Geothermal Power

* See also Hephaestus
* See also Hephaestus_Power_Facility
* See also Rapture Central Control
* See also Utility Stuff
* See Also Utility_Distribution In Rapture
* See Also Rapture_Economy
* See Also Geography
Source Of Rapture's Abundant Power.
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Hephaestus - Part of the Ryan Legacy :
The Power and Heat Services (and Fresh Water) were one of the income sources made available for the City  (beyond paying its own upkeep expenses, which was not minor).    Maintenance of the City was a major expense.   Philosophical Visions Come True dont come cheap.  Ryan creating a Society he could live in - is that Altruism ??
Also a source of Employment (with Player role-playing activities as with other things)
YOU CAN DO GREAT THINGS WHEN YOU HAVE CHEAP ABUNDANT POWER - IT CREATED OUR MODERN WORLD
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Experimental Geothermal-Hydroelectric unit (Mt Ryan Power Company) :
* Hot water rises in cold water. If the volume is sufficient, alot of power can be generated using a bladed turbine & generator.
* Hot Water tapped from the Hephaestus geothermal field was run across to and up the side of Mt Ryan (til near the surface).
* Some of the path would be bored rock tunnels to make it cheaper and require less maintenance.
* 8 foot wide water conduit - Test unit built using an old construction tram tunnel.
* Project proved to be inefficient for the expense of the construction (compared to the Geothermal Well power units)
* Very interesting Sea Life growths now at the tunnel exit (growing around the heated area)
* Plans to ship bulk chemical barges thru the tunnel to industries on Mt Ryan were never realized (Civil War started...)
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That Glowing Red Algae. (seen in the Hephaestus Geothermal complec) 
THAT is NOT Lava. Lava exists at fairly high temperatures, hardens quickly so that any lave pipe would become useless almost immediately - as it solidifies and clogs.
This red stuff would be algae which thrives in the near boiling hot water (and exists near real Geothermal Vents in the Oceans).
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Algae would be the kind of thing that BD 'Drill' tool would be far more useful for than any alleged 'drilling'.
This pictured atmosphere reminds me of what some Third World cities look like these days.
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There Be Hot Water in Them Thar Hills !! :
Some enterprising people went 'prospecting' for exceptional geothermal sites (spots that would offer significant power output, as compared to the large but more average geothermal fields near Hephaestus (on the Plain of Hades).
Such individual 'bonanza' wells, when drilled, could put out 20X the power of one of Rapture/Hudson Power's standard geothermal wellhead power installations (which there were hundreds of).    Many such sites existed far from Rapture 'City Limits'.   The local availability of cheap power 'opened the door' for other ventures, as well as allowing many outside communities to have control of their own convenient power source.   'Insurance' could be taken with a 'hookup' back to Rapture for 'backup' utilities (more than one 'wildcat' well failed or lost much of its capacity).
A few remote sites relying on local power which failed would dot the landscape 'out there'.   Such 'ghost towns' give a good idea of what Rapture would soon look like if its Power ever failed. Needless to say, Ryan put much effort into making that overall failure very unlikely to happen to HIS City.
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Mineral Deposits Near the Geothermal Area Near Rapture :
One of the Few Raw Material Sources near Rapture.
Alot of real/natural concentration of minerals is caused by superheated water circulating underground. It dissolves deep lying elements/minerals, and when flowing near the surface the cooling temperature caused the material to precipitate out and gradually concentrate. Over long periods of time, deposits of very high concentrations of various minerals (making them worth the trouble of mining) can be built up.
Several sites near Rapture - "Fumerole Alley" mineral recovery. A different well technology designed to dissolve useful minerals out of the subterranean rocks (where they have concentrated over the ages in the fissures via that natural process) and then recover them from the superheated water.
Sea Salt - The ancient sea salt evaporation process can recover certain Minerals directly from sea water - sodium, chlorine magnesium, potassium, calcium, sulfur, zinc, iodine. It requires alot of energy, but tapping into Geothermals, and doing further processing locally can be workable, and supply Rapture with important raw materials.
Mines - Some sites nearby to Rapture were possible to conventionally mine (dig it out of veins of concentrated minerals by machinery).
Prospecting for new sources and/or setting up a small mine/geothermal processing system can be one type of Quest/Missions in the MMORPG. No doubt, tasks of going out to repair/salvage existing sites would also be done.
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Interesting Fact - Heating from a Central Plant :
New York City had its "The New York Steam Corporation" which heated over 2500 buildings by 1932 (including many famous skyscrapers). Eventually as part of a merger, it became Consolidated Edison.
The Geothermal Heating from Hephaestus is a similar system, sending hot water (versus Steam) with greater energy density through pipes miles long to heat much of Rapture.
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