Brownian Ratchet - Granular Gas

Granular Gas

Researchers from the University of Twente, the University of Patras in Greece, and the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter have constructed a Feynman-Smoluchowski engine which, when not in thermal equilibrium, converts pseudo-Brownian motion into work by means of a granular gas, which is a conglomeration of solid particles vibrated with such vigour that the system assumes a gas-like state. The constructed engine consisted of four vanes which were allowed to rotate freely in a vibrofluidized granular gas. Because the ratchet's gear and pawl mechanism, as described above, permitted the axle to rotate only in one direction, random collisions with the moving beads caused the vane to rotate. This seems to contradict Feynman's hypothesis. However, this system is not in perfect thermal equilibrium: energy is constantly being supplied to maintain the fluid motion of the beads. Vigorous vibrations on top of a shaking device mimic the nature of a molecular gas. Unlike an ideal gas, though, in which tiny particles move constantly, stopping the shaking would simply cause the beads to drop. In the experiment, this necessary out-of-equilibrium environment was thus maintained. Work was not immediately being done, though; the ratchet effect only commenced beyond a critical shaking strength. For very strong shaking, the vanes of the paddle wheel interacted with the gas, forming a convection roll, sustaining their rotation. The experiment was filmed.