New York City Runs On Steam | NYC: Revealed
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ต.ค. 2024
- Discover New York City's unique reliance on steam to heat its iconic buildings, including the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. Steam stacks, a familiar yet overlooked part of Manhattan's streetscape, are essential to powering the city’s infrastructure.
What’s the history behind this hidden technology, and how does it continue to sustain NYC?
Find the full documentary: curiositystrea...
NYC: Revealed, Steam
Many don't know it, but New York is a city that runs on steam. 27 billion pounds of it per year, in fact. It's one of the few cities that relies on the old, but reliable, technology to heat some of its most famous buildings.
#CuriosityStream #NYC #EmpireState - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Technically NY runs on GAS that boils the water and turn it into steam
It runs on several sources of heat to create steam. None are very good except nuclear.
of course there's always one guy.....
@@couchpotatoes5158 Who speaks truth? And understands the background? Please tell me what I’m missing.
@@CreachterZ The point is that the steam is being directly delivered to homes. It would be like saying New York runs on electricity.
That walk-through tour of the building's steam pipe is great. I work as a commercial service plumber in Manhattan and I see these rooms basically every day. What they don't mention though is that basically anything in plumbing wears out or requires maintenance. Some condensate tanks in buildings also require chemicals to be injected into condensate so they won't corrode the tanks and piping and they have to dump the steam / condensate into the streets from time to time.
CAN YOU MAKE A VLOG OF UR DAY IN THE LIFE INSTEAD OF PLAYING GTA SA!( NOT 2004)
There is something called central heating with what we call Blockheizkraftwerk (BHKW) in Germany. You use gas to produce heat. Send that heat into homes (Fernwärme) and while it's producing heat it generates electricity.
My grandfather was a boiler cleaner, but I have never seen a boiler in my life. I always thought boilers were ancient tech, replaced by more modern options long before I was born. It's strange to hear these people talking about needing a boiler in a building if steam was no longer available.
Boilers are still very much around in industrial or large-scale settings. Most manufacturing plants have at least some steam, and all fuel-based power plants run off steam too. Nuclear, coal, gas, etc are used to boil water into steam to pass it through a turbine, which spins a generator and makes electricity. Then that steam is cooled back into water, and pushed back into the boilers.
many people speaking out their asses making derogatory comments about steam heating.
@@ronblack7870 They better recognize.
For those who don’t understand how water availability works, NYC has all the water it needs. There is no reason to not use it.
It is not like the Western US where water usage needs to be limited at all times. And don’t even think trucking water West is a good idea. Think about it.
More like Curiosity Steam amirite?
😂😂😂😂
Almost half of NY electricity comes from Hydro-Québec, which is in Canada.
I am thinking of frostpunk while watching this.
They should definitely connect waste heat from power generation, waste incinerators, data centers etc. Also geothermal should be doable.
Why the constant annoying music? I can’t stand it.
It sounds like it’s long overdue for this ancient system to be replaced with something more efficient like reverse cycle ac.
How many times are you guys going to upload this?
Yes
go to a different channel. Make your own channel.
@@mkhanman12345not you glazing cheddar news 🤣
9:13 i.e Demineralized water
I see the how it's made guy is staying busy
What do the steam stacks smell like? I'd have assumed they'd have no smell.
wait is the voiceover guy the same one from History Channels How its Made?
this is the content that sponsors some of my favorite creators? oof
What would be some of the benefits if we switched to electric?
There would most likely be no point. It'd probably be so massively expensive to change out the entire steam system that heating costs would skyrocket. The steam system is already in place and works just fine. It'd be much more inconvenient for everyone involved to change a system that works, especially when you think about the fact that electricity is generated by creating steam that runs steam turbines that in turn generate electricity. You'd basically be keeping the steam production while adding an additional step in the energy production chain for no reason. Don't fix what isn't broken.
every burning something power plant ever uses steam to make electricity. so the an steam plant is not really much different from a electric power plant.
the reason why other cities dont use steam directly for heating and instead go the extra step to make electricity with the steam to then use electric heating is because the whole steam infrastructure would be crazy expensive to install on an existing city. NY has it because is the richest city in the world with a larger GDP than most countries.
most cities cannot afford a system like this. so you get the idea New York city has around the same GDP as Italy and 2/3 of the UK GDP
@@lucaskp16 nope gas turbines burn nat gas and turn generators directly. no steam involved . they use the turbines to make electricity and the waste heat to make steam in cogeneration. but they don't need to make steam all with the turbines.
One of the limitation for suddenly switching to electric is whether the city's electrical system can cope with the increased capacity of heating. Some cable lines might have to be changed or layed out in order to cope with the increased electrical demand. - that on top of the rise of EVs... Blackouts can become a common occurrence if everyone suddenly switched to electric without upgrading the electrical grid.
Both steam and electricity have potential energy. Steam pipes= copper wire in a system they both move the energy around. The power generation to fill the pipes and wires is where carbon is released.
The 🐀 lives better than most residents in 🗽with constant steam/heat throughout the 🥶❄.
So all this water is used and what sent down the drain?
I like steam I like that heat and electrical system is 2 different things so if the electrical grid ever went out we would still have nice clean steam for heat all about diversity I think it’s kinda an untapped piece infrastructure I use a steam cleaner in my home
Your boilers need electricity to run, even steam. No electricity your zone valves and thermostats won’t work even steam needs electricity. Hydronic(water) or mini split lol all need electricity 24/7
@@BertBuild I’m no expert but pretty sure you still can have stand by power I mean they talked about how they could run their boilers off gas plus buildings can also have stand by generators incase of electrical grid failure it’s a redundant source of heat definitely not full proof in every situation I just wanted to try to come up with some positives seems like a lot of people hate steam in these comments lol
@@dylanmayes9555 yes the boilers do need gas or oil in constant supply and same with electricity. Only way to be redundant even a little bit is to have a generator hooked up
@@dylanmayes9555 steam is actually the best way to heat any space. There is a reason they used it all those years ago and it still is in use today. It’s cheap to maintain and water holds temperature better than almost any element on the periodic table. Thus making steam the best and most efficient way to transfer heat. New houses today use HVAC which is just blowing around air. Air does not conduct or retain its temperature even close to the same rate water and steam do
@@dylanmayes9555 I’m 10 years into plumbing haha been in my family since the 1970’s steam is epic lots of places around the world band it completely in the mid 1900’s because no one knew how to pipe systems right and they would explode is not done correctly. Europe is all hydronic not steam so it’s heating water and forcing that warm water around pipes in closed loops where as a steam boiler is literally taking a constant supply of water and turning it into steam much more dangerous but in USA we have strict codes and people like steam
Gas burns clean but has a carbon footprint about as bad as coal. That guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
HOW does the steam provide heat to buildings? Seven minutes in already and maybe you're getting to it.
They are called radiators, which are coiled metal pipe attached to a steampipe near the baseboards, sometimes they are mounted under the floors, which can be nice keeping the floors warm in winter and the incoming coldwater pipes from freezing through winter. They also continue to work when the electric grid goes down. They are more economical and renewable than central HVac heaters running off electricity.
Where does the water go when condensating after being used for heating.
Down the drain
@@dannywilkins887Seriously? What a waste!
@@Mrdannethere is no shortage of water in NYC. What would you suggest? Trucking it to Arizona?
@@CreachterZ It is still a lot of energy left in that water when going down the drain. Recirculating it back to the boiler would save a lot energy. But changing that infrastructure would be costly and complicated, so understand why it has not been done.
They should look into tidal generators to power the steam plants.
no point really when New york city has the biggest GDP in the world. if the want to appear cleaner they put some green energy somewhere else and bring the electricity there. and chapter too since any employee you dont need to hire in NW saves a lot of money because of the wages there.
No tidal generators are to inefficient. Better is solar or wind combined with a heat pump.
Tidal generators to power steam plants would be nonsensical. It would likely be so incredibly inefficient as you'd have multiple conversions. Why make steam with tidal when tidal makes electricity that can be used directly?
Yes , we just are not going to use any juice on windless nights …
These people are so incredibly ignorant 🤦♂
Wow. No wonder Americans are so easily fooled into voting for candidates and policies that conflict with their own self interest.
Americans *
Yep, Americans in general. They’re carefully conditioned from birth.
That's by design...
What are you talking about?
SIX minutes into this video and you STILL haven't explained a damn thing!
You’re not very bright, right?
Throwing shade on the United Kingdom for burning coal to produce heat when he’s burning gas is hilarious! He clearly didnt do his homework either as the UK does NOT burn coal to provide electricity or heating! (Narrowboats except although DEFFRA have brought in £1k fines for people that burn in clean areas using the wrong fuels!
you missed the part when he was talking before. the time when london was covered in smoke all day. yes at those time the steam system was also run on coal and was not any greener for the envoriment but certainly was better for the lunghs of the people to have it away from their homes.
This system was amazing back in the day. ofc no city today would even consider it since we have the same benefits with electric heating. and the burning plant is away from the city.
Here in the UK, we only last week turned off the last coal powered power plant. All are gas powered now... Or bio mass.
@@lucaskp16 In germany politicians are really pushing for district heating solutions, where a town has a central large gas boilder or massive heat pump, providing heat for the entire town. But usually those systems run on hot water instead of steam
We have the means .. but we also have MEAN people who don't want us to have what earth provides for FREE.
Nothing's free. Ever.
and that would be? nothing is ever free.
Sutch a waste of freshwater when you nowadays have systems like district heating with circulating water
No
NYC has plenty of fresh water. I don’t understand your question.
Nowadays it seems like a wasteful monopoly…
This is a terrible videos it’s just. Wrong on many points
lol the cleanest water in the world, sure thing pal 🤣
It's like the Conedison rep didn't even bother researching the phrase "sustainability".
Still use coal! Looking at the size of the plant rooms to manage steam in buildings, you could halve that space and fit something called Gas System Boilers! Bit of an improvement over exploding pipes underground. Oh, also note how the Palace rep stated they have their OWN meters. As if Conedison can't be trusted to fairly meter their product. Disgusting!
91% of the steam ConEd supplies is from Natural Gas according to ConEd, and 50% of the steam is from cogeneration
Still the 1800s in Manhattan
Wouldn't be more convenient to use ocean water instead of wasting billions of gallons of fresh water !
I think you dont understand why that would never work. See the part of the video where they even have to purify the already drinkable water? that is because any minerals in the water would accumulate in the tubes and cause corrosion and clogs.
using straight up salt water would trash the entire system in no time. and if you have to purify ocean water the energy of that alone would cost more money than the steam or electricity you could generate with that water.
purification of ocean water is so stupid expensive is only done at scale on rich dry places like Dubai for drinking water not for electricity/steam production.
No, the salt is corrosive. You actually have to make the steam out of purified water, even tap water has too many minerals for use in a steam system. Keep in mind that is the case in any power generation system that uses steam (nuclear, gas, etc..they all generate power by creating steam and then using the steam to run a turbine).
most definitely not, the water would have to be heavily processed and desalinated to turn it into *drum roll* fresh water
Such an old inefficient system.