The next generation of gas cooled small modular reactors will offer high level
process heat, useful for mobilizing oil sands and oil shale, fertilizer
production and many other industrial processes. Thus more of the waste heat may
be utilized, rather than lost to the environment.
----- Original Message -----
From: Chemical Engineer
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 7:26 PM
Subject: Re: [Vo]:The first real NiH reactor
The travesty of the existing grid is that only 25-45% of the fossil energy
produced in heat and elec. at the utility company ever makes it to the end
user. The rest goes out the stack/cooling tower/river or ocean water as
Polution to the environment
On Monday, February 20, 2012, Alain Sepeda wrote:
I agree.
the grid will not die, but will change from a delivery grid to an exchange
grid.
for me it is like internet.
internet did nt kill the mainframe, but replaced it by servers that behave
like
big or small mainframes, providing different services, organized according
to the needs, but
also to the orgianization of the producer of content...
of course ther is still home production, but less than at the begining,
and alos there is an organized exchange platform, like CHP can be.
mainframe are no more the only allowed technology, but big internet servers
exists
2012/2/20 Robert Lynn <[email protected]>
The key issue is that household electricity demand averages about
0.3-1.5kW, but can spike up to 10kW with aircon, ovens, hairdryers, clothes
dryers, toasters, kettles, lawnmowers, powertools etc. It is very hard to make
a system that can cover such a range efficiently or cheaply.
Currently even the best batteries are very expensive ($0.03/kWh), but
grid supplies are typically $0.07-0.01/kWh (on top of the cost of electricity
at a large powerplant).
A neighbourhood micro-grid is a good compromise - it evens out the loads
and can handle the spikes in demand from individual houses with no trouble so
you don't need to have a home generator capable of high peak power, or any
energy storage, but you don't have to pay for the maintenance of large
transformers, substations and transmission lines. And if your generator needs
maintenance you will still have power. A neighbourhood microgrid will be low
voltage, transformerless and will probably add <$0.02/kWh to the cost of
electricity. It might involve small generators in each house (heat and power)
with electricity shared between all houses to cover power spikes, or it might
be a centralized generator of 50-1000kW.
That said all sizes of generators will be used from 100's of MW for
industrial uses to 10's of kW for factories to 1-5kW with energy storage for
stand alone and rural and 100's of W for communication towers or lighting.
On 20 February 2012 22:13, Chemical Engineer <[email protected]> wrote:
In the future, I think the industrial sector will become independent
power producers supplying all of their own needs and act as a backup for local
communities. Utility companies will become obsolete long term. I hope LENR
will be the boost that US manufacturing needs to cut costs, expand and boost
production and get jobs back in the US (unless China gets it first...)
On Monday, February 20, 2012, Jed Rothwell wrote:
Axil Axil <[email protected]> wrote:
The economy of scale says that one room sized CO2 supercritical
electric turbine is far more economical then 10 million sterling electric power
generators.
I doubt it. Not when you include the cost of the wires, substations,
the people who repair the wires after storms and so on.
If you are a standalone survivalist, have the capital and the
square footage to install your own power system . . .
You are forgetting that a standalone system also functions as a
heating and thermal airconditioning system. It eliminate electricity and gas
and replaces the furnace, the airconditioner and the water heater. Your
supercritical turbine cannot do all that.
I have my open HVAC system at my house, and my own washer, dried and
refrigerator. It might be more "efficient" to use district heating and pump
steam through pipes for heat, the way they do at the campus at Cornell U. But
it is not worth the trouble.
Look at it this way. Automobiles are very inefficient. Everyone has
his own, and they sit in the parking lot all day. Trains, buses or taxis make
much better use of equipment, take up less space and cost far less. In cities
such as Paris, the cars are crammed together. But we like to have individual
ones because it is so convenient.
It will not be more "convenient" to have one or two generators at
home (one for backup) because no one cares where electricity comes from, but it
will be cheaper and simpler in the long run, and that trumps efficiency.
Eventually, thermoelectric power supplies will be built into
everything. Everything from watches to refrigerators the automobiles will be
self-powered. There will be no electric wires. It will be a lot safer.
Note that refrigerators will use mainly heat, rather than electricity.
- Jed
