Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Are You Ready For: The Thorium-Laser-Steam-Turbine Electric Powertrain?
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com ^ | August 11, 2011 | Edward Niedermeyer

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.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: science; thorium
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061 next last
To: Red Badger

You could put one in each house, too.


21 posted on 04/19/2022 10:01:19 AM PDT by Seruzawa ("The Political left is the Garden of Eden of incompetence" - Marx the Smarter (Groucho))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: babygene
That’s ridiculous. It takes more power to seperate it than you get back out.

The same holds true for charging/discharging batteries.

The point is to prolong the useful life of existing ICE engines.

22 posted on 04/19/2022 10:01:55 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag really necessary? Pray for President Biden: Psalm 109:8)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Mr. K

That’s a really stupid idea—hydrogen embrittlement.


23 posted on 04/19/2022 10:10:00 AM PDT by dinodino ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: patriotfury

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


24 posted on 04/19/2022 10:10:19 AM PDT by packagingguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Yo-Yo
Hydrogen doesn't work very well as a fuel in an engine built for gasoline. It has an octane rating of about 60. You have to use water injection or other kludges to get it to work without knocking the engine to pieces.

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.

25 posted on 04/19/2022 10:13:45 AM PDT by Campion (All we are saying is give peace a chance.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

It’s not a laser. It is heat machine. Lasers by definition amplify light


26 posted on 04/19/2022 10:16:20 AM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mr. K

In northern climates, it would freeze after you shut it off.


27 posted on 04/19/2022 10:19:49 AM PDT by brooklin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: the OlLine Rebel

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...


28 posted on 04/19/2022 10:28:50 AM PDT by Bobalu (The Dems bench for 24- Star Wars Cantina crossed with leftovers from the Old Soviet Politburo)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: TLI

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.


29 posted on 04/19/2022 10:36:18 AM PDT by Zathras
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: babygene; dinodino

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.


30 posted on 04/19/2022 10:42:43 AM PDT by Mr. K (No consequence of repealing obamacare is worse than obamacare itself)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Mr. K

Go ahead and burn hydrogen in your steel cylinders and see just how long they last...go ahead and try it.


31 posted on 04/19/2022 10:45:16 AM PDT by dinodino ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: dinodino

hydrogen converted engines have been used in automobiles before

Bob Lazar had one- and he worked on UFO’s!


32 posted on 04/19/2022 10:48:42 AM PDT by Mr. K (No consequence of repealing obamacare is worse than obamacare itself)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Bobalu

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”.


33 posted on 04/19/2022 10:57:08 AM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMVd)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: the OlLine Rebel

“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.


34 posted on 04/19/2022 10:58:39 AM PDT by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: carriage_hill

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.


35 posted on 04/19/2022 11:03:17 AM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMVds)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: the OlLine Rebel

I’m a motorsports enthusiast, but never heard of Doble.


36 posted on 04/19/2022 11:08:47 AM PDT by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Article is from 2011


37 posted on 04/19/2022 11:31:45 AM PDT by taxcontrol (The choice is clear - either live as a slave on your knees or die as a free citizen on your feet.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Campion

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.


38 posted on 04/19/2022 11:31:50 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag really necessary? Pray for President Biden: Psalm 109:8)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Yo-Yo

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.


39 posted on 04/19/2022 11:36:28 AM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12) Promoting Afro Heritage diversity will destroy the democrats)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: Mr. K

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.


40 posted on 04/19/2022 11:43:33 AM PDT by dinodino ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson