The Iron Sky: Operation Highjump -team is looking for your ideas and comments.

Join and show your support for Iron Sky: Operation Highjump.

Jin-roh_thumb
Carl Voluntaryist April 02, 2011 07:16 4 Thumb-ups
Add to Favorites

Venturi Ice Tubes

There are several tunnels all over Antarctica.

Possibly formed like lava-tubes or whatever.

Maybe some scientists tried to use some for energy creation.

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20080303287

"The venturi effect is a special case of Bernoulli's principle. When air is made to flow through a smoothly varying constriction in a tube or pipe it is subject to an increase in velocity and a reduction in pressure in order to satisfy the conservation of energy rule. The air gains kinetic energy as it enters the constriction which is supplied by a pressure gradient force from behind. The pressure gradient reduces the pressure in the constriction, in reaction to the acceleration."

With a tube of sufficient size/length, a small breath at the large end can be amplified to become a tornado at the small end.

Hook up a turbine there, and we've got ourselves some energy.

Pros
-uses existing ice tubes
-hidden (natural features)
-doubles as fresh-air supply

Cons
-snowdrifts, debris, etc clogs
-jams turbines
-very cold air
-need to either be unnaturally straight
or (better) Fibonacci-Spiral

So only 1 or 2 test Venturi Ice Tubes may exist, along with the designs.

These tubes (small end) could be encountered in the base, maybe even visited (retrieve broken turbine parts?), they might prove hazardous at times (blow you away) and their ends might have been capped because of this. (Opportunity to sabotage! :P)

Just an idea...

Jump to comment form

Comments

Matti Delahay April 07, 2011 07:29 Flag

Very very nice indeed! Wouldn't have thought of this myself, thanks for the post!