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#226 2022-05-21 15:48:32

Mars_B4_Moon
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Registered: 2006-03-23
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

Scientists just broke the record for the highest efficiency solar cell - With nearly 40 percent efficiency.

https://interestingengineering.com/reco … solar-cell

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#227 2022-05-29 05:29:30

Mars_B4_Moon
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

NASA to reexamine space-based solar panels

https://spacenews.com/?p=128185&preview … _id=128185

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#228 2022-05-29 08:40:21

SpaceNut
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From: New Hampshire
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

post 226 gave a detection that my computers anti virus software was expired in this case Mcafee and to click on the renewal button

Article did talk about the science of the triple junction as being the highest of efficiency but under controlled conditions.

space-based solar power (SBSP) to get to a netzero of carbon emissions means power companies are out of business unless they are the providers of this clean energy source.

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#229 2022-06-10 10:46:44

Mars_B4_Moon
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

The 'world’s largest' solar power+storage project will displace 1.4M tons of coal
https://interestingengineering.com/the- … ns-of-coal

Defense Department picks BWXT to build 1st US portable advanced nuclear microreactor
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/defens … ar/625187/

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#230 2022-06-11 08:17:30

Mars_B4_Moon
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

Japan Is Dropping a Gargantuan Turbine Into The Ocean to Harness 'Limitless' Energy

https://www.sciencealert.com/japan-s-dr … ess-energy

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#231 2022-06-13 18:56:11

Mars_B4_Moon
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Registered: 2006-03-23
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

Electric vehicle battery capable of 98% charge in less than ten minutes

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2022/06/13/ … n-minutes/

A greener greenhouse: solar panels trialled on Wimbledon berries farm

https://www.theguardian.com/environment … lowe-farms

Germany Remains Firmly Anti-Nuclear Despite Energy Crisis

https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News … risis.html

Germany’s government has no intention of changing its policies on nuclear energy

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-06-13 19:53:01)

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#232 2022-06-17 06:12:35

Mars_B4_Moon
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

China’s ‘Particle Beam Cannon’ Is a Nuclear Power Breakthrough. It promises to recycle spent nuclear fuel, making it cheaper and less dangerous—and moving Beijing toward energy independence

https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2022/0 … gh/368082/

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#233 2022-07-04 08:39:58

Mars_B4_Moon
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

Dams might work on Titan but....

An underground Dam? Could it work on Mars??

Revolutionary new Swiss 'water battery' will be one of Europe's main renewable sources of energy. Pumped storage power plant was built into a subterranean cavern in the Swiss canton of Valais, battery is located 600 metres underground (1,969 feet) between the reservoirs of Emosson and Vieux Emosson, actual turbines are underground, not sure if it has enough power and I think there are  regulations on Swiss exporting energy to Europe.

https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/06/ … -shortages

If large quanity of Water is found a Dam could be put near one of the hotter geothermal regions that encourages evaporation and underground 'rain'. Korolev Crater is estimated to contain 2,200 cubic kilometres (530 cu mi) of water ice and more than 5 million km3 of ice have been detected at or near the surface of Mars, enough to cover the whole planet to a depth of 35 meters (115 ft)  more ice is likely to be locked away in the deep Mars subsurface, underground Water would be sealed inside a Mars cave causing Less Loss of Waters Less evaporation.

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-07-04 08:46:04)

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#234 2022-07-04 13:01:14

kbd512
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

Mars_B4_Moon,

These people are "battery crazy".  It's a hydroelectric dam.  Calling it "a water battery" doesn't change what it is or how it functions.

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#235 2022-07-04 13:42:21

SpaceNut
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

Since it's got to be pumped in its now a reservoir of water as in kinetic storage. it seems to exit the cavern without pumping.

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#236 2022-07-06 16:53:05

Mars_B4_Moon
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

China looks to future-tech, the United States wants to be ahead

Once in a while you might be an alarmist fanciful headline

'NASA Claims Cold Fusion Without Naming It'
https://hackaday.com/2020/09/28/nasa-cl … naming-it/

Yes our Earth has political issues now

Let's have hope and have some optimism for the future our Sun gives of magnitudes of Hiroshima bombs per second, this free Natural Eco Energy does not damage or kill our planet, 400 trillion trillion watts of energy, a trillion 1 megaton atom bombs!

Even if a fraction of this energy was captured or transported.

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#237 2022-07-09 05:04:21

Mars_B4_Moon
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

NASA has a plan for mini nuclear reactors on the moon which could one day power a lunar colony

https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-pl … ?r=US&IR=T

The reactor, shown in the video below, would generate about 1 to 10 kilowatts of power continuously for at least 10 years. That's much smaller than the nuclear power plants on Earth, but it is enough to power several average households.

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#238 2022-07-09 17:46:06

SpaceNut
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

With the recent electrical rates going up would it be cheaper to own one of these to power your home?

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#239 2022-07-12 05:21:34

Mars_B4_Moon
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

Arrogant idiotic German official: 'Nuclear would do little to solve gas issue'
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wi … e-86654216

Germany's main opposition party has called repeatedly for the country's last three nuclear reactors to be kept online after the end of December amid fears that Russia may halt natural gas supplies entirely.

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#240 2022-07-12 10:27:51

kbd512
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

Mars_B4_Moon,

These people are infinitely more committed to their religious ideology than they are to the people they sleep with, and till death do they part.  It's a garden variety death cult.  It's exactly what it appears to be, which is why it looks so much like a death cult.  They want to keep the majority of the people cold or hot and preferably, to starve them to death.  Poor people don't use much energy, because they can't afford to.  This "new economic model" (austerity) is exactly like "the old economic model" (austerity).  Artificial scarcity is baked into the Russian and even European psyche.  I don't know why exactly, it just is.  Maybe it's the end result of centuries of trying to mass murder each other.  I guess they think the privation they cause each other is "normal", even though it's not.

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#241 2022-07-27 07:33:52

Mars_B4_Moon
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

Here's why the US Army just bought an electric GMC Hummer...GMC Hummer EV will be evaluated for military use
https://www.foxnews.com/auto/u-s-army-b … ric-hummer
The tests will be used to better understand how a commercial electric like the Hummer EV pickup can perform on a military operational mission profile as it looks to develop a future electric light reconnaissance vehicle (eLRV)

Russia To Launch Nuclear-powered 'Space Tug' To Deliver Interstellar Space Stations
https://www.republicworld.com/world-new … eshow.html

Germany rethinks nuclear power exit due to threat of winter energy crunch
https://www.ft.com/content/cc422ece-92b … 0270bfe824

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-07-27 07:39:22)

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#242 2022-07-27 08:41:04

Mars_B4_Moon
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Registered: 2006-03-23
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Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

is Europe ready for Russia to switch off the gas?

More organic fuels, hydrogen cells, other power investments.

The Hydrogen Stream: Construction begins on world’s largest integrated green hydrogen, ammonia plant. In other news, German energy company Uniper said it will test a new salt cavern built for hydrogen storage
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2022/07/26/ … nia-plant/

Washington State: Douglas PUD Moving Forward to Build Hydrogen Plant
https://kpq.com/douglas-pud-moving-forw … gen-plant/

Ethanol Stocks to Consider for 2022
https://investmentu.com/ethanol-stocks/?gated=true

World's first hydrogen trains enter regular passenger service - Trains
https://www.trains.com/trn/worlds-first … r-service/

Robert Largan: We must cut our use of biofuels to tackle rocketing global food prices
https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/a … ood-prices

Energy security concerns are building momentum for Nuclear
https://energypost.eu/energy-security-c … r-nuclear/

Janesville ethanol plant boosting efficiency
https://sports.yahoo.com/janesville-eth … 00829.html

Comment: The disastrous consequences of the green movement
https://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/c … nt-5615128

Green Ammonia To Rescue US Farmers From Fertilizer Supply Woes
https://cleantechnica.com/2022/07/25/gr … pply-woes/

Promising new catalysts for hydrogen fuel cells
https://phys.org/news/2022-07-catalysts … cells.html

In new interdisciplinary research published in ACS Catalysis, Northeastern scientists have identified a novel class of catalysts that, because of their particular non-noble-metal nature, could replace the platinum-based standard that has prevented hydrogen from advancing in the fuel sector.

"We are quickly transitioning to electric modes of transportation, and as I see it, batteries are only a transitionary phase," says Sanjeev Mukerjee, a distinguished professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Northeastern, who is a co-author of the study. "It's not the ultimate answer to replacing fossil fuels."

It's in hydrogen, or "hydrogen carriers"—larger molecules in which hydrogen is just one part—that the answer lies, he says. The most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen acts as an energy carrier and can be separated from water, fossil fuels or biomass and harnessed as fuel. Hydrogen fuel cells convert hydrogen into electricity; and unlike the internal combustion engine, which produces toxic and carcinogenic chemical byproducts, hydrogen fuel cells only produce water—actual drinkable water—as a result of the chemical reaction.

"The biggest bottleneck right now is, one: infrastructure for the fuel, i.e., hydrogen or a hydrogen carrier; and number two is the high cost of catalysts, because the current state-of-the-art requires noble metals," Mukerjee says. "So there are dual efforts to both lower the noble metal loading and find more sustainable catalysts using elements that are very abundant on earth."

Korea to open 1st hydrogen production base in metropolitan area. Korea held a ceremony to mark the completion of a new hydrogen production plant in the city of Pyeongtaek, the first such facility in the metropolitan area, the industry ministry said Wednesday.
https://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/articl … Idx=333442

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#243 2022-07-27 09:19:06

Void
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Registered: 2011-12-29
Posts: 6,976

Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

Well I sort of have an attraction to one of the subtopics of the previous post by MbfM.

This one: "Green Ammonia To Rescue US Farmers From Fertilizer Supply Woes"
https://cleantechnica.com/2022/07/25/gr … pply-woes/

In the article they talk about using offshore winds.  Using remote energy sources that are otherwise hard to connect to grids, to produce chemicals seems very sensible to me.

I have previously had a look at the "Roaring 40's".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roaring_Forties
Quote:

Roaring Forties
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
For the electric company, see Roaring 40s.
Not to be confused with Roaring Twenties.

The Roaring Forties in the Cook Strait of New Zealand produce high waves, and they erode the shore as shown in this image.
The Roaring Forties are strong westerly winds found in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40°S and 50°S.[1] The strong west-to-east air currents are caused by the combination of air being displaced from the Equator towards the South Pole, the Earth's rotation, and the scarcity of landmasses to serve as windbreaks at those latitudes.

The Roaring Forties were a major aid to ships sailing the Brouwer Route from Europe to the East Indies or Australasia during the Age of Sail, and in modern times are favoured by yachtsmen on round-the-world voyages and competitions. The boundaries of the Roaring Forties are not consistent: The wind-stream shifts north or south depending on the season.

Similar but even stronger conditions that occur at more southerly latitudes are called the Furious Fifties and the Shrieking or Screaming Sixties.

Picture Quote: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ … rRoute.png

So, the 50's and 60's as well smile

No stationary wind platforms for this, rather ships with sails and dragging a water turbine behind them.

I recall members, I think kdb512 talking about Ammonia as fuel.

Query: "Ammonia as fuel"

Responses: https://www.bing.com/search?q=Ammonia+a … 294c439d1e

A specific response: https://www.sustainable-carbon.org/ammo … he-future/

So then the ship is a sailing ship, with a dragged water turbine system to generate electric power, to cook up chemicals, including Ammonia perhaps.

Query: "Ammonia internal combustion engine"

General Response: https://www.bing.com/search?q=Ammonia+i … 445a965d14

Specific Wiki response: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonia
Quote:

Ammonia - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Ammonia
Ammonia engines were used experimentally in the 19th century by Goldsworthy Gurney in the UK and the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar line in New Orleans in the 1870s and 1880s, and during World War II ammonia was used to power buses in Belgium. Ammonia is sometimes proposed as a ...See more

But there are winds in the Atlantic and Pacific that may be more local for various nations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevailing_winds
Picture Quote: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ … _earth.png

So, now perhaps a method that works for people like North America and Europe and people also compatible in nature such as Japan and others of that region.

I think this may be much more accessible than fusion power at this time.

I wonder what such ships would look like?  Super Tanker sized?

And the sails.

This is a thing that all Technical, Industrial, and even the Religious Greens should support.  And a national security item, so it should be of interest at the highest levels, I would think.  I can see North Europeans, Japan and other pacific rim nations and indeed Canada and the USA to be interested.

And as the motor fuel is also fertilizer, I cannot see agricultural nations not be interested.

I was thinking of just one drag turbine on a ship, but now I think many, and so they could have magnetic drag imposed on them selectively to help navigate the ship.  But of course if you are running an Ammonia engine(s) to propel the ship they would be drag, but maybe not too bad at low speeds.  Maybe it need a bit of work.

Maybe the turbines could also serve as propellers when needed.


Done.

Last edited by Void (2022-07-27 13:31:44)


Done.

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#244 2022-07-31 07:43:25

Mars_B4_Moon
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Posts: 8,892

Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

US regulators will certify first small nuclear reactor design

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/07 … or-design/

Small modular reactors have been promoted as avoiding many of the problems that have made large nuclear plants exceedingly expensive to build. They're small enough that they can be assembled on a factory floor and then shipped to the site where they will operate, eliminating many of the challenges of custom, on-site construction. In addition, they're structured in a way to allow passive safety, where no operator actions are necessary to shut the reactor down if problems occur.

The designs for a 300-megawatt SMR might have enough electricity to power approximately 230,000 homes a year?

https://www.ncsl.org/research/energy/wi … ustry.aspx

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#245 2022-08-01 10:25:02

Mars_B4_Moon
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Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,892

Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

Germans to import more coal from Colombia

https://theglobalherald.com/news/german … 4-english/

Largest mine in Latin America, run by the Swiss

A Leftwing politician was also recently elected in Colombia, Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego the Colombian economist, politician, former guerrilla fighter, senator.

Who is Colombia’s president-elect Gustavo Petro?
https://america.cgtn.com/2022/07/20/who … tavo-petro

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-08-01 10:29:58)

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#246 2022-08-07 07:45:52

Mars_B4_Moon
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Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,892

Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

and some others want to Tax the Sun!?? because a Grid is now getting too much power

'When the sun switches off the solar panels'
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/2 … lar-panels

this in a ways is a lying misleading headline, the Sun isn't switching off the panel, he's getting disconnected by human political policy

Munich (Germany) (AFP) – The more the sun shines in the southern German town of Aurach, the more likely it is that Jens Husemann's solar panels will be disconnected from the grid -- an exasperating paradox at a time when Germany is navigating an energy supply crisis. "It's being switched off every day," Husemann told AFP during a recent sunny spell, saying there had been more than 120 days of forced shutdowns so far this year.

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#247 2022-08-08 02:42:18

Mars_B4_Moon
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Registered: 2006-03-23
Posts: 8,892

Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

Always wear your safety sunglasses when operating this solar stove.
https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1402471801673486337

Dr. George Erickson - What is Energy from Thorium and what it means for the world?
https://energycentral.com/c/cp/dr-georg … eans-world

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#248 2022-08-11 18:22:56

Calliban
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From: Northern England, UK
Registered: 2019-08-18
Posts: 3,352

Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

Interesting technology: Cast basalt lined steel pipes.
http://m.duratecceramic.com/cast-basalt … -pipe.html

Highly corrosion and abrasion resistant.  This may be a useful technology for fabrication of AHR, PWR and BWR primary and secondary side systems on Mars.  It would allow the use of plain carbon steels or cast iron, in aqueous environments, without concerns for corrosion.  On Mars, we will need lots of energy, in the form of electricity and heat.  Low grade heat will have abundant applications in agriculture.  This means that our nuclear reactors do not neccesarily need high efficiency, as waste heat will have abundant uses.

In the early years of Mars colonisation, it will be more important for nuclear systems to be cheap, simple and easy to build and operate, rather than being super efficient.  For water based reactors, this allows outlet temperatures to be relaxed and primary circuit pressures as well.  At a temperature of 150°C, water saturation pressure is about 4.8 bar.
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wate … d_599.html

Pressures this low allow cast iron to be used for pressure vessels, with the static pressure of soil in the ground providing back pressure as well as functioning as shielding.  Heat exchangers can be fabricated from basalt lined steel tubes.  In the case of the aqueous homogenous reactor, the vessel would contain a cylindrical core shroud, with fission taking place within the cylinder and the hot fuel solute rising by natural convection.  It would exit holes in the top of the shroud and flow down through heat exchangers, before reentering the core.  The blades and nozzles within a steam turbine need to be constructed from stainless steel.  However, almost every other component can be either cast iron or carbon steel.  Presumably, fixed blades can ve cast iron as well.
https://www.hhitmc.com/eng/products/steam.html

Raising steam at 150°C would limit the plant thermal efficiency to about 20%.  That means 4 units of low grade heat produced for every unit of electricity, assuming a condenser temperature of 300K (27°C).

An AHR operating in this way would not in theory need any pumps.  The turbine and generated are the only parts that must be moving.  Heat transfer between the fuel fluid and heat exchangers is through natural convection.  On the secondary side, gravity head could be used to provide return condensate with the 4.5 bar of pressure head needed to flow back into the boilers.  But on Mars, this would mean building the condenser on top of a hill.  Feed pumps negate the need for this, but will likely have to be imported from Earth.  Decay heat removal could be achieved through a bypass loop from the heat exchanger directly into the condenser. Emergency cooling could be provided by having a heat exchanger within the cast iron reactor veseel that results in conduction through the metal.  If you allow heat to be list by boiloff into the Martian atmosphere.

Last edited by Calliban (2022-08-11 19:02:16)


"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."

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#249 2022-08-11 20:02:19

kbd512
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Registered: 2015-01-02
Posts: 7,362

Re: Nuclear vs. Solar vs. Others

Calliban,

We could use high-Silicon cast Iron pipes tp resist corrosion:

High Silicon Cast Iron

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#250 2022-08-11 21:24:26

SpaceNut
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From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
Posts: 28,747

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