Solar Steam, Wind Tubines, etc
In regards to the lifespan and reliability of solar steam, solar Stirling engine, or wind turbines, I believe we could learn something from some of the better practices of car, TV, and other product manufactuers.
Like this:
https://youtu.be/GO-v2yxvQ6U?t=161
Also, many automobiles are subjected to extensive, rigorous testing, to simulate the effects of aging due to a variety of factors, like fast driving, rough roads, acceleration, low maintenance, going over bumps quickly, heat, cold, etc. After this extensive testing the entire car is taken apart and every piece, no matter how small, is inspected for wear.
This is what should be done with solar steam, solar Stirling engines, and wind turbines. Older solar steam plants, Solar Stirling engines, and wind turbines could be completely taken apart and every piece, no matter how small should be inspected to see if they wear, how much they wear, which components wear down more quickly, which less quickly.
This can greatly improve the design of future steam plants to increase it's usable life span and reduce break downs.
These testing procedures could also be extended to solar panels, old solar panels whose power output have decreased significantly could be inspected at the nano-meter scale to determine the causes of power decline over time. The information gained through this could be used to build solar panels with a much longer lifetime.
As a side note it was mentioned that solar steam plants in the desert require water to run the steam turbine. Clearly in the desert there isn't much water, so it would be best to store or import the water in a large reservoir and then reuse the water that is expelled from the turbine.
As stated in a previous post, often the water expelled from the steam turbine is at a temperature higher than the environment. So, in a traditional energy production system, we have two (or possibly more) choices:
1. Cool the water expelled from the turbine and use it again in a closed system.
2. Expel the water from the turbine into the environment and bring in cool water from the environment, in an open system.
Both methods are wasteful, the first method, the closed method has the advantage that water is recycled and new water does not need to brought in. Instead of cooling water that is used closed system in large radiators, it is far better to pass the water/steam mix expelled by the main steam turbine into a heat exchanger to boil a liquid with a lower boiling temperature than that of water like isobutane and then pass the isobutane vapor through a turbine.
So the ideal solar steam power plant, say located in a desert, would used a closed cooling system. All the water necessary to operate the steam turbine(s) continuously would be contained in a large reservoir. The water/steam mix expelled by the steam turbine would be cooled by passing it through a heat exchanger to boil isobutane or some other substance with a boiling temperature lower than the steam/water mix.
The isobutane vapor would then generate even more electricity by passing through a turbine. If the isobutane vapor/liquid mix expelled by the isobutane turbine is a temperature higher than the environment, then an additional heat exchanger could be used to boil a substance with a boiling temperature lower than isobutane vapor/liquid mix, which could then run an even smaller turbine, to extract even more electrical power.
Like this:
https://youtu.be/GO-v2yxvQ6U?t=161
Also, many automobiles are subjected to extensive, rigorous testing, to simulate the effects of aging due to a variety of factors, like fast driving, rough roads, acceleration, low maintenance, going over bumps quickly, heat, cold, etc. After this extensive testing the entire car is taken apart and every piece, no matter how small, is inspected for wear.
This is what should be done with solar steam, solar Stirling engines, and wind turbines. Older solar steam plants, Solar Stirling engines, and wind turbines could be completely taken apart and every piece, no matter how small should be inspected to see if they wear, how much they wear, which components wear down more quickly, which less quickly.
This can greatly improve the design of future steam plants to increase it's usable life span and reduce break downs.
These testing procedures could also be extended to solar panels, old solar panels whose power output have decreased significantly could be inspected at the nano-meter scale to determine the causes of power decline over time. The information gained through this could be used to build solar panels with a much longer lifetime.
As a side note it was mentioned that solar steam plants in the desert require water to run the steam turbine. Clearly in the desert there isn't much water, so it would be best to store or import the water in a large reservoir and then reuse the water that is expelled from the turbine.
As stated in a previous post, often the water expelled from the steam turbine is at a temperature higher than the environment. So, in a traditional energy production system, we have two (or possibly more) choices:
1. Cool the water expelled from the turbine and use it again in a closed system.
2. Expel the water from the turbine into the environment and bring in cool water from the environment, in an open system.
Both methods are wasteful, the first method, the closed method has the advantage that water is recycled and new water does not need to brought in. Instead of cooling water that is used closed system in large radiators, it is far better to pass the water/steam mix expelled by the main steam turbine into a heat exchanger to boil a liquid with a lower boiling temperature than that of water like isobutane and then pass the isobutane vapor through a turbine.
So the ideal solar steam power plant, say located in a desert, would used a closed cooling system. All the water necessary to operate the steam turbine(s) continuously would be contained in a large reservoir. The water/steam mix expelled by the steam turbine would be cooled by passing it through a heat exchanger to boil isobutane or some other substance with a boiling temperature lower than the steam/water mix.
The isobutane vapor would then generate even more electricity by passing through a turbine. If the isobutane vapor/liquid mix expelled by the isobutane turbine is a temperature higher than the environment, then an additional heat exchanger could be used to boil a substance with a boiling temperature lower than isobutane vapor/liquid mix, which could then run an even smaller turbine, to extract even more electrical power.
Comments
Post a Comment