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The Nuclear Battery: Implications for loco power
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[quote]QUOTE: <i>Originally posted by chad thomas</i> <br /><br />Interesting, but I see no indication of its use in anything beyond watch battery size applications. In other words very low current applications. There are not many details in the article on weight/size or volt/amp capacity but I suspect it will be a long time before this device could be used for locomotive applications, if ever. But it is an interesting concept. <br />[/quote] <br /> <br />To quote directly from the article: "...or it might power spacecraft or deep-sea probes." <br /> <br />"Fauchet's team took the flat silicon surface, where the electrons are captured and converted to a current, and turned it into a three-dimensional surface by adding deep pits. Each pit is about one micron wide. That's four ten-thousandths of an inch. They're more than 40 microns deep." <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Chad, <br /> <br />You are correct that the article doesn't give specifics on weight/size to power ratios, but if you read between the lines you can acsertain a similarity with other energy storage systems such as lead acid batteries or supercapacitors. What I gathered from this article is an inference that the energy to device size ratio would be favorable compared to lead acid batteries and supercapacitors. Only time will tell. <br /> <br />If you take these inferences and apply them to a current locomotive application such as the Green Goat, you can see where the advantages would be superb. You can have a Green Goat II without the need for the gas turbine for recharging, e.g. no refueling, no hydrocarbon emissions. Both batteries and supercapacitors need to be recharged. This new technology doesn't. It is more like a plug and play application, in that you install it (as part of an array) and use it until the energy creation ability is used up, then you throw it away and replace it. <br /> <br />If indeed it has power applications for space craft, then it's not a stretch to use it in a locomotive. <br />
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