My 7' Tall Evaporative Water Cooling Tower

My current shower head has a fairly narrow pattern, at least downward, but the pumping power  not sure about. It may be ok though since I would be eliminating 6-7 feet of height. A shorter tower would definitely be a plus if it works out.

Im really looking into the "fountain" approach (for lack of a better term).

I need to actually conduct a controlled experiment, and that involves removing everything else from the line.  Nothing but the Tower and a CPU, in a temperature controlled room. 

I was thinking maybe putting a cylindrical screen in the middle of the bong, kind of a tower within a tower, to help break up the water that hits the sides and exposing more of it to air. I doubt if the temps would be much different, but my main goal at this point would be to try to maintain current temps with a less intrusive setup. I think you have a good idea here Nate. It would definitely reduce the load on the pumps, hopefully prolonging pump life. I wish I was able to go ahead and try this out but it's probably going to be a couple of weeks. Still got lots of stuff to get in order in my new pad.

I REALLY like the screen idea too!!  It will ensure decent distribution of droplets.  Your shower head would have to shower right on to the screen.  It would be interesting to try since I have a bunch of window screen just sitting around the house.

The sreen holes need to be large enough to allow easy flow of water through it or it will cause slight back up of water. This will also allow water droplets to stay in air longer allowing for more heat removal.

I got some of that weed blocker stuff I could try.  Looks about the same but smaller holes?  More like a fabric.

Err, the weed blocker stuff I've used is pretty much solid and water has to soak through it. Unless it has changed over the years. Maybe some kind of chicken wire/fence material. Larger openings but not too large obviously

Actually window screen material would work pretty well. Would break the larger drops into smaller so heat would disapate even faster.

thats why I built it my way, shock is crazy. 

nateman_doo

thats why I built it my way, shock is crazy. 

You don't like the window screen idea? You can find it in different screen hole sizes plus you can get it in plastic type material so no rusting.

I tried the fiberglass screen awhile back in order to break up the water droplets on the way down, but my work was sloppy and temps weren't fazed. I may have to go back and look at the different size openings and see if I can find something that looks like it would work in a fountain type setup. I would take some actual effort to come up with a design robust and at least semi elegant.... Anyways, I can't believe Nate called someone else "crazy" lmao!!!!!

The screen is defiantly on the to-do list, so is inverting the stream.  I would need to pick up a new section of pipe to try it out with first.

Hi Nateman & Chris. 1st post here.
 
I know it's been a while since there's been any activity in this thread...
Are you guys still using your 'Evaporative Water Cooling Towers" bongs? If so I have several ideas I'd like to share.

WOW?! first post here?!  I am honored.
 
By all means please share any ideas.  Feel free to hijack it as your own with pics or anything too!

btw the term "bong" was frowned upon by EVGA mods so we try not to refer to it as that ;)
 
I haven't turned it on in a while since my computer has been in pieces since the summer.  Such a sad day staring it it every day just sitting there.

Hello Anit! Yes I am still using mine. I tried the fountain method back in the summer  but it didn't work. Just not enough force from my pumps to get the water to "shoot" upward from the showerhead. I also cut my bon, uh tower, in half, drilled lots of holes in it, and had the water going down the outside as well as the inside of the tower in an effort to expose more water to more air more rapidly. Didn't change temps much. Right now I have a normally operating, albeit downsized, tower and am satisfied with my temps. I have added a gtx 480 to the loop so overall temps are up a little up from before, but gpu stays in upper 40's to 51 during gaming, and depending on ambient temps. Really though, since settling into my new digs, after a year and a half house hunt, I have become much more interested in women than computer stuff. Eharmony won't drive up computer temps but could possibly drive up other temps lol....that's where my focus has been the last 2 or 3 months which is why I have been extremely scarce around here. That probably won't change any time real soon. Anyways, by all means, feel free to share any ideas you might have. Blue Ribbon for Nate!

strange- I haven't turned on my bong in months, and it still has liquid in it. 
 
Thanks for the BR request-but some don't think this thread is BR material.
 
I mind not.  mmmmyesssss

I know the last post in this is going on like 6 months old now but i thought i should point out in case people are still thinking of this as a cooling method. The reason a closed loop is difficult is not because of the heat of the air. The air shouldn't heat up at all, and in fact should be cold coming out of the top of the pipe. The reason the water temps are below ambient is because of the laws of evaporation which in simplest explanation state that any liquid which is rapidly evaporated into a gas (water turned to water vapor) consumes energy (heat) thus making the air and water in the pipe cold. You could use a closed loop if you had some way of condensing all the water vapor in the air after it left the cooling tower portion. Which is the 7' tall pipe.
 
Essentially the dryer the air, the more dramatic the effects of evaporative cooling as it is easier to convert water to vapor at lower temps with dryer air.
 
If you were going to go for a closed loop i would say you would want to go with what someone suggested which is 8" PVC and you would have to make a condensing coil that would suck the moisture out of the air before it reenters the bottom of the tower. problem there being that a condensing coil would increase the power consumption be some marginal factor depending on design.
 
Anywho, just thought id reply all that in case anyone was still working on this stuff

Another first post!! 
 
Welcome to the forms!!   You may have to dumb that down a bit for folks such as myself.  While I caught most of what your saying the condensing coil in the center would probably negate the simplistic nature of this entire cooler.  I like the way you think though.  Its a great performer, that I liken to a V8 engine.  Is gulps gas, which you need to fill up often (distilled water is pretty cheap though).

Nate,
Have you considered a nipple mister (don't go there ) ? Here in Arkansas they are used extensively to keep chickens cool in the houses and they produce a very fine mist.
I found this site that sells them and they claim a droplet size of 9 to 50 microns! Would that be fine enough? Oh, and the price is very reasonable. Just an idea
 
Linky;
http://www.mistcooling.com/misting_nozzles.htm

Basically there are 2 methods of dehumidifying air. Method one is through a system which would warm the air... so thus not an option. The other is you run a coil from an outside source into the center of a return tube useing some method which would cause the best condensation to form and drain off into a water return. this coil would have to be at about 35f or 1 or 2c. as close to freezing as possible but not freezing as you don't want ice to form on it.
 
However yes... at this point the price goes way up and its no longer a simple solution.
 
The other thought i had was having a float valve in the reservoir at the bottom that will allow a fill tube from a water source to keep the water at a level which is ideal. this would be the most simplistic as long as you have a source close by you can run some 1/4 tubing from.
 
Then you just vent out the excess air to the outside and run a simple pond filter just to make sure that dirt from airborne dust doesn't eventually contaminate this and it should be basically no maintenance.
 
Last thought i had is this... tubing size is something to consider. 2 inch tubing would work but be off a rough head calculation 1/3 the cooling of 4 inch as the evaporation area is way more confined. 6 inch would in theory offer approx 60% better cooling performance. That isn't to say colder temps, but better heat bleed off, or in other words it would dissipate a higher wattage of heat coming from the computer. 8 inch likewise would offer somewhere in the range of 120-140% better dissipation over 4 inch. However 8 inch PVC or ABS isn't going to be a cheep thing in the range of an 8 foot piece, and the fittings will be 20-60 bucks.
 
One final thought is that a 6 or 8 inch tower could even go as far as to cool enough for 2 or 3 pumps and loops, say a cpu/north-bridge loop, and then a loop for a video card or 2.

Oh another option if you prefer distilled water would be to attach a 5 gallon drum through a 1/4 inch tube to the same float valve. this would give you a large tank that keeps the system topped off, and also you would have a nice clear plastic tank where you could easily see the water reserve level, either or... but if you have a good filter on your house, like a reverse osmosis system followed by yarn filters it shouldn't even be an issue.

Heres another thought i had, if you want to use misters, the mesh baffles could just be something simple like fiberglass screen and you want to leave an inch or so at the bottom of the tube free and clear for water that builds up to flow.
 
This would work best with 6 inch or 8 inch pipe so theres plenty of flow at low air speed.
 
Oh and the little rectangle at the end of the elbow is a fan.
 

chrisj4040

Nate,
Have you considered a nipple mister (don't go there ) ? Here in Arkansas they are used extensively to keep chickens cool in the houses and they produce a very fine mist.
I found this site that sells them and they claim a droplet size of 9 to 50 microns! Would that be fine enough? Oh, and the price is very reasonable. Just an idea

Linky;
http://www.mistcooling.com/misting_nozzles.htm

Too fine, and the water will simply blow out the top, Also the pump will have to work extra hard pumping the water through those small holes.

why not use  a evaporative cooler http://www.bing.com/search?q=evaporative+coolers&FORM=BWFD

that cools the air, not the water.  We have those at work.  Pretty sweet btw.

it cools the air by evaporating water wich will also cool the water

The warm air travels through, and the water cools the air.  The heat goes into the water

i am a plumber and i take out 1 1/2 copper all the time out of old houses to revamp them and three in. vent stacks too.. i got them piled in the shop.geez i was gonna sell it all to the scrap yard..thats why that junk dude comes here with his magnet,,,,he's making coolers,,if he doesn't give me one i am gonna cut him off.gotta love inventive creative people...they make the world go around,nice job bro. if you're stuck for some copper let me know..i got a heap of it i usually pile it up for the scrap dude once a year.have no idea what its worth or don't care just like the scrap magnet dude to come around and clean up my shop,,, might attempt one of these myself ..... 

yeah i got a ton of furnace nozzels as well 60 80 degree angled sprays...time to get creative glad i thought of it..lol man thanks for getting the artistic side of me going again

chrisj4040

Nate,
Have you considered a nipple mister (don't go there ) ? Here in Arkansas they are used extensively to keep chickens cool in the houses and they produce a very fine mist.
I found this site that sells them and they claim a droplet size of 9 to 50 microns! Would that be fine enough? Oh, and the price is very reasonable. Just an idea

Linky;
http://www.mistcooling.com/misting_nozzles.htm

use the dehumidifier screening out of an old furnace.return air duct..or an old dehumidifier that some dude chucked..put it in vinegar for a day then clean off the scale and voila brand new humidifying water dropplet catching system..hah haaa,damn,, all that cash i spent on water cooling

nateman_doo

I REALLY like the screen idea too!!  It will ensure decent distribution of droplets.  Your shower head would have to shower right on to the screen.  It would be interesting to try since I have a bunch of window screen just sitting around the house.

do you have a link to the stuff retail, new?

Cool rig you got there man

Y thank you. :)

ROFL, I just caught the original thread title. They made you change that? Whatever for?

Lets just say a MOD PM'd me.   ;)

Evaporative cooling towers are based on the laws of latent heat of evaporation, not on sensible heat like a radiator.
 
each pound of water evaporated absorbs 970.6 Btu's or approx 284.6 watts of thermal energy.
 
Therefore a closed loop system would have to be HUGE as it would need a VERY large condensation chamber to disperse the evaporated vapor, and re-condense the water vapor to liquid.
 
example again...
that 1 pound of evaporated water would occupy approx 1600 times its original volume...
so you would need a condensation chamber several times larger then 1600 times the volume of 1 pound of water
 
Here is a link to some simple but relevant design info.
  http://coolingtower-desig...orative-cooling-tower/
A better way to improve its efficiency is to add media, which will improve the surface area and improve the thermal exchange by increasing the potential for latent heat of evaporation.
 
 
Hey Nate , The Hvac-r is starting to pay off !!!! 
 

what type of media?
 

nateman_doo

Lets just say a MOD PM'd me.   ;)

Gotta say I love the whole concept, just read all but pages 8-9, any recent updates?
Would it work with no rads? Have you been watching Jay and Silent Bob?
Seriously though, as crazy as the whole thing looks, it's way cool.(pun intended)
If there were 9 mister nozzles in a descending spiral from top to a 1/3 of the way down, the water would atomize better...just a thought.

No new updates.  Depending on how much heat is in the loop all depends on if you need radiators or not.  I would think not, but I haven't messed with it for a while.

I tried mister heads but my pumps couldn't move the water through them and I had a pond pump and an eheim in my system so I had some pumping power. Eventually, the power bills take their toll especially if you are folding 24/7 like I was at the time. I did some experimenting but the basic bong setup is about as effective as you can get. I tried screens etc. different methods of breaking up the water and slowing it down but nothing really worked any better than just shooting the water out of a shower head and letting a fan blow up though it.

I feel like the problem will always be the pumps in setups like these.  You need nothing short of a fire hose to get water through a mister.  But if you could, I imagine they would take your cooling to new levels (provided the water wasn't so fine it would just blow out the top)

Yeah Nate, I was hoping that misting the water would allow me to lose some tower height without losing any cooling performance, but when I started up the system....nothing happened lol. You're right, apparently it would take a fire hose to get the water up the bong and and thorough a mister array. Just not worth the trouble, or expense in my case, ultimately. Still it can be a fun project. I certainly had a good time with it, and had fun experimenting, but reality kept rudely butting in.

I think the only 2 weaknesses of the bong... I mean evaporative cooling tower, is the need to constantly fill it up, and pump size.

Also, the cooling fans inevitably pull in dust and contaminants which eventually clog up your blocks, especially if your blocks have micro-pins/grooves.

impressive i always like cheap, innovative DIY

Fuel filter always helps to keep that stuff to a minimum.

ShockTheMonky

So. Explain to me how if the evaporation process is allowed to occur but instead of allowing the evaporated water to escape to the atmophere and condesate some where else when it cools, how does pulling the evaporated water into a seperate chamber, allowing it to condensate and then recycling the cooled evaporated water back into the loop, cause the concept to be broken. Evaporation is allowed to occur. Isn't that the whole theory behind this. As long as evaporation is allowed to occur, what is done with the evaporated water after it is vented out has no affect on the rest of the process.

 
The specific heat of evaporation* is the principle by which you are cooling by evap.  Basically, a metric asston of energy goes into the steam from the water, leaving the water with less heat energy than before.  When you condense water vapor, that metric asston** goes right back into the water from the vapor (so any residual vapor has lower energy and thus lower heat).  When you allow the steam to escape, you let the atmosphere (and sun and the earth) put that energy back into your water from your steam.  When you keep it trapped in your system, you're doing that conversion and basically get no net cooling.
 
There is no free lunch in physics, otherwise you could probably make a perpetual motion machine from that design and would have the gas companies by the balls.
 
*actually enthalpy of vaporization: normally it takes 1 calorie (1/1000th of a nutritional Calorie) to raise 1g of water 1 degree C.  However, at evaporation, you need 2257 calories to just do the action of evaporation, so raising 1 degree C takes 2258 calories!  This is why sweating is such an effective way to cool your body, it drives off gobs of heat energy.
**we'll just assume that the condensation event will occur at the same temperature (probably off by a few degrees) and pressure (ballpark correct in this entrapped system).  In this case, it takes 2258 calories to drop the temp by 1 degree and convert from steam to water.
 
Also: yes, metric asston is the correct term, as we're talking celsius degrees and calories (non SI, but still metric).  And in the global system, there are lots of metric tons of water and water vapor.  And some of that is processed through our rears (as well as donkeys bodies).  So, metric asston is the proper term to describe this quantity.
 
P.S. Now I realize this thread has 12 pages, not just 1.  this may have already been covered ([link=showprofile.aspx?memid=312276]RBIEZE[/link] covered it just above in a sense)

Yea, Rob is good like that.  Both WAY over my head at least.
 
I just always looked at it like me blowing on my soup in a spoon.  It eventually gets cooler when you blow on it.  Take that same amount of soup and disperse it into a pattern that allows for more surface area (instead of just the top surface  of a spoonful) and you have more wind cooling the soup.  Much better way to eat soup if u ask me.

I've never tried atomized soup before:P
 
But yeah, my point was just that if you recapture your evaporation, you're shooting yourself in the foot.  You need to vent it, or else you keep the energy (other than what escapes as radiant heat through the PVC or any cracks/vents).  But yes, increasing the SA/V is always good for cooling.  That's why we sweat and dogs pant rather than taking a piss every time we need to lose heat.
 
And here I was thinking I was all insightful on a new thread (not noticing the date) and angling for a BR:P
 
Edit: let me (try to) put into perspective why evaporative cooling works so well for cooling your computer temp. 
Lets just say with your standard closed water cooling system (no flow from a tap, no open places for evaporation) but you make the loop/reservoir honking huge (5 gallons + 1 quart = 20L), you heat up the water by 10C° from ambient (that's a hell of a lot, I know...but it's a nice round number).  If instead of a closed system, you have an evaporator of the same liquid volume, you would just have to evaporate 8.9mLs (1/3 of a fluid ounce) of water to bring you back to ambient.  Or, if you manage to evaporate 4.5mLs, you only heat up 5 degrees (rather than 10).
 
If you pump out/atomize and evaporate your water outside your loop, you're just cooling the water that you're getting rid of, and not the bulk water left behind.  So, you'll need to replace water at a much higher rate than indicated above.
 
I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that you're still pumping out heat via non-water containing air dissipation around the chip and around the water cooling pipes and radiators.  Otherwise the energy you were putting in the chip would raise the temperature by, say, 10C° every hour...which would mean that you would need to evaporate 9mLs every hour just to maintain a given temperature.  But in essence, for every gallon you use to water cool, you could achieve the same result by evaporating 1 2/3 mL (roughly 5% or 1/20 of a fluid ounce) of water.
 
Also, rather than atomize to the outside world, you might be better served by simply increasing the surface area of water in your tube - increase the diameter of the pipe where the level of water is.  The rest of the piping can be of thinner diameter.  So...have thin tubing (1/2" ID) going to a wide (6-12") PVC with an escape hatch for the vapor.  To increase the evap rate (and thus heat dissipation), maybe have a fan blow across the surface of the water. nm: that makes less sense than your flow system.  what you've got makes just about the most sense.

Rudster816

I think this is a great basic design.  Things I would change/add to the description or design: The top 4 restriction points would be those fine droplet shower heads or garden hose ends (I think that was the original intent).  I'd also increase the distance from  the shower heads to the collection "pan" to allow for more evap.  I'd change the 120mm fan into an axial blower for higher airflow.  The little clip thing at the end is genius: that'll stop still dropletized water from being directly blown out of the system and will drip the liquid stuff that hasn't dissipated any/much heat back into the reservoir.  One more change I'd make is open it up above the 80mm fan.  No condensation and return.  If you insist on recapturing the water so you can have a closed system and not have to refill frequently or clear out dust, don't go with PVC pipe at the top of that.  Go with sheets of aluminum foil or copper tubing (something that will dissipate a bunch of the condensation energy, allowing the water to cool).  If you have some aluminum sheets you could create your own "heatsink" (glued on with the aid of TIM?) where you increase the surface area exposed to the room and have an additional fan up top to cool that.
 
One problem with this system, is you're blowing air in on the left, but there's not a defined outlet for escape.  Meaning you're creating positive pressure.  I'm sure you might leak out though fittings and cracks in the system, but in that case you're still going to lose water (in the form of vapor).  Although that's great from a heat capacitance standpoint, you might not have the closed system you think you have.  One solution is to simply imbed the blower/fan inside the physical structure, giving it enough space to draw the air from.  You might have to deal with corrosion of the electronics though then. {edit: it looks like the illustrator wanted that fan to be internal, just mounted external and sealed off.  However, then I don't think you'll do a great job of pushing the air, just creating a little bit of turbulence}. I think just leaving it open above the 80mm fan and replacing the water as needed is the best sol'n.  You could even have a toilet float system where if the water dips below a certain level, an inlet from your tap or an additional transparent reservoir comes into the main tank.  Or the float could be hooked to a piezoelectric system (like the one present in a dehumidifier, but in reverse so it shuts off if the water level goes BELOW the float point) that just shuts down the water pump (and shower heads :( ) if there's not enough water to pump.  But then you need to have a way to shut down your computer automatically without crashing it too.  So, the plumbing float system would be a lot easier to rig up in comparison to the dehumidifier float.
 
Edit: looks like the plumbing/toilet float was covered in illustrated form on the previous page (I haven't read all the text, so it may have been covered before that even).  Doh!  I guess I'm contributing no new insight:P

pagelm

And here I was thinking I was all insightful on a new thread (not noticing the date) and angling for a BR:P

Nahh... 12 pages or info doesn't seem to have this thread warrant a BR.  *shrugs* - i got enough as it is.

The temps you see are impressive for water alone, how often do you have to add water to counter the evaporation?
 
Here is my suggestion...
Where the hot water flows out can you apply some kind of water  pump assembly (because it is water sealed) to atomize the water droplets as it passes thru the pump blades? Note: You would have to keep the motors external to avoid heat transfer. If this should show promise you could develop a series of atomization blades (of your design) within the unit which are turned via a small motor and belt drive mechanism.
 
Alternative idea, looking at the diagram in post #18 far above...
Add sour mash to the hot water along with a puke trap, I wonder if this would serve as a dual purpose unit PC COOLER/ Alcohol DISTILLERY?
 

Hummmm....distillery

I noticed you had a window in the background. If you had a window a/c unit, you should be able to catch and re-use the condensation from it. It would 1) Cool the room. 2) de-humidify the room and make the evaporative system more and pump the heat outside more effectively. 3) allow you to recycle the water back into the system.
 
Side note: Some of the newer a/c units recycle the water automatically to keep the water loss down, and keep the indoor humidity from going too low. Just a heads-up.
 
ps: bad-ass setup :D
 
                                     -Yavol

Another first poster!?  excellent!  Welcome to the forums! 
 
in my usual setup, there is a window AC in that window functioning as a chiller, then I use a piece of cardboard to block the side.  I would always vent the tower outside using dryer duct, and the inputs would be normal during the summer, or during the winter I would collect outside air to really turn on the chill. 

Btw, before I have to go to work I want to post one more thing. If you can somehow manage to put maybe a 2L or 3L coke bottle down the main tube. What you can do is cut the top and bottom part off so you have a cylinder, and then attach some of that plastic door screen material (the kind that keeps the bugs out, but lets the air pass) with something like epoxy. Do this with a few bottles, then put them down the tube. If you have a problem with them going all the way down, just drill some holes at the bottom where you want them to stop, pass something like a straw trough them, and seal it off with glue. The stacked screens will help disperse the water, slow it down and provide more surface area.
 
Ps: make sure to put something on the bottom of the bottles so that when they go down, they don't stack like Styrofoam cups. Perhaps something like two straws in a x pattern glues together.
 
 
                                  -Yavol

I don't really follow what your saying.  Can you draw up a picture in Paint or something?

I see what he is saying. So you have a stream of water flowing down the tube because of pressure problems with misters or whatever. He saying take a 2-3L coke bottle. Cut the top and bottom of it off so it's just a thin wall cylinder. Then take some of the plastic window screening and put it inside the cylinder. When the water runs down the pipe, it will run into the cylinder and spread out over the screen increasing it's surface area without having to do a pump change. You can put multiple of these cylinders inside the pipe and use whichever you choose to secure them or just stop them from going too far down in the pipe. The bonus to this as it can also stop anything like insects from getting into the bottom collection of liquid. Thats actually a very very good idea. 2-3 of these cylinders inside the pipe would act as mini chambers where the surface area of the water is increased dramatically and would increase the cooling of the setup.

a picture would still be helpful?