jus2shy wrote:
agesilaus wrote:
You think the Navy is going to set up a fuel production factory inside a Carrier?! Let me guess you have never been on a Carrier or any other naval vessel.
You would be sorely mistaken. I've done the tiger cruise from Hawaii to Bremerton. CVN-68. She's a beauty. Visit the vessels that show up for fleet week in Puget Sound and Portland. I've been on plenty of vessels and my father is retired from the Navy. The carriers of today are sure as hell not equipped to do the work. However, what's to say the Navy is not working on either incorporating it into future design or designing aux vessels who's sole purpose is to produce fuel at sea. It's just like the rail gun system. Takes a huge amount of energy to power that weapon system and they're designing ships around it. Who's to say they won't retrofit the system during a mid-life rebuild of the super carriers of today? They have to rip it apart every 20 or so years to re-fuel the reactor.
All I've read is that they're trying to prove the concept out at sea, I don't know any more specifics.
Jus2shy,
You are absolutely correct about the Navy being quite interested in artificial aircraft fuel. During severe supply disruption, they wish to be able to still function independent of outside energy. In spite of new nuclear powered vessels, I believe the Navy is still the largest US consumer of diesel fuel with my former employer, BNSF Railroad still right behind.
All this is ultimately courtesy of the efforts of Admiral Hyman G. Rickover who is the father of all nuclear power and especially the exceptionally safe disciplined operation of naval nuclear propulsion. It is a given that the Navy will find a reasonable way to produce fuel out of seawater using nuclear input in spite of some backwards-thinking politicians possibly trying to interfere in the future. The Navy also is working, and will continue to work, on modifying seaports to accomodate the continueing rise in seawater expected because of global warming, a carbon dioxide consequence of burning fossil fuels. I recently ran into a fellow who currently works aboard Naval vessels and is familiar with the tech.
I would hope that most all the people on this thread realise that all hydrocarbon fuels are merely made up of three things, hydrogen, oxygen and carbon. The main byproduct of the burn is water (hydrogen & oxygen) and carbon dioxide, with more gallons of water being produced by a combustion engine than gallons of initial fuel used. It is wholly possible to recombine these ingredients to produce jet (and coptor) fuel to remain a viable Naval defense force, and we will do just that. Efficiency takes a second place to abundant available nuclear input and possible dire need. It is in the spirit of Rickover.
Some folks might find
this PBS documentary quite interesting, called
Rickover: The Birth of Nuclear Power.
Jus2shy, thank you for your level-headed take on this. Folks like you re-instill my faith in Amercia.
Wes
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