2007 January « rhapsodomancy

Solar Ponds.

1. High salt concentration
2. Middle layer.
3. Low salt concentration.
4. Cold water in and hot water out. [PEX or similar]

mmmm, I can smell the brine now. Just thinking about some other ways that I could possibly heat my little building that I’m working on. Ill really get to the details of it on another post, but here is one way I was thinking of generating heat for myself all year round. This is a solar pond. It is pretty easy to understand, I want to dig a pit that gets nice sunlight all the time, line it with plastic, lay PEX or something similar inside of it, and fill it with salty water. Why, you ask? This salty solution naturally forms layers, from least salty, almost fresh water, to very very salty and also because its more dense, hotter. Basically, It works like this. The sun can shine into this little pond that I have created. (LINED, as to not allow leakage…) The top layers of

the solution let the light into the deeper parts where the solution is more saltier and more dense. The radiation of layers in the solution don’t let it move in a natural, hot to cold cycle, so the bottom gets HOT. I mean, the water just about boils. Ill run the tubing through the deepest parts of the solution, and draw some of the heat from this device to heat the building.

Now the next question most will ask is if this would freeze… Well, salty water needs a heck of a lot colder temps to freeze than its buddy fresh, but even if there is a layer of ice on the uppermost layer, the bottom can still continue to stay relatively warm. (140°-170°) pretty slick. as long as there isn’t snow . if the whole thing cooled down so that it would freeze, i would think that the PEX and the solar collector loop would be able to be used to heat it up to get the process rolling again.

this process has been used to create electricity as well. the tubing is filled with freon usually, and runs through a turbine, making the power.

Israel leads the world in salt-gradient solar pond technology.Ormat Systems Inc. has installed several systems in the Dead Sea. The largest isa 5 MW electric system. This 20 hectare pond converts sunlight to electricity atan efficiency of about 1%. It consists of a pond of water with very highsalinity in its lower depths. Although the solar pond operated successfully forseveral years, in 1989 it was shut down for economical reasons. The largestsolar pond in the USA is a 0,3 hectare pond in El Paso, Texas, which hasoperated reliably since its start in 1986. The pond runs a 70 kW (electric)organic Rankine-cycle turbine generator, and a 20 000 liters per day desaltingunit, while also providing process heat to an adjacent food processing company.The pond has reached and sustained temperatures higher than 90 deg. C in itsheat-storage zone, generated more than 100 kW of electric power during peakoutput , and produced more than 350 000 liters of potable water in a 24 hourperiod. During five year operation, it has produced more than 50 000 kWh ofelectricity. A man-made, salt-gradient solar pond was built in Miamisburg,(Ohio, USA) and it heats a municipal swimming pool and a recreational building.

technorati tags:solar, pond, heat, electric

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Great article. worth a read def.

more to come, sorry for the delay. i spilled a cup of coffee on my laptop, things went downhill from there.

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Build a Better Straw Bale: Simply Perfect

Although it took Michele and Dale Doucette five years to plan their
straw bale house and two years to build it, they agree it was worth the
wait. Their home reflects the life they live: simple in design and
elegant in detail.

Set on 22 acres in Wilmington, Vermont, the 3,200-square-foot house
fits right into the landscape. Local stones set in the stucco perimeter
around the base connect the house to the earth. Locally sourced timber
and straw bales make up the frame and the walls. The indigo metal roof
mirrors the surrounding mountain peaks at dusk.

technorati tags:solar, thermal

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