Martin Gallo wrote:
While it certainly is an interesting theory I think there are some small holes in it. You address one of the problems - wind speed. Another is that the air will eventually cool, thus lowering the pressure and reducing (or even reversing the direction of) the flow.
No doubt. That's what I was thinking about with regard to having multiple sources of warm air spaced along its length. One could even have 'side vents' down near the water's surface so that air which has cooled will flow into them, and not back down the main shaft.
And in reality there are no doubt other problems. The water surface is not frictionless so the moving air will 'push' against it to some degree; I don't know if that would cause annoying eddies or chop. My somewhat hand-waving solution to that is that since the warmest air will be at the top of the shaft most of the air movement will be in the upper reaches of the shaft, not down near the water's surface.
Heat dissipation over the entire system might be an issue, but I imagine the stone surrounding it provides sufficient of a sink.
It is a terrific concept that could be explored a bit more.
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