Electric power generation small-scale

Nuclear and magneto-hydrodynamic electric power generation systems have been produced on a scale which could lead to industrial production, but to-date technical problems, mainly connected with corrosion of the containing materials, has hampered full-scale development. In the case of nuclear power, the proposed fast reactor, which uses fast neutron fission in a small nuclear fuel element, by comparison with fuel rods in thermal neutron reactors, requires a more rapid heat removal than is possible by water cooling, and a liquid sodium-potassium alloy has been used in the development of a near-industrial generator. The fuel container is a vanadium sheath with a niobium outer cladding, since this has a low fast neutron capture cross-section and a low rate of corrosion by the liquid metal coolant. The liquid metal coolant is transported from the fuel to the turbine generating the electric power in stainless steel... 

Use of H2-based fuel cells for generating electricity on a small scale close to areas where the electricity is needed would enable distributed power generation and ease the burden on the current electric grid. 

Photovoltaic electric power generation must and will play a key role in the decades ahead. It is essential that we bring this technology into widespread commercial use as quickly as possible. Chemical engineers are needed to design the manufacturing facilities that will make millions of square meters per year. The scale-up problem is not a trivial one, since all laboratory-scale experiments produce small cells with areas on the order of square centimeters. 

Perhaps the ultimate combined appliances, which are currently under development, will he microturbines or fuel cell power generators used as small-scale co-generation systems. These would supply not only electricity, but space and water heating as well. 

Possible applications of fuel cell includes producing small scale electricity only (low temperature FCs) or heat and power for houses, residential buildings, hotels, hospitals, sport facilities, and shopping centers. Other applications in urban situations, on a larger scale (up to 30 MWe), could be for distributed generation of heat and power or of power only. 

There are two main ways to harness the power of the sun to generate electricity photovoltaic (PV), where sunlight is directly converted into electricity via solar cells, and solar-thermal power. PV is a proven technology that is most appropriate for small-scale applications to provide heat and power to individual houses and businesses. Sunlight falls on a layer of semiconductors, which jostles electrons. This, in turn, creates an electrical current that can be used as a source for heat. 

In addition to co-firing, there are three other types of biomass electricity-generation systems direct-fired, gasification, and modular. Of these, the most commonly used is direct-fired. In this system, biomass fuel is burned in a boiler to produce high-pressure steam, which then drives turbines to produce electricity. The drawback to these types of power plants is that they tend to be small scale and are not very efficient. Costs also tend to be relatively high, at nine cents per kilowatt-hour, versus only 2.1 cents per kilowatt-hour for some co-fired plants.31... 

If hydrogen-powered fuel cells can be used for small-scale electricity generation, and if technologies to produce hydrogen improve such that hydrogen can be delivered efficiently and cheaply to those small-scale generators, there are possible benefits to the transmission and distribution system (these small-scale generators can use other fuels such as natural gas). 

In the United States, approximately 90 percent of the coal consumed annually is burned in boilers to generate steam9-11 to run turbines for electric power production. The burning of coal in small-scale combustion devices for direct heating is more significant outside the United States, so that, on a worldwide basis, about 55 percent of the coal produced is used for electricity generation. 

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