FRIEDRITR%GAV.MFENET@LLL-MFE.ARPA (01/17/86)
One method (which is used in some fusion reactor experiments) is to use a spinning rock. A huge rock (specially shaped and balanced, of course) is spun up to high RPM over a period of time. Then, when you need the shot of electricity, you throw all that angular momentum into spinning a large generator. I've seen this done; the rock stops RIGHT NOW, and your pet project gets a huge jolt of electricity. No representations as to efficiency, but it was cheaper and easier to build than a bank of hundreds of thousands of capacitors ... Terry
phil@isieng.UUCP (Phil Gustafson) (01/17/86)
In article <8601162257.AA16707@s1-b.arpa> FRIEDRITR%GAV.MFENET@LLL-MFE.ARPA writes: >One method (which is used in some fusion reactor experiments) is to use >a spinning rock. The Bevatron at UC Berkeley does this, and has for years. A motor winds a flywheel up to a high speed. Then (every minute or so) a bank of thyratrons lights up blue and *all* the energy in the flywheel gets dumped into the accelerator. Great fun to watch and listen to. Cheaper and more compact than capacitors holding the same energy. phil
brent@poseidon.UUCP (Brent P. Callaghan) (01/20/86)
>>One method (which is used in some fusion reactor experiments) is to use >>a spinning rock. > >The Bevatron at UC Berkeley does this, and has for years. A motor winds >a flywheel up to a high speed. Then (every minute or so) a bank of thyratrons >lights up blue and *all* the energy in the flywheel gets dumped into the >accelerator. Great fun to watch and listen to. Cheaper and more compact than >capacitors holding the same energy. I think this is called a "homopolar" generator. -- Made in New Zealand --> Brent Callaghan AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft, NJ {ihnp4|mtuxo|pegasus}!poseidon!brent (201) 576-3475