[UT] Plasma Torch vs. big metal door on a spaceship?

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

The question becomes how does it line up with the amount of energy spent by the torch when working from a power cell. E.g. a C-cell at TL9 seems to have an energy-per-unit-of-mass ratio that is slightly better than that of thermite; it would last about 20 seconds if it were to expend energy at the same rate as a stick of thermite from High-Tech, but a C-cell in a regular-sized torch lasts 15 minutes while doing ×2/3 the damage per second (counting by dice only) or ×3½ the DPS (counting dice multiplied by the armour divisor, since by Kromm ADs do affect the rate of armour ablation). How plausible is it for efficiency to be so much higher? How much higher can the efficiency be at TL9ish? I mean, it's 3 TLs of difference, but still.

(Other source of numbers: the regular Plasma Torch seems to require about ¼ the power compared to some modern plasma torches people tried bringing up.)

Remember that thermite is radiating heat in all directions, while a torch is directing the majority of its energy into a very small area. That's what makes it more efficient than just putting thermite on what you want to cut through.