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> Same can't be said for cleaning up Superfund sites. It's a pretty huge leap to go from "closed loop CFC cooling system for a computer" to "superfund sites".
by antisthenes 4y ago
> Same can't be said for cleaning up Superfund sites.
It's a pretty huge leap to go from "closed loop CFC cooling system for a computer" to "superfund sites".
What am I missing? If we're building a system with pipes and heat exchangers, why can't the coolant be a low-impact CFC rather than water? It's not a system where you just vent those cooling liquids in the atmosphere.
- BenoitP 4y agoSome of these CFC are almost eternal compounds. They are so stable that no natural light frequency from the sun can break them apart. Sulfur hexafluoride, used in high voltage circuit breakers, has a half-life of 3200 years, has a global warming potential 22800 times that of CO2. So you don't want to vent them, but any accident/leak can be considered a catastrophe. That's just the physics of it: highly dielectric + stable often makes for a big greenhouse gas offender.
- moralestapia 4y agoYup, at least Superfund is contained. This is much worse and the scale the computer consumer market is huge.
- 2muchcoffeeman 4y agoCould you use the heat? Like to pasteurise milk or something?
- tlb 4y agoWhatever you’re heating up has to be a little cooler than the coolest chips in your system, because heat only transfers that way. Semiconductor lifetime goes down with temperature, roughly doubling failure rate for every 10C increase. So if you want to heat something, it can only be to a low temperature. Heating buildings can work, but pasteurization requires temperatures near 100 C which reduces chip lifetime too much to be economical.