22-06-2019, 05:48 AM
21
Re: Car free day
Originally Posted by Besoeker
->
Electric trains have been around for decades.
22-06-2019, 09:42 AM
24
Re: Car free day
Originally Posted by The Artful Todger
->
Fine, so where do you think the hydrogen comes from?Hint --- check out "electrolysis of water".
Actually the dominant source of commercial hydrogen is hydrocarbons i.e. fossil fuels.
22-06-2019, 09:44 AM
25
Re: Car free day
Originally Posted by Donkeyman
->
Surely the product of whatever system is used Todgy iselectricity? Which should be easy to tap into the NGrid?
And it is contained in a relatively small vessel, ie, a
submarine, which is manned by humans? So it cant be so
dangerous as you profess,
I also believe the us has developed a really small unit for use
on space vehicles that will have to travel outside of the solar
system, perhaps you could enlighten me on the workings
of these mini nuclear power systems as this subject interests
me muchly?
As for your statement that us is playing catch up with Russia
in the development of small reactors, my thoughts are that
the russian compacts you speak of are or were developed
from their submarines, hence my question why cant we do
the same, with the differance that we can leave the reactor
installed in the vessel as uk is a small island, and anywhere
in UK is within easy reach of the coast? Even London could
have a CLEAN? silent source of extra power at very little
outlay right inside the city?
Whereas Russia's big users of power are mainly thousands
of miles from the coasts and so will need specially designed
inland orientated units!
Regards Donkeyman!
So it's not just a case of adding bits, there's a root and branch rework already past its shoulda' bin' dun' date!
Takes a swig of coffee ---
More in a short while.
22-06-2019, 09:50 AM
26
Re: Car free day
Originally Posted by Ray Cathode
->
Actually the dominant source of commercial hydrogen is hydrocarbons i.e. fossil fuels.
22-06-2019, 10:30 AM
27
Re: Car free day
Originally Posted by Donkeyman
->
Surely the product of whatever system is used Todgy iselectricity? Which should be easy to tap into the NGrid?
And it is contained in a relatively small vessel, ie, a
submarine, which is manned by humans? So it cant be so
dangerous as you profess,
I also believe the us has developed a really small unit for use
on space vehicles that will have to travel outside of the solar
system, perhaps you could enlighten me on the workings
of these mini nuclear power systems as this subject interests
me muchly?
As for your statement that us is playing catch up with Russia
in the development of small reactors, my thoughts are that
the russian compacts you speak of are or were developed
from their submarines, hence my question why cant we do
the same, with the differance that we can leave the reactor
installed in the vessel as uk is a small island, and anywhere
in UK is within easy reach of the coast? Even London could
have a CLEAN? silent source of extra power at very little
outlay right inside the city?
Whereas Russia's big users of power are mainly thousands
of miles from the coasts and so will need specially designed
inland orientated units!
Regards Donkeyman!
Submarine and surface vessels that are nuclear powered.
Not all reactors are the same. Even down to fundamentals. Although the Ruskies have built nuclear generation plant on barges using some forms of redundant reactors the nature of these things is such as you wouldn't want one next door. Or even next county!
A small nuclear generator that is intrinsically safe is no mean feat to design and build. Reactors used in subs and ships are not intrinsically safe. This is something that I could bore on about almost interminably but the principle factors concern reactor core moderator material and design, graphite works but has big time drawbacks so other materials need to be used. Heat transfer is another big time issue. Liquid sodium is nasty and corrosive, carbon dioxide makes for a big beast, water requires circulation pumps that - well just Google Chernobyl, so to cut to the chase liquid lead is best, for one thing it can circulate by convection within the core, for another gravity works well and so pumps that require periodic maintenance and can fail are not needed.
I just know I'm getting boring now. If anyone wants me to rabbit on just say!
Edited to add - nuclear power sources on space vehicles. These rely on thermo-electric conversion with plutonium as the heat source. Only a few Watts of power, and plutonium is awful stuff. It doesn't exist in nature except in very small quantities and even that only as a result of uranium decay.
22-06-2019, 11:01 AM
28
Re: Car free day
Originally Posted by The Artful Todger
->
First the Grid. It's full. It's overfull and at peak demand times the failure of a couple of switching nodes would create merry hell. The grid is about much more than transporting electricity from point to point. It has to enable load sharing as demand changes as if generating stations fail. It has to include the means of enabling the transmission of power at different pressures (voltages) and altering them along the routes. It also includes plant to change "normal" alternating current to direct current and back again where circumstances require such as in the case of long haul underground or undersea transmission.So it's not just a case of adding bits, there's a root and branch rework already past its shoulda' bin' dun' date!
Takes a swig of coffee ---
More in a short while.
eg heavy industry, surely the grid now has some spare
capacity? If not, why not?
The fact that the grid is old and unreliable is a totally seperate
issue, which will have to be tackled whatever we choose to
Generate our power!
On the issue of AC V DC? It should not require any heavy
outlay on major infrastructure to correct as modern charging
systems contain the means to do this themselves, so the
grid needs no modification, only have the capacity to carry
the charging load! And as l proposed earlier, we should in
theory? Now have spare capacity available! If this is not the
case then it is probably the fault of past governance and the
fact that decisions have been handed to bean-counters to
control instead of letting people who understand what is
required have a say in things!
Regards Donkeyman!
22-06-2019, 11:38 AM
29
Re: Car free day
Originally Posted by Silver Tabby
->
Strange - 'they' keep bleating on about not using cars - and then want to take away our 'bus passes!It is not logical, Jim.
earlier posts here?
I agree with you that more could be done to encourage
the use of public transport, particularly in cities ( off- peak )
where the infrastructure is allready good! Maybe car free
days will catch on?
Best Regards Donkeyman!
22-06-2019, 12:35 PM
30
Re: Car free day
Originally Posted by Donkeyman
->
Since UK has demolished most of its big users of electricityeg heavy industry, surely the grid now has some spare
capacity? If not, why not?
The fact that the grid is old and unreliable is a totally seperate
issue, which will have to be tackled whatever we choose to
Generate our power!
On the issue of AC V DC? It should not require any heavy
outlay on major infrastructure to correct as modern charging
systems contain the means to do this themselves, so the
grid needs no modification, only have the capacity to carry
the charging load! And as l proposed earlier, we should in
theory? Now have spare capacity available! If this is not the
case then it is probably the fault of past governance and the
fact that decisions have been handed to bean-counters to
control instead of letting people who understand what is
required have a say in things!
Regards Donkeyman!
Then there is the life of the components of the grid. Overhead has a theoretical life of up to 100 years but there are many factors that reduce this big time not least routine maintenance that is performed but also environment and load being carried which affects temperature quite significantly.
In short most of the existing grid is close to being worn out.
AC - DC - AC Conversation. This isn't about charging things. It's about transmission of power and especially over underground cable. The bottom line is that more power, much more power can be hauled over UG cable if it's DC.
Converting even 125,000 volts to DC is no mean feat, then converting 125,000 DC back 125,000 to 50 Hz is a bugger but the advantages far outweigh the difficulty and cost after just a few km of UG cable.
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