Timeline for How to best use my hypothetical “Heavenium” for airship propulsion?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
4 events
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| Dec 12, 2020 at 20:51 | comment | added | Slarty | The concentrated heat energy of the Heavenium is dispersed as the distributed potential energy of the raised airship. On descent that potential energy is lost as very diffuse heat energy. Think of how much heat is involved when any ordinary airship descends loosing PE it is hard to measure it. Only really an issue for things like spacecraft re-entry. I suppose to the extent that the airship is heated as a whole the Heavenium might get a little energy back but it would be miniscule. A battery may get hot if you discharge it, but you can't charge it by making it hot.. | |
| Dec 12, 2020 at 19:53 | comment | added | GrumpyYoungMan | @Slarty - Heavenium is charged by heat so if you say that energy of descent is released as heat, you would want to explain how that dumped heat is not recharging the Heavenium. Moreover, if the heat isn't recharging the Heavenium, then you're faced with the possible problem of dissipating it so that it doesn't set fire to the airship; a sudden drop in altitude causing a spike of heat to be released would be disastrous. | |
| Dec 12, 2020 at 18:27 | comment | added | Slarty | You make some good points. But I'm not convinced that Heavenium can't be used to generate thrust by some devious means. However it would need to be distributed. I would assume the places where it was needed would be easy to access by design. Concerning the discharge - no I imagine it is lost as heat to the environment in the same way that any other falling object loses energy. Re the calculations yes good point. | |
| Dec 12, 2020 at 13:30 | history | answered | GrumpyYoungMan | CC BY-SA 4.0 |