Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Thermite and other stuff...

[TeslaTony@aol.com]

In a message dated 3/8/01 3:15:33 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
lrrg@wantree.com.au writes:

> Hi guys,
>              it occured to me that if you were going to run a reactor with 
a 
> steam-turbine that was fuelled by thermite, wouldn't it be good if you ran 
> the exhaust gases from the thermite through the same turbine that the steam 
> was running through? This would surely increase your energy density, which 
is 
> what it's all about for a PSUB. An old turbo-charger would probably make a 
> very suitable turbine for these purposes. As always though, someone needs 
to 
> build one to really know what the deal is. Anyone out there feel up to the 
> task?

If you reacted the thermite with water shooting into the chamber then the 
reaction would be cooled off enough to not turn your sub into a sauna (or 
would it be a steamer?) traveling at 300 knots either on the bottom of the 
Marianas Trench or somewhere near Jupiter or Saturn.
But seriously, thermite does have its own Oxygen source (or at least that's 
what I was told.....), which means that adding water shouldn't cause any 
problems along the lines of O2 deprivation, so you could get a nice source of 
high-pressure steam to shoot through your turbine to power the sub.

>  Point 2: What's the story with these space-age ceramics we were hearing so 
> much about a few years ago. They are probably the best thing in the world 
for 
> submarine hulls (they can be almost as stong as diamond). I'm sure they're 
> still very much on the pricey side, but they must be getting a bit cheaper 
by 
> now. Are the materials for their fabrication commercially available? I'll 
> look into it further and get back to you all, but I would like to know if 
> anyone else has more info on it in the meantime. Cheers.
>  
>  Rich
>  
> 
The problem with ceramics is that they are quite brittle (maybe not some of 
the newer ones), plus they aren't quite as easily machined as steel, aluminum 
or fiberglass. Add how expensive they are on top of it and old propane tanks 
start looking reeeeaaaall nice.

Anthony

P.s.: Maybe there will be some good ceramics suitable for PSubbers invented 
in the near future.