Research @ the old Power Plant

North of Fort Collins there was

this old coal burning power plant

and this is how it looks today.

It's now called the Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory (EECL) and these folks from CSU were on hand to show us around!

"Let's take a look at what we have at the EECL"

They test third world cooking stoves and retrofit them for cleaner and more efficient operation! OK, but where are the engines!

Now this is an engine!

This sucker is a Cooper-Bessemer GMV-4TF natural gas engine. It has 4 cylinders with a 140 liter displacement and has a rated speed of 300 rpm!

...and here's the old 6-cylinder Waukesha VGF F18GL!

This guy has an 18 liter displacement with a rated speed of 1800 rpm. It's been upgraded with a laser ignition system and pre-combustion chamber (Nat. Gas fuel).

oh, and there are a few John Deer diesel engines out back.

They have this truck called a hydraulic hybrid. Check this animation to find out more.

You can find this fountain near the front of the building

Erected by the Works Progress Administration

It looks like the employees and students like to BBQ near the fountain!

Out back, they're growing algae

It's called a closed system photo-bioreactor and it is used for biofuel production: ethanol, methane, hydrogen, oh, and natural gas to run those engines noted above! So we have solar energy converting to chemical energy converting to mechanical energy converting to electrical energy I guess?