A dream for a space tower
Warm Greetings to all
I'm new here but have been looking for a place to get some ideas thrown out there to hear what people think. There is no specific goal except to share ideas and learn as I go.
The Idea Starts with a simple Question What if we could make a Space tower that utilized wind and upward convection currents for stability and energy creation. (the main difference between this and the space elevator is this would be an enclosed tower for lifting objects to space and would support a space station at the top as both a counterweight and to facilitate the creation of vessels that would use the station as a docking point for supplies direct from earth)
So here are the basic Ideas towards this from the ground up.
First surrounding the base would be rings of reflective solar panels to both capture and reflect light toward the tower creating the initial upward convection current of warm/hot air (If possible by locating the base on a warm point or location with a natural ground heat source would help with the up lift creation.
As the tower rises up the tower itself would be round grooved like a screw directing the currents upward and the surface also solarised for the collection of solar energy (the process of collecting the solar energy would also create heat helping with the uplift)
Along the Tower at intervals would be external wind collection points designed to capture the upward convention current and to also manage the amount of lift captured at any point (preventing a case where too much up life is captured.
Above the base and around the structure would be a ring of atmospheric weather balloons with multiple purposes and uses. First by integrating the balloons connection to the core of the structure and securing the balloons to a ring around the outer base this would provide mid range stability from structural sway while also giving the ability to create both life and counter lift by adjusting the weather balloons own height and lift properties (this also gives a means of distributing the power generated in the tower evenly to the power network and gives a heat source direct to each balloon for greater lift control)
On the internal structure using the counterbalance system opportunity the atmospheric weather balloons create it would be possible to also capture the kinetic energy of the towers natural sway.
The hardest part of course if the initial process of making the tower and for this purposes by making the space station at first essentially a giant shell to act like its own atmospheric weather balloon as the tower rises it will not only save time down the track of the construction but create an early stage up lift taking a portion of the initial strain from the lower part of the structure till the tower is tall enough to function properly with the upward convection capture.
On a side note the internal elevator would be free from external weather conditions and as such be safer and more stable then an exposed wire lifting heavy loads would simply mean timing the lift capture to coincide with the elevators own upward or downward movement.
Another side note and a really fun possibility is that in creating the up lift of air currents once the air currents reach the space station its around this point that they are cooled and reintegrated in the atmosphere (this process could have a huge positive effect on global warming, placing such a tower in a extremely hot climate of desert would mean the surrounding area is cooled and the chance for moister to collect in the newly cooled atmosphere greatly increased)
I apologize if it felt like a lot, effort to condense the ideas was made though maybe they may seem haphazard.
Either way it would be great if you found some of the ideas interesting and wished to question or contribute your thought/ideas to this topic.
Who knows maybe someone will be inspired from an idea presented here or later and put the pieces together to bring such an idea to life.
Kind Regards
Michael 😀
I'm new here but have been looking for a place to get some ideas thrown out there to hear what people think. There is no specific goal except to share ideas and learn as I go.
The Idea Starts with a simple Question What if we could make a Space tower that utilized wind and upward convection currents for stability and energy creation. (the main difference between this and the space elevator is this would be an enclosed tower for lifting objects to space and would support a space station at the top as both a counterweight and to facilitate the creation of vessels that would use the station as a docking point for supplies direct from earth)
So here are the basic Ideas towards this from the ground up.
First surrounding the base would be rings of reflective solar panels to both capture and reflect light toward the tower creating the initial upward convection current of warm/hot air (If possible by locating the base on a warm point or location with a natural ground heat source would help with the up lift creation.
As the tower rises up the tower itself would be round grooved like a screw directing the currents upward and the surface also solarised for the collection of solar energy (the process of collecting the solar energy would also create heat helping with the uplift)
Along the Tower at intervals would be external wind collection points designed to capture the upward convention current and to also manage the amount of lift captured at any point (preventing a case where too much up life is captured.
Above the base and around the structure would be a ring of atmospheric weather balloons with multiple purposes and uses. First by integrating the balloons connection to the core of the structure and securing the balloons to a ring around the outer base this would provide mid range stability from structural sway while also giving the ability to create both life and counter lift by adjusting the weather balloons own height and lift properties (this also gives a means of distributing the power generated in the tower evenly to the power network and gives a heat source direct to each balloon for greater lift control)
On the internal structure using the counterbalance system opportunity the atmospheric weather balloons create it would be possible to also capture the kinetic energy of the towers natural sway.
The hardest part of course if the initial process of making the tower and for this purposes by making the space station at first essentially a giant shell to act like its own atmospheric weather balloon as the tower rises it will not only save time down the track of the construction but create an early stage up lift taking a portion of the initial strain from the lower part of the structure till the tower is tall enough to function properly with the upward convection capture.
On a side note the internal elevator would be free from external weather conditions and as such be safer and more stable then an exposed wire lifting heavy loads would simply mean timing the lift capture to coincide with the elevators own upward or downward movement.
Another side note and a really fun possibility is that in creating the up lift of air currents once the air currents reach the space station its around this point that they are cooled and reintegrated in the atmosphere (this process could have a huge positive effect on global warming, placing such a tower in a extremely hot climate of desert would mean the surrounding area is cooled and the chance for moister to collect in the newly cooled atmosphere greatly increased)
I apologize if it felt like a lot, effort to condense the ideas was made though maybe they may seem haphazard.
Either way it would be great if you found some of the ideas interesting and wished to question or contribute your thought/ideas to this topic.
Who knows maybe someone will be inspired from an idea presented here or later and put the pieces together to bring such an idea to life.
Kind Regards
Michael 😀
Replies
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Ramani Aswath1. What will be the height of the tower?
2. Material of construction.
3. What kind of foundation to take the weight of the tower.
4.How will construction proceed? Prefab sections lifted up and bolted to the top as the tower grows?
5. How is buckling issue addressed?
6. 1 m^3 of the lightest gas Hydrogen will give only about 1 kg lift. Not much structural support can come from even fairly large balloons.
7 What sort of elevator will work inside the tower?
And so on... -
Michel FlackThank you for your questions, its still mainly a collection of loos ideas but in answer to your questions what i have in mind would go along like this.
1. What will be the height of the tower?
A: as there is no firm boundary where space begins it would aim to be as close to the an altitude of 100 km (62 mi) above sea level to be at the point recognized as the start of outer space.
2. Material of construction.
A: I have been interested in new alloys that have been mentioned in various news articles like (high-entropy alloy) a random source is below of course it does not quite match what i have in mind but I also believe there is always a way with will and determination to create one.
New 'High-Entropy' Alloy is Stronger than Titanium but Lighter than Aluminum | Tech Times
3. What kind of foundation to take the weight of the tower.
A: for such a large tower I would Imagine creating a type reverse cone that is has a starting circumference far greater then the tower's main circumference. the location would be limited to locations with solid rock bed and away from fault lines of course (Australia being inside its own Teutonic plate makes for a good starting location with this in mind)
I have also pondered on what it would be like to take a mountain level it then use the base of where the mountain once stood to build the foundation from (after all for a mountain to stand the ground below must have the required properties to support massive weight)
4.How will construction proceed? Prefab sections lifted up and bolted to the top as the tower grows?
A: that is the popular method and with a top Construction cap that moves upward would be needed for both safety as well a means of keeping the tower pressurized (also with the amount of energy generated the ability to smelt would be a useful tool as well) still working on ideas for this.
5. How is buckling issue addressed?
A: the tower itself will be pressurized even a slight weight lift if positive and it is the reason the outer shell and its ability to generate a massive up lift of air currents is necessary and vital to the over all plan.
6. 1 m^3 of the lightest gas Hydrogen will give only about 1 kg lift. Not much structural support can come from even fairly large balloons.
A: true I only mention balloons for now as a place holder as with that much energy it may even be possible to scratch out the balloon and replace it instead with turbine platforms that do that same function but with greater lift and control
7 What sort of elevator will work inside the tower?
A: with the goal on energy creation creating a magnetically propelled elevator aided with a pressurized tube would be easy as the energy flowing down would magnetize the tube allowing for the lift force to be created and controlled by changing the polarity of the tube as the lift goes either up or down.
Of course all of this is easier said then done but it feels that the potential to create a tower the utilizes the upward convention would be doable.
If it helps in a way the outer shell would be designed to create a permeate localized tornado of upward moving air currents. trapped in the screw like outer shell and harnessed with the wind turbines.
The fun part of this is a tornado can easily lift heavy objects and so by creating an artificial uplift it can be harnessed for the weight distribution. (of course for the tower to survive the up life would probably need to be permanent and sustained) flying near the tower would also be a no go as i can imagine this would make that tricky. -
Ramani AswathAir flow around a thin long vertical cylinder is anything but orderly. Many of the assumptions made in the original post may need considerable substantiation. Also a vertical cylinder with a greater than 10,000 L/D ratio even in the lightest Ai-Mg-Li alloy cannot be uniform thickness top to bottom. It will just flow at the base starting from a height where the weight exceeds the yield strength.
The laws of thermodynamics are inviolate. The assumptions of energy generation have to be validated with some actual calculations.
The convoluted thinking of an old ChemE like me is raising far too many questions regarding wind drag, differential thermal expansion between the lit and dark side of the tower, sinusoidal oscillations along a long L/D cylinder and much more.
A sticky wicket I am afraid. -
Ramani AswathThis may be an option for the material of construction:
#-Link-Snipped-# -
Michel Flackyou certainly given me much to think on (also it always helps to have a reality check)
but I thank you for your input as I do plan to keep at it and as i add problems to the list i plan to some day tick each one off one by one, haha also easier said then done 😀 -
Ramani Aswath
More power to your elbow!Michel Flackas i add problems to the list i plan to some day tick each one off one by one
Am an avid SciFi reader since childhood. Met Arthur C. Clarke in1970 or so when he visited the federal Aerospace Lab where I worked for long. He had conceived of a tower rather like yours and a Ring City around the equator.
PDF -
Ramani AswathSome of the structural concepts described in this article may help trigger ideas:
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