DIY Geothermal Heat Pump. Season 3. Ep4. Filling geothermal loop with alcohol.

G’day fellas! Have you ever wondered why vodka is 40%? Almost nobody gives it another thought. In this episode you’ll find out what’s the big secret behind it.

Alcohol has a lot of different use cases, one of which, surprisingly, is being used as a filler for geothermal loop pipes. You’ll hear my thoughts on why I decided to use ethanol and not ethylene glycol.

Stay safe and enjoy the video!

Read the Transcript

• Goosh!
• We are living in difficult times. There’s no one to bring me a drink.
• Hey son! Can you bring me a drink 🥃.
• Of course, dad!
• Well, maybe I was wrong.
• There’s still someone who cares.
• Well!
• Wow! This is ethanol.
• I brought you what you have available.
• Ok, I see you’re a serious guy. Come on, let’s test it.
• It floats.
• Judy, where did you go?
• 92 degrees.
• Okay, I know what to do with it.
• You can’t really drink it, it’s too strong.
• And it’s intended more for technical usage.
• I’ll share a link to where to buy this stuff under a video.
• C2H5OH
• Lots of people know this formula.
• Many may not know the formula of water, but everyone knows the formula of ethyl alcohol.
• Everyone should know this.
• But not many people know that there are many different kinds of alcohol.
• There are monohydric alcohols.
• Outstanding representatives are methanol and ethanol.
• There is also butanol.
• There are dihydric alcohols.
• This is methanediol or ethanediol.
• Ethanediol is also known to many as ethylene glycol.
• There are trihydric alcohols, such as glycerin.
• There are polyhydric alcohols, I even find it difficult to name a representative of this family of the top of my head.
• Alcohols are used very widely.
• For example, methyl alcohol is used for the production of paints.
• Methyl alcohol is very often used in the chemical industry.
• Ethyl alcohol is used not only in alcoholic drinks.
• Generally, people don’t use pure alcohol but use it in the form of Vodka 🍶.
• Also, ethanol can be used as antifreeze, there are many uses for this product.
• For example, have you ever wondered why vodka is 40%?
• Almost nobody gives it another thought.
• Well, maybe someone thought about it, but there are already a lot of scientific explanations.
• But I think the reason is that, as you know, water expands when it freezes.
• If, for example, water is poured into a bottle, it will freeze - the bottle will crack.
• Alcohol and a lot of other liquids and gases, almost all other substances, on the contrary, reduce their volume when freezing.
• But a solution of alcohol with water at 40% practically does not change its volume.
• Firstly, the vodka freezing process is not instantaneous, it is not at 23 ℃.
• At 23 ℃, crystallization begins and it finally freezes completely somewhere around 28 ℃.
• Crystals of water appear in this mixture until complete crystallization occurs.
• My goal was to use a 30% solution.
• A 30% solution begins to freeze at 15 ℃ and completely crystallizes at about 18 ℃
• In principle, I’m not planning to freeze the geothermal loop below 10 ℃ because it no longer makes sense.
• Therefore, it makes no sense to make a steeper solution.
• Well, if it suddenly turns out that you need to make a steeper solution, of course, you will have to drain some of the precious liquid from the system.
• Or pour it into some container and then use it.
• We’ll see …
• Everything is still ahead.
• Why did I decide to use ethanol and not ethylene glycol.
• Or ethylene glycol is ethanediol.
• The prefix ethane is added because there are 2 atoms.
• Two trihydroxide groups.
• Two groups of H.
• Ethylene glycol, firstly, boils at 140 ℃, that’s why it is used in cars.
• It has a higher boiling point.
• Unlike alcohol, which boils at about 70 ℃.
• Ethylene glycol boils at a much higher temperature.
• And freezes at a lower temperature.
• At about the same temperature as ethanol.
• But it has a wider temperature range that is applicable specifically to the automotive industry.
• Motors can heat up to 120 ℃ and at the same time freeze in frost at -40 ℃ in Siberia.
• Therefore, it is ethylene glycol that has found greater application.
• But in my case, the temperature in the geothermal loop will not exceed 30 ℃.
• Even if I suddenly decide to warm up the soil before the season.
• But at the same time, it will not be even below 20 ℃ there, so, the temperature range is quite narrow.
• But!
• What is the advantage of ethanol over ethanediol.
• The fact that it has a lower viscosity.
• Ethylene glycol has a higher viscosity.
• Moreover, the viscosity differs by about 5 times.
• Naturally, the higher the viscosity, the more difficult it is for pumps to pump this liquid through the pipes.
• Naturally, the costs of pumping the liquid are higher.
• But there is also a plus in ethylene glycol.
• That’s the fact that it lubricates rotating parts a little.
• For example, the circulation pump has a bearing.
• And it is possible that this can negatively affect the service life of the circulation pumps.
• Well, we’re not afraid to experiment, so I decided to fill my geothermal loop with vodka 😱😱😱.
• Now I need to buy a shotgun to shoot back from alcohol junkies 😀.
• Yep, that’s a serious drawback …
• But at the same time, if I decide to drink myself to death, then I know where I can open the tap 🚰 and get a dose 🍷.
• This, one might say, is a reserve for old age.
• Even the wife won’t know.
• And considering that there are more than 200 liters of 30% vodka … Ooh …
• That’s pretty rough.
• Alright.
• Let’s watch!
• How I’m going to fill the pipes with this precious liquid.
• Roughly speaking, I will pour a valuable product into the ground.
• Cheers 🍷!
• There is such a thing.
• In order to push the water with air.
• We collect the bucket, then throw it out.
• Then doing the same with the next one, to count …
• Our goal is 10 buckets.