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Ok, read the solar tower stuff in a couple threads here, and the complexity of pumping water to great heights in terms of pumping losses and pipe requirements surpized me. So, thinking about the skyscraper express elevator/floor elevator setup like the WTC had seems applicable to water.
Obviously we can calculate (and govt regulated) on how much pressure and piping we need to pump water a given amount, say 40 stories but to get to 80 or 120 stories, our requirements would normally change by some square or cube factor. But what if like the express elevator the orignal 40 stories pumped into a collection pool, and then we repumped the next 40 stories and so on. Would our original 40 story requirements be sufficient for each additional 40 story step?
Sure our efficiency is lower since we have so many repetitive pumping steps, but leaving that aside wouldn't this lower the piping requirements tremendously and also have some small efficiency recovery in the lower pumping pressures needed?
Cliff
Obviously we can calculate (and govt regulated) on how much pressure and piping we need to pump water a given amount, say 40 stories but to get to 80 or 120 stories, our requirements would normally change by some square or cube factor. But what if like the express elevator the orignal 40 stories pumped into a collection pool, and then we repumped the next 40 stories and so on. Would our original 40 story requirements be sufficient for each additional 40 story step?
Sure our efficiency is lower since we have so many repetitive pumping steps, but leaving that aside wouldn't this lower the piping requirements tremendously and also have some small efficiency recovery in the lower pumping pressures needed?
Cliff