4 ms·

also, what can be done with the hot water coming out of the system?

• semi-extrinsic 11y ago
  By definition this is low grade heat. In cold climates that can be used for stuff like heating nearby homes. In hot climates you're basically limited to running it through a bottoming cycle [1]. But that needs a delta T between the hot water coming out of your cooling system and ambient temperature of probably about 40 K, which probably requires a bigger cooling system than otherwise. So you have the added investment cost of a bigger cooling system plus the bottoming cycle, but you've gained some more energy output. Is it worth it? Impossible to say without crunching the specific numbers. But my first guess is "no" in this case. It is usually worth it for gas fired powerplants though. [1] Covered in https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_cycle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_cycle
  • david-given 11y ago
    If your ambient temperature is 40 K, I submit that you are not human and are, in fact, living on Pluto. Did you mean Fahrenheit?
    • Blaque 11y ago
      He's talking about a difference of 40K between the hot water out of the cooling and the ambient temperature.
      • semi-extrinsic 11y ago
        Yes, exactly. Thanks for clarifying for me.
        • david-given 11y ago
          Oh, I see! I hadn't twigged. ...shame; living on Pluto would be cool.
          • semi-extrinsic 11y ago
            TIL: "twigged". And yeah, living on Pluto would no doubt be... cool. puts on sunglasses