Finally, the penny drops!
In the last forty years the structure of even the simplest zeolite
(A) has been investigated and
its uses as? adsorption and catalytic surfaces has been
investigated.
Here is a straightforward paper on the topic
Recently people
have been interested in zeolites as heat exchangers.
This is a demo model of the kind I expect that triggered this
thread.
Zeolite
(etymology "boiling rock", for its exothermal behavior in
adsorbing up to 30% by weight of water) is an interesting
material.
Zeolites are ideally heated to 250degC to desorb the attached
water again.
But lower temps can release a fair proportion of the water.
Now
having got those facts out of the way, its time to mention
something else interesting:?? If a dry zeolite is pumped down
in the presence of water vapor,
the zeolite will self-pump down further.
An
attractive primitive pump down method presents itself: given
a side water reservoir and an air reservoir connected with
taps, the classical method of steaming out the air reservoir
and chilling it down with waste water, then connecting to the
chiller system, several times will pull the chiller pressure
down enough for the zeolite to work its magic, given three gas
taps are plumbed in to give the desired evacuation sequence.
A
suitable scavenged container might be provided by a used
propane cylinder or two, which can take the vacuum easily.
Brian
Whatcott
Altus Oklahoma
