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To: Kevmo
Brillouin’s power equation is 2.4 units of energy going in and 24 units coming out.

What 'units'? Ergs? Joules? Horsepower? Watts? Calories? BTU's? A 'gain' of 10 whatevers is meaningless without some base for comparison............

5 posted on 09/17/2013 2:14:36 PM PDT by Red Badger (It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong. .....Voltaire)
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To: Red Badger

I was under the impression that when one uses the generic “units”, it meant any unit you wished to use, be it BTU’s, watts, etc.

As long as the in and out unit is the same, the type of unit is irrelevant.


7 posted on 09/17/2013 2:18:55 PM PDT by Don W (Know what you WANT. Know what you NEED. Know the DIFFERENCE!)
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To: Red Badger
"What 'units'? Ergs? Joules? Horsepower? Watts? Calories? BTU's? A 'gain' of 10 whatevers is meaningless without some base for comparison............"

Uh, its a ratio, and therefore unitless. But since one of their prospective marketing targets is to rejuvenate old coal-fired power plants, the ultimate top end has to be kilowatts (or greater). And their research prototype for their 600 degree unit (the one targeted towards the coal plants) puts out 30KW.

9 posted on 09/17/2013 2:27:46 PM PDT by Wonder Warthog
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To: Red Badger

Well, technically, gain is a unitless item of measure. It’s Watts/Watts or BTUs/BTUs or whatever/whatever, with the units cancelling. That’s first year chemistry & physics.

But it really would be meaningless if the units were small enough, say microwatts/microwatts. Because the level of noise at that realm is significant. So, yeah, it is sloppy, but it’s also not likely to be microwatts/microwatts, either.


12 posted on 09/17/2013 3:19:28 PM PDT by Kevmo ("A person's a person, no matter how small" ~Horton Hears a Who)
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To: Red Badger
What 'units'? Ergs? Joules? Horsepower? Watts? Calories? BTU's?

Careful there, you are teetering on the edge of misuse of units. Calories, BTUs, Ergs, & Joules are measures of energy whereas horsepower and watts are measures of energy per unit time which is power either created or consumed. The difference is rather like conflating distance and velocity where both contain a spacial measurement but only one takes time into account.

As long as you are measuring gain as output Vs input and compare energy to energy or power to power the choice of units cancels out leaving "gain" a dimensionless figure of merit, that is gain IS the "base for comparison".

Regards,
GtG

PS Suggested reading assignment "Dimensional Analysis", not nearly as daunting as it might sound. Algebra only needed, no relativity required.

16 posted on 09/17/2013 4:47:18 PM PDT by Gandalf_The_Gray (I live in my own little world, I like it 'cuz they know me here.)
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