Wind turbines used to absorb a power surplus?

I need an Rpi coder or two. I think I'll hang out in some maker spaces, rather than going the usual employment search route.

Years ago I did a system for a GE environmental test setup with an AT managing 12 XTs that were controlling the test harnesses. All DOS and a homegrown communications bus since networking wasn't even a gleam in MS's eye. It would be a lot easier now with XBees, RFM69s, and other options.

One of my projects would be hilarious. It was a mind experiment to design an automated information retrieval system for a library. Of course we assume the information would be microfiche.

About 50 years later the library installed a kiosk that would find and deliver your desired DVD and I thought 'well, it finally happened'. We also thought someone would write a decent chess program in FORTRAN IV if they had a free weekend.

As I mentioned in another post I only interviewed one candidate who had completed a real life project for the Dublinbikes system. The rest were 'duh?'. The Masters level people were the worst, going on endlessly about their thesis that had no practical application as far as I could tell.

I want to use Pi Picos as surface-mount components on PC boards, instead of buying an mpu and other parts that are hard to get or soon EOL.

There's an astounding culture around RPi, and not just hobbyists.

You remember your project. Most recent EE grads don't, or certainly don't understand it.

Because they didn't actually do it?

It was my standard interview approach to ask the candidate about how whatever he was most proud of worked, handing them a large piece of paper and a pen, asking for a block diagram and a narrative walking me through the diagram.

If they had actually worked on the project, I would run out of time before they ran out of details, and if they understood it, the overall design would make sense, even if some details were odd.

This quickly eliminated the poseurs.

Joe Gwinn

torsdag den 23. marts 2023 kl. 11.31.25 UTC+1 skrev John Larkin:

gotta be more explicit than Rpi on what you need because it might mean; raspberrypi is mostly just linux pico with python, which might as well be a pc with (slow) io pico with C + pio which is embedded C on an MCU

I'd want to go bare-metal c. Pico only has 2 Mbytes of flash and Python is big and slow.

I'm sure the Raspberry Pi Foundation had a 'holy s*it!!!' moment. I think the Arduino people had a little better idea of what they were getting into. I've got an Atmel development board and I was messing around with the AVRs. Then the Arduinos came out. Neat package, ready to go.

At the time, I guess over 20 years ago, I looked at the PIC but I didn't care much for the instruction set. I'm an old Z-80 / 8048 type and the AVR was more familiar.

I was subscribing to Steve Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar mag and they had projects for both. I don't subscribe any more but looking at the table of contents on their website they're still big on PIC32s.

Steam will come on almost instantly provided the boiler is nice and hot.

It'll keep going for more than a few minutes too if the fire bed is nice and hot. (I daresay that's easier with oil fired boilers!)

Keeping the boiler nice and hot just in case you need it uses a lot of energy.

Of course, you can predict demand to some extent - but not completely.

Andy

Ah, when load following, it may require _more_ steam, which requires additional fuel (pulverized coal, CH4, bunker fuel, etc), and there definitely will be a lag there.

How do you define "almost instant" and what is "nice and hot"? What operating pressure do you need for the turbines? As a licensed boiler engineer in MA I think you are overstating a bit.

around one second to three seconds

"Typical coal-based power plants operating at steam pressures of 170 bar and 570 °C run at efficiency of 35 to 38%, with state-of-the-art fossil fuel plants at 46% efficiency."

As a licensed boiler

Dont be silly. steam engines and steam turbines used in ships do not take a half an hour to go from cruise to flank speed.

Neither does a steam locomotive. The stored power is in the boiler. It is on tpa more or less instantaneously.

And if its well lagged it wont take a 'lot of power' to keep it hot,

The Stanley Steamer is a famous example.

Karl Marx got thrown out of the international socialist movement in 1871 because his undemocratic ideas about implementing socialism were seen as inevitably leading to tyranny, as indeed they did. Right-wing lunatics have been using his silly ideas to discredit socialism ever since.

Sure, but you are using a lot of fuel to keep it near operating pressure. Locomotive? Sure, but most other uses it is not needed.

If it is well-lagged you aren't. For static plant you can put on loads of insulation. It takes up space, but pays for itself in reduced standby fuel demand.

We aren't talking about those most other uses.

Why would keeping something hot require energy? All it needs is insulation. MUCH easier in a fixed power station than a steam locomotive

It takes some energy. With enough insulation, very little, but still some.

Karl Marx had good economic insights, but his grasp of practical politics was dire, that's what got him slung out of the International socialist movement in 1871. They though that his foolish ideas about "the leading role of the party" would lead to tyranny, as indeed it did.

There's nothing special about Marxism as silly idea. Any religion insists on giving it's leaders more power than everybody else.

Right-wingers who don't like socialism like to pretend that Marxism is peak socialism, when it's just an ill-conceived spin-off.

Amazing. Just amazing.