Re: Diesel storage (was:RE: 24x7 Support Strategies)

["Dorn Hetzel" <dhetzel () gmail com>]

It occurs to me that if you wanted to run backup generators on veggie, that
you could tap some of the waste heat from all the lieberts with a
desuperheater and keep the veggie as hot as you liked for no net energy
cost... :)

On 6/14/07, michael.dillon () bt com <michael.dillon () bt com> wrote:
>  >  As the price of petrol fuel supplies slowly moves upward due to demand
> from
> > China and India, I foresee datacenters moving away from diesel
> generators as
> > backup power sources towards fuel cells/generators that can burn natural
> gas and hydrogen.
> Technically fuel cells don't burn the fuel; they rely on a chemical
> process that is
> rather like a battery except that it relies on a continuous supply of
> fresh fuel
> to supply hydrogen atoms. The fuel cell has a catalyst which strips
> electrons
> off the fuel, and those flowing electrons are electricity.
>
> Unfortunately, most fuel cells run very hot (600 C with molten carbonate)
> or
> use noxious chemicals (sulphuric acid slurry). But a lot of work is being
> done
> into developing fuel cells that run at low temperatures and which are not
> so
> fussy about the fuel that you feed them. One company that has interesting
> commercial products right now is Acumentrics:
> http://www.acumentrics.com/products-power-generators.htm
>
> --Michael Dillon