4 ms·
Any source on that Q=30 requirement for practical reactors? I’d assume that anything >1 is theoretically “profitable” and something like 2~5 might already be e
by andruby 5y ago
Any source on that Q=30 requirement for practical reactors?
I’d assume that anything >1 is theoretically “profitable” and something like 2~5 might already be economically viable.
- skykooler 5y agoQ=1 just means that the plasma is putting out more energy then is put in. However, that doesn't mean you can recover all of that energy; you can't run a heat engine at millions of degrees, so energy generation has to be fairly indirect, which means you need about Q=30 to handle all the various conversion inefficiencies and still come out net positive enough to be practical.