This idea is an improvement to conventional passive geothermal cooling to improve the volume of cool air produced for applications where a large volume of flow is needed. Applications where this may be of material assistance are buildings that utilize thermosiphon ventilation at the roof line, buildings where there is a substantial egress of air due to necessary openings (warehouses, retail) and applications where there is no air movement system. It may also be well baked but not to my knowledge.

The system is quite simple. A vertical pipe is mounted at the inlet of the geothermal pipe(s). The vertical rise of the pipe is tuned to produce the necessary volume of air. In this pipe water mist nozzle(s) are mounted in such a fashion as to evenly humidify the inlet air. Due to the increased density of the Humid air relative to the pressure on the far end of the L system the air "falls" down the pipe inducing flow and producing a cheap low energy source of humidified cold air. At the outlet end of the L a valve type humidistat regulates the pressure delivered to the mist system limiting the degree of humidification to whatever setting is desired.
-- WcW, Jul 06 2009

Same power source, but producing electricity, not just air flow http://en.wikipedia...y_tower_(downdraft)
[goldbb, Jul 07 2009]

Won't there eventually be a buildup of condensation in the lowest part of the pipe?
-- normzone, Jul 06 2009


Yeah but it might be useful if you need to move a whole lot of water --- Jim wants to call it rain but I think thats stupid...
-- madness, Jul 07 2009


the degree of water added to the air would be limited to the final humidity delivered to the building which would be the coldest and thus most saturated air in the system I would suspect that around 55% would be plenty cool. If you climate required cooler air then you need more underground pipe. The top of the L would have a cap and a wire mesh for rain and animals.
-- WcW, Jul 07 2009


So, the efficiency of the system is flawless and you'll never have liquid pooling at the lowest spot?

Okay, I'll take two, but I'm gonna ask for one helluva warranty and service package.
-- normzone, Jul 07 2009


[+] You get an (almost) free flow of air into the building, for only the cost of the water, and of the electricity needed to pump the water to the top of the pipe.

In humid weather, some of the water may condense as the air flows through the geothermal pipe -- if it does, this is a feature, since it decrease the amount of water expended to make the system operate.

In very cold weather, the system won't work, since the water will inevitably be warmer than the air.
-- goldbb, Jul 07 2009


My understanding of geothermal cooling is that it involves some sort of reservoir that can exchange heat with the earth; either air or water which is a heat sink for air.

If you are adding vapor to make the air sink, does it sink down into the reservoir? And push air out? It seems to me that if the newly created vapor laden air is still warmer than air in the reservoir, it will not sink down into it. If it is cooler than what is in the reservoir, forget the reservoir and just cool with your vapor.

Maybe home:temperature:cooling for category?
-- bungston, Aug 25 2010



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