Replacing coal with nuclear - thermal re-power project

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Cujet said:
It is interesting to note that a residential combined heat and power setup can achieve stunning efficiency. Such a setup includes a small and efficient generator, using the engine's heat and exhaust heat to directly heat the home, and the generator output to power the heat pump. The result is amazing and can be over unity.
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Agree on the combine heat + power. I think this is what most SOFC promoters were trying to sell. However for residential to do that it may not be cost effective against utility scale or industrial scale, and we will likely have excess investment that is wasted (do you really use heat all day, are you selling your electricity to the grid at below cost, do you need to remodel your home to accept this hunk of equipment, are you responsible for any depreciation and failure of the equipment).
 

Building small modular reactor.

The utility I work for announced yesterday their intent to build a modular nuclear reactor powerplant in Wyoming at an existing plant site. I will be long retired when it is complete but I welcome the news. Looks like Warren Buffett and Bill gates realized they can't take it with them...
bobistheoilguy.com
 
Cujet said:
Only under tightly controlled conditions and ambient outside temperatures above a certain limit. That limit often being 32F or 40F. The conditions require a combined cycle power plant, without the use of NG peaker plants.

During colder temps, such as during a northern night, and when peaker plants are used, there is no advantage to heat pumps. Furthermore, once the resistance heat strips come on, 'fuel consumed vs heat produced' drops to abysmal levels.

So, if you live in Virginia, have a combined cycle power plant and no combination of inefficient electrical power generation, heat pumps do "rule".

It is interesting to note that a residential combined heat and power setup can achieve stunning efficiency. Such a setup includes a small and efficient generator, using the engine's heat and exhaust heat to directly heat the home, and the generator output to power the heat pump. The result is amazing and can be over unity.
Click to expand...
We use GTG waste heat recovery for facilities in cold climates. Heat medium (glycol) is circulating to many places and this helps greatly reduce the demand for heat tracing … It’s also an intrinsically safe way to bring heat to zoned areas.
 
Cujet said:
Only under tightly controlled conditions and ambient outside temperatures above a certain limit. That limit often being 32F or 40F. The conditions require a combined cycle power plant, without the use of NG peaker plants.

During colder temps, such as during a northern night, and when peaker plants are used, there is no advantage to heat pumps. Furthermore, once the resistance heat strips come on, 'fuel consumed vs heat produced' drops to abysmal levels.

So, if you live in Virginia, have a combined cycle power plant and no combination of inefficient electrical power generation, heat pumps do "rule".

It is interesting to note that a residential combined heat and power setup can achieve stunning efficiency. Such a setup includes a small and efficient generator, using the engine's heat and exhaust heat to directly heat the home, and the generator output to power the heat pump. The result is amazing and can be over unity.
Click to expand...


A rarely used ( probably mostly because of the additional cost ) heat-pump set-up that in most applications can perform when outdoor temperatures drop to what is normally too low for a heat-pump, are units that have an under-ground heat source farm. And an even better and more expensive system with an underground heat source farm would be one that also has a traditional outdoor evaporator with fan and the ability to switch from underground to ambient air to hold in reserve the underground heat source if the underground in general has too little heat to provide heat for an entire heating season.
 
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PandaBear said:
Like Hawaii? Philippine? Taiwan? Japan?

We are lucky we live in a big nation with natural gas pipelines. Many part of the world buy them by the liquified shipload and they aren't cheap
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Yes - have seen LNG tankers under construction in Korea - giant Thermos bottles ❄️
 
42272378-2B30-4AE3-8771-65098655B729.jpeg
 
PandaBear said:
Like Hawaii? Philippine? Taiwan? Japan?

We are lucky we live in a big nation with natural gas pipelines. Many part of the world buy them by the liquified shipload and they aren't cheap
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I would actually know more about that business and those places than you … maybe you could recognize sarcasm one day and quit trying to help the less fortunate here …
 
4WD said:
I would actually know more about that business and those places than you … maybe you could recognize sarcasm one day and quit trying to help the less fortunate here …
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Maybe you do, I'm not being sarcastic. Let's look at what they use there for daily transit: scooters or moped.

They sell gas ones all over the world, they cause a lot of pollutions where they are popular. China banned them, so they sell electric version because people are not going back to bicycles like before the 90s. So they are now mostly electric scooters.

Do you think if Chinese starts selling the equivalent of those $4500 EV to replace those $9000 gasoline Kei cars, they will not buy those $4500 EV?

Or do you think the rest of the world is all Tesla vs Silverado V8?
 
PandaBear said:
Maybe you do, I'm not being sarcastic. Let's look at what they use there for daily transit: scooters or moped.

They sell gas ones all over the world, they cause a lot of pollutions where they are popular. China banned them, so they sell electric version because people are not going back to bicycles like before the 90s. So they are now mostly electric scooters.

Do you think if Chinese starts selling the equivalent of those $4500 EV to replace those $9000 gasoline Kei cars, they will not buy those $4500 EV?

Or do you think the rest of the world is all Tesla vs Silverado V8?
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Have lived half my life overseas since 1991 … Many countries and their people … I was being sarcastic with Snag …
Read your comments - how assuming can one get …
 
4WD said:
But, who would live in such a place ? 😷
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Much of the rural northeast does not have natural gas service. Heating oil was dominant for decades, but propane continues to gain marketshare. We use a heat pump in the fall and spring, but it can’t even come close to shouldering the load when it is below 0F outside.
 
Rob_Roy said:
Much of the rural northeast does not have natural gas service. Heating oil was dominant for decades, but propane continues to gain marketshare. We use a heat pump in the fall and spring, but it can’t even come close to shouldering the load when it is below 0F outside.
Click to expand...
something mentioned here before by myself and others - electricity certainly struggles to heat like gas does
gas is easy to get where I live - yet cheap developers build all electric homes … no way I’d buy one
 
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