Heating Your House With...........
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2004
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From: San Francisco, Ca.
Heating Your House With...........
sewer waste? Using technology to suck heat from the sewer and transfer it to a network of hot water pipes feeding thousands of radiators and taps around the city.
Is it a load of CR*P?
Or is this an alternative solution?
Want to heat your house? Take a dump , then flush.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060407/...ment_sewers_dc
Is it a load of CR*P?
Or is this an alternative solution?
Want to heat your house? Take a dump , then flush.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060407/...ment_sewers_dc
Last edited by Racerguy; Apr 8, 2006 at 08:45 AM.
Senior User
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From: Milltown, NJ USA
If anyone lives near a landfill think about how much enrgy is burned off in METHANE release. Our landfill has approximately 4 stacks that vent methane waste. They have been burning 24 hours a day every year for 20 years. What a waste ! No one wants to apply that to an electric generator.
i ain't rite
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From: Marlboro Mental Hospital.
Originally Posted by bluesuedetruck
If anyone lives near a landfill think about how much enrgy is burned off in METHANE release. Our landfill has approximately 4 stacks that vent methane waste. They have been burning 24 hours a day every year for 20 years. What a waste ! No one wants to apply that to an electric generator.
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Sounds like they're just capturing waste heat from the natural decomposition - like a heat pump - think that's funny - wait 'til gas/diesel hits $10/gal (probably not this year - bet $5 isn't out of reach yet though).
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i ain't rite
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From: Marlboro Mental Hospital.
Originally Posted by texhawk
Sounds like they're just capturing waste heat from the natural decomposition - like a heat pump - think that's funny - wait 'til gas/diesel hits $10/gal (probably not this year - bet $5 isn't out of reach yet though).
Gone but not forgotten.
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The potential of using methane gas from sewage has been known for decades, but extracting it in usable form with the sulfurs and other bad stuff eliminated has not been cost effective in the past. The future, perhaps.
Dono
Dono
i ain't rite
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From: Marlboro Mental Hospital.
im not to sure about that one either dono. back in 94 i built 2 methane powered generator stations for philadelphia. 1 in the north sewerage plant, and 1 at the south sewerage plant. using methane recovered in the sewer plants, they have both been self powered for 12 years now, and at times have sold excess power to the local power company.
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Originally Posted by tjc transport
Nope. You drill 3 ft wide wells and put a 12 inch PVC perforated pipe in it, then fill the well with 1 1/2 inch clean blue stone, and cap it with clay. The well pipes are connected to a pumping station. The pumping station sends the recovered methane to a power house that generally has 4-6 V12 or V16 cat engines turning generators. 3 of the cogen plants I worked on were steam turbines, and were methane fired, and the steam that came out of the turbine exhaust is used to supply heat for neighboring factories.
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Originally Posted by tjc transport
im not to sure about that one either dono. back in 94 i built 2 methane powered generator stations for philadelphia. 1 in the north sewerage plant, and 1 at the south sewerage plant. using methane recovered in the sewer plants, they have both been self powered for 12 years now, and at times have sold excess power to the local power company.
Dono
i ain't rite
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From: Marlboro Mental Hospital.
so true dono.
but i think the biggest problem still arises from the fact that people do not care where their electric power comes from as long as it is always there when they throw the switch.
the reason large power producers do not use methane fired generators is the fact that if they are engine powered generators, they need to have a full set of backup units in waiting incase one of the in use units goes down for maintainance or due to engine failure. plus, you need to have a steady source of methane, and some places can not supply that yet.
the plants i built were small stations that were designed for full power demand of only 75% of the available methane produced. some of the failed units were designed for future increase of gas, and it was never developed because of closing the landfills they were depending on, so they only run at 45-50% of their potential due to lack of fuel.
but i think the biggest problem still arises from the fact that people do not care where their electric power comes from as long as it is always there when they throw the switch.
the reason large power producers do not use methane fired generators is the fact that if they are engine powered generators, they need to have a full set of backup units in waiting incase one of the in use units goes down for maintainance or due to engine failure. plus, you need to have a steady source of methane, and some places can not supply that yet.
the plants i built were small stations that were designed for full power demand of only 75% of the available methane produced. some of the failed units were designed for future increase of gas, and it was never developed because of closing the landfills they were depending on, so they only run at 45-50% of their potential due to lack of fuel.
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