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From: prs@oliveb.OLIVETTI.COM (Philip Stephens)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Building a fusion-based rocket
Message-ID: <40007@oliveb.olivetti.com>
Date: 30 Mar 89 00:36:02 GMT
References: <7473@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>
Sender: news@oliveb.olivetti.com
Lines: 17

From article <7473@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>, by kpmancus@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Keith P. Mancus):
> 
> 	1>  This is the fusion reactor.  Presumably it uses liquid D2O
> 		at very high temperature.  Ideally it should run at 650 C
> 		or so, and very high pressure.  It vaporizes the working fluid.

Why boil the D2O?  Better to pressurize it so it remains in contact (very
high pressure at 650 C, so I'm not sure how hot you can practically run
if following my suggestion), and use a non-Pd heat sink to transfer the
heat energy to another working fluid.

The rest I have no comment on; I'm really thinking more in terms of generating
electricity, so anything over 200 C would do pretty well; for driving any
working fluid out a rocket nozzle, much higher temperatures would certainly
seem desirable.
 
'Take what you can use, leave the rest'.	---Phil		(prs@oliven)