Hi there everyone,
Let me start this by saying that this is an honest question. I figure nobody would be better suited to answer my question than a group laser-focused on the negatives of the technology.
I see these types of memes a lot and see statistics of gallons consumed in a lot of articles I read. What I don't understand though is where the water goes that it can't be reclaimed or naturally return from a gas to a liquid.
As a kid(long ago), I was taught of the cycle of rain and the conversion between gases and liquid. It's my understanding that when a liquid is used to cool something, it also follows the same conversion process as it cools.
Could someone explain to me what's going on in this process where the 264 billion gallons of water used in the meme do not return to a liquid state?
I would appreciate any insight into the process that seems to defy this cycle that I am missing. Like I said prior, my knowledge of this process ended in middle school science class so I'm confident that I'm missing something.
Thanks for your time!
That’s insane. I simply assumed they were closed loop systems because it makes sense. When I worked with HVAC systems, that’s all they ever were.
Wow.
Open loop is basically "use evaporative cooling to reduce electricity use". For example, you could spray water on your home AC condenser to boost efficiency, although home units obviously aren't intended to be constantly wet. Cooling towers are designed to be constantly wet and their radiator structures are very different, but the concept is the same.
All because a few trillion-dollar companies want lower electricity bills. Fuck, humans can be such greedy assholes.
I've always wondered why they don't divert the water that condenses onto the cold evaporator coil to the hot condenser coil to cool it. I think some window units do it. I guess it would cause dust to accumulate faster or something.