Gigawatts to British thermal units per second conversion

How to convert gigawatts to british thermal units per second?

Certainly! Let's start by converting 1 gigawatt (GW) to British thermal units per second (BTU/s).

1. Conversion Calculation:

1 gigawatt (GW) is equal to 1 billion watts (1 GW = 1 x 10^9 W).

First, let's recall the conversion factor between watts and BTUs per hour:

• 1 watt (W) = 3.412141633 BTU/hour

Since there are 3600 seconds in an hour, we need to convert BTU/hour to BTU/second:

$1 \text{ watt} = 3.412141633 \text{ BTU/hour} \div 3600 \text{ seconds/hour}$

$1 \text{ watt} = 0.000947817 \text{ BTU/second}$

Now, convert gigawatts to BTU/second:

$1 \text{ GW} = 1,000,000,000 \text{ W}$

$1,000,000,000 \text{ W} \times 0.000947817 \text{ BTU/second} \text{ per watt}$

$1 \text{ GW} \approx 947,817 \text{ BTU/second}$

So, 1 gigawatt is approximately 947,817 BTU/second.

2. Real-World Examples of Gigawatts:

• Large Power Plants: A large nuclear or coal-fired power plant might have a generating capacity of around 1-2 gigawatts. For example, the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Arizona, USA, has a total generating capacity of about 3.9 gigawatts, making it the largest power plant in the United States by net generation.

• Hydroelectric Dams: The Hoover Dam has a generating capacity of about 2 gigawatts. In contrast, the Itaipu Dam on the Brazil-Paraguay border can generate up to 14 gigawatts.

• City Energy Consumption: A large metropolitan city like New York City can consume thousands of megawatts per day (1 GW = 1000 MW). On peak days, New York City's energy consumption can be well over 10 gigawatts.

• Renewable Energy Farms: Large wind farms and solar farms can also reach capacities in the gigawatt range. For example, the Alta Wind Energy Center in California has an installed capacity of about 1.5 gigawatts.

To summarize: 1 Gigawatt (GW) ≈ 947,817 BTU/second.

I hope this gives you a good understanding of the conversion as well as real-world applications of gigawatt quantities!