Question about UT power generators

[raniE]

How exactly do the semi-portable, portable and backpack fission, fusion and antimatter generators on p 20 of Ultra-Tech actually work? As far as I know, current fission reactors heat water to create steam, which then goes through a turbine and is converted into rotary motion. The ideas for fusion power seem to be the same and I would guess it would also be so for antimatter power generation. So, do the generators in Ultra-Tech differ in the way they produce electrical power, or would one always have to connect the UT-power generators to a water source before using them?

[Ulzgoroth]

I would assume that anything intended for portable operation would have a closed steam cycle. Actually, I'd be surprised if stationary reactors used an open cycle, I'd think they'd want to keep their circulating fluids more tightly controlled than that.

So instead of dumping the hot steam, you re-condense it after passing it through. Or use some other heat-engine system (you can even do it in a solid-state element, though I suspect the performance is bad).

Then you've got to have a bunch of radiators to get rid of all the waste heat. (And this is where I'd expect a stationary plant to use water supplies: putting your cooling radiators in water can make them a lot more effective than in air.)


This assumes hard science, and thermal-electric generation. In theory, you might be able to pull off non-thermal generation, but I'd expect that to be a very high TL or superscience possibility.

[Joseph Paul]

IEC fusion may be able to use direct pick up of electrons.

[raniE]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

I would assume that anything intended for portable operation would have a closed steam cycle. Actually, I'd be surprised if stationary reactors used an open cycle, I'd think they'd want to keep their circulating fluids more tightly controlled than that.

So instead of dumping the hot steam, you re-condense it after passing it through. Or use some other heat-engine system (you can even do it in a solid-state element, though I suspect the performance is bad).

Then you've got to have a bunch of radiators to get rid of all the waste heat. (And this is where I'd expect a stationary plant to use water supplies: putting your cooling radiators in water can make them a lot more effective than in air.)


This assumes hard science, and thermal-electric generation. In theory, you might be able to pull off non-thermal generation, but I'd expect that to be a very high TL or superscience possibility.

How effective are closed-cycle generators at preserving their fluid supply?

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by raniE

How effective are closed-cycle generators at preserving their fluid supply?

Well, they only lose it if it leaks out. How much you should expect to leak from such a system is way too much like engineering for me to answer.

[Snoman314]

Originally Posted by raniE

How effective are closed-cycle generators at preserving their fluid supply?

For game purposes, just assume 100% effective, unless damaged for some reason, which could allow coolant to leak out.

[raniE]

Ok, so since we're assuming then that it's only able to use air cooled condensation (otherwise you still need a water supply), how hot does it get?

[Anaraxes]

"Magnetohydrodynamics" (MHD) allows extracting electricity directly from a plasma.

One reason most current designs use water is because it's cheap, readily available, and we're used to working with it. You could build turbines for other fluids if you were so inclined.

Some nuclear power sources generate electricity with thermocouples, as with the "RTGs" (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators) sometimes used for spacecraft.

So there are alternatives to boiling water. "Ultra" technology likely involves inventing some more.

[Snoman314]

Originally Posted by raniE

Ok, so since we're assuming then that it's only able to use air cooled condensation (otherwise you still need a water supply), how hot does it get?

That depends on the efficiency and stuff, but short answer: very hot.

Like Anaraxes says, just pseudoscience-explain some solid state conversion system. However the heat problem will remain if you want to obey thermodynamics.

[raniE]

Originally Posted by Snoman314

That depends on the efficiency and stuff, but short answer: very hot.

Like Anaraxes says, just pseudoscience-explain some solid state conversion system. However the heat problem will remain if you want to obey thermodynamics.

Obey, obey, we must obey!

So, presumably the air-cooling system vents will be somewhere you very much do not want to be near and using one of these as a backpack is right out.