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Imagine a thin sheet made of a beta-emitter, and a thin sheet of copper, with a thin, wide carbon mesh in between as an insulator. put another carbon mesh on top of this "sandwich" and roll it up. It would look like a carbon-mesh swiss roll, but it would be basically a battery that would be as long-lasting
and powervul as the half-life and energy-level of your beta-emitter.
Nickel-63 has a half-life of 100 years, but it has a maximum energy level of only 0.067 Mev. That's not going to do at all. Doing some digging, I found that the two best beta-emitter sources would be either Strontium-90 with a half-life of 29 years and an energy level of 0.546 Mev, or Technetium-99 with a half-life of 212, 000 years and an energy level of 0.292 Mev.
Of course, studying uses of these sources led me to stumble onto Paul Brown's work, so I knew someone else had a similar notion. He used Strontium-90 which produced MORE than enough energy, but its half-life would be within most anyone's lifetime. Using Technetium-99, a battery could be made, that if as efficient as Paul Brown's battery, would produce perhaps 2/3 the power, but would practically never run out. Direct conversion of beta radiation to electricity is possible, as proven my the Cornell students, so why not harness it? Cliff notes: instead of a conventional sandwich, try a "wrap", and focus on beta particle
Wikipedia: Atomic Batteries
http://en.wikipedia...wiki/Atomic_battery
Is this the kind of thing you're thinking of [Jsebesta]? [zen_tom, Sep 16 2009]
[link]
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What's the idea? Nuclear batteries powered by radioactive decay? If so, then they're already in active use in various space-craft, probes etc. I think they're generally known as "Atomic Batteries". |
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I think my grandfather's pacemaker was powered by a tritium cell, from memory. |
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This idea has been baked since at least the early 30s, maybe longer? |
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Sort of. Most "Atomic" batteries are actually a thermopile, using the decay heat of an isotope as the energy source. Beta-capture is a known technology, but not without its problems. |
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When the primary isotope decays, it doesn't necessarily become stable (unless the daughter isotope is lead). It may subsequently emit further energetic particles or gamma radiation. Alphas are a problem because they lead to a slow but steady accumulation of helium within the device (Whic means venting). Gammas are not good because they demand heavy shielding. |
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Fine for deep-space probes and the like but you're not going to be popping a few of them in your Maglite or iPod any day soon .... |
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There's one minor aspect I'm unclear about. Is the science energy to be used to get rid of nuclear waste, or does all this science energy actually make nuclear waste? |
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I thought the "science energy" bit was just a couple of superfluous words, much like the French misuse of letters. |
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No, there's a special energy given off by science, and it's this energy that seems to be being put to utilisation here - as something that has something to do with nuclear waste. It's a bit like banana gas, presumably. |
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Science isn't just an energy, it's a specific process, used to allow all sorts of things to work; photographic printers, mobile phones, the internet......and many other devices. |
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So in order to engage the scientific process, which allows an endless list of three things to actually work, you need to supply an energy into the input of science. Science only runs on science energy. |
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Good point, but what generates this science energy? I've taken apart loads of stuff and most of the time the only sort of energy I can find being supplied is lousy old electricity. |
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Must be a by-product of the nuclear waste, then. |
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Ahem. CLASS....did anyone say "hello" to Jsebesta? He's new
here, I think. It looks like this is kinda baked, but still a good
ish idea, so have a [+] from me. |
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see betavoltaics in link (not mine) Hello. |
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// what generates this science energy? // |
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I thought it was smoke that made electronic things work? |
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Apparently, women can use it to cause blindness. -- science energy, not smoke. |
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Hello everyone. It is true I am new at this. I have been very curious on how batteries can be made to last a lifetime. I am also concerned about the nuclear waste that is currently being stored away. I do not want to create more nuclear waste. I wanted to find out if we can use the existing nuclear waste to help build batteries. Given the work of Cornell students along with Paul Brown, as well as possible others, can we create such a Battery using the beta radiation off of nuclear waste. Any thoughts? |
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Sorry. Hello [JseBesta] *waves* |
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Shouldn't that be "half-lifetime" in this context ? |
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P.S. your tag cloud is showing. |
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I've talked to a friend a Laurence berkeley lab about
commercializing space batteries, more or less, and it's
technically doable, but legally and commercially tough, if not
impossible. Croissant for a good halfbaked idea. Welcome! |
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I've talked to a friend a Laurence berkeley lab about
commercializing space batteries, more or less, and it's
technically doable, but legally and commercially tough, if not
impossible. Croissant for a good halfbaked idea. Welcome! |
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I've talked to a friend a Laurence berkeley lab about
commercializing space batteries, more or less, and it's
technically doable, but legally and commercially tough, if not
impossible. Croissant for a good halfbaked idea. Welcome! |
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1 x 2 = 2
2 x 2 = 4
3 x 2 = 6
4 x 2 = 8
5 x 2 = 10
etc. |
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I think you are right, [UnaBubba]. As to the idea, [Jsebesta]: It all hinges on whether Paul Brown was right, and it sure does not look that way; If the magic acceleration does not work as advertised, it si just another atomic battery, with all the security and peak-power problems attached. |
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[Jsebesta], welcome to the halfbakery. Will you please use some paragraph breaks so your idea is easier to read? J |
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ust hit [Enter] twice every so often and I'll be happy. |
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