Making Ice Without Electricity

j-beda writes "Time Magazine is running an article telling us how Dave Williams is trying to make ice for third-world applications using the Hilsch-Ranque vortex-tube effect (first developed in 1930 by G.J. Ranque), where swirling air is split into hot and cold components." The method is horribly inefficient but Williams is hoping it could yield helpful results in areas where electricity is really not an option.

Hrm.

[grub]

In Winnipeg we just leave water outside for a few minutes.

Could be useful

[Mister sharkbot]

useful indeed. (10000000 rpm could be acheivd with mules and huge gears?)

Already done!

[DogDude]

I think that we all know that it's already been tried, and baaaad things happened as a result:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091557/ [imdb.com]

In Soviet Russia...

[Anonymous Coward]

The water leaves YOU outside for a few minutes.

Dr. Brown

[3CRanch]

Didn't Dr. Emmit Brown invent something like this back in 1845 or so? You know, shortly before Marty arrived...

Good one, Dave!

[Anonymous Coward]

Dave Williams is trying to make ice for third-world

Turning the rare drinking water they've got into solid ice, eh?

Why not just make electricity?

[mikew03]

If you can spin something at 1,000,000 RPM why not spin a copper coil inside a magnetic field and make electricity instead? Quite useful stuff I've heard.

Misleading title

[Guppy06]

Want ice without electricity? Drive the compressor with a small diesel power plant.

Re:Hrm.

[Surt]

Fantastic, we'll just pack it in dry ice (to keep it cold) and ship it to third world countries. Problem solved!

Re:Why not just make electricity?

[RapmasterT]

If you can spin something at 1,000,000 RPM why not spin a copper coil inside a magnetic field and make electricity instead? Quite useful stuff I've heard.

BINGO!!! We have a winner of the "Find the Logic Hole in the Seemingly Reasonable Idea" game!

There's a reson why electicity is a freakin' universal component of modern societies people. It's EASY to produce, so easy that's it's just about goddamn trivial since there's dozens of different ways to go about it, and NONE of them involve ridiculously ineffcient and complex methods like "ice without electricity" does.

Hell, why not work on "masturbation without enjoyment" too, that should be just as useful.

Re:Already done!

[Monkelectric]

Hmmm ... I was thinking more along these lines: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087451/ [imdb.com]

Re:Hrm.

[peculiarmethod]

In San Diego, we just take our beer to the beach and talk to the nearest bikini. Instant freeze.

In Soviet America...

[Anonymous Coward]

The President leaves you in the water outside for a few days.

Simpler Idea

[RealityMogul]

Create a 10 mile high structure. Send water to top. Bring ice back down.

mmm cold

[ConsoleDeamon]

Solar cells and windgenerators is your friends :)

Simple Method (But Not Recommended)

[aquatone282]

Forget your wedding anniversary.

Works every time!

Re:Hrm.

[Tackhead]

> Yes, but will it make Vanilla Ice...?
Rollin', in my 5.0 with the top left back so my hair can blow...

I dunno. Let's find out.

Rollin'... in my 5.0,
With my rag top down so my hair can blow,
The voltage is on standby, costs of icin' too high,
(Did you stop?) No, I just froze, by
Freon - pursuin' temp'rature drop,
Compressor's dead, yo, so I continued to,
George J. Ranque, Hilsch-Ranque vortex tube!

Peltier's hot, like electrical bikinis,
And I got no voltage from the Lamborghinis,
Warmin' - cause I'm out thawin' mine,
Got my compressor gauge, readin' PSI "9"
Vaccuum - for the mods on the wall,
Mods are actin' ill because they had their 8 LOLs
Hissin' - through the compressor shell,
I clamped the hose, but it was shot to hell,
Ozone - burnin' up like real fast,
Registration link at time-mag suckin' goat ass
Readin' the Wiki, the 'pedia's packed,
Thermodynamics 'bout how the fridge is jacked.

Third law on the scene - you know what I mean,
A million RPM? Efficiency is unseen,
If it's a solution, this don't solve it
Pump out the heat while the Hilsch-Ranque revolves it

(Vanilla) Ice Ice Geeky, too cold...

Nothing New!

[Comatose51]

Making ice without any electricity happens everytime I try to talk to a girl.

Re:Why not just make electricity?

[brarrr]

I'm sorry but I have to submit that this dude's slashdot account be revoked. A flame that is well reasoned, correct, and sufficiently mocking? That's not only improbable, it's probably a sign of coming apocalypse. What are, you, some kind of super-human? Or are you an engineer? .... avoiding my usual grad student drudgery....

Re:Reinventing the wheel?

[value_added]

The Romans used to make ice in the deserts of Palestine and North Africa. It seems to me they were around before electricity and Frigidaire.

All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, public health, and making ice without electricity, what have the Romans ever done for us?

Re:Reinventing the wheel?

[chill]

All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, public health, and making ice without electricity, what have the Romans ever done for us?

You forgot public baths, the orgy, gladiators at the coluseum and Roman Numerals! Without all of the above, where would Hollywood be today?

Re:You'll have to pedal really fast...

[RapmasterT]

I prefer the elegant simplicity of two grossly different sized gears.

Re:Reinventing the wheel?

[myowntrueself]

"All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, public health, and making ice without electricity, what have the Romans ever done for us?"

They arranged for the disposal of that inconvenient rebel known as 'The Christ'?