Automotive engineers say they would have no trouble making a cold fusion
heat engine given the temperatures and power density the best existing
devices. commercial devices will be far better than the best existing
experimental device today.
As noted by others here, the most likely design would be a series hybrid
similar to the GM volt. this could be done today with a steam turbine
and condenser. In the future it will likely be made with thermoelectric
devices. In the more distant future as thermoelectric devices improve,
all electrical equipment will be powered directly with internal
thermoelectric devices. I mean everything from a car to a laptop
computer to a hearing aid battery. As I pointed out in the book, in the
1970s there were plutonium powered thermoelectric pacemakers.
The Prius is a parallel hybrid.
Any sort of hybrid automobile must have enough power from the primary
source to run the car up a steep grade at high speed. However, it would
be acceptable for a cold fusion hybrid like a GM Volt, with a large
battery reservoir, to reach top power output after a delay. That the
engine would continue to run recharging the batteries for a while after
the car is parked.
Early US steam powered automobiles took a long time for the boiler to
reach operating temperature. Later models reached operating temperature
very quickly. As far as I know, none of them had condensers, so the
drivers had to replenish the water periodically. I doubt that would be
acceptable to a modern driver, so you would have to include a condenser
and a large fan. This would take a lot of space but it would not cost
much. since it is a hybrid, you could put the generator and fan anywhere
convenient in the car. You would not need to have it directly over the
drive-shaft or in the center of the chassis. with thermoelectric
batteries you could spread the components evenly across the chassis.
Jay Caplan wrote:
technically possible, but way more expensive than liquid internal
combustion, so why? we'll stay with liquids for transport just because
of the cost factor.
The cost of extracting or synthesizing the liquids, then transporting,
storing and pumping them would be far greater than the extra cost of a
cold fusion engine.
- Jed
