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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46052 Location: yes
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Posted: Thu Jun 03, 21 8:18 am Post subject: new nukes |
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gates and buffet have hired mr burns
they have decided that green needs mr burns
if i understand their plan they want to build a test plant on an old coal mine site for the optics, one can only hope that the other site specific criteria are met
afaik they are going for a small fast reactor with liquid sodium as primary coolant and liquid salt as the secondary transfer coolant to transfer heat to the steam generation/turbine/generator plant
they work, have some advantages and some big disadvantages, not least in that the fuel needs to be highly enriched uranium(near weapons grade) mixed with plutonium and a few other things and that molten sodium is a mare when it leaks which it does and the nuke industry only has to get it wrong once
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my favourite chemistry teacher played with them at windscale/sellafield in the late 1960's/early70's
he had retrained as a teacher after getting several lifetimes permitted exposure in a single moment
this is where that story gets real in terms of "should we trust folk with nukes?"
after a couple of beers i asked him why he swapped a huge posh chemistry set for teaching
once upon a time there was a chemist and his assistant working on sodium based coolant, they enjoyed cutting edge energy making research etc. they were good at it and got given a nice big lab to play in, this made them happy but they did need to tidy it a bit as the last occupants had left in a hurry a few years before
a couple of days pass quietly putting papers in plastic bags and emptying cupboards to make room for their kit, just before elevenses they found a bucket of oil with a multi kilo lump of probably sodium in it.
at this point dear reader they were not fully aware of azides and the fun of bulk
after a cuppa and bacon butty the took the bucket and its contents for disposal, as it clicked a bit they decided the best place was in one of the "ponds"
they knew that small bits would fizzle and become dissolved as naoh in water so scale up to a few kilos and a "swimming pool" should be fine
they chucked it in, it fizzled, made bubbles and ceased to float, it sank and then the azides kicked off
it stirred the pond, sent a plume of FKW a long way up and what goes up comes down(mostly)
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they send robots into those ponds nowadays and that is decades of decay later |
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jema Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 28202 Location: escaped from Swindon
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46052 Location: yes
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46052 Location: yes
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 45612 Location: Essex
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46052 Location: yes
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Mistress Rose
Joined: 21 Jul 2011 Posts: 15834
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Shane
Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 3467 Location: Doha. Is hot.
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Mistress Rose
Joined: 21 Jul 2011 Posts: 15834
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46052 Location: yes
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Shane
Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 3467 Location: Doha. Is hot.
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Mistress Rose
Joined: 21 Jul 2011 Posts: 15834
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Shane
Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 3467 Location: Doha. Is hot.
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Posted: Mon Jun 07, 21 8:50 am Post subject: |
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Mistress Rose wrote: |
As you say, nitrogen is all around us in the air, and any burning will produce oxides. Large engines are something that needs to be addressed as at present I understand the only electric tractors are about the size of an 'alpine' tractor, or next size up from a quad bike in laymans terms. Any thoughts on those or lorry engines? |
There are a few small companies that are converting old vehicles (buses, bin lorries, etc.) to electric motor-driven (see here). It's a developing sector, so prices are currently very high, but I'd imagine it will more affordable to get an old oil-burner converted within a short number of years. Ideally, it won't be long before you can take your tractor in and get it electrified for less than the price of buying a new one.
I guess space for battery storage might be more of an issue for a tractor than for a bus or a truck, but I'd assume that if you have the facility to plug it in during breaks and leave it on charge overnight it should manage most of a day's tasks without running out of juice. Might struggle for a full day in a field with PTO running at high load, I'd imagine, but storage capacities and charge times are improving all the time, so there is hope. |
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46052 Location: yes
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Mistress Rose
Joined: 21 Jul 2011 Posts: 15834
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