, exposing along the whole tube?

I have 6 lens's have you found any more use for them that I might try at home or maybe camping ?? I am giving one to my great niece to use for school and projects, I would like to give her some ideas what to do with it besides just burn things..

Very good

I like your solar Sterling engines better. Steam boilers are very dangerous. Even something that small is. In fact that is why Robert Sterling came up with his concept. To save lives.

A metal cup would work better than that... like some of your previous videos, that lense you created has potential. I have some ideas myself.

Hi Dan. So far I love all your videos. There's always some good info in them. You mentioned the stores putting candles under the tea maker. I think that, if nothing else, they're getting people to buy the candles which pumps up their sales volume. Keep it up. I love this stuff. I wish I had your resources.

its possible to heat up sand and from the heat of the sand boil water and use it to generate electricity ?

How is it under a radioactive geiger counter

keep at it dan! we need ya!

You should probably invest in some laser glasses

The last guy who used my Teavana Tea Rhapsody Glass Tea Tumbler to zap with a Fresnel lens after filling with steel wool:-) LOL Hey, question, does all double glass have a vacuum. I am guessing it to be yes as the heat process of making would have to? Or not, you should buy your own and break it to see if it makes the woshing sound. I think the answer is yes, any thoughts. How do you get your videos to be so damn pretty looking? Better than SD TV.

lol, I like the plot twist at the end

How could you use this to purify drinking water?

whats the purpose of steel wool in this project?

what if you used anodized steel wool the black should adsorb even more

DID ANYONE NOTICE THE SASQUATCH BEHIND THE BUSHES???? AMAZING !!

Dan, I interested in using a Fresnel lens on a solar water panel. the panel is 30" by 72" what would you recommend ? Ive also thought about using a tracking system to keep it in line.

most worthy mate , big thank-you for sharing

Thats pretty darned cool! Did you come up with the idea of using the stainless stell wool? That's ingenious! I lauged when you said Denise wouldnt get mad cause she'd never know..haha..doesn't she watch your vidieos? Your so busted! lol...

hi loved video can you help me in a project through which i want to cook food with the use of lens.

6:05 Noo it's not. Not only does the steel wool reflect a lot of the light back out, you gain nothing from it being metal or spread out like that, for the simple reason that any sunlight hitting a dark surface inside the jar, is converted to heat and trapped there, so you cannot have any loss. Just a black plate inside would absorb the light much better and depose it all in the water. You could use anything else black, insulating or not, even plastic, and it would work as well, because the energy has nowhere else to go but into the water.

how big of a lens would i need to heat my 28000 gallon pool??

Hi Dan, How would a recycled flourescent tube light work as a vaccum tube ?

My favorite coffee is made from boiling water and steel wool