On the overlooked importance of the energy (heat) sink. Part 1.
We know from OTEC - Ocean_Thermal_Energy_Conversion - that even warm
water can provide megawatts of power, so long as there is a readily
available heat sink.
In the case of OTEC- we find that warm surface water is working against
cool deep water. The delta T is not high, indicating that overall
efficiency is FAR less important for producing inexpensive energy
without fossil fuel, than is the all important "access" to a good energy
sink. The most important feature of this system is the heat-sink.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_thermal_energy_conversion
Correspondingly, even in a nuclear power plant the most expensive
subsystem, surprisingly, is the cooling tower. The installed cost of
these enormous structures is typically double the cost of the reactor
itself.
Now, there is another viable contender for converting low grade heat -
such as is found in many areas of the USA (geothermal heat):
http://www.ergenics.com/page27.htm
This device uses H2 - BUT not as fuel, instead H2 is the 'working
medium.' As a working medium it can benefit from hydriding, which is a
maturing technology which has been in development for decades, for H2
storage.
Here is an impressive video demonstration:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DSVRBKhK-jYU&ei=aHc8R5C-IZKGhAO2qsn4CA&usg=AFQjCNFH3YY3Rsg4rmwfa1OmhpX8q_XTjA&sig2=UBZWcpSDFCxKtu97oCp6kg
There are a few actual medium sized installations already of the
ergenics system out there, so it is not 'merely' in the prototype stage,
as are so many things we tend to focus on as partial solutions to the
energy crisis.
The interesting thing about geothermal - is that it can be boosted
easily during daytime with focused solar energy using cheap troughs -
yet even ergenics has been slow to realize this synergy.
Jones
BTW this sub-category of heat-sink is important for thermal conversion
of low grade heat, but is only part of the importance of the larger
subject of "energy sink" ... and perhaps the most important version oft
that may be yet to be realized.
