How check valves brew coffee and launch rockets.
Coffee is a fuel for many people.
Thanks to a simple solution this fuel can
be brewed easily and cheaply.
Check valves are used to prevent the flow
of liquids and gases in the opposite direction.
As seen in my drip coffee machine video, a
simple and cheap ball check valve, prevents
heated water from flowing back to the reservoir.
This effectively creates what’s called a
bubble pump, which moves heated water from
beneath the hot plate, to the top of the machine
using air bubbles.
From there the heated water drips down onto
the coffee grounds.
Rockets also need fuel.
Instead of coffee they can run on something
very toxic: Hypergolic propellant.
Hypergolic means, when these two components
meet, they spontaneously ignite, creating
an instant, powerful reaction.
Bipropellant rockets carry two tanks: One
for a fuel, the other for an oxidizer.
You’ll want this stuff flowing in one direction
only: Out.
The benefit of these volatile liquids they
also don’t need an ignition system, and
the reaction can be stopped and started.
This allows for more control options of the
craft.
Here’s a bonus fact; did you know there
are even check valves in your veins and heart?
These make sure your blood flows in the right
direction.
There are many different types of check valve,
and you’ll find them in your body, steam
engines, nuclear power plants, spacecraft and your coffee maker.
Do you want to know - for instance - how nuclear power works?
Let me know in the comments below.
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