[Stoves] coriolis or simple inertia

[Paul S. Anderson]

Michael, Richard, and all,

As a geography professor (now retired), I have considered the Coriolis Effect
and taught about it.  As cold air high in the atmosphere descends toward earth
in the mega-high-pressure areas over the oceans, the air is given a 
spin and it
spirals downward clockwise (viewed from above) in the Northern 
Hemisphere.  So,
air can be impacted by the Coriolis Effect.

The winds drive the ocean currents.

And the draining water I have seen and admired in both north and south
hemispheres.

BUT in all my stove work, I have never noticed (nor come to a conclusion) that
the swirl of the flame changes directions in north and south hemispheres.  I
refer to natural draft TLUD fired up on 4 continents.  However, I have not
tried hard to get the movement to go in the opposite direction.

My opinion is that at such as small scale in size and volume/mass, the 
movement
of air in a flame is impacted by too many other factors to have 
evidence of the
Coriolis Effect.  But I could be wrong.

Personally, I like the air injecting strongly toward the center to get the
mixing.  A swirl possibly delays the arrival of the air-oxygen to the central
part of the gases, resulting in a taller flame.

Paul
-- 
Paul S. Anderson, Ph.D., Geography professor - Emeritus
Telephone:  USA-309-452-7072 (residence and office)
Internet site:  www.ilstu.edu/~psanders
For my gasifier stoves info, go to:
http://bioenergylists.org/contributors#Paul_Anderson



----------------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent using Illinois State University Webmail.