If the LENR reaction suffers from thermal runaway then the best means for cooling is a coolant fluid slightly below the target temperature. Eg 1180°C coolant and 1200°C running temp so raising temp to 1240°C would then triple cooling rate, so 'clamping' the temperature. A lithium heat pipe would do this really well - vent at a controlled pressure to control the temp.
The heater wires provide a crude and inefficient version of this for control purposes. If an oscillating magnetic field is required for excitation then that can be provided more efficiently without massive resistive losses. At 1200-1400°C a gas turbine would be ideal - with about 45% efficiency possible in compact device with no cooling water. Or 55+% with steam bottoming or CO2 or Helium recuperated Gas Turbine that are much more expensive. On 16 October 2014 13:32, Eric Walker <eric.wal...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Wed, Oct 15, 2014 at 9:24 AM, Bob Higgins <rj.bob.higg...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > I believe the large tubes on the end to be thermally insulating supports >> for the hot central 2 cm tube. > > > A question that came to me was whether the alumina endcaps could be > replaced with metal endcaps of a suitable alloy in the context of a larger > array of devices, in order to provide a suitable path out for the heat to > be used to generate steam. Another question I have is how much thermal > load one of these devices can handle. > > Eric > >
