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mvhvv | 3 years ago

I'm no power-plant engineer, but vaguely remembering back to thermodynamics 101, in a perfect heat-engine efficiency is relative to the temperature delta.

You can't just turn heat to electricity, so below a certain threshold it's only good for warming spaces.

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Loocid|3 years ago

They exist but you're right that you can't just use the waste heat directly. You have to pump in some extra heat to make it worthwhile.

They are called co-generation power plants. The one I used to work at took the waste heat from gas turbines, added more heat with HRSGs (heat recovery steam generators) and fed it into a steam turbine. It adds a significant amount of efficiency.