Venusian Habitats

Tom Kalbfus · 2015-09-04 06:42:00

I posit a Venusian habitat would look something like this. A giant balloon or airship filled with 99% oxygen, 0.9% nitrogen, and 0.1% carbon-dioxide with a variable amount of water vapor mixed in, the altitude is around 60 km above the cloud tops to avoid the sulfuric acid rain, the temperature outside is -13 Celsius or there about The hab floats more that 3 degrees from the planet's north or south pole, but perhaps less than 6. With the help of its propellers and the wind currents, the airship circles the pole once every 24 hours, so the Sun slides above the horizon, staying close to it and then sets from the point of view of the inhabitants of the airship. Solar energy keeps the inhabitants of the airship warm, the excess heat is radiated through the ship's fins and heat exchanged with the colder atmosphere outside. Oxygen is the primary lifting gas, but lighter gases such as hydrogen or helium also supplement the lifting power of the oxygen within the envelope. Did I mention the air pressure within and outside the balloon envelope is around one fifth that at Earth's sea level, and since Earth's atmosphere is one fifth oxygen, the hab provides nearly 100% oxygen to make it easier to breath this thin air.

Void · 2015-09-04 13:32:47

Tom,

Please allow me to suggest a few options.

Divide the device into at least two layers. A top layer (O2 dominated), and a lower layer (H2) dominated.

Although this suggests that the device would tip over, it would not be so, if you used life support equipment and supporting members as ballast.

The primary reason I suggest is that the Layer of Hydrogen below, would push up on the floor, which because of that could be made lighter. Humans walking on it of course should have footwear that would be gentle to the floor, that would be prudent.

I know that now it would seem that I suggest a very scary situation, a H2 compartment with a wall separating from an O2 compartment.

However, I would think it would be wise to provide for a felt like "Wick" material, which would allow any leaking gasses, particularly H2 to drain to atmosphere. The "Felt" being interposed as a layer between the O2 and H2 compartments.

In fact that could be improved, by closing it to atmosphere, and filling that layer with a non combustible gas, such as CO2, or raw atmosphere which is CO2 with a bit of Nitrogen. In emergencies, a purge gas still could be pumped into that "Felt" layer, to vent H2 to the atmosphere. The purge gas would likely be raw atmosphere.

While Hydrogen would tend to leak slowly from the H2 compartment into the "Felt" layer, that content of H2 could be kept well below the Explosive or Flammable limits, I presume by using a centrifuge to remove it and return it to the (Primarily H2 chamber).

As I see it then the upper bubble could support O2 producing Photosynthesis, and the lower could support H2 producing Photosynthesis.

Biological Hydrogen Photosynthesis:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biologica … on_(Algae)

I think some work might be required to breed a very successful version of the Algae, but it would be a useful thing if it did work.

As for light in the lower section, it is reasonable that it would be supplemented by reflection from the cloud deck.

So then your "City" would potentially be quite light weight, and would provide solar energy, which could be stored as compressed gasses, in the Hydrogen area, at least for the Hydrogen. (Those tanks serving as some of the ballast).

And of course you would be using fuel cells to generate your electricity.

I leave for dealing with heat, your methods may be good, radiators being ballast to keep the city upright, or it may also be reasonable to consider "Shades" to supplement that.

Last edited by Void (2015-09-04 13:35:07)

Tom Kalbfus · 2015-09-05 15:54:18

I think all Venusian habitats should also be vehicles, that is they don't just drift with the air currents, An air ship city could produce a 24-hour day/night cycle simply by circling one of the poles at a certain distance at a certain speed, it would have to be far enough from the pole so that the curvature of the planet would block the Sun for part of a 24-hour cycle. I think an airship can travel at 50 to 100 km/hour without any problems. The advantage of airships over airplanes is that if the engine breaks down, you have time to fix it, you can still control ballast and maintain altitude, while an airplane would just plummet, or at best glide and slowly descend. Airplanes can go faster than ships however. An airplane can generate lift by traveling fast enough through the atmosphere, so you have got to maintain your motor and make sure they are reliable. Airplanes seem more popular on our world than airships.

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#1 2015-09-04 06:42:00

Venusian Habitats

#2 2015-09-04 13:32:47

Re: Venusian Habitats

#3 2015-09-05 15:54:18

Re: Venusian Habitats

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