Accumulators: A concept for GURPS Spaceships

[YankeeGamer]

Accumulators: A rough idea

In some science fiction, ships use batteries/accumulators. The Lensmen needed to be sure that the mighty Dauntless’s accumulators were full before reporting “Hot and Tight.” Star Fleet Battles—the batteries are vital. Honor Harrington’s “Superconducting loops” are very efficient batteries.
Real world submarines depend on batteries when submerged, unless they are nuclear boats. Modern spaceflight uses them, too.

Spaceship Accumulators could be useful. Instead of generating power points, they hold a certain number of “Power point hours.” Having stored power is useful for several things, depending on the universe. Anything that needs a LOT of power for a short time can benefit from accumulators. If entering hyperspace takes 5 power points for a moment, a 1 power point hour accumulator can give that blast of power, then be recharged at leisure—much more practical than including a massive 5 power point plant, if the ship never needs more than 1 or two power points at other times.

Other ships might run on engines, but fight using accumulators.

If you need to overload an engine to get more speed, but don’t want to overload the power plant—accumulators to the rescue.

Nuclear plants generate neutrino radiation; which, in some settings, can be detected. Run silently on the accumulators.

Accumulators are always ready, so if the power plant is offline for maintenance, the ship can still fire its weapons/

I would propose that accumulators cost an amount comparable to a similar power plant of the tech level and type, and have power point hours equal to the power points the plant puts out. They are, of course, volatile systems.

Ships that only have low power systems (Zero power points) can charge accumulators, but it takes a formidably long time—probably DAYS per power point-hour. The small power plants can dedicate spare watts to the accumulators.

This is just a very rough idea I had; I have not done any number crunching to see how it balances out—might need to be tweaked seriously in terms of cost, power point-hours, or anything else. Have fun; if anyone thinks it needs changes, please speak up.

(Now a ship with an oversized spinal mount, taking 9 spaces, might be able to fire it.!)

[starslayer]

I agree with your basic concept; however.

Energy storage capacity and discharge rate are pretty much inversely proportional. Capacitors discharge quickly (but can't store a lot) and batteries store a lot (but can't discharge quickly).

A superconducting loop is a capacitor, not a battery.

With that said power cells which start appearing at TL9+ seem to have solved this issue, having discharge rates fast enough for rapid fire lasers and energy capacity in excess of any modern battery while only being trivially heavier.

Massive storage of power and rapid discharge at the rate required for energy weapons, etc, will be at such high levels of power that you will be generating as much if not more detectable gauss energy and radio emissions, so I would dispose any notes about it being more stealthy to use the power reserve.

[YankeeGamer]

I was trying to keep it simple, without needing to distinguish between types of storage. (Call it ultra-tech equipment.)

Using the Accumulators to fire won't be stealthy, but they have no emissions until the gun is fired, keeping the emissions low until that first blast from a spinal gun. Reactors will radiate when idling, as long as something is reacting--they don't really have an "instant on" function.

They're still useful for a hyperdrive that needs a massive jolt to enter hyperspace, or ships that don't usually need lots of power, but when they need it they need it NOW, or need LOTS for a few minutes.

I'm sure that cloaking will be much more effective if there's no reactor running, too.

[starslayer]

Originally Posted by YankeeGamer

I was trying to keep it simple, without needing to distinguish between types of storage. (Call it ultra-tech equipment.)

Using the Accumulators to fire won't be stealthy, but they have no emissions until the gun is fired, keeping the emissions low until that first blast from a spinal gun. Reactors will radiate when idling, as long as something is reacting--they don't really have an "instant on" function.

They're still useful for a hyperdrive that needs a massive jolt to enter hyperspace, or ships that don't usually need lots of power, but when they need it they need it NOW, or need LOTS for a few minutes.

I'm sure that cloaking will be much more effective if there's no reactor running, too.

If the reactor can be turned on and off at will (which is not the case for any current atomic reactor), then it will have no problem turning down to enter 'stealth mode' and only providing the bare requirements for life-support and the cloaking device while reducing its emissions to near-nil in the process (unless the stealth system is particularly hungry, but then you go back to the stored energy releasing so much gauss and EM that its a beacon in and of itself)

[YankeeGamer]

Originally Posted by starslayer

If the reactor can be turned on and off at will (which is not the case for any current atomic reactor), then it will have no problem turning down to enter 'stealth mode' and only providing the bare requirements for life-support and the cloaking device while reducing its emissions to near-nil in the process (unless the stealth system is particularly hungry, but then you go back to the stored energy releasing so much gauss and EM that its a beacon in and of itself)

I'm assuming that a reactor takes time to power up, so Instant On is very valuable.

[gruundehn]

From my experience as an electronics tech, capacitors can hold a charge only for a small time as they will "bleed" their charge off continually. Also, find yourself a decent basic electronics principles book and notice just how big a capacitor has to be to hold a decent charge. I do not think "Doc" Smith ever mentioned just how big his spaceships were but unless the Lensmen found a way to modify the laws of physics as we presently understand them, the Dauntless would be close to the size of our Moon and most of the interior space would be capacitors in order to power effective weapons.

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by starslayer

If the reactor can be turned on and off at will (which is not the case for any current atomic reactor), then it will have no problem turning down to enter 'stealth mode' and only providing the bare requirements for life-support and the cloaking device while reducing its emissions to near-nil in the process (unless the stealth system is particularly hungry, but then you go back to the stored energy releasing so much gauss and EM that its a beacon in and of itself)

Even if the reactor is just ticking over, it's still likely spitting out either neutrinos or anti-neutrinos.

[weby]

Originally Posted by starslayer

With that said power cells which start appearing at TL9+ seem to have solved this issue, having discharge rates fast enough for rapid fire lasers and energy capacity in excess of any modern battery while only being trivially heavier.

In fact the basic TL9 power cells have way less energy/weight than the best current day batteries(late TL 8), but indeed much higher discharge rates. In fact a TL 9 cell is about equal to a high end current LI battery in total energy, but can get it out really fast.

So the power cells have not solved the issue, instead they have made the default to be fast discharge cell instead of a maximum total energy one.

[YankeeGamer]

It seems the accumulators are space opera science, or supersicence. It was the Britania that used Accumulators. (Also, when Kinnison and Van Bursic were marooned on Delgon, they used the output of an ATOMIC POWER PLANT for hours to recharge their power armor and blasters.

They may not belong in rivet-counting stories, but there's room for Space Opera here.

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by YankeeGamer

It seems the accumulators are space opera science, or supersicence. It was the Britania that used Accumulators. (Also, when Kinnison and Van Bursic were marooned on Delgon, they used the output of an ATOMIC POWER PLANT for hours to recharge their power armor and blasters.

Which is in fact realistic, given the tech. The nuke plant they were tapping was a primitive one by their standards, probably something akin to ours today, and the devices they were recharging could store immense amounts of energy, they had to be able to do so to do what they did.