Hey bud, I'm just getting interested in Fresnel heating, I saw that you have a circulation pump in this vid and wanted to share knowledge with you. you may know by now but if you move your heat source to a lower point in the system the rising heated solution will cause its own circulation. No pump needed! apply heat to say the "lower right" of a circle and the water will circulate counter clock wise and heat evenly through your system. hope this helps you and or the viewers/readers!!!
Almost 10 years later as someone who wants to go into water treatment this is a fascinating video. One day my hope is that I can use something like a fresnel lens to create a form of passive desalination to better humanity.
I use SunGrabber panels to heat my pool here in CT. They work really well but take up a lot of space. I have 6 panels and pump about 5 gal/minute. The water differential is 15-20 degrees on a sunny day. The fresnel is good but you would have to keep moving it to track the sun. BTW, great videos....I watch them all the time!!!!
Black plastic is a great idea. Winter is tough because the sun is lower, most pools do not get bottom direct sun. Cheap yardsale mirrors and plastic drop cloth with some weights. $30 pool heater:-)
Not the whole picture. This system was operating at about 12-15% efficiency. For direct heating a Fresnel Lens can easily reach the upper 80% range of efficiency. The test was designed to show one concept that can be improved upon. This lens compared to an electric heating element heats water at a rate of 2500 watts. That is not to say it produces 2.5Kw but compared to electric, it does. Few modifications, easily 3x the results. I still recommend the black hose, as mentioned 2x in the video:-)
Nice video. Can even use that to heat up some water to take a shower, maby camping. Just construct a tank, maby 5 gallons, with hot and cold water storage with adjustable valves for the right mix you need. Also, like the oil heat exchanger you mentioned, I think some people have tried running the water through a block of metal, like aluminum, with holes or a coiled type of pipe within that. I guess it would have to have some kind of black coating on its surface that does not come off easy.
What about using Rocks in the pool . Directing the Ray onto the rock at the surface of the water ? Or multiple lenses ? I’ve collected them with the intention of making mock skylights in my house. I just learned about this use for these so I’m curious? I thought about stump removal? Melting aluminum? Melting other metals ? Saving propane and coals /money ?
I think the Fresnel lens route is a whole lot more logical than using focused mirrors. The lenses could be cheaply produced, until the vendor realized that they were the new crude oil, and the biggest plus is they generate heat towards the ground rather than focusing on a point skyward. Placing the boiler skyward creates all sorts of technical, structural and safety issues by virtue of having a steam boiler high in the air. I would be interested to see what sort of results the fellow in AZ would have with a Fresnel lens coupled with his boiler, steam engine and electrical generator rig. You could gear that rig all day to have a quite powerful system costing only the price of water after everything else.
@Hh Hh I did but ran into a small issue with thermal runaway. The lense does not provide enough heat throughout the chamber or assembly of tubes to produce steam. It will require more research into how to get that same temperature distribution throughout the entire assembly to produce steam. Otherwise the vapor will condense back to water when it hits the cooler metal further down the line.
Dan didn't mention the specifics: 7 gallons water = 58.38 lbs. 63F to 106F = 43F change in "about the hour mark", according to Dan. 1 BTU = 1lb of water raised 1 Degree F. 58.38 lbs X 43 = 2,510btu/hour
I like your videos Dan. I wish you would post more. Your experiments are engaging and fun. I like this idea for heating water. Which way to use it yet....IDK.
Now if you took that design you have going with the copper tubes, added a lot more curves and length of tubing, painted it black and simply placed it in the sun on its own without a fresnel lens, would you be able to achieve the same effect on a smaller scale?
Your video was helpful and a good start for us learning about fresnel lens. How did you keep the water flowing? with a pump or did you siphon the water and somehow got it moving? BTW, are you in TX? the birds in the background reminded me of birds I've heard in Texas.
Would this setup be more efficient if you painted the copper tubing black? Now some of the light is reflected by the copper, and if you paint it black it will absorb all the heat and the copper will transfer it to the water very fast. Alltough, maybe you need to use heating resistant paint because it will get very HOT :)
Holy crap man, what else can you do with this marvel of science? Who invented this lens, and why have I never heard of this before, and seen all of these possibilities with a green energy device like this? Solar Panels seem to have their limitations but this Fresnal lens has so many amazing uses. Maybe there is a way to generate thermal heat energy with this that can me stored somehow for those cloudy days?
Great Video. Really like the way you explain things. This helps dummies who point lenses at clear water. I saw a video where a guy had one right in the center. Claimed it worked, not possible.
This is a cool video. It made me think. Why don't you just put a really large black circle in the bottom of your pool? One, that could be easily removed and cleaned, simply by sliding it out. It wouldn't have to be a thick material. A light one would do. Made out of what I'm not sure, but it sound's a whole lot easier to do. Good luck buddy, nice video.
@GREENPOWERSCIENCE I like the black plastic idea too, but would that end up being something requiring periodic replacement in a the high desert where the UV can be really strong?
Is it possible to heat a swimming pool using a aluminium heat sink ( or any other aluminium/ cooper piece), submerge it in the pool and then heating the submerge piece focusing the sun light with the Fresnel lens ?
I find this way of heating water fascinating, and the possibility of pools being heated by these lens The challenge of heating a pool would be how to regulate the temperature of the water
Is that lens a 7.8 Dan? I'm looking at one on ebay.... In fact the one modeling it looks a lot like Denise though I can't see her face... But it's a 49" 7.8 and I'm wanting to buy it for these kind of purposes you show in your videos.
I checked out ur website but u guys don't supply cylindrical fresnel lenses? where would i be able to price a cylindrical lens? my friends and i are doing a project and need to know the cost if we want to scale it. the project is about using the fresnel lens to boil and thus clean water.
Sir before years when you upload videos not much public is using RU-vid but at this time all public of India use RU-vid for watching videos please upload videos at this time high users of youtube raise your subscribers daily and you get millions of subscribers with high views u can also upload ur old videos in a new manner God bless u Sir
106F - 63F = 43F degrees = 23C degrees 7 gals of water = 26 liters = 26 Kg (approx) Specific heat of water = 4.2Kj/Kg*C 1 hour = 3600 seconds Total energy = 2511 Kj in 3600 seconds power = 697 watts. I think it would take a while to heat a pool. The black hose probably puts out more power because it has more area. You can also just put black plastic in the pool.
I love your videos... very very interesting and informative... great work!! One question though... where can I buy the 'Copper Looping System' shown in the video (the heat exchanger piece). Is it something that could be built at home... or better to be purchased? I really appreciate your videos... A+!! Thanks!!
It could heat the Jacuzzi too. ;) I'm sure the other design is better, but I like to see many designs so I can get a gauge for how well certian techniques work better. Thanx for da vid.
hiya Well what a large lens , where the hell do you get big fresnels like that ? we live in england (you know the small rock before france lol) and would love to knopw where i could aquire one over here or wopuld we have to send to the states for it as we do for everything nowadays? keith sinclair
wouldn't the copper that you are focusing the Fresnel's light on be much more effective if it were black, rather than shiny? I would think a flat black stove paint would help to absorb alot more of that light rather than reflecting alot of it. Thanks for the vids, they are very informative.
Thanks Dan I am only 3 years behind on your videos now. :-) I appreciate the time and energy and knowledge and editing you put in to them. That's a lot of ands.
Could we not incorporate the Thermosiphon effect and not need the pump at all? I have a water heater rigged with a coil copper pipe and a rocket stove but am looking for ways to do the same in the summer without fire. I have a cabin in a remote location and trying to get some comforts of home, I can live without power but not a hot shower..lol..
On this video, Dan talks about a 'copper looping system', the unit on which the Fresnel lens is focused. I need such a device for my own project but I don't know where to look for it. I tried to pause the video at the right moment so I can read what's written on the green label but the still is too blurry. Does anyone know where to find something like that? ghurod
I know this is way too late to help you, but for anyone else looking for an answer to this, the unit's generic term is "heat exchanger", so if you look up "copper heat exchanger" you'll find similar units.
Hi Dan, what if you were to have a black basestation at the bottom of the pool that could retain the heat of the light beaming through the water? or even if you were to tile or paint the bottom of the pool black? do you think this could work for heating without a tubing system by focusing the lens directly into the pool?
I love your vids man. I used to work in a factory where they had huge sinks, and to get hot water there was a high pressure steam pipe going into it. A few blasts would get it piping hot (from cold tap water - in 3-4 second). I'm amazed at the sheer intensity that the fresnel lens produces. Have you experimented using a closed container with just 1 hose coming off going straight intot the water you wanted heating? I hope you read this, it's a simple idea - hopefully you'll try it
It is an Insulation problem and the heat exchanger problem. You need to add cylinder behind with mirror behind the copper or aluminium pipe to focus all the energy and use a vaccuum tube and there the results will improve. But the best it to do steam and store it in a vaccuum sand tank, cheers,
couldnt you do it without the pump is you just put one end in the water and the other just in the jug but not in the water. wouldnt if you primed it first, just vacumm the water in as youboil it to vapor, back into the jug???????
you should've stored the water in non glass tank, painted black? i think it would keep the heat and maybe add some more because black surface won't reflect any sunlight=energy=heat in this case
That would make a great way to heat your house just add a nice simple radiator and solar fan and when sun is gone the whole process stops and no worrie about bring outside cold in.
Great video Dan, and I agree what you said about enough ..... to warm up a pool. The blooper was very funny ! I re-installed my computer, and I could see high def for the first time. It looks awesome. Greets from the Netherlands, iT
Hi Dan, Loving your videos, this really interested me. Could you please provide a link to where you purchased the copper water heat exchanger used within this video, I have been searching with little luck. Everything I have found are CPU water blocks. Thanks in advance
I think you could use natural circulation (hot water rises) along with a slightly different configuration of tank and hotbox to remove the pump from the equation. I think the basic idea is have the tank ported at two different elevations, a high and a low. Water heats up in the hotbox and exits the higher hose, which displaces colder water from the bottom of the tank into the hotbox entrance. Good enough for nuclear reactors ;)
On the following video, Dan talks about a 'copper looping system', the unit on which the Fresnel lens is focused. I need such a device for my own project but I don't know where to look for it. I tried to pause the video at the right moment so I can read what's written on the green label but the still is too blurry. Does anyone know where I can find the same or similar apparatus?
About "the hose idea" for heating a pool--it requires a pump. Just throw the black tubing, filled with water (or the same surface area of black rocks), into your pool! Should have the same effect.
@bLuDcL0T What i mean - eg. a pyrex glass with the stainless steel wool in, with an airtight top fitted to the hose - hose goes into the water you want heated - the steam would pass through the water heating it. Extremely low-tech but it would be 100% green as no other power sources would be needed. Hope you read this, and try it sometime.
I'm going to make a steel cube filled with oil with a spiral copper pipe inside and painted black from the outside. Cube with oil is heated by fresnel lens, the water circulates through copper pipe exchanging heat with the oil.
