[Beowulf] Re: Ahoy shipmates

[Prentice Bisbal]

Robert G. Brown wrote:
> On Tue, 13 Oct 2009, Hearns, John wrote:
> 
>> To use seawater to cool a room safely it would have to be well isolated,
>> exchanging heat with a loop of much more innocuous fluid that actually
>> enters the room.
> 
> Check out the Duke Marine Lab website.  They basically do this, via
> geothermal exchange units (but they're on an island -- the ocean is
> basically the ultimate heat sink).
> 
> I think that the technology is straightforward and readily available
> these days.  The only real hassle is that ocean water is corrosive as
> hell, so the heat exchangers have to be stainless steel and/or barnacle
> proof unless you bury the exchangers and rely on slow diffusive
> convection back to the ocean.
> 

Pex tubing might work. It's plastic, so it shouldn't be as corrosive as
metal. It is used in radiant heating applications so it must be a decent
heat conductor, for a plastic.

I'm sure you would eventually still get some kind of buildup on the
walls, affecting the condictivity.

--
Prentice