The Power of Solar Radiation

SunTechnics, a provider of renewable energy systems, hosted from 23rd to 25th October top-class experts of the International Energy Agency (IEA). For the 4th international expert workshop of the IEA workgroup "Solar Resource Knowledge Management", 30 renowned scientists and engineers from USA, Canada, France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Brazil and Germany came together at the invitation of Dr. Richard Meyer, responsible at SunTechnics for the Technical Analysis of Solar Energy and member of the IEA Task, as well as under the direction of Dr. Dave Renne from the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
The group of participants also included members of NASA, DLR (German Aerospace Center), the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, universities as well as important research institutes.
“I am happy that this three-day IEA workshop could take place on our premises this time. As a provider of all energy technologies powered by the sun we are very keen to take an active part in this workgroup”, reported Christoph Koeppen, Managing Director of SunTechnics GmbH. “Thanks to our colleague, Dr. Richard Meyer, who as part of the IEA expert group is improving data quality in the field of solar radiation, we are contributing to the development of worldwide standards. The entire solar industry and also our customers profit from this.
We have very high quality requirements for our planning. By collaborating directly we can optimise the dimensioning and financing of large-scale solar plants. Especially when developing and planning solar thermal power plants – a field which we have developed in the past two years with a team of experts – reliable data input is essential due to the high investment volume”, added Koeppen.
A vast majority of all worldwide solar projects is implemented based on solar resource products by participants of the IEA Task
The general goal of this top-class international symposium is the standardisation and improvement of data records on worldwide solar irradiance. Using data derived from satellites, readings, weather and climate modelling, in the future the spatial and temporal distribution of solar irradiance on the earth surface is supposed to be determined and forecasted more accurately. New information systems are meant to permit engineers to work anywhere with harmonised and proven tools. Altogether, these measures simplify the planning for developers, architects and engineers, maximise energy yields and reduce the cost of realising solar projects. The utilisation statistics of the data providers belonging to this IEA Task indicate that the vast majority of all solar projects worldwide draw on the data of this IEA group in the planning phase.
Since this work group came together in 2005, three global data sets have been produced and improved. In comparison to products previously available, the quality of the data has been distinctly optimised, so that today solar energy projects have greater planning reliability. The precondition for this was the improvement of satellite algorithms and also the marked expansion of the volume of data. Before the IEA task started, solar radiation climatology data covered only a few years. Today it accounts for 20 or more years. This development means that the long-term average radiation of a site can now be given almost twice as accurately as before.
“If one only had readings to qualify sites, this would considerably delay the further expansion of solar energy. However, the combination with data derived from satellites allows the project development to be accelerated and means that more solar power will go into the grid earlier and cheaper”, Dr. Richard Meyer explains the progress. “In the course of the IEA Task, the data quality was already improved considerably. However, investors could be convinced more easily in the future, if there were internationally recognised standards for determining and validating the radiation resources. We need to intensify our work on this”, Meyer explains, who also represents the IEA Task at SolarPACES, a panel of the IEA, which is primarily concerned with solar thermal power plants.
Optimising the utilisation of solar power in the power grid
At the end of 2006, according to the Federal Association of the Solar Industry (Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft) in Germany, nearly 300.000 solar power plants with a total output of 2,5 gigawatt were installed. These significantly contribute to the power supply on such days when the output of conventional power plants is restricted due to lack of cooling water. To achieve an optimal use of solar power in the grid, Dr. Elke Lorenz of the University of Oldenburg coordinates via the IEA Task groups of researchers, who develop forecasting procedures for solar radiation. “Radiation data is indispensable in order to cope with the fluctuating performances of solar systems. On long term, the distributed generation of solar energy will contribute to the stabilisation of the power grids”, according to Dr. Elke Lorenz.

Weight Loss: A Beginner’s Guide to Proper Nutrition

Whether you are a newcomer to weight loss or a seasoned pro, there is always something to learn when you go back to the basics. Many people think that losing weight is this daunting task that takes a lot of time in the gym, or the reduction in calories or even worse eating nothing but cottage cheese and carrots.
All of that is the furthest thing from the truth. What it takes is knowing what to eat, when to eat it, and how much of it you should eat. You see there really are power foods out there and when combined together in a meal they help increase your bodies metabolic rate (the rate at which your body burns fat) and make you healthier.
Let’s start with what you should be eating. It goes without saying that eating cupcakes, cookies, pies, and other high fat no nutrient content foods are bad for you. Now that does not mean you can’t have one on occasion, but you can overdo it quickly. There are three food groups you need to acquaint yourself with. They are proteins, carbohydrates and green vegetables. If you can remember these three then you will be well on your way.
In each of these three food groups you want to pick out quality sources. For example, your proteins should consist of lean meats, chicken breast, fish, egg whites and/or egg substitutes. Your carbohydrate sources should be multi-grain breads and cereals, brown rice and potatoes. The last group, green vegetables, is an easy one. Your vegetable sources should be green. Good examples would be spinach, broccoli, asparagus and salads.
Knowing what the right foods to eat are will lead you a long way to your weight loss goals; however we are not done yet. There is more information you need. Simply knowing them is not enough. You need to know how much of each you should eat and how often.
To make it simple and eliminate the need for weighing your food, counting your calories and so on you can remember this simple rule of thumb when it comes to portion size. Each food group portion should be the same size as your clenched fist. So if you were to go ahead and make a fist that is the size of food portion you should put on your plate for each food group for each meal.
One final step is to know how often to eat. The idea is that when you are eating healthy you want your body to get a continuous supply of this food but not overeat. Therefore the best method is to eat many smaller meals throughout the day. You should be eating one meal every two and a half to three hours for a total of six meals each and every day. This keeps that metabolic rate running at high levels and gives your body the nutrients it needs to run at a healthy level.
Are you looking to lose 5, 10, or 15 pounds? It doesn’t matter. With the information above you are equipped with the knowledge you need to lose as much or as little weight as you so desire. Just remember that before you start any type of fitness or nutrition program you should always get a complete physical from your primary care physician.

Solar Power: Is it for you?

There are many choices when it comes to alternative energy these days. From burning garbage to produce electric, to windmills and wind turbines to the ever popular solar power. With all of these options to choose from which is the best bang for your buck?
In a nutshell none are really cost affective right now on a large scale but all will help reduce costs. Today I want to focus in on solar and how you can actually make it a more viable option then ever before.
Unless you have lived in cave you have heard of solar power. The process of solar power takes the suns rays and through the use photovoltaic cells converts those suns rays into electricity. Sounds simple right? Well out of all of the options it is the easiest to implement, however if you were to load up your rooftops with solar panels, it could cost anywhere from twenty thousand dollars up to one hundred thousands dollars. I can tell you right now you would never recoup your cost in your lifetime. But here is what I suggest if you want to take advantage of solar power to help reduce costs.
Believe it or not you can build your own solar panel for more than half of what it costs to buy a solar panel. So if you are a handy do it yourself type of person build your own solar panel. Of course you will need an electrician to hook it into your electrical supply that feeds your house. Solar cells can be purchased online or at Radio Shack and you can even obtain step by step plans to build a simple panel. The cost will vary from the cells you choose and other material, but I built a solar panel that generates 18 volts of power for less than $100.
So what if you are not a handy person what then? Well instead of investing in various panels you can invest in solar specific devices, such as roof top vent fans powered by solar, solar landscape lighting and other outdoor lights to name a few. I haven’t seen any solar powered kitchen appliances yet, but I am sure they are on their way.
If you still want to invest in a solar panel, instead of purchasing all of the solar panels for your entire roof, buy one now, and then add on additional solar panels as you can afford them. This last option has become the most popular. It is popular because the amount of money needed up front is less than two thousand dollars in most cases, and then additional panels added on later are cheaper since the initial work has already been done.
We all want to utilize cleaner energy for our homes but do not want to break the bank in doing so. Just keep in mind that there are various options you available to you and you are only limited by your own creativity.

Recycle: Composting Your Food Waste

Every year Americans put thousands of tons of waste into landfills. Although government standards have become more strict on the way our trash gets placed into landfills, such as eliminating items that won’t biodegrade within a reasonable amount of time, lining landfills so harmful chemicals that did make it through do not end up in our water supply and so on, the fact is we can do so much more.
Even though we can do more, when you present most people with the question or the responsibility of doing more to keep trash out of landfills, almost invariably the first question they will ask is, “what’s it going to cost me?”
That is a fact of life and who can blame them. A lot of people are on tight budgets just to feed their families or keep a roof over their heads, so spending extra money on recycling is not an option.
So to make it clear, the information that I am about to give you, so you can help reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, will not cost you a dime. The only thing it will cost you is a couple of minutes of your day.
I am talking about recycling your food waste. You can do this in a couple of different ways. Although both ways are called vermicomposting, the first way is what deem as managed composting. This is where you build a box, or have some kind of container, and in that container you have worms known as red wigglers (commonly used for fishing). These aren’t some wild species of worms, you probably or should I say more than likely have thousands in your ground right now, and that is a good thing.
You add your food waste to your container of worms, cover the waste with damp shredded newspaper so the smell of the food waste does not seep out and you are done. In about 60 days the worms will have consumed all the waste, leaving behind their castings. It is these castings that you add to your flower beds, and gardens as it is the best type of fertilizer you can give them. What you have just done is keep the food waste out of the landfill, feed worms and they in turn gave you great compost. It is a win-win for everybody (or everything).
Of course the managed way will required you to keep monitoring the container so the worms are never without food. You will need a container, you will need to keep it damp as worms like moist environments, and of course it needs to stay dark at all times.
However there is an easier way. If you have a section of your yard that you use as a vegetable garden or flower bed, you can simply dig a hole about a foot to 3 feet deep (depending on the amount of food waste you have), and bury your food scraps. The worms (and bacteria, fungi and other helpful creatures in the ecosystem) will find your food scraps, eat them and leave their castings in the soil. Then all you have to do is turn your soil over to mix the castings and whoala you are done!
You should pick the scenario that best fits your situation and of course budget. But as you can see both options are very beneficial to the environment by adding much need nutrients to your soil and keeping the food waste out of a landfill.

Save Money, Save Energy

The economy is struggling as are most Americans right along with it. We are looking for different ways to save some money. Whether it is cutting down on driving the car to save on gas, clipping coupons, or reusing items more than once, everyone is doing their own part to save a few bucks on the bottom line.
One of the areas you can save some money on right now is energy costs. When I say energy I mean a combination of electrical, heating, ac, and water usage. Adding in small savings from all of these areas could add up to big savings.
Electrical is the easiest to save some money on. Without spending thousands of dollars on a solar panel system for your roof tops, here are some more realistic approaches you can implement right now to help save on costs. First replace your incandescent light bulbs with CFLs in the rooms that you use the most. The federal government has shown that this can save up to $120 per year in savings on electrical costs. Remember to unplug all appliances that are not in use. Many appliances still draw power even though you are not using them. The easiest option is to plug you appliances into a surge protector outlet strip and then shut off the strip to ensure no power is being drawn.
Regardless of whether you have a gas clothes dryer or one that runs off electric, a clothes dryer uses large amounts of energy that cost a whole bunch of money. During the warmer months use a clothes line. I read one estimate where savings for the average household that uses a clothesline over a clothes dryer topped $750 for the year. Now I won’t say you will save that much, but then again depending on how often you use the dryer, you could save more.
Staying with our clothes theme, let’s turn to your washer. Most of the energy used by a washer occurs when the water is being heated. Drop the hot was cycles and choose cold. Many detergents today are engineered to work in colder temperatures for this reason. Also choose the correct water level. There is no need to select extra large if you are doing a medium sized load.
When it comes to heating and air conditioning there are some easy steps you can take to help reduce costs. For instance in the winter time drop your heat a degree or two at night when you go to bed and when no one is home. No sense in heating the home if no one is there. Invest in a good programmable thermostat so you can program your house temperatures that are convenient to you and your family. Same goes for AC in the summertime. When no one is home raise the temperature so the AC is not cooling a house as often when it is empty. If you do not have central AC, make sure you get the right size window or room unit for where it will be used. You wouldn’t buy a 50,000 BTU window unit for a 9x9 room. You get the point.
These are just a few of the many ways you can make alterations to your current lifestyle and save money in the process. Overall these tasks won’t take more than a few minutes of your time, but the monetary savings will be well worth it.

High Blood Pressure And Herbs That Help

High blood pressure is one of the most serious problems today, with reports estimating that more than 50 million Americans suffer from the condition. High blood pressure usually doesn't cause any symptoms in the early stages and often runs in families.
The illness is the force in the arteries when the heart beats (systolic pressure) and when the heart is at rest (diastolic pressure).
High blood pressure or (hypertension) is defined in an adult as a blood pressure greater than or equal to 140 mm Hg systolic pressure or greater than or equal to 90 mm Hg diastolic pressure. High blood pressure is 140/90 or higher.
The illness can also be caused by an underlying condition: such as kidney disease, hormonal disorders, thyroid disease, adrenal gland disease, and the use of certain drugs, such as oral contraceptives, or herbs such as licorice.
High blood pressure is a very dangerous, sometimes life-threatening condition, affecting people all around the world. It occurs when there is an increase of force against the arterial wall, with potentially damaging consequences.
The illness occurs more often in men than in women, and in African Americans almost twice as often as in Caucasians. The disease is dangerous because it makes the heart work harder to pump blood to the body and it contributes to hardening of the arteries.
It can occur in children or adults, but it's more common among people over age 35. It is believed by some in the medical profession that High blood pressure can be cured by taking high amounts of magnesium and calcium in food.
High blood pressure usually has no symptoms, but it can cause serious problems such as stroke, heart failure, heart attack and kidney failure. It is also estimated to affect about two million American teens and children and the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that many are under-diagnosed.
Herbal medicines rarely have significant side effects when used appropriately and at suggested doses. Herbal remedies can effectively be used to treat high blood pressure instead of the pharmaceutical drugs by those who want to avoid such adverse reactions as dizziness, drowsiness, insomnia, dry mouth, headaches, bloating, constipation and depression caused by anti-hypertensive medications.
Herbs are effective but it is important that you consult your doctor and understand the severity of your condition first so that the correct approach is taken. Herbs have shown overwhelming evidence that they work. Herbs that lower blood pressure such as Stevia and Passionflower have been scientifically validated in a study in the early 1980's.
They act in almost magical and astonishing ways: spasms may relax, pains vanish, constipation is overcome, nervousness recedes, headaches disappear, colds banish, allergies are counteracted, fevers are controlled and blood flow is arrested.
High blood pressure tea, which is a mixture of valerian root, ginger root, motherwort leaves, and hawthorn berries and flowers can also be used to reduce hypertension. Herbal tea is more available nowadays and has become more popular among mainstream consumers who are discovering the benefits of herbal tea.
Garlic helps to break up toxins which leads to abnormal blood pressure and heart problems. Garlic is one of the most ancient of herbs going back to 3,000 BC. This bulb that is so common and abundantly available has shown to be very beneficial.
Garlic (Allium Sativum) has been used to treat high blood pressure and lower cholesterol effectively. In a meta-analysis of seven randomized controlled trials of garlic supplements, it was indicated that in three trials it showed a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure and four in diastolic blood pressure.
Garlic supplements should only be used under the supervision of a qualified health practitioner. High blood pressure garlic can be taken but should not be taken alone because it can increase dullness of the mind.
Herbal hawthorn and vitamin C help in widening of blood vessels and regulate heart rate. Herbal products like fish oils and flax-seed oil help in proper blood circulation as well.

Solar Panels: Take Steps to Conserve Energy to Maximize Your Investment

Going solar is more than just slapping some panels on your roof and generating electricity. It is a complete different way of utilizing a variety of ideas to offset the amount of energy that a family will use. Most people think that if they put some solar panels on their roof then they can use as much electric as they want, not change to more efficient appliances or light bulbs and other wacky ideas.
The reality of the situation is for many solar panels are an investment just as much as they are doing the right thing to reduce carbon emissions from burning coal or oil to produce electric. With solar panels, just like any other type of investment, whether it is a business or a piece of real estate, there are steps you will want to take to make sure you get the most bang for your buck.
Before you even purchase a solar panel system you should take an energy audit of your own home. You should write down the amount of electric you are using on average during each month over the past three years. This is easy to do if you kept your electric bills. If not I am sure you can get a printout from your power company. You are looking for the number of Kilowatt hours (kWh) used each month to see which months you are using more electric. If you have electric heat chances are it will be the winter months if you live in a cold climate and if you are in a warm climate the hotter months due to running the AC.
Now that you know what you use and how much of it use and when you use, you need to know some things that will help reduce these costs before you even put one solar panel on your roof. For starters are you still using those incandescent light bulbs? If so switch to CFLs. They have become very affordable and also now come in a variety of styles that meet every need. Start with replacing the bulbs in the rooms you use the most, such as the family room, kitchen, etc. Make sure you read the package because for lights on dimmer switches and motion sensors you need to buy a CFL specifically designed for that purpose. The ideal solution would be to use LCD lights, but they are very and I mean very expensive, so they are not an option right now. But keep an eye on them for the near future.
Do you have trees planted on your property? More importantly do you have them planted in an area where they would block out the sun in the hotter months? Trees take a long time to grow but they are an investment that pays off in so many ways. They beautify the home and provide shade from the sun. In the colder months they block out the wind and if you buy a tree that produces fruit such as apples or pears they can also provide a food source. The choice of tree is obviously up to you but you should definitely plant a tree or two for all the reason mentioned above.
I can not tell you how many people I have met do not do the basic thing of putting window shades over their windows to block the sun in the warmer months. Even more importantly is the fact that any shading they do use is fairly inadequate. On the windows that get the most sun, use a thicker or darker shade usually around 12mm. It will block out a lot of the sun and keep the room and house in general cooler.
For under $300 you can install a solar powered attic vent fan. Nothing reduces the life of your roof and makes the house warmer in the summertime that hot air that is not moving in your attic space. Installing a solar attic vent fan is the way to go. You do not need to hire an electrician because there are no wires to hook up and there are no costs to run the fan since the sun is free (always has been, always will be). This is a great investment that will pay huge dividends.
These are just a few of the many ways you can save on energy long before you invest the money into an expensive solar panel project. Make sure you maximize all of the ways first so the return on your investment will be its greatest.

Recycling: Ideas you can Start Using Today

A solar panel system can run into the tens of thousands of dollars, a wind turbine takes up too much room and your budget is already stretched to the hilt. So what can one do to do their part in cleaning up the environment? The answer is simple. You can recycle.
Recycling is more than just separating your trash into bins and waiting around for the right company to come and get it from your curb. Recycling is a process by which stuff you no longer need or use can be reused by someone or something else for a specific purpose.
For example, there are companies out there that recycle old tires. But they don’t recycle them into new tires, no, they melt them down and use the left over material as a road paving compound, or they mix it with gypsum for drywall and a whole slew of other things. Of course that is on the larger scale of solutions. We want to talk about the smaller scale such as a friend of mine who takes old wooden pallets and turns them into outdoor furniture. He obviously has a skill in woodworking, but he has been able to translate that skill into a business that also recycles. These are the ideas we will touch on here today.
Do you use aluminum foil? Of course you do, unless you don’t cook or store anything in the refrigerator or freezer. Aluminum foil is one of those products that can easily be recycled and people do not realize it. From now on do not throw your aluminum foil away. Instead wash it clean just like you would a dish, flatten the foil out and save it for a later day. Obviously if it is savable you would do this. You can easily save yourself two to four rolls every year. Imagine if every family in America did this? With 300 million families and growing, you can see the immense savings and impact on the environment.
A birthday is a happy time (or at least it should be). Most of the time you get to spend it with family and friends. A huge waste is the wrapping paper to cover the gifts. Sure it looks nice, but in a matter of seconds you quickly have a big pile of paper that ends up in the trash. Here is a better solution. Wrap your gifts in the comics section of the newspaper. The mere word comics can be associated with being happy which birthdays are. You save on wrapping paper, the comic section can be recycled by the gift recipient, and everyone (including the environment) is happy.
They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, so why are you hoarding or throwing away treasure? You know what I am talking about, your basement full of crap that you will never use. Somebody somewhere has a need for the items that you are saving (and will never use) or throwing away. Post an ad on craigslist in the free section to get rid of it, post items up for sale on eBay, have a yard sale, donate them to a church, before you throw them away and they end up in a landfill, make sure someone else does not need them.
A big impact on the environment could be less use of plastic shopping bags. They take hundreds of years to decompose and invariably end up in a landfill somewhere and forgotten about. Do yourself and the environment a favor, switch to reusable clothe shopping bags. My supermarket sells them for ninety-nine cents, they come with about twenty dollars in coupon savings and they give me a nickel per bag for each bag I use when I go shopping. In other words I get that ninety-nine cents back very quickly. Since I started using clothe bags (about a year now), I have reduced my need of nearly 260 plastic bags. If everyone did that the savings from plastic bags would be into the millions if not billions.
My final idea to give you that I use is to switch your lawn mower blade to a mulching blade. It cost me about $20 and a half hour of my time but it was well worth it. A mulching blade cuts the grass into fine particles so you do not have to bag the grass, and put it out to the curb to get picked up. Your grass clippings will serve as great nutrients for your lawn and you will save a paper bag, trash pick up and landfill space. Not bad for twenty bucks! This investment pays for itself in less than half a season, maybe even sooner depending on how big your lawn is and how often you mow it.
As you can see none of these ideas is life altering. With a few minor adjustments to the way you do certain tasks, you can be well on your way to making a huge impact on the environment in no time.

Recycle: Composting Food Waste Takes Care of Two Things at Once

Years ago my dad taught me the benefits of composting food waste. It had nothing to do with any type of “green” movement or being environmentally friendly, no, it had everything to do with reintroducing nutrients back into the soil.
Here is what he taught me then and it still holds true today. By burying your food waste and kitchen scraps (no steak bones though), you are providing a quality food source for the creatures that live in your soil. From micro organisms and those creatures that the human eye can not see, up to worms, which of course we do see.
See, what happens is these creatures eat the food (and of course each other) and then finally the worms eat basically everything and their castings (worm poop) create the best nutrients your soil could ever have. By continually supplying your garden soil with food waste you are feeding the earthly creatures and they reward you with healthy soil. Now where can you get a trade off like that!
Ok so here is how you do it. Get yourself a fairly large Tupperware bowl. One large enough to hold at least a week’s worth of food scraps. Then after each meal dump everything and anything into that bowl. Just do not put steak bones in there, they wont biodegrade or be eaten by the worms. Banana peels, apple peels, coffee grinds, fish, vegetable scraps, egg shells and basically anything you don’t eat, all qualifies.
When your Tupperware bowl gets full, take it out to your garden and dig a hole about a foot to two feet deep and then dump the food scraps into the hole. Fill in the hole with the dirt and mark the spot with a stick or something else so that you do not dig up that area again for another three months. You need to give those little rascals some time to eat it all.
Now you simply repeat this process as the Tupperware bowl gets full. If you find that you live in colder climates where the ground may freeze for lengthy periods of time, then consider starting a warm box to recycle your food scraps. That goes beyond the scope of this article but I am sure if you Googled the search term “vermicompost” you will get all the information you will ever need.
So what are the two things I was talking about earlier? Well obviously the first is you are adding nutrients to your soil through composting food waste. The second is by composting your food waste you are limiting the amount of garbage that ends up in a landfill. The average four person house hold creates about 8 pounds of food waste per week. If every family in America followed this process we would eliminate nearly one billion pounds of food waste garbage a year. Now that is a lot of trash!
Do your part and compost your food waste. The worms in your garden will love you for it and so will everyone else in the environment.

How Deionized and Distilled Water Vary And What Associates Them

We all know that there are different types of purified water, and the uses may range from industrial, laboratory, pharmaceutical, as well as human consumption. Among the common forms of highly-purified water include deionized water. This type of purified liquid is made using a process called deionization, which utilizes specially-manufactured ion exchange resins, which work to filter out and bind the mineral salts from water. Because a considerable segment of the impurities present in water consist of dissolved salts, the deionization process helps to attain a higher level of purity that is the same as distilled water. However, deionization is not able to fully remove many of the bacteria, viruses and uncharged organic molecules, and these could be removed only with the use of a class of formulated strong base anion resins, which may remove these impurities. The process of creating deionized water is viewed as a rather relatively inexpensive process. So how do the qualities of deionized water differ from that of distilled water?
The Distillation Process
The method for creating distilled water includes converting water from a liquid to a gaseous state, and back to liquid again. This process is done with an equipment called "still," which is composed of a boiling vessel for vaporizing water, as well as a cooling unit or "condenser", to enable the return of water to the liquid state. In distillation, almost all dissolved solids are left in a progressively concentrated solution, which helps to increase the boiling point of the liquid water. While scientists note that substances that vaporize with water are considered nonvolatile, distilled water is said to be nonvolatile. Distillation experts conclude that high-quality stills may selectively condense or liquefy water from among other volatile substances, however most distillation processes allow for the carry-over of at least a few of the volatile substances. A few amounts of nonvolatile material however that are carried into the water vapor stream as bubbles tend to explode or pop off at the boiling water's surface.
How Deionization Differs
The processes for creating deionized water includes the removal or filtering out of electrically charged, or ionized, dissolved substances, through binding these to positively or negatively charged sites on a resin, as the water goes through a column or barrier packed with this resin. Since this type of resin also gathers other dissolved entities that can feed bacteria, many indicate that it's quite usual to find bacterial growth in a deionization column. Despite this, the water that comes out from one of these has a very low conductivity, as the substances that allow electricity to pass have already been eradicated. The processes of distillation and deionization may remove different substances out of water; however they may also leave other impurities behind also. In layman's terms, the purer the water, the more difficult it would be to store without losing its purity. The water we usually drink may not need to be as pure as the liquids used for specialized manufacturing or laboratory processes, however each laboratory or industrial entity has to fine-tune its purification system to attune to the water's intended use, as well as to create a precise monitoring system to make sure that the right levels of purification are met.
Although the purity of water may be measured in various ways, one can also attempt to ascertain or verify the weight of all of the dissolved materials, also called "solutes". This process is easily implemented for dissolved solids, and differs with the methods for dissolved liquids or gases. Deionized water is now considered a very important element for automobiles, where it is used for the vehicle's main cooling systems, where the distilled water intersperses with the hybrid system coolant, for preventing further corrosion of components. This purified water form is also a staple used for topping up the lead in acid batteries, which are used in cars, buses and trucks.

The Many Industrial and Laboratory Benefits of Deionized Water

Around two decades ago, the use of highly-purified water was only limited to a few commercial and industrial applications. At present, there are two common forms of purified water being utilized, the distilled and the deionized water (Dl). Although the purification of water can be done through other processes, including carbon filtration, reverse osmosis, micro porous filtration, ultraviolet oxidation, ultra filtration and electro dialysis. This high-purity water product is now considered a very important ingredient in a lot of pharmaceutical, medical, laboratory, manufacturing, food processing and a wide variety of industrial processes, as well as for rinsing the vehicle at the local car wash.
In recent years, a combination of the processes mentioned earlier, have been implemented to produce water with very high purity, as such its trace contaminants are measured in parts per billion (ppb) or parts per trillion (ppt). Deionized water is currently utilized in most science, technology and engineering industries, and is manufactured in a varied range of purity levels. This type of purified water undergoes a process wherein its mineral ions are removed, like cations from calcium, sodium, iron, copper and anions such as chloride and bromide. The process of deionization employs the use of specially-produced ion exchange resins, and these work to filter and bind the mineral salts from water. Since a large part of the impurities in water consist of dissolved salts, deionization creates a higher level of purity that is commonly akin to distilled water. The process of deionization however, does not remove most of the uncharged organic molecules, viruses or bacteria, except with the use of specially-formulated strong base anion resins that can eradicate gram-negative bacteria. This chemical process can be done continuously and is rather an inexpensive process, through the electrodeionization method.
The process of deionization: In order to create deionized water, scientists and chemists remove ions from water via an ion exchange method. In return, positively charged ions and negatively charged ions are exchanged for hydrogen (H+) and hydroxyl (OH-) ions, because of the resin's greater affinity for other ions. The process of exchanging ions takes place on the binding sites of the resin beads. Once the ions are exhausted of their exchange capacity, the resin bed is renewed or reinvigorated with concentrated acid and caustic, reducing or removing the accumulated ions through physical displacement, and only hydrogen or hydroxyl ions are left in place. For most laymen, it should be remembered that the process of deionization does not get rid of the hydroxide or hydronium ions from water because water is known to self-ionize itself to reach an equilibrium, which would lead to the removal of the water itself.
Aside from its importance as a laboratory reagent and ingredient, deionized or distilled water is also commonly utilized to top up lead acid batteries that are used in most trucks, buses and cars. This is the case, because if vehicles only use pure tap water, the presence of foreign ions generally found here are known to cause significant reduction in the projected lifespan of an automobile's battery. This all helps to explain why deionized water is the preferred fluid for use in most automotive cooling systems at present. Because of the heightened levels of the minerals and ions found in tap water, it may lead to the quick corrosive of the vehicle's internal engine components and may also lead to the faster decrease of the anti-corrosion additives, which are present in most antifreeze formulas. Deionized water is also a very vital component in an automobile's main cooling systems, where the distilled water intersperses or mixes with hybrid system coolant, for preventing further corrosion of components.

Knowing the Various Types of Chemical Disinfectants

The use of chemicals has long been considered advantageous to some extent since the early 1800s. As years pass by, the importance of chemicals gradually increases as the need for more reliable substances in removing dirt and disinfecting utensils are on the loose.
Today, chemical disinfectants are considered a part of the medical world. Without them, cleanliness and hygiene will be impossible to implement.
Disinfectants are classified as alcohols, aldehydes and acids, quaternary ammonium compounds, halogen compounds, phenols and cresols, ointments, oxidizing agents, and furan derivatives.
1. Alcohols
Ethyl alcohol is one of the most useful disinfectants. It has a high degree of antiseptic power and has the advantage of being a fat solvent, dissolving out the fat on the surface and in the follicles of the skin, thus, permitting the antiseptic to act on the more deeply situated organisms. In 70% solution by weight, that is 81.5% by volume, it is used frequently in disinfection of the patient's skin and as an evaporating lotion. Because it is a fat solvent, it is used frequently in disinfection of the patient's skin and as an evaporating lotion. Because it is a fat solvent, it is used frequently in combination with other antiseptics.
Alcohol has its disadvantages as well. This particular chemical causes considerable pain when applied to raw tissues and produces irritation of mucous surfaces; therefore, it should not be used in fresh, open wounds, for the eyes, the urethra, and many others.
As a disinfectant for instruments, it must be remembered that they must be cleansed thoroughly because of the protein-coagulating action of alcohol. Greater effectiveness is brought about when alcohol is combined with other disinfectants.
Isopropyl alcohol is displacing ethyl alcohol in many instances, since it exhibits slightly greater germicidal action, has a lower surface tension, is a better fat solvent and is less expensive. The dilution need not be as stable as ethyl alcohol.
2. Aldehydes and acids
Formaldehyde is a gas with high disinfecting properties. A 40% solution of the gas in water is known as formalin. Since it is too irritating for living tissue, it is mainly used as a preservative of specimens.
A solution of 20% formalin and 70% isopropyl alcohol solution are effective chemical disinfectant and sporicide for clean instruments that cannot be exposed to steam under pressure sterilization, and are of a material or property that will not be destroyed by the solution.
3. Quaternary Ammonium Compounds
Chemicals like zephiran, ceepryn, and phemerol are stable and non-irritating. Their chief property is that of lowering the surface tension of solutions.
These compounds are incompatible with soap and they are not effective against tubercle bacillus and spores. In addition, certain gram-negative bacilli are not inhibited by the quaternary ammoniums and may even proliferate luxuriantly in such solutions.
4. Oxidizing agents
The antiseptic properties of this group are due to their property of liberating oxygen that has a mild germicidal action.
Among the different oxidizing agents, hydrogen peroxide is the most common. This is a clear, watery solution that decomposes readily in the light or on heating. When applied to wound tissues, there are immediate bubbles or fizzes that mark the liberation of gaseous oxygen.
Its primary value lies probably in the mechanical effect of its bubbles, in loosening necrotic tissues and dressings and in breaking up thick adherent masses of pus that float to the surface in a sort of foam. Because of this property and its ability to give off oxygen, it is of special value in the treatment of anaerobic infections, such as those caused by the gas bacillus.
Hydrogen peroxide decomposes rapidly unless protected from light, heat, and air.
Indeed, knowing the different classifications of disinfectants makes it easier for you to know where and when to apply them. Not all disinfectants can be used in one way or another.