NucleOculture: combined production of electricity, liquid fuels, fish, plants (Richard McDonald)

NucleOculture: the combined production of electricity, liquid fuels, fish and plants Richard J. McDonald 515 Jackson St. Albany, CA 94706 RJM5@sbcglobal.net

Abstract Sustainable access to food, water, and energy is critical to the survival of the 7+ billion persons on Earth, and efficient utilization of present resources and technologies is key to achieving this goal. Symbiotic efficiencies can be had by combining energy generation with other processes to recover heat normally wasted in energy generation.

District heating and cooling and co-generation are examples used today. The Modular Integrated Utility Sustem (MIUS) studied by ORNL in the 70’s included heating, cooling, and electrical generation. The manufacture of liquid fuels at sea proposed by General Atomics in the ’00s pointed to a sustainable method to produce carbon-neutral liquid fuels and other hydrocarbon products,using the energy from a nucler reactor. Charles Forsberg proposed a ”hybrid” power plant discussed in Nuclear News. NucleOculture is an extention of these ideas, but combining them in new ways to provide sustainable food water, and energy for thousands of years into the future.

1

Introduction

In 1972, the Club of Rome published the book ”Limits to Growth” listing barriers to continued progress for humanity, including access to agriculture, water, and energy. The authors could not have forseen a population of 7+ billion persons only 40 years into the future. However, 800 million of these are starving and 2-3 billion are living a bare existance inconsistant with the cultural richness that should be the birthright of all humans. The impacts of climate change may end hope of advancement for most of these people if low-lying cities are innendated by seawater and agricultural lands 1

Figure 1: this is the block diagram of nucleOculture are destroyed. Accelerating population growth (starting in the 1950’s), and increasing affluence led to more cars, trucks, airplanes, and electricity. The conversion of forests to farmland, notably in rainforests, decreased carbonsinks and exacerbated the problems. Extensive use of coal to generate electricity has added large amounts of carbon to the atmosphere, particularly in developing countries striving to improve their economies at all costs.

Oil, and more important, cheap oil, is nearing its end as the great oil fields of Alaska, the North Sea, and the Middle East are depleated, and increased production from ”unconventional” sources such as ”tight” or ”shale” oil will not be fast enough to offset declines in conventional oil.

Declining access to oil will have similar effects on agriculture and migration as climate change.

Proposals to mitigate these problems include solar energy, biofuels, and organic farming, but these will be insfficient to maintain the present population. ”Renewable energy” collectors, typically built by burning coal, and having short life expectency (15-30 years) cannot replace oil. Small organic farms simply cannot produce enough and will be subject to the same ”feast or famine” of the past without oil to move and store produce. The shortage of potable water, particularly in the parts of Asia fed by the great rivers from the Himalayas is a present problem, and potentially a complete disas2

ter if climate change destroys the glaciers.

2

nucleOculture

NucleOculture is a different approach to these problems that can provide sustainable energy and food for the next 5000+ years. It is a large project,using advanced, but available, technology, probably covering 10 square miles and costing $15B, but it each instance of it will provide most of the needs for 250,000 people.

The key to nucleOculture and a sustainable future is the nuclear reactor. Only about one-third of the heat generated in a reactor is converted to electricity, and this is governed by the laws of thermodynamics. NucleOculture strives to capture some of the waste heat, say half of it, and use it to heat Fischer-Tropsch reactors to make synthetic fuel as well as to distribute heat to greenhouses where the methods of aquaponics will be used to produce fish, fruits, and vegetables. Figure 1 shows the main inputs/ outputs of nucleOculture.

3

Carbon-neutral Synthetic Fuels

The production of synthetic fuels production by the Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) process is nearly 100 years old. Presently, Shell has large commercial facilities in Malysia and Qatar and SASOL has similar facilities in South Africa and Qatar. The F-T process operates in the 150-300 C range and uses catalysts to convert syngas (a mixture of carbon-monoxide and hydrogen) into F-T paraffin which is then refined typically to the middle distillates, Diesel fuel and Jet-A. Other products should be available, the most important being plastics feedstocks. Figure 2 shows the process.

Why would one suggest using hydrocarbons as sustainable fuels and feedstocks? The answer is that these synthetic hydrocarbons are carbonneutral or carbon sinks and are sustainable as long as nuclear fuel is available, which is thousands of years. The liquid fuels form a sustainable cycle from fuel to carbon-dioxide and water, the carbon-dioxide from the atmosphere or from sea water is chemically “shifted� to carbon monoxide, and hydrogen is obtained from water by electrolosis or high-temperature dissacotiation, and this sustainable cycle is powered by nuclear heat. Figure 3 shows the carbon-neutral synthetic fuels cycle.

3

Figure 2: block diagram of liquid fuels production showing (green line) the renewable cycle linking feedstock with products of combustion

4

Potable Water

The production of potable water from sea water via reverse osmosis is a well-understood process and presently producing potable water around the world, for example, Florida, Spain, and Saudi Arabia. The US Navy produces potable water for their aircraft carriers with these techniques. Obtaining water this way for populations along the coasts will free mountain water for inland dwellers as well as for agriculture. Beyond potable water, it may eventually be practical to recover valuable minerals, particularly U (11ppb) and Th (16ppb) as well as salt and lithium (for batteries and possibly D-T fusion) from the brine left over.

5

Aquaponics

Aquaponics is the symbiotic production of fish and plants together. One feeds the fish and the excrement from the fish is pumped to grow beds where colonies of bacteria break down the ammonia in the excrement and convert it to nitrates and nitrites which are nutrients for the plants. The now filtered water is returned to the fish tanks. This forms a sustainable cycle powered by fish food and small amounts of mineral supplements for

4

Figure 3: this is the block diagram of aquaponics, showing the renewable cycle of fish and plants fish and plants. Several species of fish can be raised and a wide variety of organic fruits and vegetables can be produced. This is a commercially viable process, in fact, one can purchase tanks and greenhouses on the internet and start their own profitable business in fish and organic fruits and vegetables.

What makes this significant in terms of nucleOculture is that the lowtemperature heat exhausted from the electricity and liquid fuels production, normally wasted, can be distributed to greenhouses similarly to the way “district heating and cooling� works in European cities The ability to transfer this heat in either insulated or non-insulated pipes allows dumping heat into the large heat sink of the ground if it cannot he used in the greenhouses, allowing thermal management for seasonal and diuranal shifts.

Figure 3 shows the sustainable cycle of aquaponics. Using this heat makes this best in colder climites where the plants wouldn’t normally grow, but evatorative cooling (as in MIUS) and heat recovery (possibly by thermoelectricity) may make this work in warm climates.

5

Figure 4: this is the block diagram of nucleOculture with several additions that enhance value via symbiosis and efficiencies

6

Other Symbiotic Uses

Besides the production of nuclear electricity, potable water, liquid fuels, and aquaponics there will be additional symbosis and efficiencies that can be developed. First would be the use of high temperature gas-cooled reactors (such as the EM 2 ) to increase the efficiency of producing hydrogen from water.

The large amount of agricultural waste generated from the fruit and vegetable operations can be composted and used as fertilizer for normal agriculture and animal husbandry.

The use of methane-generating bacteria may feed the synthetic fuels operation. (actually some of the biomass may be useful with less processing.) Composted materials and unused parts from the fish processing may provide for a fish-food manufacturing facility, increasing sustainability of the fish growing operation. Fish reproduce, and a hatchery can be used to provide the fry for the fish operation, as well as provide a supply of small fish to be sold to other aquaponics operators inland. additional sources of electricity can be added, mainly for �peaking� purposes. The large amount of oxygen produced along with the hydrogen can be used to burn coal in super-critical boilers and the CO2 recovered for the liquid fuels operation. The F-T process may advance to the produc6

Figure 5: this is the block diagram of nucleOculture. The reactor, liquid fuel and water facilities are in front and 9 square miles of greenhouses surround them. tion of a wider variety of hydrocarbon products, mainly plastics feedstocks, preferably for recycable plastics.

By the time the first nucleOculture facility is built, many other potential uses may be identified. This proposal is based only on the obvious relations between these technologies and their products; many others are almost certain to arise.

7

Economic Assessment

Naturally, an economic assessment is far beyond the scope of this paper.

However, it appears we can make a very broad guestimate of the overall economics. The plan is to turn wast heat into a valuable product, so let us assume we make a profit on the heat, and the electricity, fuel, water, and food operations only break even. At $0.05 per kW-hr, 1 GW-yr returns $438M, approximately a 30% return on $1.5B (down and $13.5B financed and paid down by operating income, starting at about year 10 and continuing for at least 100 years!

7

8

Summary

The sustainable production of electricity, liquid fuels, potable water, and food is critical to the long-term survival of humanity. These products are even more important to the long-term survival of humanity as we know it, as it has evolved to a level of technology and culture that allows long lifespan, art and music, and advanced medical procedures. The imminent decline in oil production and the potentially serious consequences of global climate change are serious threats to our future and nucleOculture or something equivalaent is needed to sustain humanity as we know it.

There will certainly be advances in the future, perhaps renewable technologies that require less energy input, and perhaps d-t fusion energy that will provide essentially unlimited source of energy, and these can be integrated into nucleOculture. However, we cannot wait for breakthroughs and must proceed with technologies that exist and work in the present, and that means nucleOculture.

References [1] MIUS reference, ORNL, 1977 [2] Nuclear News, 2013

8