permaculture

["Gaian Life" <eco@gaianlife.co.uk>]

Hi guys, couple of things..
1) Jedd, Negiliblek etc....I can't find the email with the link for the
database discussion, can one of you email it to me again pls at
gaianlife@gawab.com or eco@gaianlife.co.uk...cheers!

Hot Heapers....(the compost kind in case there are others!)
Advice, info or a helping spade pls :)
Trying to create a geyser....well we are working on a solar dish setup to
purify water, cook on and heat a small house/hut that uses the same
principles as a geyser. Water has some distinctive features though that
involves it taking up huge amounts of energy to raise its temperature (to
pasteurise water/mil though, it need only be raised to 65oC). There are
already solar dishes out there that can boil water, but you are talking
several hours and small volumes. If we can get something the size of a beer
barrel to heat to steam/evap point it (given a sealed system) generates up
to 32ft of pressure (used to force the pasteurized water up to a header tank
for easy usage, whilst providing central heating on the way). If the water
could be raised in temp before it enters the solar dish setup the process
would be much faster.
Anyway, the centre of a hot heap may be the ideal place for the ground level
water tank but this pops up many questions, for example...
1) What temperatures can a hot heap raise 1 or 2 beer barrels of water to?
2) How does the thermal mass of the water affect the temperature of the hot
heap? (that will depend on how long the water is stored there, as it will
absorb heat until it is the same as the heap, but after that may act to
'hold' heat in the heap. A 'flow thru' of water would have a cooling effect
on the heap. This may also change with season, night/day, wind and also with
the flow rate of water and water temp as it enters the container etc.
3) How does the thermal mass of the water affect the functioning of the hot
heap? Does it help keep it at a temp where the aerobic micro-organisms are
most active? Does it reduce the efficiency of the heap? (these will depend
heavily on the flow rate of water). Does it get in the way when it comes to
turning the heap? Could an internal structure in the heap be used to help
the functioning of the heap e.g air flow etc?

Anyone particularly skilled with hot heaps? Would you mind popping a water
bottle (of any size) into your heap this spring/summer as you turn it, and
measuring the water temp after a day, an hour etc? (remember record the
starting temp, and to allow for expansion of water in the container if it s
going to get hot, loosening the lid a bit may help).
Anyone a bit braver and would volunteer to put a larger container of water
in (a spare water butt perhaps), and watch how it affects the heap itself?
Obviously we are doing this too....but it would be great to get as many
'case studies' as possible in as many diff environments with as many diff
heap compositions as possible. This is being developed for use in 3rd world
regions, and really what we're aiming at here is to provide drinking water
and heating. Deforestation by locals is a big problem in many
environmentally sensitive areas and even something as ingenious as the
rocket stove still needs fuel. Insulated solar dishes work even in snow, but
like I said, water needs a huge kick to heat, so we are hoping hot heaps may
be a good solution particularly in tropical, sub tropical and temperate
regions. Plus of course....a 32ft header would allow crop irrigation systems
too!


Thanks in advance for any suggestions, more questions, advice or willingness
to contribute your experiences! And Happy New Year everyone!

Oh and if anyone wishes to field test the entire system please let me know!
- eco@gaianlife.co.uk