Replies to post #24 on American Energy Partners Inc (AEPT)

[Napolion]

==>Correction: the COP in the previous calculation is 192. I had rushed it not to miss the De La Hoya fight and forgot to convert the 4 MW energy input in MWh over the course of a day. Anyway, I wrote to a government expert and Thermochemical Conversion Group Manager at a well known research centre to get his professional opinion and settle this issue once and for all:

Dear Mr Bain,

While researching a company named W2 Energy Inc., I came across a statement in a press release that seem to be highly unrealistic, even to a non-expert:

The W2 Energy GAT reactor breaks down biomass or coal using the chemical energy stored in the biomass itself, the plasma acts as a high temperature catalyst. Unlike typical plasma reactors that utilize convection of the intense heat produced by the plasma, our GAT reactor can amazingly produce enough Syngas (H2, CO) to feed a 10,000 barrel per day synthetic diesel plant and 100 Megawatt steam turbine with a mere 4 MW input. Since our unique process works in this manner, most if not at all the CO2 produced by the process is converted into Carbon suboxides in the form of humic acid and is mixed within the ash to produce high grade organic fertilizer. Therefore the process is completely C02 neutral, even using coal or peat as base fuel.

While I understand that a the Gliding Arc in Tornado (GAT) design is very efficient, some quick calculations show a COP (Coefficient of Performance) close to 200, where I would have expected a more reasonable figure in the 5 to 10 range. Ignoring the 4 MW input producing 100 MW partial output, or a COP of 25, for a moment, I have focussed on the 10,000 barrels/day of synthetic diesel:

10,000 barrels = 420,000 gallons

Petro-diesel = 130,500 Btu/gallon

1 British thermal unit (BTU) = 0.00029 kWh

Hence: 420,000 x 130,500 x 0.000293 = 16 million KWh = 16,000 MWh

Since the 4 MW input produces 420,000 gallons of diesel in a day: 4 MW x 24 hours = 96MWh

Fuel production derived COP: 16,000 divided by 96 = 167

Total COP: 167 + 25 = 192

I find this figure highly unrealistic and would like your professional opinion on this matter, including the COP range one could reasonably expect in such circumstances.