Chilling Machine 3

[Blair Wolfram]

pic

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Blair F. Wolfram
Founder, Dome Inc.

thedo...@domeincorporated.com

http://www.hurricanedomes.com

888-DOME-INC or 612-333-3663

[Dick Fischbeck]

Blair- Thoughts? Did you read Alec Nevalia's  book, Inventor of the future? What did you think?

Alec Nevala-Lee

American biographer

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[Blair Wolfram]

Dick;

I haven't read Alec Nevala. I need to dig through my dome books to find Steven Seiden's book and his info on the chilling machine.

His is one of those books I was certain to have but find no trace. Most chilling references are only a paragraph or two. If you have Seiden's book will you scan this info for me?

thx,

Blair

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[Dick Fischbeck]

Yes, I do and I will.

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[Dick Fischbeck]

[Dx G]

Thanks for posting the text Dick.

So is the lower edge exhaust only open on the south side, or otherwise open where the radiant heat is beating?  Or is there some standard approach to where this opening is located and what air flows or square inches are needed in relation to the intake at top center?  

 Has anyone built a model of this cooling affect?  If it is at all scalable, one should be able to detect and even measure these air flows/pressures in natural settings, or even provoke some changes with some applied heat (e.g. a radiant heater).  Unless I'm missing something, seems to me one should be able to demonstrate this chilling machine effect without the need for a full scale model, unless it doesn't happen below a certain airflow threshold, or other reason. 

DxG

[Dick Fischbeck]

Hi Dx

I believe Blair is doing exactly what you suggest.

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[Charles Lasater]

I am also experimenting with this concept on two domes in Redding,CA where it gets plenty hot.

Seems that Boyle's law would imply that the greater the dome's volume and the lower the pressure the greater the expansion and cooling of the incoming air. The hole size determines how much air is expanding. Wouldn't mechanical ventilation at the base augment the effect?

I will get through plan checks eventually and build them and measure variables.

Thanks y'all the best

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[Dx G]

It looked to me like Blair was working with a full size structure, as is our friend in California.  Did I get that wrong Blair?  Even if its full size, did you test any smaller scale models?   What I had in mind was a test cell, of sorts.  The idea would be to set up a small model, perhaps the size of a chess board, and see if one can detect/observe/measure this cooling effect.  Could be something as simple as a vertical tube with a bottom opening.  There may very well be some important factors, such as the right size or size ratio of openings, minimum temperature differentials,  etc.  With any luck, this reveals the essentials for the desired pressures, temperatures, air velocity, etc.  Rather like the calculation done when one is trying to "properly" vent an attic, where one calculates the attic floor area, applies a ratio, then "balances" the intake and exhaust. It has a few steps but relatively simple. 

  However, why reinvent the wheel.  If anyone knows of any such modeling work, perhaps what I describe is already available...

DxG

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[Blair Wolfram]

30' diameter, 3v, 5/9

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[Charles Lasater]

Sure hope so. Would eliminate a lot of guessing and aid design submittals.

Thank you for the value of this group.

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[Dx G]

So it does look like Blair went right to a full size structure.  

One issue that puzzles me a bit. If the sun were beating at the base of a structure, why wouldn't that heat the air in that zone, and have that heat rise up outside, and inside the structure, and then move upward inside the structure and out the top opening?  What is it, I'm wondering, that would cause a heating of the base to induce the air to actually move outward from inside the structure.  Perhaps if the heating occurred largely on the *outside* of the structure, it would flow up the outside and induce that suction.  Perhaps, in particular, something we'd see in a curved or inclined surface more than a vertical wall?  The hottest point being the curved outer surface above the opening below?  I suppose that is also something that could be investigated with some small models. 

If anyone has an understanding of the basic air flow dynamics, I'd sure be interested in knowledge, thoughts, insights, etc.  Seems to me if we understand how this occurs, we could do a better job of maximizing or even amplifying the desired outcome.

DxG

[Dx G]

Blair,

 I've been doing some additional background work to see if I can learn anything more about the "chilling machine" system.  I'm hoping it relies on some physics that are poorly understood and not explained elsewhere, so it will be better than what we have now.  If not, here is what is looks like:

1) What works in a place like Ghana may perform poorly or not work at all in other climates.

2) If we understand #1, the knowledge can point us to what *would* work, with appropriate modifications, to compensate for those differences. Right now, it looks to me like what you will find is "sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't".  If you collect the right data, it may provide answers.

3) Seems to me this could be tested in models that would be easier, faster and less expensive than full size structures.

In any case, I'll be curious to see what you find.  

DxG

[Blair Wolfram]

DxG;

If you can do it with "models that would be easier, faster and less expensive than full size structures", go for it!

We'll compare performance at the end of next summer.

The weather difference between Ghana and here in Minnesota, I turned on my furnace today as the temp was 45 degrees F.

Likely in Ghana they wait to turn on the furnace, never.

Or should I say I turned off the Chilling Machine for winter.

Blair

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[Charles Lasater]

I am constructing a 30 foot dome this fall here near Redding CA where it stays pretty warm. Building off grid I am installing solar/battery powered ventilators to produce a lower inside pressure that will guarantee the air coming in the hole on top will expand and cool. I will document and send results. Thank you to all who contribute to this fun group.

Charles Lasater

(I built the Redding Geodesic Sphere on Google Maps) 

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[Dx G]

Charles, 

Good opportunity to try some things out.  It's also an opportunity to make some measurements on flow, pressure, temperatures, etc. that might shed some light on this. 

 So far, I've looked at some scenarios to consider some modeling. Clearly I don't have enough data yet to form a "theory", but did make a few guesses to make some initial assessments. I suspect you will see the same thing Blair will - sometimes it will work, and sometimes not, so those measurements may be the key.  The difference is that your system requires moving parts and forced air, whereas the chilling machine in its pure form, appears to claim to cool with a passive method requiring no human induced inputs, other than the design of the structure.  So you can pull air through the dome that the chilling machine may, or may not.  If you build the dome as a chilling machine, you can do some useful comparisons, since under a given set of conditions, you can make your measurements with the fans both on or off. 

DxG

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[Charles Lasater]

Thank you DxG,

Low pressure in the dome ensures the incoming air will expand and cool. Ideal gas law.

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[Dx G]

Charles, 

Yes, of course.  However, look at your fan performance curve, then look at the gas law.  Given the volume of the space you are trying to cool, estimate how much pressure reduction or vacuum you need to have to generate the target temperature, given your starting temperature.  Then see if your fan is even capable of generating the pressure/vacuum you need, and then consider your dome is not air tight, so even for a powerful fan, estimate whether it can generate enough to compensate for the loss.

  There are, of course, additional considerations, but that's a start.  A lot of fans are designed to move large volumes of air with little or no resistance.   That is a different configuration than something like a vacuum cleaner, that is trying to create a high air velocity for a small amount of air, and continue to do so despite some blockages that interfere with the flow.  

  So if you estimate the needed performance targets (gas law), and then look at the capability of the equipment (fan curve), you can get an idea if this is trivial , a definite maybe, or a "no way" proposition.    Its easy to imagine something working...until it doesn't.

  Forgive me if you already know all this or even doing it.  Just trying to be helpful.

DxG 

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[Dx G]

Hi Blair,

 Likely we are well out of the cooling season for your climate.  Any observations or insights to report on the cooling machine efforts?

Dx G

[Ashok Mathur]

Dear Dx G

I want to introduce (once again) to the group a powerful way to generate forms and structures that are not necessarily truncations of geodesics.

There is an article on ResearchGate titled "Basics of Fornian-K" which is a very good introduction written by the original team.

There has been further progress in the last decade which I got Claude to summarize as pasted below

"

Overview of Formian-K

Formian is a software system ideally suited for generating shapes and forms of all kinds, with the term meant to imply the "language of form" For Construction Pros. It's based on formex algebra, a mathematical system created by Hoshyar Nooshin and Peter Disney in 1975 and developed since then by Professor Nooshin and his colleagues, primarily used for planning various truss-grid structures, mainly domes and vaults University of Surrey.

Major Developments in the Last Decade

1. Release of Formian-K (2016)

The most significant development was the publication of "Basics of Formian-K" by Nooshin, Samavati, and Sabzali in 2016 For Construction Pros. Formian-K represents an updated version of the earlier Formian-2 software with enhanced capabilities including:

• Four main types of values: numeric, string, formex, and plenix, with all numeric values stored as double-precision floating point numbers LinkedIn
• New features like subvariables and if statements for conditional processing
• Improved string handling compared to Formian-2

2. Integration with Parametric Design Tools (2020)

A major breakthrough occurred with the adaptation of formex algebra to the parametric design software Grasshopper 3D, creating tools called Kitsune that allow architects to plan truss-grid structures easily without learning the Formian programming language University of Surrey. This development:

• Uses coordinate system transformations to modify grid structures, making it easy to construct vaults or domes from planar or multilayered grids designed in the Cartesian coordinate system Streamlyne
• Enables architects to use visual algorithm editors instead of text-based programming
• Provides the ability to apply further modifications and create special forms

3. Expanded Applications

A 2017 comprehensive article documented the development of formex algebra from the mid-1970s to the middle of the second decade of the 21st century, covering approximately 40 years of development Coachwithfitr. The software has found applications in:

• Spatial structural forms including domes, vaults, and towers
• Freeform architecture
• Educational settings for teaching structural design
• Professional engineering and architectural design

4. Continued Research and Development

Recent research has focused on:

• Development of supplementary tools like the Goniometer supplement for calculating connection angles in complex structures such as diamatic domes Formlify
• Integration with structural analysis software for optimization processes
• Applications in lattice space structures and grid design

5. Commercial Services

The Formian Team offers customized versions of Formian-K tailored to specific organizational needs, along with consultation services for creating novel structural forms and freeforms MarkTechPost.

The evolution from Formian-2 to Formian-K, combined with its integration into modern parametric design environments, represents the most significant advancement in making this powerful form-generation technology more accessible to architects and engineers in the last decade."

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The research paper is enclosed.

Regards

Ashok

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[Ashok Mathur]

Dear Dx G 

I found this dome with all verticies as 3 way hubs. in a paper on Formian processing

Regards

Ashok