White Cliffs Solar Thermal Power Station & Steam power regulations

[jamesk]

Hi there,

A 25 kWe solar thermal steam engine power station operated
successfully in White Cliffs, NSW, Australia from 1981 to 1996.

The steam engine was converted from a diesel engine. Below is a link
to 6 pages of a 242 page report about diesel to steam conversion:

http://people.linux-gull.ch/rossen/solar/wcengine.html

I'm tracking down an electronic copy of the full 242 report entitled
"The White Cliffs Project - Overview for the period 1979-89".

Below is a link to a brief wiki about the White Cliffs project:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Cliffs_Solar_Power_Station%2C_New_South_Wales

One aspect of using steam is that in most states steam engines and
boilers require formal inspections and certified operators, which for
small solar turbine installations might add too much red tape and
expense to be cost-effective.

Below is a group in my neighborhood that works with steam engines,
though for artistic reasons. Nevertheless there's a brief discussion
of regulations and certifications that here in CA are required. It's
a great group, lots of collaborative potential. I'll talk with them
about the Solar Turbine project.

http://kineticsteamworks.org/index.html

Keep up the great work!

James

[jamesk]

Hi there,

I have arranged for a CD of the in-depth design, construction and
operation details of the White Cliffs project to be sent to me on CD
from NSW, Australia. Can't wait to dig into it. Will be happy to
share relevant details if anybody is interested.

Their solar thermal electric system worked reliably for well over 10
years. A few technical problems that emerged in the early years were
quickly and completely solved. The system was only shut down because
the town became grid-connected to cheap electricity and some outsiders
were eager to repurpose the mirrors for an experimental PV project.

BTW, the PV system only worked a few years before being shut down due
to module maintenance and reliability problems.

I'm told that with routine maintenance and simple repairs the solar
thermal electric system could have run for decades before any major
system component rebuilds would have been necessary, at which point it
could have run for another bunch of decades.

I wonder how many of the local White Cliff residents wish they still
had the solar thermal electric system around now that the grid-connect
electricity is no longer cheap.

Be well,

James

===============

On Aug 17, 2:39 pm, jamesk <jam...@virtuallygreen.com> wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> A 25 kWe solar thermal steam engine power station operated
> successfully in White Cliffs, NSW, Australia from 1981 to 1996.
>
> The steam engine was converted from a diesel engine.  Below is a link
> to 6 pages of a 242 page report about diesel to steam conversion:
>
> http://people.linux-gull.ch/rossen/solar/wcengine.html
>
> I'm tracking down an electronic copy of the full 242 report entitled
> "The White Cliffs Project - Overview for the period 1979-89".
>
> Below is a link to a brief wiki about the White Cliffs project:
>

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Cliffs_Solar_Power_Station%2C_New_...

[meyrickt]

Hi, could you give me the contact details where you ordered the CD
from please?

Rick..

> > James- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[...]

I found this yesterday:

 

http://people.linux-gull.ch/rossen/solar/wcengine.html

 

This is the chapter of the book where they talk about the modified desil engine they use, and on this pae are links to information about ordering the whole report.

[Marcin Jakubowski]

Thanks, James.

The data in your first link shows 16% efficiency for an array
apparently 6 times as large as ours (ours is 30 sq meters), or about
12 kW of power output. If it were possible to scale down, that
indicates 2 kW of power for us - a very acceptable result.

Lister engines, 1 cylinder, are $1250 on ebay. It's more for a 2
cylinder. I did not see any 3 cylinder engines like this on ebay.

We have a Lister 1 cylinder at Factor e Farm - do you think a
1-cylinder diesel would work as well?

Please continue your research into this project and into your
contacts. Ask your friends about a 'high recirculation ratio uniflow
steam engine' - which I hear is the best modern design.

Marcin