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Making Ice Without Electricity

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the old-science-becomes-new-again dept.

j-beda writes "Time Magazine is running an article telling us how Dave Williams is trying to make ice for third-world applications using the Hilsch-Ranque vortex-tube effect (first developed in 1930 by G.J. Ranque), where swirling air is split into hot and cold components." The method is horribly inefficient but Williams is hoping it could yield helpful results in areas where electricity is really not an option.

5 of 608 comments (clear)

  1. Hrm. by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    In Winnipeg we just leave water outside for a few minutes.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:Hrm. by Tackhead · · Score: 5, Funny
      > Yes, but will it make Vanilla Ice...?
      Rollin', in my 5.0 with the top left back so my hair can blow...

      I dunno. Let's find out.

      Rollin'... in my 5.0,
      With my rag top down so my hair can blow,
      The voltage is on standby, costs of icin' too high,
      (Did you stop?) No, I just froze, by
      Freon - pursuin' temp'rature drop,
      Compressor's dead, yo, so I continued to,
      George J. Ranque, Hilsch-Ranque vortex tube!

      Peltier's hot, like electrical bikinis,
      And I got no voltage from the Lamborghinis,
      Warmin' - cause I'm out thawin' mine,
      Got my compressor gauge, readin' PSI "9"
      Vaccuum - for the mods on the wall,
      Mods are actin' ill because they had their 8 LOLs
      Hissin' - through the compressor shell,
      I clamped the hose, but it was shot to hell,
      Ozone - burnin' up like real fast,
      Registration link at time-mag suckin' goat ass
      Readin' the Wiki, the 'pedia's packed,
      Thermodynamics 'bout how the fridge is jacked.

      Third law on the scene - you know what I mean,
      A million RPM? Efficiency is unseen,
      If it's a solution, this don't solve it
      Pump out the heat while the Hilsch-Ranque revolves it

      (Vanilla) Ice Ice Geeky, too cold...

  2. Why not just make electricity? by mikew03 · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you can spin something at 1,000,000 RPM why not spin a copper coil inside a magnetic field and make electricity instead? Quite useful stuff I've heard.

    1. Re:Why not just make electricity? by RapmasterT · · Score: 5, Funny
      If you can spin something at 1,000,000 RPM why not spin a copper coil inside a magnetic field and make electricity instead? Quite useful stuff I've heard.
      BINGO!!! We have a winner of the "Find the Logic Hole in the Seemingly Reasonable Idea" game!

      There's a reson why electicity is a freakin' universal component of modern societies people. It's EASY to produce, so easy that's it's just about goddamn trivial since there's dozens of different ways to go about it, and NONE of them involve ridiculously ineffcient and complex methods like "ice without electricity" does.

      Hell, why not work on "masturbation without enjoyment" too, that should be just as useful.

  3. Re:Reinventing the wheel? by value_added · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Romans used to make ice in the deserts of Palestine and North Africa. It seems to me they were around before electricity and Frigidaire.

    All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, public health, and making ice without electricity, what have the Romans ever done for us?