Laminar Flow Leapfrog Fountain

I went to Disney World when I was 15 years old with my family. While we were there we visited the Epcot center. We were walking around looking at the attractions when we came across this very unique fountain. This fountain would shoot a jet of water about 4 feet long and where it landed another jet would shoot another jet of water making it appear as the water was jumping around. I was fascinated with the fountain and probably played with it for an hour.

Ever since I saw that fountain I always wanted one. Now I'm in the position where I can make my own. I thought that it would be easy. I thought I could tie it into my sprinkler system and use sprinkler valves to make it jump. NOOOOOOOO, DISNEY would never make it that simple. As I started to look into the fountain and how I would build it I came across some very interesting information. The nozzles that they used weren't your typical nozzle that just shoots water. They are special nozzles. These nozzles take the turbulent flow and turns it into a laminar flow. For those that don't speak geekspeak, the nozzle takes the water and organizes it puts it back together so that the water is all traveling at the same speed! This "organization" produces a crystal clear stream throughout the entire arc. If you are good enough you can't even tell that the water is moving because the entire arc looks the same.

So I've done my research and read through a dozen different patents on the laminar flow nozzles. I've been working on a way to make your own laminar nozzle. So the black thing in the picture that is shooting out the water is my laminar nozzle. I've been working on this for about 2 weeks now, and have had some pretty good results. Nothing perfect but good results. This is the second test. The first test I didn't record! WHAT KIND OF MAD SCIENTIST DOESN'T RECORD HIS TEST RESULTS?!?!

TEST 1

Setup:
The lamiar nozzle is attached to a garden hose #1. The nozzle was setup with an incline. The valve is fully open.

The Laminar nozzle setup includes the coffee straws, and a .5 countersink hole in the cap.

Results:
The flow wasn't entirely laminar, in fact I suspect that it was more in the transitional flow. At the orfice the flow was semi-organized and clear but with "veins" that looked like rifling. As the stream progressed the water became more and more broken-up. The arc was about 4' wide.

TEST 2
Setup:
The lamiar nozzle is attached to a garden hose #1. The nozzle was setup with an incline. The valve is fully open.

The Laminar nozzle setup includes the coffee straws, and a .5 countersink hole in the cap, and a 3" thick sponge that was cut into 4" diameter circle to fit inside the nozzle right by the inlet.

Results:
As you can see the results are much more clear and focused. There are still issues with the water at the outlet. It appears that the water has a "rifling" look to it. The water doesn't break up at all throughout the entire stream.

Mab Laboratory

I always wanted to be an evil genius. I have TWO main problems with that:

First, I'm not very mad. I'm not mad in either sense of the word. I'm not an angry person, nor am I crazy. At least, I don't consider myself mad.

Second, I'm not a genius. That's the real bummer. =( I keep trying to come up with something really creative, that everyone wants, that takes no money to start, and let the royality checks come rolling in, but that hasn't happened yet.

I am, however, very passionate about engineering, building, creating, and being creative, and as such this leads me to one of my favorite things to do PROJECTS! This blog will be a tribute to both success and failure of my projects. Hopefully there will be more of the former and less of the latter.

Welcome and enjoy your stay. Please comment on anything you like or make suggestions that you have for billion dollar ideas.