HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Another Physics fact for my fellow "leakers"

Support Forums
>
Prostate Cancer
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
12
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 10/7/2009 6:45 PM (GMT 0)
Guys you know I have a Physics background and have access to certain tools and equipment. Well here's another energy saving tip for you.
Each white bag that wraps a Depend Guard Pad contains 1.03 grams of a long chain hydrocarbon. When burned, it releases 45.1 BTU of energy or the equivalent of 13.1 watt hours of electricity. If you use 4 pads per day and save the wrappers for an entire year you can burn them in your wood burning stove and save $2.70 worth of electricity. Tax free! And you are keeping them out of the landfill.
Of course, divorce attorney fees far exceed this amount so you'll have to hide them from the wife and burn them when she's not looking.

(Hmmm.... I wonder how much energy a sun-dried, used pad holds. I guess I could hang them out to dry in the orchard. She wouldn't find them there. )
((If you hear a gunshot call the police.))
Jeff
Posted 10/7/2009 7:06 PM (GMT 0)
Jeff
This is exactly the kind of great scientific advance in the field of incontinence that we have come to expect from you. Just be careful, your down-wind neighbor might have an “accident” while sighting-in his hunting rifle. That’s the sort of thing that can fill a pad real fast.
Posted 10/7/2009 7:26 PM (GMT 0)
Geezer
In an earlier post I calculated the heat capacity and thermal mass of a full daiper pad and computed its effect on air in a 10 x 12 room. This was merely an extension of the theme.
With the data above I calculate that I can heat my house with 1.89 million wrappers weighing 4160 pounds. I hope I'm dry before then.
(Donations will only be accepted if they are attached to a check to help cover the purchase of a bullet proof vest of 5 ply kevlar, capable of stopping a .380)
Jeff
Posted 10/7/2009 8:43 PM (GMT 0)
Jeff, you worry me sometimes. lol.
Posted 10/7/2009 9:42 PM (GMT 0)
David,
I was actually working with the energy content of lignin, cellulose and hemi-cellulose and determining the total energy contents of certain mixes when I had to take a break to change a pad. the spreadsheet was still open when I returned pad and wrapper in hand. And the rest is history... Those are real numbers by the way.

Through this website I might have single-handedly saved more energy than Al Gore and Rush Limbaugh combined, and hopefully brightened a few people's day too.
The burning wrapper brightened my living room for a few seconds. :-)
Jeff
Posted 10/7/2009 9:42 PM (GMT 0)
Jeff,

When you come to Orlando in February we will have a space set up for you to display some of your scientific experiments. It will be just like the science fairs that we all participated in while in high school.

We will encourage others to brings their projects and have a time set aside from viewing and judging.

Fortunately, I am three weeks post surgery and can laugh without pain to truly enjoy your "dry" sense of humor. Yes pun intended.

Sonny
Posted 10/7/2009 9:50 PM (GMT 0)
Sonny ,
I will be at a certain Dept of Energy Lab in SE Tenn in two weeks. Maybe I can run some experiments. I'll be practicing my NASCAR quick pad change procedure until then.

David,
Since you will be just over the mountains, be listening for that distinctive "rrriippp" sound. Only you will know it's not Velcro on Cordura.
Jeff

My better half was just looking over my shoulder reading this thread and noted that I will most definitely be dry (and quite dessicated) by the time I reach 1.89 million pads.

Post Edited (Worried Guy) : 10/7/2009 4:02:02 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/7/2009 10:06 PM (GMT 0)
Sonny, I rather think of Jeff being "wet" behind the ears.
Posted 10/8/2009 12:08 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Jeff.  You could not only save $2.70 maybe you could claim the cost of the pads as an alternative energy credit on your tax return.  Come to think of it, there may be a reason I am a FORMER tax accountant.  David

Posted 10/8/2009 12:19 AM (GMT 0)
Or at the very least wet behind.

I did the preliminary calcs for all of you since I know you were wondering.
Using a clean pad and making the assumption that a sun-dried one will yield similar results, a sun-dried used pad, or SDUP, is worth 373.7 BTU or 109.3 watt hours. While the pad mass is 24 times greater, the energy density of the material is significantly lower. (Cellulose vs. proprietary hydrophobic plastic material in the wrapper)
Bottom line, if you burn your sun-dried pads you will save $22.33 per year.
I'll bring some wet ones to Orland so we can dry them on Sonny's clothesline.

CPA,
I'm thinking of applying for a government grant. How many surgeries are done per year? If you look at how many the surgeons say they did 2000 here, 5000 there, 4000 on weekends, etc it adds up to 150M. I think it is more like 90,000. If guys are leakers an average of 2 months, that means we can save $22.33* 90,000 *4*60 / 4*365 = $330,361 worth of electricity. I figure the grant should be worth $150,000. I'll donate half to prostate research.
Jeff

Post Edited (Worried Guy) : 10/7/2009 6:46:42 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/8/2009 2:51 AM (GMT 0)
Jeff, you remind me of a friend who, when he was told he'd need a colostomy, looked up with a smile on his face and said to the doctor, "How great is that! Everyday I'll have a little bag to mail to people I don't like."

Now, as for those little white bags, I've been saving mine and stuffing pillows which I'd planned to sell at the church craft sale come Christmas. Never thought about the possibilities of sun dried pads. Hmmmmm?

And, speaking of Al Gore, it's a wonder he doesn't want us to sun dry and reuse them. But, perhaps he does and I've just not heard yet.

Keep running those tests, Jeff. First thing you know NASA will be launching on used Depends.

Sheldon AKA Sleepless
Posted 10/8/2009 2:59 AM (GMT 0)
I am getting worried about the effect PC is having on landfills. Maybe you could develop a re-usable pad, or one that could be used as fuel cell, using the liquid additive as an electrolyte. Perhaps we could power an Ipod, cell phone, or palm pilot with the energy.

Certainly we could find something to do to make incontinence a positive thing in our lives. How about a small hydroelectric generator .......
Posted 10/8/2009 2:57 PM (GMT 0)
Goodlife.
There are so many uses...
One of the emission control devices for the new advanced diesel engines scheduled for 2012 uses urea to reduce NOx emissions. We can design a separate wine press like tank that will extract the necessary juice from old pads.
http://nam.confex.com/data/abstract/nam/2009/Paper_1618_abstract_238_0.pdf

A small hydro electric generator strapped to a knee (to increase vertical drop) and fed by a catheter could charge your watch or hearing aid battery in an emergency.

Sleepless, The pillow idea is great application for the wrappers since they are hydrophobic. Try pouring a little water on them. You'll see. Used pads - that's a different story.
(Actually I was surprised at the energy density of those wrappers.)
Jeff
Posted 10/8/2009 3:31 PM (GMT 0)
We laugh, but my wife's grandmother dried and reused her pads when she become incontinent in her dotage.
Posted 10/8/2009 4:48 PM (GMT 0)
Finally, someone has provided an upside to incontinence. Now I won't have to cut down a tree to burn in my fireplace. How green is that ?

Dave
Posted 10/9/2009 9:49 PM (GMT 0)
Dave,
You betcha'. Also don't forget the added bonus of leaving a full diaper pad in the trash and letting it cool down to room temp. At my 3 pad per day leak rate, that comes to 33 BTU's per day that is being used to warm the air in the house.
Those wasteful dry guys send it down the drain along with 1.6 liters of water - if they're married. Single dry guys don't flush every time but they still waste the heat when they pee in the shower. We Northerners worry about stuff like this. All discussions always come down to heat.

Colin, You can ignore this post since your neighborhood is already hot and humid enough. And you only used, something like 1/2 of a pad.

Jeff
Posted 10/10/2009 1:06 AM (GMT 0)
To those of you who missed the GFMPH weekend at Jeff's, this thread gives you an idea of the amount of BTU's created by my laughter. I figure that 98.6 degree air expelled rapidly from my lungs resulted in a savings of $4.38 on Jeff's heating bill.

You can send me a rebate check anytime, Jeff. But the good news is, as I read is antics again, I am heating my own home and saving money. Thank you Jeff, keep the rebate.
Paul
Posted 10/10/2009 1:47 AM (GMT 0)
Once again Jeff has sent us on the road of solving global problems through incontinence. However, given the state of environmental affairs I think that any ideas involving combustion must be ruled out because of their carbon footprint. What we need is pads with a built in grid of copper and zinc electrodes. With uric acid as an electrolyte you could clip your iPod to the leads in your shorts and listen on free power.

Hint, if the volume fades you should quickly switch to a comedy track. The resulting laughter will recharge your “wet cell battery” and restore your listening pleasure.

Warning, if smoke persists, contact your local fire department.
Posted 10/10/2009 3:30 AM (GMT 0)
Geezer,

We could also take your idea of metallic grid pads and develop a negative reinforcement technique. By applying some voltage back into the grid, we could cause some shocking after effects to Willie's leakage. A few shots of that may end the incontinence issue, or at least paralyze the sphincter in the closed position.
Posted 10/10/2009 8:49 AM (GMT 0)
Hmmm.. I've got a TENS unit right here...
If I attach one of the electrodes to a dry, non-conductive guard pad, and the other to the shaved spot near my perineum...
Then set the unit to burst mode at 1 Hz with high intensity 100 Hz...
Every time I drip, the pad will conduct and Ouch! I'll get Ouch! a shock Ouch! each time Ouch! I drip ...
End of Experiment.
Does anyone smell burnt hamburger?
Posted 10/10/2009 3:57 PM (GMT 0)
All my family talk about my weird sense of humor. You birds give me a distinct inferiority complex. I never knew PC had a predisposition for engineers!
Posted 10/10/2009 6:29 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Brainsurgeon,
Now that you mention it, this does sound like a potential Ca cluster.
Do you think we can apply for an NIH grant to study the correlation between engineering and PCa? Would you like to be the PI for this worthy project?
I can get the paperwork started. Just as soon as I take off Ouch! these darn Ouch! electr..Ouch! odes.
Je Ouch! ff
Posted 10/10/2009 6:33 PM (GMT 0)
From an outsider, I can see the wisdom of your thought!
Posted 10/10/2009 7:07 PM (GMT 0)
smells more like cocktail wieners
Posted 10/10/2009 7:13 PM (GMT 0)
Jeff
Please be careful about your posts. Remember that the Patriot Act makes revealing interrogation techniques a terrorist crime. I am afraid you would find that Internet connections from Gitmo are very erratic.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
12