You are not logged in.
Pages: 1
Interesting article from the Netherlands.
https://www.humanpowerplant.be/2020/06/the-fire.html
It makes the point that communal solutions are often more energy efficient than individual ones. From an energy expenditure viewpoint, a large kitchen built around a single fire and catering for a thousand people, is more energy efficient than a thousand people preparing their own food in their own ovens. You also get better food, as the chefs are professionals.
The same logic can be applied to many other things, like showers and bathing. A facility serving 1000 people can be equipped with an inter seasonal hot water storage tank and can heat all required water with summer solar power. The same is true for laundry. Storage of food can rely upon collective underground refrigerated stores, which have huge thermal mass and can therefore maintain low temperatures using intermittent bursts of energy.
There may be lessons here for how we live on Mars. A high degree of collectivism is likely to be beneficial in the design of habitats. Your sleeping dorms will be private and you are llikely to have private toilet facilities. Other facilities will presumably be arranged collectively.
This article got me thinking about ways of storing intermittent energy, on Earth and Mars.
https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2020/05 … anels.html
A cheap way of storing energy would be to heat up large and insulated rock bodies using excess electrical power. On Mars, the atmosphere is thin enough that loose dust would be as effective an insulator as rock wool on Earth. We can use the stored heat directly, to cook or for industrial processes. Or we can convert it back into electricity using a steam turbine after the sun has gone down. The waste heat would provide hot water and space heating, so nothing would get wasted. We would basically built a habitat around a thermal energy store, with cooking, industrial areas and backup power generators physically adjoining the store. Low temperature heat users, would draw waste heat energy from the backup generator and industrial areas.
If we want to store enough heat energy to cover lulls spanning the Martian winter, the store would need to be large.
There are cross overs here with Tahanson's architecture theme. It does give us some idea of the layout of Martian settlements. Big buildings in an approximate cubic, cylindrical or spherical geometry; have lower surface area to volume ratio and conserve heat much better. We would also want to design them to maximise passive solar gain in the summer. In the winter, we will be relying on piped heat from a centralised hot water tank. We would want to cluster our buildings around it, to reduce the distance that hot water has to be piped. We would want to integrate some food production into our buildings and position the rest where piped heat can be used to prevent freezing during the Martian nights. A few thoughts.
Last edited by Calliban (2020-07-06 09:02:47)
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
Offline
Like button can go here
As a follow up to Calliban's interesting new topic here ...
A Google search for: Russian district heating for northern cities
delivered a number of citations about the use of the concept Calliban described for Mars.
The parallels seem applicable, although the limited atmosphere adds a bit of challenge to design and practice.
Of course, the association of Russia with "collectivist" is no accident!
(th)
Last edited by tahanson43206 (2020-07-06 09:23:45)
Online
Like button can go here
As a further follow up to Calliban's initiative here...
My Hacienda is loosely based upon Louis' 2018 vision for Sagan City. It features plots 1 kilometer on a side on the surface, with air space and subsurface volumes to be determined. The point here is that ** each ** Hacienda has plenty of volume to implement a centralized design for utilities.
The Plot 0037 location within the My Hacienda ** could ** be built out (in conceptual form) to include exactly the kinds of design elements which (as I understand it) are the focus of this topic.
This topic ** could ** be used to interact with forum members to debate various approaches, and then (should he so choose) Calliban could record them as specifications for Plot 0037.
(th)
Online
Like button can go here
The saying that to many cooks in the kitchen spoils the broth comes to mind.
While each plot of the My Hacienda is self sufficient that does not mean that we would not want to have a larger weekly family gathering to celebrate another week in the bag.
Each facilities plots are connected to do just the same for surplus commodities, goods and services after the plots needs are satisfied.
Offline
Like button can go here
Pages: 1