.
Elon,
The boiling point of water at 4500 feet is 203.9 degrees.
I would add alcohol to the ambient tank to reduce that to about 180-185
and let the latent heat of vaporization carry away most of the energy.
Let's say we have a 5 gallon tank and the first gallon covers the engine
radiator. I'd put 5 gal. in and make a run. If I only boiled off one gal.,
I'd make the next run with 2.5 Gal. This would allow the smallest and
lightest package.
Bryan
3liter wrote:
> Dave et al, many thanks for responding.
>
> Hmm, your description raises a very interesting point. Since the cooling
> reservoir (not the closed-loop engine supply) is vented to atmosphere it
> will boil at LESS than 212 F because Bonneville altitude is about 4400 ft.
> That in itself, is like a great thermostat! The RATE of boiling can increase
> but the boiling TEMP will never get above the ambient boiling point. So now
> you have a , thermostated, pressurized, closed-loop, engine coolant system,
> (that could have a boiling point way ABOVE 212F) conducting heat into a
> coolant reservoir that can never get above 180F-190F (my guess) and it
> doesn't even have a thermostat in it!
>
>
>
> How do you insure circulation of the cooling fluid through the engine's
> radiator? Is a pump imbedded in the cooling reservoir?
>
>
>
> Brian, I wasn't sure of what your alcohol mix was referring to. The engine
> coolant or the ambient coolant reservoir? Either way I don't think it is
> necessary (unless you are worried about freezing) because a thermostat does
> the same thing for the engine and the ambient tank will boil (at altitude)
> below 212F. Properly sized it should never boil, but why care if it boils
> anyway as long as the steam is collected.
>
>
>
> Sizing the volume of the coolant tank is fairly straight-forward. Both Mayf
> and I have provided those calcs in the past. Check the archives. -Elon
|