Re:Large-scale ‘sand battery’ goes online in Finland
by mschuster91 on Thursday July 07, 2022 @06:13AM
(#32012040)
> Today, why burn natural gas at a central plant and then have to manage a complex steam distribution network with associated losses when you can simply distribute natural gas instead and get 98% AFUE at the point of use?
- efficiency of gas heaters, both with tanks and without, is definitely not 98%. Only the most modern condensing boilers can achieve over 90% efficiency, and the utter majority of heating systems are old clunkers [2].
- a central plant can/has to install exhaust and condensate filtering systems, whereas decentral heaters just pipe their exhaust into the environment
- gas lines are a massive fire and explosion risk
- decentralized heaters that are based on burning anything are carbon monoxide risks - in Germany alone, it's usual to have a dozen people or more die due to CM poisoning by a defective heater [3] each year.
- a district heating system can be adapted to different fuels (anything from trash over oil to gas or geothermal energy can be used), whereas a switch of the heat source is completely out of the question in a decentralized system (which is a real big issue here in Europe at the moment, as alone in Germany half the heat is generated by gas burners [4])
- a central plant can also use energy to power electricity generators, thereby improving total efficiency
> You dont really insulate the steam distribution pipes
Of course we do. Right around the corner where I live there is a centralized heating in construction, and these pipes are heavily insulated.
- efficiency of gas heaters, both with tanks and without, is definitely not 98%. Only the most modern condensing boilers can achieve over 90% efficiency, and the utter majority of heating systems are old clunkers [2].
- a central plant can/has to install exhaust and condensate filtering systems, whereas decentral heaters just pipe their exhaust into the environment
- gas lines are a massive fire and explosion risk
- decentralized heaters that are based on burning anything are carbon monoxide risks - in Germany alone, it's usual to have a dozen people or more die due to CM poisoning by a defective heater [3] each year.
- a district heating system can be adapted to different fuels (anything from trash over oil to gas or geothermal energy can be used), whereas a switch of the heat source is completely out of the question in a decentralized system (which is a real big issue here in Europe at the moment, as alone in Germany half the heat is generated by gas burners [4])
- a central plant can also use energy to power electricity generators, thereby improving total efficiency
> You dont really insulate the steam distribution pipes
Of course we do. Right around the corner where I live there is a centralized heating in construction, and these pipes are heavily insulated.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condensing_boiler
[2] https://www.effizienzhaus-online.de/zwei-drittel-aller-heizu...
[3] https://www.focus.de/immobilien/wohnen/wohnen-13-tote-durch-...
[4] https://www.bmwi-energiewende.de/EWD/Redaktion/Newsletter/20...