[GSBN] Update on Emerald Floods.

[Derek Roff]

A few reactions the ideas below.

6.  The dehumidifier sounds useful as long as the atmospheric humidity  
remains high.  However, if the air outside the building is really  
damp, I don't know how much success will come from drying the inside  
air.  Can the inside be sealed from significant air movement to/from  
outside (ie, windows and doors closed, no large gaps)?  If atmospheric  
humidity goes down, you can probably pull out more moisture with open  
windows and doors, plus fans, for lots of air movement.

7.  I'm guessing that the migration of humidity into the water  
crystals will be fairly slow, at least after the first cycle.  I would  
suspect you could get more drying with air movement.  After record  
rains in Washington DC soaked the first row of bales in a  
demonstration ecohouse, we had good luck reducing the moisture levels  
in the bales by as much as 20% in a day or so, by removing multiple  
cores (~70mm diameter) of straw, and blowing air towards/into the  
resulting hollow spaces.  Our highest moisture levels were around  
40%.  Your levels are so much higher that this technique may not  
work.  Laura Bartels led the way on this idea, and may have more to  
say.  When the bales were dry enough, we stuffed the holes with loose  
straw.

9.  Compressed gasses are very dry, and releasing them can cause local  
cooling to temperatures below where mold likes to grow.  It would be  
worth checking to see how the molds that you have like CO2.  Some  
microbes like it, some like air.  You might get better mold  
suppression with pure nitrogen, or another available compressed gas.

Good luck,

Derelict

Derek Roff
Language Learning Center
Ortega Hall 129, MSC03-2100
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
505/277-7368, fax 505/277-3885
Internet: derek at unm.edu


On Jan 11, 2011, at 10:19 AM, Chris Newton wrote:

> 6. With the current humidity natural evaporation may only be a  
> couple of mm per day. I found this machine that does 28 litres per  
> day. Any thoughtshttp://www.dampsolutions.com.au/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/1/products_id/3
> 7. Core the width of bale and place socks fill with water crystals  
> and change these as needed. Water crystals draw in moisture and hold  
> up to 400 times their weight in moisture.
> 8. Re render with positive air displacement tubes and fans
> 9. CO2 into bales

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