I was trying to come up with a self-renewable chemical energy source. But I'm a tad bit of my league on that one. I was even thinking along the lines of using microbes to help the process. But littering Europa with dead microbes probably isn't acceptable.
Robert Crawley Elite Precision Fabricators, Inc. Programming (936) 449-6823 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:owner-europa@;klx.com]On Behalf Of Robert J. Bradbury Sent: Monday, October 28, 2002 1:46 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: No power sources available Robert, > If I understand this correctly, lithium makes lithium hydroxide and hydrogen > after being exposed to water. Could there be a chemical way to revitalize > this process without adding tons of materials? Is anyone on this list a > chemical engineer? Generally speaking in chemistry you are going to require quantities of materials approx. equivalent in mass to whatever you are reacting with. Since we are probably talking about tons of ice, we are also talking about tons of reactants. There is the additional problem of getting the reactants to where you want them to react. That's pretty difficult with solid alkali metals with melting points of hundreds of degrees C. You have to consider that liquid sodium/potassium has commonly been considered as a coolant for nuclear reactors. The engineering to keep it under control *isn't* trivial. In fact there is some evidence that one of the nuclear reactors the Russians put up has leaked its coolant into its orbit and there are now solid drops of sodium/potassium orbiting the planet. Robert == You are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/ == You are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/
