Re: [geo] nuclear powered DAC

[M.Hori]

To List About ten years ago, there were several studies to use low value steam of nuclear power plants (Light-Water Reactors) for producing ethanol from corn. One such review article 'Producing ethanol from corn using nuclear-generated steam' by Charles Forsberg of Oak Ridge National Laboratory begins as follows; “THE PRODUCTION OF fuel ethanol from corn increased from about 1.6 billion gallons per year in 2000 to 5 billion gal/year in 2006, and further large expansions in production are predicted. More than half of the nonsolar energy required for ethanol production, from growing the corn to converting it to fuel grade alcohol, is for low-temperature heat to distill the alcohol and dry the animal feed by-products. For a large ethanol plant producing 100 million gallons of fuel ethanol per year, about 80 MWt of steam is required, which represents a potential market for 150-psi (about 180 °C) steam from existing light-water nuclear power plants. This low-temperature steam is of lower value for electricity production, but it could significantly improve ethanol economics, create an expanded market for nuclear energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce foreign oil imports.” You can download this PDF from http://www.ans.org/pubs/magazines/nn/docs/2007-3-3.pdf Regards, Masao Hori   Nuclear Systems Association   1-7-6 Toranomon, Tokyo, 105-0001 JAPAN     Tel: (81) 90-9683-1132 (Portable)   Email: mh...@mxb.mesh.ne.jp ---------------------------- Ronal W. Larson wrote on 2017/09/19 8:07: David:  cc List I agree that DAC is not likely a good choice for a few years - but there are hundreds of companies producing biochar today with a good bit of hot CO2 release.  Most has to be thought of as essentially free.  And the gas is carbon neutral - with hopes of increasing the overall carbon negativity of the process. Check the IBI website for some of the companies involved.   On Oct 8-10 you could attend a meeting in Stockholm discussing that city’s biochar production (and maybe CO2 release).   I think this is running without subsidy. Ron On Sep 18, 2017, at 7:34 AM, David Sevier <david.sev...@carbon-cycle.co.uk> wrote: In light of the thermal energy burden, I am wondering if you could combine a small nuclear pile such as a small modular swimming pool reactor (once described as the only nuclear power plant design that anyone ever made profit from) as a heat source without generating electricity with DAC. A number of DAC processes need heat either at or below 1000C. A small nuclear reactor should be able to supply this. If the requirement to raise steam and generate electricity are removed, the cost of the plant and the cost per KWH of heat should be significantly lower. Such an operation would not make sense in the early years of DAC but later when scale up becomes much larger and the world gets serious about DAC, then this could make sense. Look forward to comments and discussion. Swimming pool reactors had a good safety record (as far as I am aware), were not that expensive to build and were not terrible to decommission.      David Sevier Carbon Cycle Limited 248 Sutton Common Road Sutton, Surrey SM3 9PW England Tel 44 (0)208 288 0128 Fax 44 (0)208-288 0129   This email is private and confidential    <image001.png>   <image002.png>     --  You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to geoengineering+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to geoengineering@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to geoengineering+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to geoengineering@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to geoengineering+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to geoengineering@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.