Small power source for one century

Hello,

Is there a possibility to power a circuit to be put inside a time capsule for 100 years ? The power source should feed a timer and an audio circuit with a small audio amp. The audio amp would be triggered at the end of the century by the timer. Therefore during 100 years the power source should power only a clock.

Is there any possibility outside say a nuclear reactor ? Batteries ?

Thank you in advance.

These guys have some ideas…

Solar for the win.

If you think about it, you're asking for a power supply that lasts longer than we have had commercially deployed electricity.

-br

That is highly specialised requirement, offhand can't think of any battery chemistry that lasts anything like that long. And you'd
not be able to test it... You would have to engineer the whole system to avoid tin-whisker growth too.

Yes this is quite a challenge. Thanks anyway.

It's not just the power source you have a problem with, it's the whole device. There is no hard and fast data to prove that any electronics will actually last that long. At the very least you'd need some kind of hermetically sealed container to have a good chance of working preservation, IF you had confidence in a reliable power source.

The chances are that one of the crucial link components will fail way before that 100 year period is up.

Without some form of regular check and maintenance, I'm doubtful you'd get anywhere near the longevity you require.

ok
this seems pretty far fetched

but rolex (as far as i recall ) had come up with a way to run a watch perpetually(it said something about utilizing atmospheric pressure ). that means it require no extra mehanical power to run.

u could understnd how that works, and use it as the switch .

as for the amp. try using bells' model
(it ran mechanically ).

u will havt to wound up the amp. and the switch will be triggered, running the discs.

(i have remove all the electronics out of it though :stuck_out_tongue: )

tack:
It's not just the power source you have a problem with, it's the whole device. There is no hard and fast data to prove that any electronics will actually last that long. At the very least you'd need some kind of hermetically sealed container to have a good chance of working preservation, IF you had confidence in a reliable power source.

The chances are that one of the crucial link components will fail way before that 100 year period is up.

Without some form of regular check and maintenance, I'm doubtful you'd get anywhere near the longevity you require.

I'm not so sceptical about the electronic components not lasting that long if the power source life can be solved.
At the refinery I worked at before retirement we still had some equipment at or more then 40 years old that had semiconductor components (diodes, SCRs, transistors, etc) still operational, so I don't think 100 years life output of semiconductors is a automatic show stopper. Especially if it's in some kind of 'sleep' mode that only wakes up say once day or week or month to check the date and then goes back to sleep if 100 years has not elapsed.

Lefty

lefty
I would be surprised if today's consumer electronics lasted more than 20 years. As the old saying goes: "They don't make 'em like they used to."

Shpaget:
lefty
I would be surprised if today's consumer electronics lasted more than 20 years. As the old saying goes: "They don't make 'em like they used to."

Well the project in question is not a typical 'consumer product' now is it? It's designed to 'deep sleep' for 100 years and only then turn fully on and work all it's functions. I think if the power 'problem' can be solved the rest would not be show stoppers.

Lefty

I think the electronics can be challenging (more so from a reliabilty / redundance point of view), but the power sources are more so.

You probably will need to make some assumptions, without spending a lot of money. I would think of a few back-ups, like solar, geo-thermal, mechanism (wind + water), battery + capacitors, etc.

If all the device does is to keep time + go to sleep, its current consumption cannot be that big (ua range).

Solar for the win.

Not in the UK - we haven't seen the damn thing for months.

AWOL:

Solar for the win.

Not in the UK - we haven't seen the damn thing for months.

Doesn't matter, solar for 100 years is a no go. Lighting strike, vandals steals the panel or paints it black, etc. Same for wind generation. The whole assembly must be self contained and sealed up securely. He did state " time capsule " now didn't he?

Lefty

retrolefty:
Doesn't matter, solar for 100 years is a no go. Lighting strike, vandals steals the panel or paints it black, etc. Same for wind generation. The whole assembly must be self contained and sealed up securely. He did state " time capsule " now didn't he?

Lefty

Nuclear it is then.

Seriously now. Where will the device be situated? Can you guarantee that the building/bunker/mountain that will hold it will be there in 100 years?
I'm thinking some sort of thermoelectric device, hooked up to a water flow on one side and something that fluctuates in temperature on other. The batteries would need to be capable of sustaining the device for a few months (which is possible), and would be recharged during summer and winter when there is difference in water/something other temperature.

I wonder could you do it with bacteria somehow? Bacteria + shitload of food for them = heat.

BulletMagnet83:
shitload of food for them

Great technical detail there BM 8)

(PS, where in South of England? I'm from Crawley originally)

That reminds me of the Cold War nuclear land mine, that was going to use chickens to keep the electronics warm...

Maybe cockroaches, and a treadmill?

I'm still working on getting it made a recognised SI unit :wink:

Hampshire, at the moment... until the work runs out anyway! My landlord used to do a lot of work around Crawley.

There are batteries based on tritium that are supposed to (theoretically, not promised) last hundreds of years. Just google "Nano tritium battery"

You need deep pockets though. I think I read somewhere they were nearly $2000 each.

DirtBiker:
There are batteries based on tritium that are supposed to (theoretically, not promised) last hundreds of years. Just google "Nano tritium battery"

You need deep pockets though. I think I read somewhere they were nearly $2000 each.

http://www.betavoltaic.co.uk/citylabs20yearnanotritiumbattery.html these? That dip package looks so cool :smiley:

If the time capsule is buried in the ground then there is the possibility of using a heat pump coupled with some novel alloy and neodymium magnets?