From: muratlanne@gmail.com   
      
   "Richard Smith"  wrote in message news:m1frdddo17.fsf@void.com...   
      
   Hi all   
      
   I was about to do another whimsical post, but then remembering female   
   abilities to hunt information, went did a web-search first.   
      
   AI came back with this:   
      
   A "coal iron oxygen gas-turbine steam plant combined cycle" refers to   
   an Integrated Coal Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) system,   
   specifically an oxygen-blown IGCC, where coal is gasified using   
   oxygen (instead of air) to produce a clean fuel gas. This fuel gas   
   then powers a gas turbine for electricity, and the heat from the gas   
   turbine's exhaust is used in a steam turbine to generate more   
   electricity, forming a combined cycle that increases overall   
   efficiency and reduces emissions compared to traditional coal plants.   
      
   Find everyone is already there, searching on "IGCC".   
   It's "too abvious".   
      
   I could see that with "tonnage" oxygen, such plant is feasible.   
   I visualised using fluid circuit of Fe-C to dissolve coal, clean   
   (desulphurise?) and react C with O2.   
   Exhaust is pure CO2.  Sequester to exhausted gas fields or use in mega   
   greenhouses to grow biomass.   
      
   Obvious advantage - a coal heap is the only way of securely having a   
   year's supply of fuel.  Even if you have no coal yourself, in fair   
   weather you keep your stocks high, and if things go wrong you have a   
   long time to get alternative solutions in place.   
      
   Japan built new coal-fired power-stations after the Fukishima nuclear   
   accident even though they have no coal source themselves because they   
   realised they need a "buffer".   
      
   Urmm - it's difficult for someone deciding your "democratic   
   credentials are not good enough" to deny you your coal-pile - you   
   simply gather it back up again.  Destroy the power-station and not   
   many will be convinced the party who did it is your friend...   
      
   Lot of national security arguments in its favour.   
      
   Anyone have any experience of this?   
      
   Best wishes   
   ------------------------------------   
      
   I have no hands-on experience but (because) I've studied it with the help of   
   my chemistry degree. Much is possible, what's practical depends on   
   economics, availability and waste disposal. It's largely a problem in   
   chemical engineering, a separate degree. Everything close to practical and a   
   lot that isn't has already been tried, much in Germany during WW1 and 2.   
      
   I think coal gasification is too complex and maintenance intensive for a   
   small scale and I don't want to become a full time power plant engineer.   
   Wood is demanding enough.   
      
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_gas   
   Wood can be distilled in simple apparatus the same way, and was used to   
   power cars during WW2. The problem is tarry byproducts. There is no cheap   
   and easy source of hydrogen for the processes that turn coal into gas or   
   liquid hydrocarbons for fuel, though it's done for more valuable products.   
   Hydrogen is merely a troublesome storage and transport medium for electric   
   energy sourced from solar or hydro. High voltage DC transmission lines may   
   be a better way, like your links to France and Holland.   
      
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_photosynthesis   
   "Artificially photosynthesized fuel would be a carbon-neutral source of   
   energy, but it has never been demonstrated in any practical sense. The   
   economics of artificial photosynthesis are noncompetitive."   
      
   Personally I have the other storable solid fuel, self-gathered firewood in   
   metal roofed sheds and some solar, both practical on a home scale, and the   
   smokeless Jotul-copy wood stove is somewhat useful for cooking, hot water,   
   annealing and hardening. The price of LiFePO4 batteries has fallen low   
   enough to avoid the hassles of other types and solar panels are nearing   
   $0.50 per Watt. I use laptops as recording TVs and power them and an   
   Alpicool T60 inverter fridge/freezer from solar charged batteries, the   
   AC-only gear such as monitors and the TV antenna amp from a $50 Bestek 300W   
   sine inverter. Most other DC appliances are too expensive and like the   
   microwave and coffee pot not used enough to cost much. I dry laundry   
   outdoors, under a 4' deck roof overhang for 2-3 days in damp weather. In   
   winter the laundry freeze-dries. Air conditioning costs me around $20 a   
   month for July and August, not worth a large capital investment to change.   
   They and the window fans for cool nights are on Kill-A-Watt meters.   
      
   Wood stove kettle hot water can be poured into the washing machine. I   
   modified garden sprayers with sink spray hoses for hot showers when the   
   power grid is down. They stay filled by the door to put out brush fires.   
      
   I don't have $$ cable TV or wired Internet, the reason for my 10GB monthly   
   cellular data limit on a $35 plan. So far I haven't had to buy extra data.   
      
   The compromises in steam locomotive design illustrate the tradeoffs between   
   efficiency and complexity. They rarely condensed the steam as was done on   
   ships to decrease fuel and clean fresh water consumption, because air   
   condensers were too bulky and fragile. Instead they used the cylinder   
   exhaust to increase firebox draft because their smokestacks had to be short   
   and inefficient to clear bridges and tunnels.   
   https://forum.trains.com/t/simple-expansion-verses-compound-expa   
   sion-steam-locomotives/242914/16   
   jsw   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)