still waiting for someone to demonstrate a more efficient power transfer solution
Solar cells, technically.
boiling water systems have a thermal efficiency of ~40% Solar cells are closer to 45% efficient
So line a nuclear fusion containment chamber with photovoltaic cells?
They would melt, but we do also have gamma voltaics which can use the gamma radiation from fission and fusion to generate electricity they just have an atrocious efficiency
Helion is trying to build a fusion reactor that harvests the energy through electro magnetic induction.
I’ll believe it when I see it. They have so many material science challenges ahead of them and aren’t very forthcoming with progress.
fission. aside from the fact physicists didn’t invent either, we’ve yet to boil any water with fusion.
Give me a concave mirror and I’ll change that
Best I can do is a convex lens.
Even wind power still turns a generator, but solar is just completely different than everything else
They’re actually quite similar to thermoelectric generators. But the potential difference between two semi conductors is created by a heat differential rather than by photon excitation.
Thermoelectric generators have been used on various rovers and deep space probes as well as in remote lighthouses.
“That’s it?! That’s the nuclear power? That’s just boiling water!”
Ancient meme I had back in the day…
Man… can you imagine? Someone could shut down the whole power grid just by watching all that water.
* Looks up *
* Ahem *
Nuclear fusion existed well before physicists.
And we are harnessing its power WITHOUT boiling water
Didn’t China recently use super conducting CO2 instead of water?
Supercritical CO2 has been looked at a lot for the Brayton cycle which can get 50% efficiency compared to steam that generally caps out around 34%
The US and china both published studies talking about a brayton turbine but to my knowledge no commercial plants running off of it have been built yet
Supercritical, not superconducting.
idk but you can also use molten salt
You can use molten salt to move and store heat but you don’t put it through a turbine. Molten salt systems run it through a heat exchanger that heats steam or CO2.
oh thanks i didnt know or forgot
This is what I think of when I hear molten salt.
physicists looove hot showers! they’re the best! so comfy ☺️
Mofos just reinvented the steam engine
Ok hear me out…
Give it a few years and this is how we ride through the post apocalyptic wasteland.
Iirc one of the theoretical ways of generating power with fusion is magnetohydrodynamic generators which use the magnetic field created by the plasma to generate an electrical current directly. Still theoretical though…
The idea that using steam loop to turn a turbine is mind blowing to some.
