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Show Page 5 Last In A Series Wednesday, Jan. 14, 1976 Conversion Alternatives by Dr. Val A. Finlayson 'Efficiency SOLAR Almost all of our energy resources except nuclear and the tides have their origin in solar tenergy. The sun is expected to continue burning for many billions of years. There are many options for solar energy conversion. Development in solar energy for both home heating and cooling and central power stations has two major areas of challenge; (1) reduction in the cost of the collector and (2) adequate storage systems. The biological options have very low efficiencies and are not considered feasible. The thermal cycle, utilizing a reflecting surface, to focus the sun's (rays on a pipe containing con-taining a working fluid and the extraction of energy with conventional turbines appears ap-pears -to show the earliest promise. Estimated costs for thermal conversion range from $l,100-kw to $3,000-kw in 1975 dollars while the cost for solar cells alone is $20,000-kw to $30,000-kw. Sonne solar heating systems exist in homes on an individual basis now. It is hoped that solar heating and cooling systems will be commercially available in FUSION Fusion is the reaction by which the sun and stars generate energy through the fusion of light elements, usually hydrogen, to form heavier ones. This is the opposite of nuclear fission in which heavy nuclei split apart. The first . controlled fusion reaction in a laboratory took place in 1958 at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in New Mexico. In order for the fusion reaction to ignite, the tern-, perature of the hydrogen or its isotopes, deuterium and tritium, must reach about 190 million degrees centegrade. Since no material on earth can withstand such temperatures, tem-peratures, magnetic fields or inertial confinement utilizing a laser must be used to hold the hot ionized gas (called a plasma) or the deuterium pellet until ignition and reaction take place. Most of the efforts of the pats have concentrated on various magnetic confinement techniques to trap the plasma. Present experiments require about 100 times more energy to ignite the reaction than is produced by it. ERDA estimates that by the "scientific non-combustibles like current electricity. The metals, glass, and dirt, moving hot ionized gas removed. The municipal solid replaces the rotating coil in a five to eiffht vnars The Vn Electric Power Research feasibility" of fusion might be Institute (EPRI) and the Federal government through NASA; both have major programs to construct and test solar heating and cooling systems. Many concepts have recently been espoused for central station electrical production from the sun. EPRI and ERDA are con-centijgting con-centijgting their research effort! on the central tower concept "which would use many mirrors to concentrate the sun's energy on a central tower; where water would be boiled to produce steam. A number of electrical utilities in the Western United States have been supporting a fixed mirror concentrator concept as an alternative. This concept utilizes a cylindrical mirror set in the ground which is designed to focus the sun's rays on a focal line parallel to the area of the mirror no matter from what direction the sun shines. A pipe carrying a gas or liquid is then brought in to this focus line where hot gas for a gas turbine or steam can be ' produced. A model has been constructed and a demonstration demon-stration sized segment is being designed. Very little has been done on energy storage systems for solar energy related to central power stations. The lead times required for research and development place central station solar power plants into the next century. Droved. "Scientific feasibility" is that condition where as much energy is released as is consumed by the process. During the last three years the Electric Power Research Institute dnd the Edison Electric Institute have funded the design of the Doublet III device which is now under construction with ERDA funds. This is the only device now under construction in the U.S. designed to prove fusion feasibility. The Electric Power Research Institute is now funding studies for an Experimental Fusion Power Reactor at General Atomic Company in San Diego. If all these projects are successful, waste produced by most cities has the potential of generating up to about 3 or 4 percent of their electrical needs. . ' , Present research is centered cen-tered around stack emissions with municipal solid waste and coal firing and the production of oil and gas from solid waste. Wind, until this century, served man by driving his ships, grinding grains, pumping water, and generating some electricity. Even during this century some development has been made on large-scale wind-driven wind-driven generators, but none has been ' economically competitive. Recently the Sandia Laboratory has evaluated the records from about 600 weather stations to provide the annual average wind power map. Wind power, per unit of area perpendicular to the flow, is proportional to one-half of the air density times the cube of the wind speed. It appears that the two areas in the Western U.S. having the highest winds are: (1) the ridge extending from Montana south through the western high plains to northern nor-thern Texas and (2) the Pacific northwest coast. Ocean Thermal gradients are most pronounced in the tropical oceans. ERDA plans to construct a 25 MW plant for operation in the early 1980's. It would pump cold water up from a depth of about 1000 feet and across a heat exchanger ex-changer containing am-monia; am-monia; The" ammonia would cdridense land' then vinorize a second heat ' exchanger carrying the warm surface water. The vaporized ammonia am-monia would drive a turbine generator. The temperature gradient along the Pacific Coast is about 15 degrees F in the winter and therefore does not appear very promising for early ocean-thermal simplified conventional electric generator. The exhaust gases from the MHD generator are subsequently passed through a steam generator for a steam cycle. The combination is expected to have efficiences exceeding 50 percent and is expected to be commercially available about the year 2000. Fuel Cell generators operate through a which is just the reverse of electrolysis. The fuel cell was discovered in 1839 and consisted con-sisted of an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte fluid. Hydrogen was fed to the anode where hydrogen ions were formed which released a flow of electrons to the cathode. The cathode took oxygen from the air, ionized it, and released the oxygen ions to travel through the electrolyte to the anode. Harmless nitrogen and water are the products of emission. Today's fuel cells obtain hydrogen from a reformer which takes natural gas through a chemical process to form hydrogen and carbon. Research and development ( are in progress on a 26 MW fuel cell . which might be placed at many sites in communities for power generation Reliability and materials problems are being emphasized. With the shortage of natural gas, new emphasis is being given to methods 'of producing hydrogen from water. :. Actual ' Thaw. Direct Conversion (Solar Cells) 5 to 11 18 Biological (AlgaeMethane) 1 to 2.5 3 Biological (GrainAlcohol) 1 1 Biological (Animal Methane) 1 1 Sea Thermal Gradients 1 ' 2 Thermocouple 2 to 4 7 Thermal (Hydrogen Dissociation) 1 ? Thermal (Thermodynamic Cycle) 2 to 4 30 sap Us the first demonstration of commercial fusion might be demonstration projects. The realized in the late 1990's with cost 0f ocean-thermal plants full use around 2020. Fusion estimated to be $2000 to offers an unlimited supply of 127000 per installed kilowatt, fuel from the oceans, Th Magnetohydrodynamics deuterium in one gallon of sea (MHD) promises increased water could produce the efficiency from the corn-equivalent corn-equivalent energy through bustion of fossil fuels. Since fusion that one obtains from coal is our most abundant 300 gallons of gasoline. ... fossil fuel, emphasis has OTHER SOURCES shifted recently to an MHD Municipal Solid Waste has system which would use the been used in St. Louis by combusion products of coal. Union Electric Company to The coal is burned on a generate power on an combustion chamber and the experimental basis for two hot gases then "seeded" or years. Similar systems to mixed with fine particles of burn processed municipal an alkali metal (potassium) waste with coal in utility vapor to form a hot, ionized boilers are under con- gas. The hot ionized gas is struction in Chicago, Iowa, directed through a magnetic and Wisconsin. Processed field between arrays of municipal waste has had the electrodes to extract direct 8 Main Street 649-8051 NOW OPEN TOG PL2LOG DDD PDU ac:d oar , Featuring Delicious Prime Rib Entertainment-Nightly from 8 pm 'til Midnight WE PLAY SACKGAMMON" BAR OPEN 5 PM 1 AAA RESTAURANT OPENS AT 6 PM For Reservations Call 649-997 1 ! if. Go afeaiL live to tits past 3.-JCJ Tt-a rmr nv m rnTVxv7 minrfxmim flirts w mm a y jiuipLHbSii m (lmiiliimil y Victorian-style private new homes from $38,900: Homesites from $7,200. The charm of Victorian-style new homes -with all the conveniences of modern living. Prospector Village gives you boh, in a private homesite you can buy for as little as $7,200! 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