Below is a scientific experiment I’m doing to allow use of a “recyclable waste” as an alternative energy asset. If the test proves positive an AE system could be set in place for very low investment to heat water, home or business. The heat exchange works to transfer the suns heat to usable heat at least cost or impact to the environment. While conducting controlled testing of cooking (corn) oil as a replacement of antifreeze as a heat exchange I followed these control measures. Filled 16-ounce plastic bottle with “new” oil to the exact rim line below the cap and allowed air bubbles to rise and escape before capping Did the above with tap water. Placed both bottles in freezer. Checked two hours later with following results. Water: freezing and bottle expanding. Oil: contracting in bottle, with ½ inch of air above oil; oil becoming consistency of chocolate syrup. Checked 12 hours later with following results. Water: container split open, water frozen solid. Oil: Container further contracted (bottle somewhat flattened) with nearly ¾ inch air space at top of bottle. Oil slightly cloudy and mushy with consistency of molasses. Removed oil from freezer and without disturbing left sitting in shaded area to come to room temperature. Results: The bottle had regained roundness and oil returned to the original fill line. Conclusion: New corn oil could be used as a replacement for antifreeze in a closed loop system if an in-line reservoir or pressure tank were added to compensate contraction. NEXT STEP: Conduct above test on used cooking oil being discarded from a local restaurant after screening out impurities with wire mesh and coffee filters. Theory in use if it functions: The theory of the system would be for a very large-scale heat exchanger for home heating along with hot water preheating. The concept would allow you to construct very inexpensive solar collector panels. For example you could buy a mile of ½ inch copper pipe before you could buy a couple commercial panels. Copper is a no loss investment, like investing in other precious metals; your initial investment will amortize itself as the price goes up. On the other hand a commercial panel depreciates like a new car the day you buy it. If you would construct a single or multiple panels by insulating a back plate and then mounting rewound reels on it the efficiency would not match a commercial panel but the BTU production per dollar invested would be greatly improved and make up for the difference. I can buy 66 feet reels for under $40.00 US. By winding the reels in tight concentric circles e.g. 8-inch diameter, and then tightly spiraling out to a width of 2 feet diameter you can place 120 feet of ½ inch copper tube in a space of 2 X 4 feet. It’s almost all collector surfaces and reduces glass or fiberglass panel covering cost. I use six reels to heat 90 gallons a day. Say you had sixty reels and a 1000-gallon storage tank to drop that heat in. You could run a loop from the drain of a hot water heater to the top of the HW tank with a very small pump to constantly circulate the water. Likewise another loop could be connected to the return air intake of a house furnace with a radiator to pull the heat into the house. Or a heat pump could have a loop ran into the large tank. Changeyourlatitude
The use of corn oil verses antifreeze for Alternative Energy home or water heating is purely to use a recyclable waste that is free to allow implementation at less cost. The oil would be in a closed loop solar panel to heat a storage liquid where the heat could be extracted for hot water or heating 24-7. The comparison of oil to water was made to conclude a resolution of a problem of water freezing problem associated with solar panels bursting during freezing weather. Antifreeze works but is expensive and in the system I’m planning the volume of transfer liquid would be significant. Think of a hot garden hose a mile long and choose free waste oil or store bought antifreeze that does the same function. The investment amortizes itself faster with lower cost. Changeyourlatitude
