Reply To: Focus fusion and transportation

[Brian H]

Rematog wrote: One simple reason for not stacking units. Real estate, esp in the country, is cheaper then structural steel. Think about the structural steel need for a 20 story (10 module) high power stack. Thats about the height of our boilers. They sit on an 11′ (yes, feet, that’s not a typo) thick concrete slab the the main columns have flanges about 2″ thick, somewhere around 200′ per foot wide flange beams.

Land is cheaper. Plus, you’d need cranes, elevators…all those things equal dollar signs.

Two reasons boilers go up. Hot gases rise and molten slag falls.

Plus, until about 1960, all boilers were natural circulation. It’s only been since the 90’s that supercritical once thru boilers became common. And for natural circulation (of the water in the boiler tubes) the tubes must go up and down with the steam drum on the top of the boiler.

Gravity, you’ve got to love it, it never fails and costs nothing.

Rematog

Location, location, location. In the countryside, space is less expensive than steel, but clearly not in urban centers. Sometimes convenience to other facilities or markets etc. is of overwhelming importance.

But if stacking is possible, it will be used when appropriate and desirable and economically sensible, I’m sure. I.e., not a critical issue.