Posted on 04/19/2022 9:04:06 AM PDT by Red Badger
Steampunks and Atomic Age nuts rejoice!
WardsAuto reports that Connecticut-based Laser Power Systems is “getting closer” to developing a prototype electric car which develops its power using the radioactive heavy metal Thorium. According to LPS’s CEO, when thorium is heated by an external source, it becomes so dense its molecules give off considerable heat. Small blocks of thorium generate heat surges that are configured as a thorium-based laser… These create steam from water within mini-turbines, generating electricity to drive a car. A 250 MW unit weighing about 500 lbs. (227 kg) would be small and light enough to drop under the hood of a car… Because thorium is so dense, similar to uranium, it stores considerable potential energy: 1 gm of thorium equals the energy of 7,500 gallons (28,391 L) of gasoline. Prototype systems generate electricity within 30 seconds of firing a laser. This can feed power into a car, without the need for storage.
What about radioactivity? LPS says Thorium’s low levels could be blocked with aluminum foil. Yes, tinfoil. Terrorism? Because the Thorium is not superheated, it does not produce fissile material. Where does Thorium come from? Let’s just say the US has the world’s largest known reserves. General safety? The U.S. Geological Survey’s former senior advisor on rare earths calls the concept “both plausible and sensible.” So why aren’t we driving around thorium-laser-turbine EVs already? According to LPS CEO Charles Stevens.
“The issue is having a customized application that is purpose-made,” he says, admitting that developing a portable and usable turbine and generator is proving to be a tougher task than the laser-thorium unit.
“How do you take the laser and put these things together efficiently?” he asks rhetorically. But once that is achieved, “This car will run for a million miles. The car will wear out before the engine. There is no oil, no emissions – nothing.”
Sounds great… but we’re not holding our breath just yet.
You could put one in each house, too.
The same holds true for charging/discharging batteries.
The point is to prolong the useful life of existing ICE engines.
That’s a really stupid idea—hydrogen embrittlement.
I’ve never studied geology, but could it be the asteroid that hit the Gulf the day the dinosaurs died?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOFq11f3wAI
If it's a hydrogen car you want, the better tech is fuel cells. Toyota has done a lot of work on this already. They're more efficient than ICE's anyway, I think. And no moving parts.
It’s not a laser. It is heat machine. Lasers by definition amplify light
In northern climates, it would freeze after you shut it off.
Yup, a nuclear fission power plant is actually running steam turbines.. The heat provided by fission and not coal or gas.
Simple in theory but complicated in implementation...
The Radioactive Boyscout tried something similar.
The buildup of Gamma daughter products nearly killed him.
You need to remove Protactinium from the system before it starts decaying or you have a Gamma mess on your hands.
It could work but not without problems which have not been solved yet.
babygene: That would make hydrogen for IC engines though, and at 7500 gallons equivalent it can afford to be less efficient
Also, the by-products are water and oxygen...
You’re ridiculous in the way you can’t submit a response without lowering yourself to name-calling.
And dinodino: No, yer stupid.
Go ahead and burn hydrogen in your steel cylinders and see just how long they last...go ahead and try it.
hydrogen converted engines have been used in automobiles before
Bob Lazar had one- and he worked on UFO’s!
Steam is the propulsion.
Nuclear, et al are the heat source.
People forget it is steam that actually runs things. The “nuclear” is just a heat source. A very efficient heat source, but using the heat source to name power leads to the propulsion being forgotten and mocked as “old-fashioned”.
“Someone long should’ve been working on that ...”
Agreed. It worked and dominated back in the early 1900s, and could be viable again, as opposed to the electric car idiots.
Sadly Doble had to die in the ‘30s.
Sadly too few know of this, except car enthusiasts.
Stanley was very successful but actually died earlier than Doble, and had a less efficient power generator. But they get all the credit. And incidentally, pointing fingers saying it is not efficient so don’t bother.
Instead of looking at a more advanced steam generator.
Problem with Doble is it was still quite complex and very heavy. But, again, that proves how powerful steam is because it was still fast despite the heaviness.
I’m a motorsports enthusiast, but never heard of Doble.
Article is from 2011
Hydrogen is not a fuel, it is an energy storage medium.
I agree that a fuel cell and electric motor is a better use for Hydrogen than burning it in an ICE, but with the state of battery technology today, batteries are a better choice than the Toyota Mirai, unless you are operating a fleet.
Nikola is still working on a Hydrogen fuel cell Semi tractor. For that purpose, Hydrogen is probably more practical than pure battery power.
But any Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is a ‘hybrid’ vehicle with both batteries and a fuel cell. The batteries are for instant surges of power and for braking regeneration. The fuel cell provides constant power for cruise.
Big Trucks rejected plentiful and cheap natural gas for long haul jobs.
Boone Pickens and Flying J installed natural gas pumps at Flying J’s on major interstates roughly every 200 miles or so. It was less expensive than diesel
Big Trucks chose not to invest in tractors operating on that fuel.
Bob Lazar is a certifiable nutcase, and he most definitely did not work on UFOs. If you want a hydrogen-powered car, just buy a Mirai—don’t bother trying to burn H2 in a piston engine.
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