Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Re: Back to surface propulsion (generators)

[John Brownlee <jonnie@scarymonsters.net>]

	As for swamp coolers out here in the Southwest and in other hot,
dry climes also call them 'evaporative coolers.' The principle in play is
that it takes heat to evaporate water, known in chemical circles as the
'latent heat of vaporization.' Blowing hot air over wet fiber mats causes
the heat in the air to be consumed in changing the state of the water from
liquid to vapor in the mats, thus cooling the air as it gets blown into
the living space.
	This method works pretty well and is more cost-effective than air
conditioning in the dry months. When the ambient humidity gets too high,
the outside air being blown down the cooler mats cannot readily accept more
vapor and the amount of heat consumed goes down, along with the thermal
differential between the ambient and cooled air.

-- 
							John

John Brownlee
Chief Systems Administrator
Scary Monsters Network
jonnie at scarymonsters dot net