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#6: LIVE Video of Sinking !





We now have live video! 

So far, we were doing our tests in the dark - we could only check for sinking after pressure was released and samples were brought out of the pressure tank.  We recently upgraded our equipment to capture live video of the wood samples sinking inside the pressure tank. 

We placed 13 species of wood, farm and fruit wastes in the tank and pressurized it. With the help of a small camera and light in the tank, we could see the sinking of the samples as we increased pressure.  

The video shown above records the exact instant of sinking at P(min).  Most samples sank after a few minutes in 100 PSI. After 5 minutes, we increased the pressure to 200 PSI.  All except balsa wood sank in about a minute, indicating that pressure was more important than time in the sinking process. Even balsa wood sank at 300 PSI, equivalent to about 680 ft depth in the ocean.  After varying pressures at 100 PSI steps, up to 500 PSI, we released pressure. All samples floated back up, confirming that it was P(min) that was reached, and P(max) was not. 

So we can conclude that any plant biomass can sink naturally at a few hundred feet depth.



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