yeah, there's modern versions of the same thing doing without the wick and relying on a very very fine mist of water from high pressure, less energy efficient.
if you want to know how it works next time you go out for a drive hang a wet flannel out the window at 50 mph for a few miles.
the mechanism is "phase change" and "latent heat" etc
doesn't actually matter what liquid you use, the principle works the same for everything, you could use benzine or ammonia and get the same result, but with other attendant problems.. water is non toxic, non flammable and in most places not in short supply.
the arabic style of a tower somewhere to absorb heat and "chimney" a thermal syphon creating a draft throughout the building is similar, esp if you surround the building with ornamental ponds and make the building with high ceilings and narrow windows... those "artistic" glazed tiles reflected a lot of heat too.
you can easlily get internal ambient temperatures 20 to 30 degrees farenheit lower with these systems for a sum total of zero energy input.
A/C just uses a pump and a nozzle to get the pressure drop required to make that phase change work in your chosen liquid.
in the old days gas powered refrigerators drove the system from the heat of a gas flame instead of mechanical motion.
the mechanical pump has the advantage you can put as much power into it as you like.
it is hugely wasteful to burn diesel to get rotating motion, then lose efficiency to convert that to electric, then lose efficiency to convert that to rotating motion, to power your phase change pump.... eliminate the electrical stage, and lose all those problems associated with starting electric motors under load, always a dumb idea if you can avoid it.
lister - petter still do a roaring trade today making small 1500 rpm units direct driving A/C units for truck trailers that are refrigerated.
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without wishing to be coming accross as anti american.....
yanks are blessed with vast resources, as a result, it's harder for them to think small.
my start-o-matic is rated at 2.5 kw ac electric output (ok it is built to take over rated output and power factor unity etc etc)
be honest, 2.5 kw ___is____ enough, IF you make everything else fit, eg flourescent bulbs instead of filament, electroluminescent for background lighting etc etc etc.
when pushed, such as arctic bases and spacecraft, americans can do this stuff.
when not pushed, hell, buy a 15 kw head, not enough? buy a 25 kw head
you don't *have* to sit there and say 5kw head and one 6/1, that's my limit, now how do I do this? and go looking for efficiency.
that's a shame, you lose out on a lot because of it.
a 1970 muscle car with a 440 etc etc is cool.
but
a 1970 MG midget with an 80 cube 4 pot can be one hell of a lot of fun too, and it will do the same journeys, just in a different way.
I always get the feeling in here that some of you are buying 40 year old MG midgets, and working on them to make them quarter milers, with the way you deal with lister(oids) when the real beauty was keeping the MG as standard and working on your other alternatives to get the same result.
none of you NEED more than 5 KW.
you only consume more than that now because efficiency is your lowest priority.
go on an efficiency drive and make everything work within that 5 KW and peak oil or not, veg powered lister or not, economic crash or not, you are going to learn a hell of a lot, and save a hell of a lot of money, year on year on year, even if you never fire up a lister again.
sometime I'll show you an picture of my domestic heating unit. it may surprise you.