Egregoros · Phoenix Framework

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Caleb James DeLisle

Interesting, 200kw external combustion (sterling-like) generator, 60% efficient.

It's external combustion, so it's just burning fuel to put heat into the helium that is in the core - so it can burn "anything", they say explicitly they can support ```Hydrogen, Natural Gas, R/CNG, Biogas, Propane, Ammonia, Methanol, Diesel, Jp-8, Gasoline, and more.```

In theory it should be possible to run it on solid fuel, but there are challenges because the heat exchanger will get clogged if the fuel burns smokey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR4i2DcequI

Replies

Replying to @cjd@pkteerium.xyz

𝔭𝔶𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔢

@pyrate@nicecrew.digital remote

Very interesting.

Replying to @pyrate@nicecrew.digital

Caleb James DeLisle

@cjd@pkteerium.xyz remote

It looks like they're selling them, at *some* scale. They've got one outside and they're able to run it.

Also the heat that is rejected to water, so it doubles as a heater by default. My only comment is that I wish it would run on solid fuel like wood chips...

https://www.hyliion.com/karno-200-kw-power-module/

Replying to @cjd@pkteerium.xyz

𝔭𝔶𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔢

@pyrate@nicecrew.digital remote

yes... wood chips...

dude how many megawatts could we harness from biomass alone?

Replying to @pyrate@nicecrew.digital

Caleb James DeLisle

@cjd@pkteerium.xyz remote

Woodchips are very interesting for homesteading / off-grid type of living because they are Right There, you don't need to import them from any distance at all.

Of course you could make as many megawatts as you want, it's just a question of how much wood you have to provide.

According to GPT (which is generally pretty decent with these types of questions), if the world were to transition entirely away from oil to wood chips, you would be cutting down millions of acres of forest land per day.

https://chatgpt.com/share/6a005fef-39bc-838a-9716-44eeac74bca1