Solar cooling with 2 clay pots ! Very cheap genius idea !

[ResinRat2]

Well, here is my attempt at a simulation of the two-pot cooler.

The larger clay flower pot it 11 inches across and tall, the smaller clay pot is 9 inches across and tall. The space between them was filled with fine playbox sand. I covered the bottom holes with plastic, but the inside pot water bubbles into the pot so I placed a layer of aluminum foil on the inside to protect the contents. Aluminum has a fantastic heat transfer rate so this should work well.

The first thing I noticed was that the water soaked from the inside to the outside surface of the clay pot, so this is how this unit is working. The water evaporates from the outside large surface area of the outer clay pot and evaporates, drawing heat from the center inside pot. I covered the top with a shami type rag that I soaked with water. I want to see what type of temperature differential I can cool the soda-pop cans down to after a day or so. Also, I am keeping the unit in my basement so I can maintain a somewhat controlled temperature and humidity environment.

I will keep you all periodically posted on what I find.

Thanks for your interest.

P.S. Now I am going to work on my hydrogen reactor. Wish me luck.

Thanks for your interest

[hansvonlieven]

G'day all,

I don't know why everyone gets so excited about this. Evaporative cooling has been used since antiquity. Unglazed pottery has been used from Babylonian times to cool liquids, so have goatskin bladders. In Australia the technology is used in the outback. The typical "bush fridge" is no more than a wire cage with a cloth wrapped around it that trails in a container of water. When outside temperatures are beastly hot (It can get to 55 degrees centigrade in some places) we hang a bed-sheet over the windows inside, like a curtain, and put the bottom end into a bucket of water. It works a treat.

Am I missing something here?

Hans von Lieven

[BEP]

I wonder how well this would run a Sterling Stirling engine.

After all, I had one made from a tuna tin that ran from the heat off the palm of my hand. All it needs in a differential. Sounds like there is differential with this.

If interested there are plenty of web sites for this engine.

[ResinRat2]

Hi Hans,

The purpose of this experiment is to determine the actual heat differential that can be achieved. Then see if the localized heat sink can be used with the Seebeck effect to produce an electrical current from the heat differential.

It's just an investigation into converting evaporation of the water directly into a constant electrical current, that's all. This is the first time I have heard of this effect, so please don't be too hard on my ignorance on this subject.

I just found it interesting. Thanks.

[hansvonlieven]

Sorry Dave,

I didn't mean it like this. I was just surprised that evaporative cooling was such a new area for so many. You can get much bigger effects if you use liquids other than water, like alcohol, ammonia or ether. Ammonia was used in absorber fridges and in ice production in the old gas works that used the waste heat to produce ice. Fascinating technology.

Hans