On 12 Dec 2014 at 9:07, Grimmund wrote:

> As it turns out, iceballs may be an excellent source of deuterium.
>
> Sample size =1
>
> http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/dec/10/water-comet-67p-earth-rosetta?CMP=ema_565
>
> "Measurements from Rosetta´s Rosina instrument found that water on
> comet 67P /Churyumov-Gerasimenko contains about three times more
> deuterium - a heavy form of hydrogen - than water on Earth."

This is not necessarily a good thing. Given that Traveller fusion
seems to burn protium, the extra deuterium (and possibly tritium)
could be a pain.

Since they fuse at lower temperatures and pressures, they might have
effects rather like getting your diesel fuel contaminated with
gasoline.

This may be why unrefined fuel is not good for the jump drive.

Of course, the fuel refiner probably seperates the D & T out. If they
don't have a refiner and are just feeding in "raw" hydrogen.

ps. Liquid hydrogen requires special treatment when you liquefy it or
it will evaporate rapidly due to the molecules spotaneusly switching
from ortho to para. Or maybe it's the other way around. One has the
spins of the two atoms the same, the other has them opposite.

The difference in energy levels is significant (compared to the
energy due to random molecular motion in the LH2).

It's handled by running the LH2 thru a catlyst that triggers the
conversion to the lower enery form. This returns those molecules to
gaseous state, and the resulting gas has to be returned thru the
system to get liquefied again.

--
Leonard Erickson (aka shadow)
shadow at shadowgard dot com