In reply to Axil Axil's message of Thu, 16 Nov 2017 15:54:21 -0500: Hi, [snip] >The kilopower system runs at 800C at an efficiency of 38%. It delivers heat >from the nuclear fuel via sodium heat pipes. > >permalink.lanl.gov/object/tr?what=info:lanl-repo/lareport/LA-UR-17-21903 > >Would it be possible to use refractory material in the construction of the >engine to get its operating temperature up higher?
Possibly. At one point the Japanese(?) were designing/building a ceramic car engine to run at higher temperatures. Not sure what became of that, but I suspect it wasn't tough enough to handle a continuous stream of mechanical shocks. [snip] Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html
