3 ms·
Probably a dumb question, but how does the nuclear source work? Nuclear powerplants work by heating steam to turn a turbine. This drone won't have heavy water
by bduerst 7y ago
Probably a dumb question, but how does the nuclear source work? Nuclear powerplants work by heating steam to turn a turbine. This drone won't have heavy water reservoirs so how does it convert the fission heat into electricity? Stirling engine?
- Gibbon1 7y agoMost nuclear power sources for space stuff works by Peltier effect. See Radioisotope thermoelectric generator. radio-isotope decay -> heat -> Peltier stack -> electricity. Advantages: no moving parts, no vibration, infinitesimal mass change, exceedingly reliable. 'Small' Disadvantage: Efficiency kinda crummy at ~5%. Slowly loses output as fuel decays and the Peltier stack degrades.
- petascale 7y agoProbably an RTG [1], it's what NASA normally uses. It's thermoelectric [2]: Heat (in this case from radioactive decay) is converted directly into electricity without moving parts. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_ge... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_effect#Seebeck_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_effect#Seebeck_...
- ekianjo 7y agoJust like nuclear sources work on sattelites. You produce heat with fission or nuclear degradation and then thermoelectric conversion.