3 ms·
Can't see how that could work.
by ncmncm 5y ago
Can't see how that could work.
- jacquesm 5y agoThere are car suspension systems that use this principle and they work well. The same principle applied here: heavier fluid and the lighter one are separated by a membrane, you pump the lighter one in under pressure to force the heavier one out and the heavier one will descend by itself and force the lighter one out due to gravity. Efficiency will be impacted by the ratio between the lighter one and the heavier one. Ideally the lighter one would be a gas but at those pressures that may no longer work.
- ncmncm 5y agoI could see this with a pipe down to deep under water. You pump in air pushing water out the bottom; and let the air out through a turbine to extract power. And, with a big tank or bladder at the end, to keep the pressure nearly constant. Or, deep under the water table, and no tank or bladder needed because there is a big cavern down there. I suppose this could work with a lightweight, immiscible liquid, instead... A pipe down to a closed bladder, and pumping water in, would be simpler.
- ncmncm 5y agoer, air in. Or, I guess, oil? But oil masses 7/8 as much as water. Air gets denser as pressure rises.