DK's m..a..d.. d..o..-i..n..g..s........

[DKShrimporium]

Originally Posted by shrimpnmoss

They both retain heat using countercurrent heat exchange (CCHE)

We have a winner - I did see you changed your answer to more correctly state the concept.

Counter current heat exchange is seen in many animals, especially those who inhabit cold climates on ice or in the water. It's an elegant solution that conserves body heat for the animal, done by anatomy.

DK will be pondering this anatomy, and how to artificially create it, using the most artificial of materials, LOL! There's a certain amount of irony in there, methinks! The kicker is gonna be finding the correct, non-toxic materials with good enough heat transfer...

There are, of course, products out there that do this. But those of you who follow DK's doings know that she is cheap and sporting, meaning she needs to constantly re-invent the wheel, using cheap, readily available, non-proprietary parts.

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In other news, DK's getting ready to start some studies with neos. If anything interesting comes of it, I'll let y'all know. I just have a hunch...




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[shrimpnmoss]

If you can build it, I think the most efficient system would be a tube within a tube. Like a gas pump except you won't be venting but cold water entering the outer tube and a heated waste water core. That would be hard to build....unless you get your hands on some gas station pump materials....but again those parts probably won't exchange heat very well...you'd need a tube that doesn't retain heat very well....and that is non-corrosive...good luck!

[DKShrimporium]

I absolutely LOVE how shrimp-y projects take me to different worlds.

So where has the heat exchanger/grey water heat recovery project taken me to by this morning?

Radiant heat flooring (or, conversely, ice roof melting systems), and a product called hePEX tubing, a polymer tubing engineered for heat transfer.

Stay tuned, folks, I'm thinking about this hePEX and some playthings such as these leftover DK doings parts (DK has barrels and shelves of spare parts from past projects, always an interesting tour through a funhouse...):

[DKShrimporium]

I just had a totally eureka moment. Simple, elegant solution, maxed out efficiency. Oh babieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Stay tuned. Gotta do me some shopping and beta testing.

[GDP]

I love those moments lol. Had one yesterday.

[DKShrimporium]

Freak-o!

Guess what I learned today?

The material that has the highest thermal conductivity is...

DIAMOND

Who-da thot? I had no idea.

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In other news, groceries arrived today, along with another slew of water tests, and some new foam sheets...



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[DKShrimporium]

LOL, check it out! Anyone else grow these?



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[mordalphus]

Is that a Marino trapdoor snail? Lol

[Ben.]

HAHA that's awesome, happens to my ramshorns that are in natural sunlight Never that lush though.

[DKShrimporium]

Originally Posted by mordalphus

Is that a Marino trapdoor snail? Lol

He's an ultra-liberal "greenie" ramshorn. - Y'know, the kind that tries to make his shoe-box home self-sufficient for energy... he's trying to jump on the solar energy bandwagon. He grows his own food source, cleans the environment, and insulates his home all at the same time, using green, renewable technology. LOL

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Last night, I did a study and discovered it takes about 8 minutes run time for my system to equilibrate to a new setting. This means, with the Water Factory, I can turn a knob, and have a measured new water stream in 8 short minutes into the tanks. Since I have turbulent mixing chambers in the Water Factory that mix in the concentrate injector streams, I hadn't been sure how long it took to flow through the dead volumes and come to equilibrium again once I change a global parameter, for that new water to hit the tanks. So now I know. (Takes a deep Geek bow...)

In other news, DK did some shrimp-y shopping just now:



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[DKShrimporium]

And on the heat exchanger project:

I think I'm going to pull a radiant heat pipeline (hePEX) off my feed CPVC input line, then run the hePEX through my wastewater sump barrel to pick up the heat, then return it downstream to the CPVC feed line, warmed. In the interest of marrying cross-culture, sharkbite is my friend.

So far, I think this is my shopping list:


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[dtsuyuki]

This logo stuff is hard. I'll keep working on ideas, but here's what I got so far..

[DKShrimporium]

Those of you who read this thread know I sort of sit, apparently "dormant" for a while, letting things soak in, until I decide to move on something, or until a moment of inspiration hits.

I've been just sitting on the concept of a heat exchanger for, what, about two weeks, now. One of my lessons in life lately has been to slow down, streamline, and MAKE SURE I need to do something, buy something, before I take the leap - a sort of reverse-squirrel process. Right now, I especially want to make sure I need to buy something, or that I'm buying the best choice.

I've been stewing on the heat exchanger idea, and haven't moved on anything yet.

This morning, I start obsessing on the idea that if I'm going to do it, I really need to know it works, and I need to know how well it works. I just do. I mean, why do something if you don't have a means to measure the effects?

So I start pondering how the beejeezuz I could set up my system, cheaply, such that I could actually measure the efficiency of my heat exchanger.

And then, it comes to me...

Two valves, and a loop of plumbing is all it will take. Maybe 5 bucks and 5 minutes of plumbing extra in the project.

I'll make a diverter circuit in my supply line, with two valves, one to the heat exchanger branch, one to the diverter loop branch. By selecting which of the two is open for flow, the water will either go through the heat exchanger and on to the Water Factory, or it will bypass the heat exchanger, and go to the Water Factory. In a second, I can do one or the other, by adjusting the valves.

Then, it's a matter of running the Water Factory, and taking an end point stream and measuring the temperature under the two conditions.

So, this makes me happy.

DK

[DKShrimporium]

Every once in a while I just get the itch to fix a small, irritating thing; today was one of those days.

First fix: converting my homemade stainless cart into a drying rack for Shrimporium dishes. The cart I made from a scrap piece of stainless counter I mooched off a lab where I used to work, when they had to cut it off to make room for a doorway. So now it's in the Shrimporium holding stuff and being useful. I used a piece of cut-down fluorescent fixture grid for my drain rack; the grid I had bought for another project but didn't end up using it for that.

Second fix: I hadn't figured out a secure, easy access place for the pipetman pipettors. You can't just hold these guys like a pencil in a pencil jar because you don't want to damage the dispensing end or the tips will not have an airtight fit onto them. I'm of course too cheap to buy a proper (read:proprietary) rack for them, so I had to figure out a handy and cheap place to store them. I just made some suspension loops from my new favorite velcro strap thingys.

[DKShrimporium]

Third fix: I've been storing my 1000 ml graduated cylinder up high on my pvc pegboard wall, but even the large, extended pegs I have weren't long enough and I've had that baby fall back down on me a couple time when I bumped it trying to reach for something else on the pegboard wall. So since lately I've had pex on the mind, I figured out to cut a couple pex extenders and jam them onto the pegs - worked like a charm, and they are securely on there, too.