I would agree with you completely if the cylinder were in direct contact with the water bath. But, it appears from the diagram that the water is located a distance from the cylinder and is not in direct contact. This configuration is a little like baking in an oven. The heat from the active device radiates, convects and undergoes a small amount of conduction as it finds its way to the surrounding water jacket. The water jacket can then radiate some energy back into the active cylinder to increase its temperature. Also, the elevated temperature air enclosed next to the device is trapped and heated as it attempts to convect heat away from the unit. The net effect of these two processes is to restrict the flow of heat originating within the cylinder. Increased thermal resistance at this point results in a greater thermal drop than would be seen had the device been able to operate into an open, low temperature environment.
Perhaps it would be more apparent had another liquid been used besides water. The same thought experiment would seem true had we used a hypothetical liquid metal that boiled at 500 degrees C. How about one that boils at 1200 C? In either of these three cases I would expect the active device to get hotter than had it been subjected to open air cooling. The trend is the same. Dave -----Original Message----- From: Jed Rothwell <jedrothw...@gmail.com> To: vortex-l <vortex-l@eskimo.com> Sent: Wed, Dec 31, 2014 3:45 pm Subject: Re: [Vo]:The MFMP replication effort live on youtube. David Roberson <dlrober...@aol.com> wrote: Jed, The setup used by MFMP uses the surrounding room temperature as the sink for heat generated within their device. Room temperature air. Water transfers heat a lot better. I'll bet there is a larger temperature difference between the inside and the outside of the cylinder with water. Maybe this play some sort of role in the reaction? I have heard of a temperature difference playing a role. That is speculation on my part, as I said. That should appear cooler to the actual heat generating device than a water cooled metal container which is at approximately 100 C. Cooler but less effective in removing heat. Like an air cooled internal combustion engine. - Jed
