Post by RA2lover on Sept 28, 2016 17:33:25 GMT
Tried to make a cheaper beam drone after noticing how much its 4 RTGs cost. Still failed at designing a proper replacement, but ended up with a very compact nuclear reactor that beats it power output, mass and cost extremely easily.
1MW heat generation, 334kW output, weighs 11.6kg and costs 1.31kc. It also spits out 4.15W of radiation, but who cares? Radiation shielding is for the weak!(the actual reason is lithium-6 has godlike neutron absorption capabilities but melts too easily to be used as a neutron reflector)
On a side note, i want a 40% efficiency on this(so i can use a single reactor as a beam drone replacement), though i'm limited by both Tantalum's tendency to shatter on thermal expansion and Nickel-Chromium-Iron's temperature limiting thermodynamic efficiency.
Some design considerations i've found out while designing it:
- Most of a reator's mass is in radiation shielding. Low atomic number materials are great absorbers as they're lightweight and cheap. In particular, Lithium-6 is game-breakingly overpowered at absorbing it, with just a few milimeters of it being able to soak up nearly all radiation in a reactor. Sadly, it melts far too easily to be used as a neutron absorber, meaning you need to apply it elsewhere. Plastics can also work, though they perform much worse at the task. If you want to actually bundle radiation shielding inside the reactor package, Boron is probably the best at that task as it combines good absorption, low mass, cheap cost and a high melting point.
- Nuclear material enrichment costs don't seem to be present at the moment.
- Thermocouple design is vital(though i honestly haven't spent a lot of time with it in this design).
- High RPM fans tend to be heavier and consume more energy than slower fans with a larger area for the same performance.
- Sodium has a very high thermal conductivity which allows you to save a lot on active cooling requirements.
ThermoelectricFissionReactorModule 334 kW Thermoelectric Fission Reactor 2
ReactorCoreDimensions_m 0.1 0.1
NuclearReactor
Coolant Sodium
Moderator Boron
ModeratorMass_kg 2
Fuel U-233 Dioxide
FuelMass_kg 2
FuelEnrichment_Percent 0.93
ControlRodComposition Boron
ControlRodMass_kg 1
NeutronReflector Boron
ReflectorThickness_m 0
AverageNeutronFlux__m2_s 1.6e+017
InnerTurbopump
Composition Boron
PumpRadius_m 0.052
RotationalSpeed_RPM 310
ThermocoupleInnerDimensions_m 0.1 0.1
Thermocouple
PTypeComposition Tantalum
NTypeComposition Nickel Chromium Iron
Length_m 0.0011
ThermocoupleExitTemperature_K 1000
OuterCoolant Sodium
OuterTurbopump
Composition Boron
PumpRadius_m 0.052
RotationalSpeed_RPM 320
1MW heat generation, 334kW output, weighs 11.6kg and costs 1.31kc. It also spits out 4.15W of radiation, but who cares? Radiation shielding is for the weak!(the actual reason is lithium-6 has godlike neutron absorption capabilities but melts too easily to be used as a neutron reflector)
On a side note, i want a 40% efficiency on this(so i can use a single reactor as a beam drone replacement), though i'm limited by both Tantalum's tendency to shatter on thermal expansion and Nickel-Chromium-Iron's temperature limiting thermodynamic efficiency.
Some design considerations i've found out while designing it:
- Most of a reator's mass is in radiation shielding. Low atomic number materials are great absorbers as they're lightweight and cheap. In particular, Lithium-6 is game-breakingly overpowered at absorbing it, with just a few milimeters of it being able to soak up nearly all radiation in a reactor. Sadly, it melts far too easily to be used as a neutron absorber, meaning you need to apply it elsewhere. Plastics can also work, though they perform much worse at the task. If you want to actually bundle radiation shielding inside the reactor package, Boron is probably the best at that task as it combines good absorption, low mass, cheap cost and a high melting point.
- Nuclear material enrichment costs don't seem to be present at the moment.
- Thermocouple design is vital(though i honestly haven't spent a lot of time with it in this design).
- High RPM fans tend to be heavier and consume more energy than slower fans with a larger area for the same performance.
- Sodium has a very high thermal conductivity which allows you to save a lot on active cooling requirements.