India's Engineering Marvels #2 - A Himalayan Megastructure

[naveen mishra]

jai ho

 

[Cherokee]

The Himalayas can be our powerhouse both Hydel and Solar . I hope some solar projects are initiated in Ladakh .

Oh sorry it is already happening

Ladakh to house world's largest solar power project | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis

India is planning to build the world’s largest solar power project in the cold desert of Ladakh. To be built by the Union ministry of new and renewable energy, the project will be able to generate 5,000 megawatts of power, which will be the biggest in the country and the world. The biggest so far was to be built in Rajasthan with a capacity of generating 4,000 megawatt of solar power.
The new power project will be set up in Leh district which is at the altitude of 11562 feet and known as roof of the world. The project requires at least 20,000 acres of land .

 

[Reviewer21]

Thorium Deposits in India and it's capability:
India has the world's largest Thorium deposits, enough to produce 500GWe of power, every year for 400 years, if you consider only the reserves that can be extracted economically.
Monazite powder is the source of world's most of the thorium. It looks like this:

Indian Thorium deposits by state:
Andhra Pradesh : 35 %
Tamil Nadu and Odisha : 15-20 %
Kerala and West Bengal : 10-15 %
Bihar : 0-5 %

India have successfully tested World's first Thorium based reactor:

1. Also, India is the only country in the world to have the know-how of producing the Thorium based reactor.
2. Half the publications on Thorium in the world are from India.
3. India plans to build 60 of these nuclear reactors in the coming 10 years, thereby making the country self-sufficient in its energy needs.
4. There were also plans to implement this in automobile technology, thereby reducing the dependence on oil imports.
5. 8gm of thorium can power a car for 3 lakh miles.

The US automobile giant Cadillac has showcased its Thorium powered concept car which they claim can be refueled once a century:

A single bowling ball of Thorium has the same energy as the oil that can be fit in Knock Nevis, the world's largest oil tanker. It can carry up to 4 million barrels of oil at once.
Knock Nevis Size Comparison :

Source: India: What are some of India's best kept secrets? - Quora

 

[Srinivas]

Well the potential is there to surpass every country in this region in Agriculture, Manufacturing, IT, Military and etc...etc.....

But India needs strong Leaders and Govt, who can take tough decisions.

Thorium Deposits in India and it's capability:
India has the world's largest Thorium deposits, enough to produce 500GWe of power, every year for 400 years, if you consider only the reserves that can be extracted economically.
Monazite powder is the source of world's most of the thorium. It looks like this:

Indian Thorium deposits by state:
Andhra Pradesh : 35 %
Tamil Nadu and Odisha : 15-20 %
Kerala and West Bengal : 10-15 %
Bihar : 0-5 %

India have successfully tested World's first Thorium based reactor:

1. Also, India is the only country in the world to have the know-how of producing the Thorium based reactor.
2. Half the publications on Thorium in the world are from India.
3. India plans to build 60 of these nuclear reactors in the coming 10 years, thereby making the country self-sufficient in its energy needs.
4. There were also plans to implement this in automobile technology, thereby reducing the dependence on oil imports.
5. 8gm of thorium can power a car for 3 lakh miles.

The US automobile giant Cadillac has showcased its Thorium powered concept car which they claim can be refueled once a century:

A single bowling ball of Thorium has the same energy as the oil that can be fit in Knock Nevis, the world's largest oil tanker. It can carry up to 4 million barrels of oil at once.
Knock Nevis Size Comparison :

Source: India: What are some of India's best kept secrets? - Quora

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

Earlier I posted about three other Indian engineering marvels -

#1 A half-hour special documenting the resurrection of a jaw-dropping ~700 km long pipeline by Cairn India Limited, the film takes a look at the completion of the mammoth project that would be the resolution to the ultimate challenge faced by the biggest onshore oil discovery in India in the last 25 years. ~ 700 km of the line would make up the longest heated section of pipeline in the world.

Read more at:- India's Engineering Marvels - A Short Story of a Long Pipeline

#2 India home to Asia's largest Solar-Thermal Power Plant - This sophisticated technology was used for the first time in India to generate solar power.

Read more at:- India home to Asia's largest Solar-Thermal Power Plant

#3 India designs World's first Prototype Commercial Thorium based nuclear reactor - Earlier, India produced the world's first thorium nuclear reactor, the Kakrapar-1, in 1993, and as part of India's three-stage fuel cycle plan, a new Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) is being designed, slated for operation in 2016. The country hopes to use thorium-based reactors to meet 30 per cent of its electricity demands by 2050. One ton of Thorium can produce same energy as 200 tons of Uranium, or 3,500,000 tons of coal and India has the largest Thorium reserves in the world amounting to 846,000 tons.

Read more at:- India designs World's first Thorium based Nuclear Reactor

Really one ton of Thorium equal to 300 tonnes of Uranium? I think Thorium cannot be used without mixing it a little bit with Uranium to make it radioactive.

 

[Reviewer21]

But India needs strong Leaders and Govt, who can take tough decisions.

Indeed that is the only lacking factor, hopefully we'll get that also after this election

 

[Omega007]

@Abingdonboy,Th 232 can not be directly used in reactors for power generation.However,Th 232 produces Uranium-233 is by the
neutron irradiation of
and this U 233 can be used in reactors. When thorium-232
absorbs a neutron, it becomes
thorium-233, which has a half-life
of only 22 minutes. Thorium-233
decays into protactinium-233
through beta decay.
Protactinium-233 has a half-life
of 27 days and beta decays into
uranium-233; some proposed
molten salt reactor designs
attempt to physically isolate the
protactinium from further
neutron capture before beta
decay can occur.

 

[Bobby]

You guys need nearly 6 years to build such a small（wtih only 4 tiny 250MW generating units for a total output of 1000MW）run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station？

soon others will come for troll after smelling his burning a$$

 

[Robinhood Pandey]

Yamuna expressway, buddha F1 racecourse, and now this DAM

Jaypee group is doing OK

 

[Abingdonboy]

Thorium Deposits in India and it's capability:
India has the world's largest Thorium deposits, enough to produce 500GWe of power, every year for 400 years, if you consider only the reserves that can be extracted economically.
Monazite powder is the source of world's most of the thorium. It looks like this:

Indian Thorium deposits by state:
Andhra Pradesh : 35 %
Tamil Nadu and Odisha : 15-20 %
Kerala and West Bengal : 10-15 %
Bihar : 0-5 %

India have successfully tested World's first Thorium based reactor:

1. Also, India is the only country in the world to have the know-how of producing the Thorium based reactor.
2. Half the publications on Thorium in the world are from India.
3. India plans to build 60 of these nuclear reactors in the coming 10 years, thereby making the country self-sufficient in its energy needs.
4. There were also plans to implement this in automobile technology, thereby reducing the dependence on oil imports.
5. 8gm of thorium can power a car for 3 lakh miles.

The US automobile giant Cadillac has showcased its Thorium powered concept car which they claim can be refueled once a century:

A single bowling ball of Thorium has the same energy as the oil that can be fit in Knock Nevis, the world's largest oil tanker. It can carry up to 4 million barrels of oil at once.
Knock Nevis Size Comparison :

Source: India: What are some of India's best kept secrets? - Quora

There isn't going to be a one-stop fix to all of India's energy demands what is needed and, what is being pursued, is a multifaceted approach with HEP, solar, Wind, Nuclear, Coal, Thorium etc all being linked to a national grid to meet this demand. This is the most logical approach one can take for a number of reasons- cost, safety, redundancy etc


As for Thorium, I don't know enough about it to really tell if this hype is justified but it seems to very promising and could be a nice little ace in India's pocket over the coming decades....

 

[Chanakya's_Chant]

Really one ton of Thorium equal to 300 tonnes of Uranium? I think Thorium cannot be used without mixing it a little bit with Uranium to make it radioactive.

No not 300 ton but 200 ton - Here they have explained it well! -

Why can 1 ton of Thorium produce as much energy as 200 tons of Uranium? : askscience

 

[Screambowl]

Karcham Wangtoo Hydel Power Project which was handled by Jaypee Group, has sold its two hydro power projects in Kinnaur district to a consortium led by Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA), the international energy and water company from Abu Dhabi, for Rs 10500 crore.
And it made headlines here few days.I am wondering if its going to be our next arch dam??The terrain is such that an arch dam would have been ideal.

they have built tehri one of the highest dams, which is still a blunder., in that highly earthquake and volcanic activity prone area, you want to build one more arch dam? Arch dams are build on plateaus and old fold mountains, not in Himalayas. The mountains are still humid and wet due to abundance of water.

Arc dams are not suited for Himalayas.

 

[Sourya Kharb]

Good for our Country

 

[Levina]

they have built tehri one of the highest dams, which is still a blunder., in that highly earthquake and volcanic activity prone area, you want to build one more arch dam? Arch dams are build on plateaus and old fold mountains, not in Himalayas. The mountains are still humid and wet due to abundance of water.

Arc dams are not suited for Himalayas.

Arch dams on plateaus???
You gotta be kidding me.
If you didnt know arch dam is most suitable for narrow GORGES or CANYONS with steep walls of stable rock to support the structure and stresses.Since they are thinner than any other dam type, they require much less construction material, making them economical and practical in remote areas.
And as far as I know IDDUKKI dam is the first and only arch dam in India. And is the largest arch dam in Asia. (@kurup please confirm)
I have done my project on dams.And I am so sure i am not wrong in my analysis.

 

[Screambowl]

Arch dams on plateaus???
You gotta be kidding me.
If you didnt know arch dam is most suitable for narrow GORGES or CANYONS with steep walls of stable rock to support the structure and stresses.Since they are thinner than any other dam type, they require much less construction material, making them economical and practical in remote areas.
And as far as I know IDDUKKI dam is the first and only arch dam in India. And is the largest arch dam in Asia. (@kurup please confirm)
I have done my project on dams.And I am so sure i am not wrong in my analysis.

arre bhaiya, himalyan mountains are new fold humid and wet mountains in a high volcanic and earthquake prone contour. It is never advised to build an arch dam there at those heights.

You have to shift the villages and towns, to make valley as reservoir.

Google it, past 5 years an arch - embankment dam is being built in Srinagar but because the mountain is wet and brittle phyllite, they are not able to complete even 20%.

Only gravity dams are safe but still, deforestation is required which leads to 2013 type flash floods in Hills.


You might have done your project there, but i have lived in hills for 12 years.