Patent Application
20230337595
This invention relates generally to the production of plants, animals, and cryptocurrency from the use of waste heat, electricity, steam, and flammable gas from a geothermal source, crude oil rig, a biogas facility, or any other source of wasted energy such as an industrial process. The invention further relates to the distribution of the plants and animals to the local market for consumption, thereby offsetting the carbon footprint caused by fuel or energy usage from the importation of plants and animals during the winter months. The invention further relates to an artificial light moving system used within an enclosed growing environment. The invention also relates to an automatic hydrogen peroxide and natural pyrethrum misting system, to control pests in an organic manner that is harmless to humans. The invention also relates to recycling water which precipitates or melts on a greenhouse surface. The invention also relates to a system for cultivating crops in the winter months using automatically deployed insulation, then using the same deployment system to artificially induce a reproductive cycle in photoperiod sensitive plants in the summer. The invention also relates to an apparatus that converts the inconsistent flow of waste gas into light energy to grow plants.
Conventional Proof-of-Work (POW) cryptocurrency mining is a competition of computer power to solve complex math problems, or in general terms cryptocurrency mining is a race to be the first to crack an encryption code. A mining operation using twice as much computer processor power as another will solve a code on average twice as fast as the mining operation with half the relative computer power. Each time a cryptocurrency miner solves a puzzle, that respective miner is usually rewarded in the form of cryptocurrency coins. The process also involves validating data blocks and adding transaction records within the data blocks to a public record/ledger known as a blockchain, in a system known as a consensus mechanism. Meaning generally, the majority of miners or nodes must agree that a particular transaction is valid, thus the system is very difficult to impossible to corrupt or succumb to nefarious activity. This author in another invention of a cryptocurrency called a carbon coin, has proposed a new form of POW which is based on loaning computer power over time. In the new method, the competition is based on amount of computer power loaned and the only puzzles solved are the movement of assets on the blockchain rather than useless puzzle solving.
In Proof-of-Stake (POS) cryptocurrency mining, the creator of the next block is chosen via various combinations such as random selection, wealth, and age. For example, a person holding, submitting in trust, or staking several coins may be selected in a sequence to receive more coins for performing the computer work. The integrity of the system is based on that if a staker is found to have engaged in nefarious activity such as double spending, that staker may lose everything they have staked. POS cryptocurrency systems are far less energy intensive than POW, because there is no competition to solve blocks. Notwithstanding, POS may prove a disadvantage in terms of perceived wealth, as the difficulty of mining POW creates a rarity of commodity similar to gold, or any other precious metals. Billionaire Mark Cuban refers to the phenomenon as “algorithmic scarcity”.
Some examples of cryptographic currencies include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Litecoin, and Silvercoin. Cryptocurrency coins are now commonly used as a means of monetary exchange all over the world, while some governments such as China, Russia, and India appear in the process of outlawing these decentralized currencies in favour of their own.
The advantage of POW cryptographic currency over paper money is the difficulty at which a cryptographic coin is to create, as cracking codes is essentially the most difficult task a computer can be assigned. A government can mandate printing more money, for example in year 2021 United States president Joe Biden approved a stimulus bill which created around $1.5 trillion dollars of new United States currency. This amount of paper currency is greater than the market cap of Bitcoin at the time of filing this invention, wherein the current total value of Bitcoin is around $1.1 trillion United States dollars (USD). But printing excessive amounts of currency can result in hyper-inflation of prices and the destabilization of a national currency. Venezuela for example, has seen massive inflation since 2016 of 53,798,500% to the time of filing the present invention. Many parts of the world in 2022 are currently in a state of hyper-inflation.
Many forms of POW cryptocurrency cannot simply be “printed”, and thus have an inherent perceived value of scarcity similar to gold. The cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) has a limit of 21 million coins, wherein each subsequent coin is more difficult to produce than the last. Ethereum (ETH) now “burns” or otherwise destroys coins deducted as transaction fees while moving to a POS system, as to maintain scarcity of that particular cryptocurrency system. Further, cryptographic currency cannot be counterfeited because each coin can be instantly verified mathematically using a public blockchain to verify registration of the coin, as well heavy encryption prevents corruption of the transaction system. As such, blockchain technology with adequate numbers of independent miners or nodes has thus far proven to be impervious to computer hackers. Notwithstanding, many experts have predicted that quantum computers will soon be able to crack Bitcoin wallets which are based on the SHA-256 and SHA-512 encryption standards.
One problem with cryptocurrency is the amount of electrical energy require to mine conventional POW cryptocurrency coins, which is now amounting to the energy consumption of entire countries such as Ireland or Argentina. As well, huge amounts of waste heat are being discarded from large cryptocurrency mining facilities. For example, a large publicly traded company in Quebec, Canada, is estimated to consume the equivalent electricity of 25,000 homes. As such, cryptocurrency is widely regarded as having a high carbon footprint and being a “dirty”, unsustainable technology. As well, server farms and other large computer facilities generally waste their heat.
For the sake of obtaining low-cost electricity, some crypto mining operations have been installed in trailers and shipping containers positioned near crude oil wells, where the crude oil well emits substantial amounts of methane known as flare gas. Flare gas is burned and essentially wasted in a flare stack. However, governments have begun to place limits on the amount of flare gas a petroleum company can emit and have also began taxing these emissions. Therefore, a petroleum company is able to save money by allowing crypto currency mining to occur adjacent to a crude oil well. The Russian state oil company is already widely engaged in this practice.
However, there has been public outcry and subsequent media articles from merging two industries which are both widely considered high carbon footprint, wherein a large amount of heat energy is still wasted. Therefore, there is a need to make use of this large amount of waste heat in a productive manner. Further, a petroleum company that is able to utilize waste heat and sequester emitted carbon may earn carbon credits which are worth money.
Northern countries such as Canada must import most of their fresh produce during the winter months and grow a small portion in commercial greenhouses, which are often directly heated by burning natural gas. However, transporting fruits and vegetables from Mexico or California to places such as Nunavut consume large amounts of fuel sometimes far greater than the carbon footprint associated with the production of the fruits and vegetables, therefore having very large carbon footprints per se. Also, according to the Smithsonian Institute, growing an ounce of indoor cannabis can emit as much carbon into the atmosphere as a full tank of gas in an average motor vehicle. Conventional winter greenhouses in Canada heated by natural gas are also widely considered high carbon footprint.
Winter growing of plants possesses an inherent advantage over summer growing in relation to pest control. Since pests usually cannot thrive outside of the growing environment, and generally speaking cannot be drawn in through the ventilation system, pest control is relatively easy in the winter months. Countries such as Iceland are able to completely eliminate the use of chemical pesticides because of the cold outside conditions and strict hygienic practices. But importing foods from Mexico in particular, can be risky in terms of types of pesticides used from a country reputed with poorly enforced regulation. Therefore, there is a need to produce local foods where pesticide use can be closely monitored, and where food can be produced organically at a low cost.
Prawns and/or shrimp are popular foods among many people and are often cultivated in countries such as China, then shipped frozen to overseas buyers. Again, the energy required to freeze, refrigerate, and then transport and store these prawns to their end consumer in a frozen state produces a large carbon footprint in the form or transportation fuel consumption, and electrical energy consumption to operate the refrigeration. Also, Chinese companies are known to produce food in poorly enforced regulation, filthy conditions, where the inherent quality of the prawn is in question. As such, there is a need to locally produce shrimp and preferably eliminate the need to use large amounts of energy to freeze the shrimp.
Also, there is a need to combine the technologies of winter greenhouse/indoor plant growing and shrimp cultivation with cryptocurrency mining, while utilizing in two examples, a crude oil well or biogas facility as a source of heat and electrical energy that would otherwise be wasted.
Cryptocurrency mining produces a large amount of heat due to continuous operations, which requires the need for substantial cooling systems to prevent the computer circuitry from overheating. In most circumstances, many fans are used to remove heat from the computer circuitry. But air is a poor conductor of heat and has an inherently low thermal capacity. As such, large amounts of air circulation via fans must be utilized, and ideally cold air must be provided. Oppositely, liquids are much more efficient at removing heat and thus an efficient liquid cooled system is needed for transferring heat energy from the cryptocurrency mining equipment to the deep winter greenhouse. Water for only one example, conducts heat approximately 30 times faster than air.
Conventional light moving systems have been used for some time. These systems allow for a larger growing area than stationary lights, and a more even distribution of plant growth. Conventional light moving systems either operate on a track which moves the light back and forth, or in a rotating circle. However, these systems are designed for high intensity discharge lights (HID), which are compact and bright in comparison to newer light emitting diode (LED) lights which are often large panels. Further, conventional light movers require manual adjustment as the plants grow, and do not adjust themselves into angles. The effectiveness of artificial lights is dependent upon keeping the artificial lights close to the plants, to minimize light bleed and maximize light intensity. Therefore, there is a need for more sophisticated light moving systems which can automatically deploy, and automatically adjust themselves as the plants grow in a modern LED based greenhouse.
A commercial greenhouse or enclosed growing environment may be constructed near a crude oil well, geothermal site, or a commercial biogas facility. The greenhouse may be positioned lengthwise in an east to west direction, to maximize the amount of sunlight the plants receive during the day. The greenhouse may have supplemental artificial lighting to extend the daylight hours of the plant growth or increase the intensity of the light delivered to the plants. Alternatively, an enclosed growing environment may be insulated from the outside and may not allow the sun's rays to pass through the walls.
An anaerobic digester may be used to decompose organic waste material into methane, wherein the methane may be combusted in an internal combustion engine or gas turbine which turns a generator to generate electricity. The methane may alternatively be used in a fuel cell to generate electricity. Decomposed organic material from an anaerobic digester may be used to fertilize the plants grown in the greenhouse. The waste heat from the anaerobic digester and the electrical generation may be used to heat the greenhouse. The heat may be stored in a heat sink positioned below the greenhouse.
Waste carbon dioxide from an anaerobic digester, a generator motor, or carbon dioxide filtered from the raw flare gas may be directed into the greenhouse to provide carbon dioxide enrichment for the plants. The waste gas may be filtered of impurities such as hydrocarbons before being directed into the greenhouse. A sensor may be used to maintain a consistent level of carbon dioxide in the greenhouse, such as a range of 1500-2000 parts per million (PPM). A solenoid valve may be connected to the carbon dioxide sensor and the source of carbon dioxide, to control the level of carbon dioxide in the greenhouse. Alternatively, for this document any type of valve may be used to regulate a flow of carbon dioxide into the greenhouse. Valves may also be ball, butterfly, diaphragm, globe, needle, pinch, plug valves, safety relief valves, pressure release and vacuum relief valves, non-return valves, swing check and lift check valves.
The greenhouse may be comprised of insulation around and on the bottom of the greenhouse foundation. The greenhouse foundation may be filled with rocks, ceramic pieces, insoluble salt chunks, gravel, metal, or any other non-toxic heat absorbing material. The heat absorbing material may have a high thermal capacity and act as a heat sink. Heat from the cryptocurrency mining equipment may be directed onto the heat absorbing material within the heat sink. Steam from the crude oil rig which pumps oil out of the well may be directed onto the heat absorbing material within the heat sink, after the steam may be used in a turbine to generate electricity. In addition, the greenhouse heatsink may serve as a condenser for the turbine, which may increase the conversion to electricity. A bypass valve controlled by a thermostat may be connected to the steam line to exhaust the steam if the heat sink becomes too hot. The steam may be redirected by on/off valves to an auxiliary heat sink if the primary heat sink becomes too hot.
Water used to irrigate the plants or animals may come from a water well, a stream, a river, a lake, condensation, atmospheric precipitation, or any body of water. The water may be filtered of impurities by example of reverse osmosis, charcoal filter, zeolite filter, particle filter, ion filter, or by any known means of filtration. Snow or ice may be collected by a front-end loader and dumped into a hopper. Waste heat from the cryptocurrency mining equipment may be used to melt the ice or snow into water. Waste heat from steam, a crude oil rig, or any other source may be used to melt ice or snow into water. The water may subsequently be used to irrigate the plants. Also, may types of plants have a high percentage of organic waste that humans do not consume, for example only the fruit of a tomato plant may be used. However, the foliage of the tomato plant or any other organic material may ground or cut up, dried, compressed into pellets, then fed to the prawns/shrimp, fish, or whatever animals are being cultivated. In this way, the system is not wasteful by utilizing all waste organic mass. The plant foliage may also be combined with vitamins, growth stimulants, or other sources of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
A potential hydrogen (pH) monitoring system may be employed, as pH tends to fluctuate with plant and animal growth when nutrients are either added or depleted. These pH monitoring systems may often automatically introduce solutions and buffers into the water, as to maintain a relatively constant pH. Most plants and animals thrive in a freshwater pH of 5.8 to 6.7, but other ranges may be used in exceptional circumstances.
A greenhouse operating in the winter may lose heat rapidly at night and may require additional heating. As such, it may be practical to store heat in a heat sink for use at night, or whenever the greenhouse falls in temperature. The heat sink may be further comprised of a reservoir to store water. The reservoir and heat sink may be located underneath or otherwise below the greenhouse. Alternatively, the reservoir may be located beside the greenhouse or above ground. The reservoir and heat sink may be insulated to minimize loss of heat. The reservoir may have a pump to draw water to the greenhouse to irrigate the plants. Air ducting may be positioned through the heat sink and reservoir to circulate air through. The air ducting may further have fins similar to a radiator to facilitate conduction of heat. A fan may be connected to the ducting. A thermostat may be connected to the fan. Warm air may be circulated from the heat sink to the greenhouse to regulate the temperature of the greenhouse. The reservoir may have fertilizer dissolved in the water, as to provide a large source of nutrients and water for a hydroponic system.
Steam is often produced on a crude oil rig associated with a crude oil well and the steam may also be used as a source of energy. Pressure from the steam may be used to generate electricity through a generator apparatus such as a steam turbine mechanically connected to a generator, and the electricity may be used to power the greenhouse, artificial lighting, and/or cryptocurrency mining equipment. The electricity generated during the day may be stored in a battery, wherefrom the electricity is used in the evening to power artificial lighting, pumps, fans, etc. Further, waste heat from electrical generation, such as heat from an engine exhaust or exhaust of a gas turbine, may also be used to generate steam. The steam may be used to turn an electrical generator and generate electricity. In turn, the waste steam can then be injected into the greenhouse reservoir to recycle the water and utilize the remaining heat. Such an application may utilize nearly all of the available energy within the flare gas or other source of waste energy. A bypass valve may be connected to the steam line and controlled by a thermostat located within the heat sink and/or reservoir, wherein the bypass valve may open and release steam into the atmosphere to prevent the heat sink/reservoir from overheating. The water in the greenhouse reservoir may be circulated into the condenser of a steam turbine, as to increase electrical generation and further utilize waste heat.
Water sources can be difficult to access on crude oil well sites, as the site is often located in remote areas. Waste heat from electrical generation, steam from the crude oil rig or other sources, and waste heat from the cryptocurrency equipment may be directed onto collected rain. Rain may be collected with an open top collection area or may be deposited by equipment into a collection area. The water may be directed into a reservoir and used to irrigate plants grown in the greenhouse or provide an aquatic environment for shrimp, fish, shellfish, or other aquatic animals. The reservoir may comprise a portion of the heat sink or may encompass the entire heat sink. Waste produced by the fish or shrimp/prawns may be circulated through the solid portion of the heat sink such as rock chunks, wherein aerobic bacteria may populate the surface of the heat sink material, and the bacteria may break the waste down into raw chemical salts such a nitrates and phosphates. The heat sink material may be highly porous and comprised of irregular shapes, to provide a large amount of surface area for bacterial growth. The water containing these decomposed mineral salts may then be used to irrigate plants in the greenhouse or may be used to supplement or be combined with a hydroponic fertilizer solution.
The greenhouse may inherently lose the most amount of heat through material where sunlight passes through. The greenhouse may be comprised of glass or plastic panels. The greenhouse may be comprised of sheets of plastic. The greenhouse may be comprised of multiple layers of panels, or bubbles or pockets of a heat insulating gas. Heat insulating gases may be also be referred to as greenhouse gases. Dual panels may be installed to pass light and a vacuum may exist between the panels to minimize conduction of electricity.
For the purpose of the present invention, greenhouse gases are any type of gas which reflects infrared energy. Greenhouse gases may also provide poor conduction of heat. Such gases by example may be methane, carbon dioxide, argon, neon, or any inert gas may be included in the definition of a greenhouse gas, including any mixture of gases.
To maximize the insulating properties of the greenhouse, an insulating greenhouse gas may be injected in between glass or plastic panels. Further, plastic bubble wrapping may be used to insulate the greenhouse. The bubble wrapping may contain a greenhouse/insulating gas to minimize the loss of heat from the greenhouse. The plastic may possess a high degree of ability to transmit blue, violet, and ultraviolet light. Panels may be installed which have a vacuum between the plastic or glass sheets.
To further maximize the insulating properties of the greenhouse, automatic shades may be drawn at night over the greenhouse to further limit heat loss. Automatic shade systems may also be used during the day to artificially induce flowering from plant species that are sensitive to photoperiod. Alternatively, when heat needs to be exhausted from the invention, an environmental control system may control the automatic shades by raising them to facilitate heat loss.
Moisture will naturally condense or melt on the clear greenhouse surface, both on the inside and outside of the structure as a result of outside precipitation and inside moisture condensation. The melting of water may occur from the sun's rays heating the greenhouse during the day. Troughs may be positioned on the inside and outside of the greenhouse at or near the base of the greenhouse, to collect condensed or melted water. The melted or condensed water may be directed into the reservoir tank or heat sink. The collected water may be used to irrigate plants or be given to animals.
To facilitate cooling of the cryptocurrency mining equipment, liquid cooled computer heat sinks may be physically connected to the integrated circuitry (IC) and related components. Water from the reservoir may be circulated by a pump through the computer heat sinks to transfer the heat from the cryptocurrency mining equipment to the water reservoir. Alternatively, a heat exchanger may be positioned within the water reservoir and a coolant may be circulated by a pump between the integrated circuitry and the water reservoir. As another alternative, a heat pump may circulate a refrigerant between a condenser located in the water reservoir or elsewhere within the greenhouse, to the integrated circuitry and other components of the cryptocurrency mining equipment. Alternatively, the cryptocurrency mining equipment may be located within the greenhouse to heat the greenhouse. As another alternative, the cryptocurrency mining equipment may be submerged in an electrically non-conductive fluid such as mineral oil, and the mineral oil may be circulated by a pump to a heat exchanger located within the greenhouse, water reservoir, or greenhouse heat sink. Any fluid which does not conduct electricity and is suitable for cryptocurrency mining may be known as a nonionic fluid. A heat pump may be used for cooling during the summer months. The heat may be moved by heat pump into the ground.
The greenhouse plants may require supplemental artificial lighting. Light emitting diode (LED) lighting is currently among the most efficient artificial lighting, but fluorescent and high intensity discharge lighting (HID) may also be used in a greenhouse. Light movers are well known within greenhouses and indoor grow rooms, as to maximize the growing space and allow light to penetrate at different angles into the plants. Conventional light movers either move the light fixtures in a circle, or back and forth on a track.
Conventional light movers suffer from the limitation of not always being able to obtain the ideal distance from plants, especially when plants are of varying height or located on tiered platforms of varying height. Also, LED fixtures are quite large compared to HID fixtures and may block a significant amount of sunlight during the day. Light fixtures may therefore be positioned on cables or rope that are retractable. Retractable cables may be on a spool. The spool may be motorized. Alternatively, the spools may be replaced or supplemented with a motorized pulley system. For the scope of the invention, any device which at least one of raises and lowers the artificial lights may be used and may be referred to as a device which at least one of raises or lowers an artificial light. As an alternative, vertically positioned tracks may also be used with some type of motor. The motors used throughout this document may be based on internal combustion, such as with alcohol fuels. Motors may also be alternating current (AC) brushless, direct current (DC) brushed motors, DC brushless, direct drive, linear, servo, stepper, permanent magnet, series DC, shunt, compound, or any other suitable type. The tracks may have teeth or gear grooves, wherein a motor moves up and down. Motors may also utilize compressed gases for power. The cables or rope may have physical properties which allow the conduction of electricity. One cable may be positively charged with electricity while another cable may be negatively charged. A cable may be connected to a neutral, connected to ground, or provide alternating current (AC) to the light fixture.
The light fixture may be equipped with proximity sensors. Proximity sensors may be either passive or active, meaning an active sensor may have a transmitter and receiver. A passive sensor may have only a receiver, such as a pair of cameras that generate slightly different images used to determine distance. A sonar, ultrasonic, radar, light, or laser-based system may be used in an active proximity system to determine distance from the light fixture to the plants. Any type of energy or radiation may be emitted from the transmitter and received by the receiver. The proximity sensor may receive instructions from or provide information to a microprocessor.
For the purpose of this invention, an analog circuit connected from the proximity sensor to the motorized spool may provide voltage or current which causes the spool to maintain the artificial light a predetermined distance from the plants. A digital circuit and/or microprocessor may receive information from the proximity sensor and control the motorized spools, which are one of many devices which at least one of raise and lower artificial lights. The motorized spools may operate continuously as the light fixtures are moved along the track. The lighting system may further be comprised of a photocell or photoresistor. The lighting system may be equipped with a light intensity meter, and for the purpose of this invention a photocell or a photoresistor, or any other photo sensitive electronic device may be referred to as a light intensity meter. Information from the light intensity meter may be used in the lighting system to determine the distance of the artificial lighting from the plants. For one example, high ambient natural lighting during the day may result in the lighting system dispersing light at a greater distance from the plants. Alternatively, high ambient lighting may result in a greater distancing of the light as to not oversaturate the plants with lighting. Photosynthetic efficiency in an average terrestrial plant may be less than 2%. During times of peak output of flare gas, artificial lighting may turn on and off Alternatively, batteries may be utilized to store electrical energy. Batteries may store energy chemically such as lead acid, nickel metal hydride, lithium, or lithium ion, but may also store battery hydraulically such as a gravity based water dam, by pressure, by centrifugal force such as a fly wheel, or energy storage by any other means.
The advantage is the artificial lighting apparatus may deliver a more consistent amount of light to plants being grown. Artificial lighting suffers from the physical disadvantage associated with the inverse square law, wherein light dissipates very quickly from the source. As the sun is about one million times the size of the Earth, natural sunlight does not dissipate rapidly. However, since artificial sources of light are generally quite small, the intensity of light may dissipate rapidly with distance. In a variation of the invention, a fish farm is used as a heat sink and/or water reservoir. In another variation of the invention, livestock such as chickens or pigs are raised utilizing the heat provided from the cryptocurrency mining and waste energy.
A steam turbine may be utilized as a component of the invention, as to convert steam into electrical energy from the use of the steam turbine. Steam turbines may be among three basic types of steam turbine used to generate power as a by-product of process or exhaust steam: condensing, pass-out condensing, and backpressure. The condenser component from the steam turbine may be liquid cooled using the water in the greenhouse reservoir, by utilizing a heat exchanger, a heat pump, or by directly circulating the water from the greenhouse reservoir into the condenser.
During periods of excessive heat, such as in the summer months, water from the greenhouse reservoir may be misted into the greenhouse while the exhaust fans operate. This method of evaporative cooling may rapidly cool the greenhouse and dissipate heat from the heat sink.
Other aspects, embodiments and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying figures. The accompanying figures are for schematic purposes and are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the figures, each identical or substantially similar component that is illustrated in various figures is represented by a single numeral or notation at its initial drawing depiction. For purposes of clarity, not every component is labeled in every figure. Nor is every component of each embodiment of the invention shown where illustration is not necessary to allow those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention.
The preceding summary, as well as the following detailed description of the invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the attached drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, presently preferred embodiments are shown in the drawings. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.
Water may be drawn up from the greenhouse reservoir 12 through a vertical tube 8 using a submersible pump 13, or any other type of pump. Alternatively, pressure may be used to push the water upwards, or if the reservoir is located above ground the water may flow by the force of gravity. The vertical tube may be a hose, a pipe, corrugated flexible tubing, a conduit, concrete, rock, epoxy, ceramic, or any other type of suitable material. The vertical tube 8 may also run horizontal for portions of distance. The vertical tube 8 may be comprised of plastic, rubber, metal, or any other type of suitable material. The reservoir may also contain a water input 9 and a water output 10. The reservoir may also contain a steam input 14. The water input 9 and water output 10 may be any type of opening or membrane designed to pass water. The steam input 14 may be any type of opening or membrane designed to pass steam. Membranes may be comprised of any type of suitable material, organic or inorganic. The water drawn from the vertical tube 12 may be used to irrigate plants directly, or the water may be pumped into a hydroponic system wherein the fertilizer is more concentrated. The greenhouse reservoir 12 may also be equipped with a water level sensor 33 which may provide information to a display or an environmental control system (not shown). Water level sensors 33 may be based on electrical conductivity, ultra-sonic, Doppler effect, laser or light, camera, float, radar, sonar, or any other means of determining the amount of water in a greenhouse reservoir. Alternatively, a stick or ruler may be inserted down a shaft, and the water level determined manually by a person or interpreted by a computer.
The greenhouse 1 may also be comprised of an exhaust fan 15 and a shuttered air intake 16. The exhaust fan 15 may exhaust greenhouse air to the outside and the exhaust fan 15 may be connected to and controlled by a thermostat 17 or may be turned on and off by a timer 18. The shuttered air intake 16 may open while the exhaust fan 15 is operating allowing outside air to enter the greenhouse 1, and the shuttered air intake 16 may close when the exhaust fan 15 is not operating to limit air from escaping from the greenhouse. The air intake may also be supplemented or be comprised of an intake fan (not shown). Alternatively, an air intake may not have shutters and may utilize a door that opens or closes, or a slider which opens or closes.
The irregular shaped rocks 5 can be replaced, supplemented, or substituted with a variety of other materials such as porcelain, concrete chunks, metal, gravel, clay pellets, coarse sand, or any other material with a good thermal capacity and large surface area. For the purpose of this document, irregular rocks and other similar materials may be referred to as heat absorbing material.
The irregular shaped rocks 5 may also serve as a filter medium for the cultivation of aquatic animals. These aquatic animals may include shrimp, clams, oysters, crab, shellfish, prawns, fin fish, or any other animal which thrives or otherwise lives in aquatic conditions. The greenhouse reservoir 12 may further be comprised of a growth chamber 170 in which aquatic animals are cultivated in reservoir water 6. Water may be circulated from the growth chamber 170 into the irregular shaped rocks 5 by a submersible pump 13 and then back into the growth chamber 17, as to provide biological filtration of the reservoir water 6. Further, the aquatic animals may provide organic waste which is decomposed by the aerobic bacteria growing on the irregular shaped rocks 5 into raw chemical salts, wherein the reservoir water 6 is then irrigated onto the greenhouse plants 19.
During the summer months it may be desirable to grow crops which thrive in high heat and high light conditions. Also, some crops such as cannabis require a reduction in the photoperiod to induce flowering from a vegetative state. As such, the use of the night-time insulating system described in
Normally, several fans remove the heat from the cryptocurrency mining rig 27, but in this particular example the fans are either disabled or removed entirely and the cryptocurrency mining rig is emersed in a bath of mineral oil 28 within. Recirculating pump 29 circulates the mineral oil from a liquid tight container 101 to the heat exchanger 30 (which is also depicted in
Returning to
Steam turbines 61 come in different types and all should be presumed to be within the scope of this invention. Condensing, passout, condensing, and back pressure may all be used. Steam turbines 61 may also be multi-stage, which may increase their thermal efficiency. During each stage, steam may be reheated by waste heat from the internal combustion engine 57 including the turbocharger, engine exhaust, and engine coolant, from a geothermal source, from the cryptocurrency miners or computer equipment, from concentrated solar array or panels 333, or any other heat source such as an industrial process.
In a modified configuration, the oversized knockout drum 40 may be connected to a gas line 46 that connects to a flare gas filter 47 shown in
Hot air line 51 may connect to a perforated heat exchanger 52 located on the bottom of the hopper 49. Hot air line 51 may direct engine exhaust from the electrical generator 56 through the perforated heat exchanger 52. In another embodiment, hot air from cryptocurrency mining equipment or steam may be directed directly onto the water 50. The water may flow through the water collection line 53. A high-pressure water pump 54 may boost the pressure of the water in the water collection line 53. The water under pressure may then be provided to a water filtration system 55, which may filter the water of impurities. Any other type of suitable pump may be substituted or supplemented. The water filtration system 55 may be comprised of reverse osmosis, charcoal, zeolite, deionizer, particle, or any other type of water filtration system. As a variation of the invention, the hot air line may pass through a heat exchanger (not shown) to heat water obtained from any source, such as a well, lake, or river. Warm water may flow faster through a water filtration system 55 than cold water. The resulting water described in this paragraph and depicted in
There may be times such as in the summer when the apparatus described within has an excess of heat. During this time, it may be economical to utilize the waste heat in other ways. For one example, waste hot water from a steam turbine may be recycled through a concentrated solar array described later in this document in
The steam that may be generated from the internal combustion engine 57 exhaust (and turbocharger) may then pass through and turn a steam turbine 61 that turns an electrical generator 79. The electrical generators 79 may provide electricity for the cryptocurrency mining rigs 27, and any equipment in greenhouse 1, or any other equipment such as batteries. The steam turbine 61 may be further comprised of a condenser 81, which may lower the pressure and temperature of the steam and thus increase the efficiency of electrical generation. The condenser 81 may be comprised of heat exchanger coils 80, a water input 82, and a water output 83. The condenser 81 may be provided water through the water input 82 from water output 9 depicted in
Returning to
Submersible pump 1201 may pump pyrethrum solution ethrum pipe 1203 and into pyrethrum manifold 74. The pressure within manifold 74 may cause a fine mist of pyrethrum solution 72 to be sprayed from spray nozzles 75. Alternatively, any pesticide which is natural and biodegradable may be utilized in the misting system. A timer 18 may turn on submersible pump 76 for very brief but regular intervals. Alternatively, pyrethrum solution 72 may be in a canister under pressure and may be released by a valve (not shown). The chrysanthemums may be grown inside of greenhouse 1 as greenhouse plants 19 and pyrethrum solution 72 may be extracted from said chrysanthemums. The greenhouse may be constructed in such a manner as to limit the amount of pyrethrum that can enter the greenhouse reservoir 12, as pyrethrums may be toxic to some aquatic animals. As such, other suitable pesticides, may be dispensed by the invention including fungicides, miticides, insecticides, and rodenticides. Repellants may also be dispensed to deal with pests, for example it may be better to deter rat infestation with repellants, not only for humanitarian reasons but also because it negates the need to dispose of dead carcasses.
A system is also disclosed to minimize carbon footprint to the end consumer. In some circumstances, the greenhouse 1 may be within reasonably proximity of many residential and commercial areas. As such, this area may serve well for direct distribution of fresh fruits, shrimp, and vegetables. Ideally, vehicles that distribute the food to the end consumer should be electric vehicles. Also, those vehicles may be driverless. End consumers may order fresh vegetables and fruits using a software application. Electric vehicles, including heavy duty electric trucks, may be used for distribution to a local distribution centre as well, wherein lighter electric vehicles may be used. As such, electric vehicles may be charged by the apparatus of
During full sun operating hours, the concentrated solar array panels 333 may be concentrated on an area to produce steam. The steam may turn a turbine to generate electricity, and the condenser of the turbine may be cooled by the greenhouse water reservoir, the subterranean radiator, a cooling tower, the auxiliary heat sink, or by any other means.
It will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or central characteristics thereof. The present examples and embodiments, therefore, are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein.
