Pierce Nichols wrote:
I just remembered something else that probably decreases the amount of water required for any system. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the Leidenfrost <sp?> effect, aka film boiling. Basically, a thin film of water will protect an underlying surface from even more heat than you would normally effect, because the thin boiling layer at the surface of the liquid is a good insulator. This is what allows you to snuff out a candle with wet fingers, or even dip a wet hand in molten lead, without being burned.I'm unclear that you want to wet the bottom of the vehicle, because of issues with evenness. Instead I think you need to have the underside dry, but suck heat from it by heating water/steam inside the metal and exhaust the hot vapour through holes; the hot vapour then helps form an insulating layer and reduces heat throughput.
The Leidenfrost effect is actually a nuisance because it limits the heat transfer; you're trying to suck heat from the base and transfer it into water and the layer gets in the way.
-p
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