[TheForge] OT Urethane foam. was inflatable castle
Dann Johnson
[email protected]
Fri Mar 19 14:18:01 2004
Bruce,
Back in the early 1970s say 1973 first OPEC oil embargo,
I remember about dome homes, dome restaurants, being built with sections=
=20
of blow up balloons, then sprayed on foam, then sprayed on epoxy sealer=20
paint. The interior was sometimes sprayed to give the interior a=20
real cave like look. I suppose that some of these are still=20
around, but there was a fire in one of the foam cave restaurants, and that=
=20
made the news.
This got even more real to me when a soil scientist friend of mine bought=
=20
one that had come up for sale on 2 acres in SE Minnesota for $3 k and=20
moved his family into it. With a 5 inch foam shell, it was cheap to heat=
=20
and cool.
Dann
At 01:21 PM 3/19/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>I suspect the chemistry of polyurethane foam could be altered to meet the=
=20
>challenge.
>
>But maybe there's an alternative. All you need do is fill space and=20
>restrict convection.
>
>Back to double-wall idea (inflatable structure), but fill space with some=
=20
>bubbling substance that neither hardens nor freezes. Like alcohol-based=20
>soapsuds. But long-lasting. Would need to identify such a=20
>substance. Use a pump to generate both inflation and suds.
>
>Bruce
>NJ
>
> >>> [email protected] 3/19/2004 12:24:11 PM >>>
>Down is a poor choice, it loses about 95% of it's insulating properties=
when
>wet, of course modern synthetics don't suffer this limitation and in cold
>country you only see down in comforters any more.
>
>Regardless, you need shelter against the weather. I have a bag rated
>for -140f (no typo) and though it would keep you warm almost anywhere on
>earth if you tried sleeping in the open wind driven snow would entomb and
>suffocate you. Wind drifted snow can be hard enough to drive a dump truck
>over.
>
>Urethane is temperature sensitive, much below 50f and it takes forever to
>set and doesn't expand to capacity.
>
>Directing a foam into a suitable shape is easy enough, a double wall with
>ties between the walls to keep a proper thickness works fine. A spray
>application won't work unless the conditions are ideal in which case you
>wouldn't need a fast construction technique.
>
>The system would also need to be small and light enough small plane pilots
>wouldn't have to sacrifice much cargo space and weight.
>
>Frosty
>------------------------
>If it ain't forged
>it ain't real.
>Wrought iron is.
>The FrostWorks
>
>Meadow Lakes, AK.
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Bruce Freeman" <[email protected]>
>To: <[email protected]>
>Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 5:56 AM
>Subject: [TheForge] OT Urethane foam. was inflatable castle
>
>
>I haven't read up on urethane foam. I take it the commercial stuff doesn't
>work at low temperatures?
>
>There's probably an easy fix. Encorporate an exothermic reaction in the
>mix, somehow. Shake the bottle, hit the trigger and out comes warm liquid
>(like "Great Stuff" =AE)) that foams and sets.
>
>Now, how to direct the stuff into a useful shelter form.
>
>Wouldn't a down sleeping bag be easier?
>
>Bruce
>NJ
>
> >>> [email protected] 3/18/2004 4:33:30 PM >>>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Bruce Freeman" <[email protected]>
>To: <[email protected]>
>Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2004 11:31 AM
>Subject: RE: [TheForge] inflatable castle
>
>
>As I'm sure I've bored everyone here with the telling, I used to live=
nearly
>year round in a tent on the job. And while the market in large inflatable
>structures may have early entrants there is still the small structure
>market. Tents.
>
>You just haven't lived if you haven't had to set up a tent in a sleet=
storm.
>I don't know how many times I wished for my old Coleman "Pop Tent" even
>though it was about as water proof as a cheap blanket. What I designed
>instead was a tent with inflatable "poles". It had an integral rain fly,
>floor, bug netting, windows and even a stovepipe jack.
>
>I intended it to be inflated with bottled nitrogen for it's low coefficient
>of expansion (thermal). Of course a person could use a hand pump if there's
>no hurry but being able to just toss the thing on the ground and pull a
>trigger is a major draw in foul weather.
>
>So Bruce, while there're already dogs in the large inflatable structures
>race, I think there's still a place for the small ones. Lastly, here's
>something for the chemist in you. If you can come up with an insulating=
foam
>like urethane that will react and set quickly in sub-zero temps you could
>save many lives with self inflating emergency shelters.
>
>Frosty
>------------------------
>If it ain't forged
>it ain't real.
>Wrought iron is.
>The FrostWorks
>
>Meadow Lakes, AK.
>
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