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[MODDED]SVC super volcano tamer using peltier plates


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I spent the longest time trying to figure out what was going on with those hydrogen generators....
then I realized that you've got a mod turning hydrogen generators into thermo-electric generators.  

 

You know, there's already one of these in the game.  It turns heat into power, admittedly at much lower temperatures.  Say, around 180c.  This means you don't need a ton of thermium or other space materials.  It just isn't a Peltier effect -- instead it turns the heat into motion which spins a turbine and.. 

 

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Spoiler

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I'm actually wasting a lot of power by cooling a bit too much, but you get the idea. 

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Of course, this is only a gold volcano, so not that much heat is produced.  I would likely be able to drive a few more turbines with a good volcano -- they do produce a lot of heat!

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I have that mod myself.  What's great about it is that it is far less cumbersome than the steam turbine.  It simply vacuums up heat like some thermodynamic hoover of doom.

Whenever I need a heat sink, I simply run some radiant pipes with a reservoir somewhere in the middle, throw down a few of those bad boys, and then sit back and watch the magic happen.

There is a trade-off, though.  It doesn't generate anywhere nearly as much power.  Each one of those Thermoelectric Generators will only crank out 250 watts.

Besides, the Steam Turbine is pretty much only good for dealing with huge energy levels.  I wouldn't have used the Thermoelectric Generators like this myself - instead just use them for the far less demanding cooling needs for my industrial setups.  Although I might use them to help cool the turbine hall and maintain an effective temperature differential that way.

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What a goofy machine.  The peltier effect consumes electricity to push heat from one side of a plate to another.  It's basically horridly inefficient heat pump.  It doesn't destroy heat and it doesn't generate power.

 

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1 hour ago, psusi said:

What a goofy machine.  The peltier effect consumes electricity to push heat from one side of a plate to another.  It's basically horridly inefficient heat pump.  It doesn't destroy heat and it doesn't generate power.

The world of high performance motorsport, specifically formula 1 would disagree as they use piezoelectric generator to harvest vibration and heat energy.

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3 hours ago, psusi said:

What a goofy machine.  The peltier effect consumes electricity to push heat from one side of a plate to another.  It's basically horridly inefficient heat pump.  It doesn't destroy heat and it doesn't generate power.

I'm with Saturnus on this one.  The way most computer enthusiasts use a Peltier is as a heat pump, but they can also be used to create electricity from heat.   On the same subject, you can use LEDs to create electricity from light just like a solar panel.  In both cases, its much more efficient to use other methods most of the time.

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2 hours ago, Saturnus said:

The world of high performance motorsport, specifically formula 1 would disagree as they use piezoelectric generator to harvest vibration and heat energy.

piezoelectric != peltier effect.  That turns mechanical energy ( not heat ) into electrical.

40 minutes ago, KittenIsAGeek said:

The way most computer enthusiasts use a Peltier is as a heat pump, but they can also be used to create electricity from heat.

The thing that does that was always called a thermocouple and didn't make much electricity.  They are used in gas appliances to hold the valve open as long as the pilot light remains lit.  Are you saying that both are just forwards and backwards manifestations of the same underlying peltier effect?  I hadn't heard that term before they invented the the little heat pump chips what was it? 25 years ago or so now?

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Just now, psusi said:

Are you saying that both are just forwards and backwards manifestations of the same underlying peltier effect?  

Yes, just as LEDs and Solar Panels are built on the same underlying effect.  But because of design, one is best at producing light and the other is best at producing electricity.

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In short, the same rules are at work, just in different applications.

Thermoelectric generation is nothing new at all.  In fact, this is how the Voyager probes have been getting their power.  They use heat generated by the decay of radioactive isotopes to generate the electricity needed to continue operating.  To give you an idea of how effective this is as a power source, the engineers figure that the Voyager probes have hit the mid-point in their life span about now.

Advances in materials science have made these types of power sources even more effective, and it probably won't be too much longer (say, within the next generation after yours or mine) until it can become a viable method for generating electricity for the masses.  At which point they really will be actual heat sinks.

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15 hours ago, BlackAeronaut said:

To give you an idea of how effective this is as a power source, the engineers figure that the Voyager probes have hit the mid-point in their life span about now.

Yep, nuclear reactors last a long time.  I believe tough, that the maximum output of the thing was only like 100 watts, and these days its down to half that.

15 hours ago, BlackAeronaut said:

Advances in materials science have made these types of power sources even more effective, and it probably won't be too much longer (say, within the next generation after yours or mine) until it can become a viable method for generating electricity for the masses.  At which point they really will be actual heat sinks.

It doesn't just delete heat and make electricity.  It relies on one side being hot and the other being cold, and as the heat moves from hot to cold, generates some electricity in the process.  Stirling engines have been using temperature gradients to generate mechanical energy since the 1800s or something.

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