Tropics Steam Power

A thunder storm with humid air or suspended water vapour generates immense energy from a large area. The rising hot air column of air concentrates that collected energy to produce ice, rain, lightning and high wind speeds.

The original solar water heaters had a shallow galvanized metal tray, with a layer of insulating foam, then a copper plate with copper piping welded to the plate. An air gap over the top of this plate with a glass window over the tray, to prevent convection air cooling. These units, two square metres could boil a heater full of water, in our temperate summer.

Using aluminium plating and aluminium piping and the new plastic window glass, with a huge panel which virtually is a roof.

Using a water lubricated pump, a rotary vane type, pump very humid air into the first horizontal tubing of the panel.

The panel piping to consist of horizontal pipe sections with non return valves at the start and finish of each section.

The first section to be small diameter and each section has a progressively larger diameter. A normal roof slope means the heat will rise from the bottom sections to the higher sections.

The whole system relies on a small amount of water getting to boiling point and increasing the pressure.

The non return valves allow the flow of pressure to travel from the bottom section up to the top section, until there is a pressure relief valve to direct that energy to a steam engine or turbine.

The top section tubing becomes in effect a storage chamber for energy use. A storage of electricity gives the power to drive the starting point air pump, also being in a tropical area, the energy needed after the heating has stopped.