Talk:Nuclear lightbulb
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[edit] thermodynamic limits
No thermodynamic limits sounds like wishful thinking to me. I think that a photovoltaic is limited by the carnot cycle like any other device. The advantage of the photovoltaic is that the hot side temperature is probably something like the equivalent blackbody temperature of the photon or something, which is quite hot for a 25000K blackbody (making the upper limit on efficiency around 24/25 = 96% say). I think Mr Carnot is a bit harder to escape than the article implies. (There are also technical issues like neutron poisoning and PV cooling which I suspect are more than just engineering) njh 05:19, 31 December 2005 (UTC)
- Agreed, I think I'll pull the last few sentences. Modify if you think you can do better. Lcolson 06:50, 31 December 2005 (UTC)
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- Looks reasonable. If any technique has high potential, it is MHD (MHD_generator), which is a non-contact way of generating electricity directly from very hot plasma. I read a report years back about a technique whereby a super hot nuclear plasma is pulsed by injecting fuel in lumps, the pulses created magnetic pulses which were somehow coupled directly to a coil which was then suitably clarified for mains electricity. njh 09:02, 31 December 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Temperature
How con the reactor function at 25000ºC? The boiling point of silica is 2230ºC, so the container should melt, boil, and eventually turn into a plasma at that temperature, unless some form of magnetic confinement is used. It material would then cool down and the engine will cease to function. Polonium 21:40, 9 May 2006 (UTC)
- Apparently the idea is to cool the outside of the silica bulb so it never gets too hot using hydrogen gas (which being your propellant is quite abundant). You'd probably get corrosion of the inside over time and of course loss in efficiency but it seems possible. OF course theoretically possible and practically possible are two very different things. http://www.nuclearspace.com/a_liberty_ship10.htm 128.12.194.96 22:17, 10 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Degradation of Fused Silica
Aren't there concerns over the transparency of fused silica degrading over time from exposure to high energy UV and to alpha and beta radiation? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 65.5.3.112 (talk) 17:35, 25 January 2007 (UTC).
