[97441] in North American Network Operators' Group
RE: Diesel storage (was:RE: 24x7 Support Strategies)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (michael.dillon@bt.com)
Thu Jun 14 16:55:27 2007
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 21:55:50 +0100
In-Reply-To: <366100670706140955w22a177bco39b06c2e7d005f12@mail.gmail.com>
From: <michael.dillon@bt.com>
To: <nanog@merit.edu>
Errors-To: owner-nanog@merit.edu
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
------_=_NextPart_001_01C7AEC6.35A5F880
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
> As the price of petrol fuel supplies slowly moves upward due to
demand from =20
> China and India, I foresee datacenters moving away from diesel
generators as =20
> backup power sources towards fuel cells/generators that can burn
natural gas and hydrogen.=20
Technically fuel cells don't burn the fuel; they rely on a chemical
process that is=20
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.
=20
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:=20
http://www.acumentrics.com/products-power-generators.htm=20
=20
--Michael Dillon
------_=_NextPart_001_01C7AEC6.35A5F880
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Dus-ascii">
<META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1593" name=3DGENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><SPAN=20
class=3D580524320-14062007>> </SPAN></FONT> As the price of =
petrol fuel=20
supplies slowly moves upward due to demand from <SPAN=20
class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#0000ff=20
size=3D2> </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT =
face=3DArial=20
color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>> </FONT></SPAN>China and India, I foresee =
datacenters=20
moving away from diesel generators as <SPAN =
class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT=20
face=3DArial color=3D#0000ff size=3D2> </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT =
face=3DArial=20
color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>></FONT> </SPAN>backup power sources =
towards fuel=20
cells/generators that can burn natural gas and hydrogen. <BR><SPAN=20
class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#0000ff=20
size=3D2></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT =
face=3DArial=20
color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>Technically fuel cells don't burn the fuel; =
they rely on=20
a chemical process that is </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT =
face=3DArial=20
color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>rather like a battery except that it relies on=20
a continuous supply of fresh fuel</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT =
face=3DArial=20
color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>to supply hydrogen atoms. The fuel cell =
has a catalyst=20
which strips electrons</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT =
face=3DArial=20
color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>off the fuel, and those flowing electrons =
are=20
electricity.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN =
class=3D580524320-14062007></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT =
face=3DArial=20
color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>Unfortunately, most fuel cells run very hot =
(600 C=20
with molten carbonate) or</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT =
face=3DArial=20
color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>use noxious chemicals (sulphuric acid slurry). =
But a lot of=20
work is being done</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT =
face=3DArial=20
color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>into developing fuel cells that run at low =
temperatures and=20
which are not so</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT =
face=3DArial=20
color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>fussy about the fuel that you feed them. =
One company=20
that has interesting</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT =
face=3DArial=20
color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>commercial products right now=20
is Acumentrics:</FONT></SPAN><SPAN=20
class=3D580524320-14062007> </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT =
face=3DArial=20
color=3D#0000ff size=3D2><A=20
href=3D"http://www.acumentrics.com/products-power-generators.htm">http://=
www.acumentrics.com/products-power-generators.htm</A></FONT> </SPAN>=
<BR><SPAN=20
class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT face=3DArial color=3D#0000ff=20
size=3D2> </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=3Dltr align=3Dleft><SPAN class=3D580524320-14062007><FONT =
face=3DArial=20
color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>--Michael =
Dillon</FONT></SPAN></DIV></BODY></HTML>
------_=_NextPart_001_01C7AEC6.35A5F880--
