3 ms·

I think the (unstated) idea is to use an arc furnace, during peak solar/wind output to heat graphite and recover the energy later using their fancy new TPV cell

I think the (unstated) idea is to use an arc furnace, during peak solar/wind output to heat graphite and recover the energy later using their fancy new TPV cell. That's going to require some really good insulation, since your heat source is intermittent and your temperature difference is huge. My first thought was let's use it in fission (and later fusion) reactors.

marcosdumay 4y ago
It's too hot for a fission reactor. Probably for fusion too, but that's not clear. I got the impression they would heat the graphite with concentrated solar power.
MisterTea 4y ago
The problem is it only generates electricity when the input temperature is 1900-2400 C whereas uranium melts at 1132.2 C.
- klyrs 4y ago
  Passively slurping the heat off a critical puddle of molten uranium is the disruptive startup pitch I'd make to secretly record audience reactions.
  - marcosdumay 4y ago
    With unmoderated fast neutrons, and critical geometry your startup will be always exceptionally close to booming and taking over a huge flank of the market.
  - MisterTea 4y ago
    You can use this as an inspirational soundtrack for the presentation: https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/wormboiler https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/wormboiler
- the8472 4y ago
  Most civilian reactors use uranium dioxide, which has a melting point of 2865°C. Or uranium carbide, which melts at 2350°C
13of40 4y ago
I think they're talking about something like this: https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/22/22945975/rondo-energy-decarbonize-steel-cement-making-renewable https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/22/22945975/rondo-energy-dec... Basically, in their words, "a large insulated shoebox full of brick". And I could be wrong, but I think you should be able to scale the amount of "brick" up to whatever size and keep the insulation the same thickness, so the storage capacity would increase by the cube of the scale and the amount of insulation would only increase by the square of the scale. That would allow you to minimize the fluctuation in temperature - i.e. if it takes 10 days to get up to temperature, because it's big, you don't have to cool it all the way back to room temperature when you take an afternoon worth of energy back out.

marcosdumay 4y ago

It's too hot for a fission reactor. Probably for fusion too, but that's not clear. I got the impression they would heat the graphite with concentrated solar power.

MisterTea 4y ago

The problem is it only generates electricity when the input temperature is 1900-2400 C whereas uranium melts at 1132.2 C.

klyrs 4y ago
Passively slurping the heat off a critical puddle of molten uranium is the disruptive startup pitch I'd make to secretly record audience reactions.
- marcosdumay 4y ago
  With unmoderated fast neutrons, and critical geometry your startup will be always exceptionally close to booming and taking over a huge flank of the market.
- MisterTea 4y ago
  You can use this as an inspirational soundtrack for the presentation: https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/wormboiler https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/wormboiler
the8472 4y ago
Most civilian reactors use uranium dioxide, which has a melting point of 2865°C. Or uranium carbide, which melts at 2350°C

13of40 4y ago

I think they're talking about something like this: https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/22/22945975/rondo-energy-decarbonize-steel-cement-making-renewable https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/22/22945975/rondo-energy-dec... Basically, in their words, "a large insulated shoebox full of brick". And I could be wrong, but I think you should be able to scale the amount of "brick" up to whatever size and keep the insulation the same thickness, so the storage capacity would increase by the cube of the scale and the amount of insulation would only increase by the square of the scale. That would allow you to minimize the fluctuation in temperature - i.e. if it takes 10 days to get up to temperature, because it's big, you don't have to cool it all the way back to room temperature when you take an afternoon worth of energy back out.