Hypothetical Illustration # 2: Cloud city part 1

Hello Steemians, welcome to another series of Hypothetical Illustration. Today topic is about Cloud city. For those who might not know what is a cloud city, Cloud city is a manmade structure that naturally float in the middle of the sky or atmosphere with minimum mechanical engine to provide lift.

If you are a Sci-fi fan, you might see this idea in movie like Star Wars.

Cloud City

Due to it is a science fiction structure, size, shapes and the structure integrity are only limited by the designer imagination. As science and technology advance, the idea became more feasible. This is because we might be able to build a cloud city on our sister planet, Venus. The reason of building the city on Venus is due to extreme hazardous environment on the surface of the planet that could reach a temperature at 462 degrees Celsius and a surface pressure of 95bar (equivalent to diving at 900 meters on earth). However, the planet sky or just above the dense cloud surface has a temperature of ranging from 30 to 80 degrees Celsius, with minor assistant of mechanical ventilation, it could support living organism, especially human being.

Planet Venus

How the cloud city on Venus works?

Due to the planet atmosphere are 96.5% Carbon Dioxide (CO2), any light weight structure that hold less dense gasses such as helium gas or oxygen gas could naturally float above the sky. Imagine a gigantic airship, but fill with helium or oxygen.

The closest thing that represent a cloud city is an airship, the Hindenburg airship.

Hindenburg airship

The airship is 245 m long and 41.2 meter in diameter, and I believe image below well illustrated the size of the airship.

Image Source

This floating machine will constantly be staying afloat, if the lifting gas inside are unable to escape. The lifting power is thanks to its enormous gas capacity with a volume of 200,000 cubic meter. However, due to the air density on earth is less dense, it only can hold 90 people at a time.

By using the hindernbug airship as a standard model, we could calculate how feasible is it on Planet Venus. So, I calculated by using buoyant force equation.

Buoyant force Calculation on Venus done By Author

Buoyant force Calculation on Earth done By Author

Based on the calculation, Venus are 98% more buoyancy than on Earth. So, what are the population size it can hold on a floating platform (Based on Hindenburg gross weight, and gas volume) on Venus.

Calculation was done By Author

Note* All the calculation above may not totally correct and represent a functional system, this is due the calculation does not account several factors such as air pressure, wind and temperature.

Once a giant airship that could carry 90 people on earth, now with similar gas volume (but with Oxygen) could carry 160,900 people. With 11 more of this floating giant in the Planet Venus sky, it could sustain the only global city* in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur approx. 1.73million people.

Definition of Global City
In extreme, 53 of it could support the population of New York, United Stated of America.

The reason of using oxygen is because the Planet Venus atmosphere are fill with unlimited supply of Carbon Dioxide that are ready to be convert into Oxygen gases (photosynthesis or breaking down Carbon dioxide chemical bond with powerful laser or ultraviolet).

Conclusion

Why Venus? Why going through all the trouble to settling on this hazardous planet? My answer would be Technology need to progress, and our system provided us various testing ground that one day we might find another exoplanet similar to Venus, and we are ready to habit it in second.

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End note

Hope you guys enjoying it and please do drop us comments and resteem to spread the word to your fellow friends. We look forward for the contents that will use the tag #archisteem :)

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This is an #archisteem post.

A new tag that is to curate our existing built environment and also future built environment development. Want to know more? Read here.

Find me @cklai

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