Free Storage Heater Experiment

[nowty]

I used to be SQEP with the magnox fuel elements and the variety of cladding types required for different reactors - it never ceased to amaze me how the whole fleet was treat as a design development exercise i bet production at Springfields was a nightmare at times trying to fabricate fuel in all the different arrangements

Yes, I recall every reactor was different in that they were not interchangeable, especially the AGRs as I think they each had different enrichment levels. There was a Japanese station which used a magnox like rod but they were like half the length of a UK one. And another Japanese one which had some sort of special isotope which led us to speculate what that was all about.

Another drama was when the magnox cladding was squashed onto the grooved uranium rods under immense gas pressure. Sometimes the gaskets of the pressure vessels would fail and literally explode with a huge bang. It wasn't too dangerous as the gaskets were just compressed waxed paper but scared the hell out of you if you were near it.

[Joeboy]

Anyway, been a bit busy today.

I went to have lunch with SWMBO on her work break, she faked going to have an eye test so we could have a leisurely time.

There was a free podpoint charger at the shopping area so I plugged the TM3 in for a free 7kW charge so all todays driving around was cost free if not carbon free.

After I returned home, I found that one of the bricks which was a high density block paving brick was hotter than the other house bricks so I decided to go down B&Q and buy a few more block paving bricks to replace the house bricks. I took out the oven shelf which was buckling under the weight and arranged them into a new configuration all nicely stacked and have increased the mass yet again to 22 bricks, about 46kg so I reckon its all at least 3kWh of heat storage now.



So its not quite free anymore but still very cheap, obviously going to do another test run tonight after cooking the chicken dinner in the same oven (minus the bricks).

I just love the way this test is developing through xyz axis. Dinner looks Tidy too.

[nowty]

Nothing to report today because last nights test run failed, my fault as I set the timer but forgot to turn the temperature setting on. Its still going to be cold tonight and tomorrow so I will try again tonight.

[marshman]

Not a bad thing as coal was running flat out all last night so you could argue that all that heat would have come from burning coal - even though the electricity was cheap !

[Moxi]

ahh the AGR's were a totally different kettle of fish, stainless steel rods with individually ceramic coated uranium pellets better fuel with different operational issues altogether, some of which were partly responsible for Dungeness B closing before planned moderator life expiry dates.

I think i recall that the pippa type elements went to japan for their magnox station as well as being used in a couple of the UK reactors - one pair in the UK even had three different elements according to the position in the reactor - must have been an absolute nightmare operating the fuelling machines on those reactors!

If anyone is interested I found this:

https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCol ... 052480.pdf

I recall much of the content of this once being a closely guarded secret but I guess its all common knowledge these days.

Moxi

[Moxi]

I think you will get much better results with the block paving .......oh and turning the temperature up

We are just about to initiate the WBS as the temperature is on the dip here - or more accurately I am sat at the laptop not moving much so getting cold (thermostat still at 19.3 degrees C

The stone lintel over the inglenook is still warm to the touch.

Moxi

[Adokforme]

Nothing to report today because last nights test run failed, my fault as I set the timer but forgot to turn the temperature setting on. Its still going to be cold tonight and tomorrow so I will try again tonight.

Think I can sympathise with you there Nowty. Must have been a day of such instances as I travelled the twenty odd miles to collect a boiler spares package
ordered last Thursday and on arrival discovered I'd forgotten to take my wallet.
Thankfully the helpful assistant allowed me to pay for them from memory of my Visa card details. Phew!

[nowty]

Last nights test run went well, nice and toasty in the main living areas for breakfast this morning and the cooling fan on the oven was still silently blowing out hot air at 9am (3.5hrs post heating). Opening the oven the bricks were mostly around 150 degrees and the cooling fan stopped shortly after. Absolutely no smell at all as I think my testing has finally burnt off all cooking residues from the oven.

Another useful feature I have found is if I want a heating boost from the oven I can simply turn on the fan oven with temp set to zero as this forces the cooling fan on and that blows hot air out into the kitchen. So I have accidently created a 3kWh heat battery in an existing household appliance.

I'm increasingly confident now that the gas boiler may remain switched off indefinitely and only there for emergency purposes.

[Mr Gus]

Just buy her an instantpot & a wand (sous vide, not the other sort, ...well maybe the other sort too depending on her mood after you've essentially bricked up her oven)

Ovens are over-rated ..& under-insulated.

[nowty]

Ovens are over-rated ..& under-insulated.

Ironically the under insulated feature of them makes my experiment work, as I don't want the bricks too hot to remove in the evening if I want to cook a roast dinner.