Have you seen what has answered Rossi re my question about E-lions or E-tigers? Here IS a problem, but 300 E-kitten bound together IS a greater problem, I think
On Wed, Apr 6, 2011 at 11:56 PM, Jed Rothwell <jedrothw...@gmail.com> wrote: > SHIRAKAWA Akira <shirakawa.ak...@gmail.com> wrote: > > >> According to Rossi's latest plans, the megawatt reactor is going to be >> made of not 100, but 300 smaller units similar in size to those seen in >> photos . . . > > > Yup. But I started writing that text before I learned that. Besides a 10 x > 10 array is easy to envision, whereas . . . 17 x 17? > > > Personally I see this as a weak point and source of possible delays. > > > I see it as a likely source of delays and perhaps a weakness at first. But > with some experience, with second or third generation devices, the > weaknesses would be minor. > > Many strange and unlikely technical solutions become workable over time. > People learn to build things so well, we no longer notice that the design is > a kludge. Classic examples are the manual transmission with a clutch, and > Microsoft Windows. > > > It's going to be a complex and expensive system. Maintenance is also going >> to be a mess, assuming it's like that of an individual module, scaled 300x. >> Can you imagine replacing the nickel charge to each modular unit every 6 >> months? >> > > I'll bet they soon last longer than 6 months. With the system I envisioned, > you unbolt the top, lift it up, and then suction our the cells in the engine > block. Or with a smaller unity, you tip the whole block sideways and shake > it or blow it out. You need a large machine with an array of suction heads, > or a robot that moves from one cell to the next. > > You wouldn't want to do it manually! > > Eventually, it would be only a little more complicated than changing the > oil in an internal combustion engine. Less complicated than rebuilding the > motor. There are fewer high precision parts. > > Another design I thought about would be something like a rack-mounted array > of computer disks. Each individual Rossi cell would be mounted and bolted > into the rack. The gas hose, electrical connections and cooling water hose > connection would be made. The entire rack is surrounded with lead shielding. > Months later, if the senors in one of the cells shows it is under-performing > (or dead), that cell is removed and replaced during maintenance. Dead cells > are sent back for re-manufacturing. > > That does not seem like a practical design for high temperature fluid such > as you need to generate electricity. Maybe for space heating where the fluid > is air. > > > Seeing that 10 kW modules have the potential for more than 100 kW of >> thermal power as reported by Levi during the February 18 hours test, >> personally I would have tried to sort out reliability problems in order to >> limit their total number in the megawatt plant to 25-30. That would be, in >> my opinion, much more compact and manageable in many ways. >> > > I would say forget the 1 MW device for a while and make 10 kW or 100 kW > devices instead. > > Heck I would love to see 300 individual 4 kW units. > > - Jed > > -- Dr. Peter Gluck Cluj, Romania http://egooutpeters.blogspot.com
