Shipping Fuel Densely: Best way to do it? Jeff Zeitlin (15 Jul 2017 14:38 UTC)
Re: [TML] Shipping Fuel Densely: Best way to do it? Ethan McKinney (15 Jul 2017 16:52 UTC)
Re: [TML] Shipping Fuel Densely: Best way to do it? David Shaw (15 Jul 2017 18:12 UTC)
Re: [TML] Shipping Fuel Densely: Best way to do it? Ethan McKinney (15 Jul 2017 18:16 UTC)
Re: [TML] Shipping Fuel Densely: Best way to do it? Bruce Johnson (15 Jul 2017 21:09 UTC)
Re: [TML] Shipping Fuel Densely: Best way to do it? Rupert Boleyn (17 Jul 2017 04:33 UTC)
Re: [TML] Shipping Fuel Densely: Best way to do it? Kelly St. Clair (17 Jul 2017 05:56 UTC)
Re: [TML] Shipping Fuel Densely: Best way to do it? Rupert Boleyn (17 Jul 2017 10:36 UTC)
Re: [TML] Shipping Fuel Densely: Best way to do it? shadow@xxxxxx (21 Jul 2017 04:13 UTC)
Re: [TML] Shipping Fuel Densely: Best way to do it? Rupert Boleyn (17 Jul 2017 10:52 UTC)
Re: [TML] Shipping Fuel Densely: Best way to do it? Thomas Jones-Low (17 Jul 2017 10:56 UTC)

Shipping Fuel Densely: Best way to do it? Jeff Zeitlin 15 Jul 2017 14:38 UTC

Canonically, one can scoop unrefined fuel from the atmosphere of a gas
giant, or dip it from the oceans of an Earth-like world, and then
refine it for use in the jump drive and power plant. This suggests
that the canonical refiners can break down Damn Near Anything to get
the hydrogen out, and then compress and cool the hydrogen into stored
refined fuel.

OK. I'm with that. I'll take a handwave on the actual tech.

I'm willing to accept that a facility that uses fuel will do so faster
than reasonable refining capacity can provide it - that is, the
refiner can't feed the plant or j-drive directly; you need the total
volume of refined fuel available when you hit the 'go' button.

TNE allowed for "empty hex" jumps, to 'Calibration Points' -
essentially, deep-space stations. I believe that the assumption was
that there was an icy body to provide fuel there, large enough that
there was no need to discuss how they were supplied.

Assume now that a deep-space station _does_ need to have fuel
"trucked" in. The station has sufficient tankage and sufficient
refining capacity to meet its needs as a fueling station, plus it can
keep itself supplied with respect to power plant needs. What's of
interest now is how to most efficiently truck the fuel in.

A little browsing of Wikipedia says that refined fuel - Liquid
Hydrogen, H2(l), has a density of 70kg/m3 - or, by definition of a
Traveller dton (displacement ton), 1 tonne per dton.

Question: (Please show your work!) What substances can be transported
with an "effective refined fuel density" (ERFD) that's higher than
H2(l), and what substance has the highest ERFD? Also note if the
substance in question requires any special handling (i.e., deviations
from STP) to achieve the stated ERFD.

(It's understood that by definition, anything with a higher EFRD than
H2(l) is "unrefined" fuel. That's OK; remember, it's being refined
on-site at the deep-space station.)

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