Wednesday, November 28, 2012

The Trompe - An Almost Forgotten Air Compression System

The simple, yet brilliant, Trompe

A Trompe (also spelled Trombe) is a water powered air compressor system. This simple device was used for hundreds of years to produce compressed air for furnaces, mining equipment, ventilation systems, and even for air conditioning and ice production. Trompes were almost entirely replaced when fossil fuels, with their high energy potential, came into more general use at the beginning of the twentieth century (I believe the only large scale Trompe still in use is at the Ragged Chute plant on the Montreal River in Ontario, Canada). Unfortunately, the knowledge of these systems has been almost completely forgotten. At this time of increasing energy prices and likely post-peak oil, this is the type of information that needs to be shared and implemented.
The function of a Trompe is brilliantly simple. It has no moving parts. Water is directed into a tall, vertical pipe that decreases in diameter. As the column of water is constricted from the piping, air is sucked in through ports. The air bubbles in the water are pressurized – the higher the column of water (i.e. the more head), the higher the pressure. At the end of the vertical pipe, the water with pressurized air bubbles, flows into a larger chamber (called a plenum or reservoir) where the air bubbles are released. The water flows out and the air, now compressed in a tight space, can be harvested.

Correct me if I am wrong, but from my understanding there is a loss of heat energy in this process which cools the air. Actually, the air compression is isothermal (no change in heat energy), but then the air coming out of compression is cooling. This cooling effect can then be utilized for simple air conditioning systems or refined for ice production.

The compressed air can be used directly as a power source to pump pistons or turn gears, or it can be stored in tanks and used elsewhere.

There is a lot of physics involved with a Trompe, but it is really a basic design. The higher the water origin, the greater the potential of energy produced. This is why many of the larger systems were built near waterfalls. However, I think there are plenty of smaller applications in a home or homestead where a Trompe could be used. It is time to bring this almost lost technology back to modern use.

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70 comments:

  1. nice blog very informative and detailed it is very useful thanks for sharing such detailed information
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    1. But seriously, Couldn't trompes be positioned in the ocean using seawater? Wouldn't that be an easy way to address the length of the drop for super compression? Modular cement pillars with hole in center? Or attached to discontinued off shore oil rigs that are being converted to wind farms as an additional source of power? Piped ashore for: power generation: large scale freezing,refrigeration and air-conditioning; use in compressed air vehicles; off shore fueling station for compressed air boats? Could the nitroginated sea water be used to fertilize kelp farms where there are no estuaries for nutrients near by or would there have to be additional compressed air collection tanks prevent over fertilizing the and unwanted algae?

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  3. This would be an ideal way to power compressed air vehicles, like the motorcycle developed by Dean Benstead of Melbourne: http://www.earthtechling.com/2012/11/compressed-air-motorcycle-breaks-80-mph-with-ease/

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    Replies
    1. No Offense, but compressed air is extremely hard to store massive amounts of, the higher the pressure(AKA compressed air vehicle range) the Stronger and more expensive the storage unit has to be. I think you would be mush better offer using a stationary cavern storage and then using the air pressure to produce electricity to charge a battery power vehicle.

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    2. The compressed air is continuously produced.

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  4. A Trompe air compressor is very simple but very brilliantly designed. I heard very well about trompe air compressor. I get some very interesting information about it from here.

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  5. This simple device was used for hundreds of years to produce compressed air for furnaces, mining equipment, ventilation systems, and even for air conditioning and ice production.  Kompressor Druckluft

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  6. In the USA, the Amish are not using electricity. They are using many powertools which run on compressed air instead. They compress the air with windmills. There are loads of different tools available which run on compressed air.

    There are even motorbikes and smallish cars running on compressed air. So thats some serious power.

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  13. Great illustration of the air compression system. This method was used back way before for power tools as they are not using electricity before but compressed air.

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  21. Trompes are an awesome tool, but it can be very hard to find the right set of circumstances to make them practical. You need a decent flow of water and very tall vertical shaft. The one at Ragged Chute was 351 feet deep (over 100m) see http://www.cobaltmininglegacy.ca/power.php The only examples I have heard of were built by large mining companies with large mining equipment.

    If you do have flowing water available you are probably a lot better off using a small scale micro hydro generator. They are cheap to build, reliable and there is a lot of hobbyists and professionals who can help you.

    Another option... if you are after compressed air only is to use a hydraulic ram pump http://www.see.murdoch.edu.au/resources/info/Applic/Hydram/ again these are much easier to build, cheaper and incredibly reliable.

    Thanks for the great article none the less :)

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  22. The Trompe is look like an old compression system but hope it still working batter. Thanks for sharing the info regarding The Trompe.

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  42. Could trompes be positioned in the ocean using seawater? Wouldn't that be an easy way to address the length of the drop for super compression? Modular cement pillars with hole in center? Or attached to discontinued off shore oil rigs that are being converted to wind farms as an additional source of power? Piped ashore for: power generation: large scale freezing,refrigeration and air-conditioning; use in compressed air vehicles; off shore fueling station for compressed air boats? Could the nitroginated sea water be used to fertilize kelp farms where there are no estuaries for nutrients near by or would there have to be additional compressed air collection tanks prevent over fertilizing the and unwanted algae?

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