rashidas wrote: Assuming the proof of concept for DPF goes according to schedule and surplus energy is produced by this process, what sort of personnel would be needed to build and run a commercial DPF power plant? Would an electric utility need lots of Physics Ph.D’s and engineers or could existing electrical engineers build and operate a commercial DPF facility?
The first products will be industrial ovens, furnaces, and low pressure boilers, since they’ll make electric heat cheaper than gas in the early stages where FF is well above energy unity and almost, or barely above, electrical unity. Salable amounts of electrical profit hinges on the current performance (power density) of the X-ray converter, aka the onion.
Assuming 5-10 MW per unit, and ignoring FUD/NIMBY, local transformer yards would be the most efficient way to implement a new technology that’s still in low volume production. Although they can run unattended, they will need EEs to remotely monitor their contribution to the utility’s peak load fluctuations caused by fluctuating renewables on the source side and load demands on the consumer side.
Thus the utility would pay for each unit by reducing the gas bill to the peak load generators, as well as meeting load growth demands locally instead of with coal and new transmission lines. A lower profile early installation would have one or more FFs powering the auxiliary equipment in-plant to produce more salable power per ton of coal.
In either scenario, I’d expect a PhD to direct the program, at least a MSEE to supervise it, and BSEEs to actually run it every shift. There would also be BSMEs or higher available from current operations for other support as needed.
.
