| Superconducting Wire for the Moon
Dave Dietzler 2008 High Temperature (77 K) Superconducting wire abbreviated HTS could be the miracle we need to supply power from solar power plants around the Moon. At this URL http://www.amsc.com/products/htswire/HTSCables.html we read : "At the heart of the superconductor power cable is HTS wire that conducts more than 150 times the electrical current of copper wire of the same dimensions. Using conventional cable stranding machines, multiple strands of HTS wire are woven into a coaxial configuration. Once woven ito a coxial configuration, an HTS cable produces essentially zero Electromagnetic Field (EMF) emissions. The inherently low impedance of this cable assembly enables cost-effective control of power flows over the surrounding grid network. Liquid nitrogen, the dielectric and coolant of choice to maintain the HTS wire at its operating temperature, is inexpensive, abundant and environmentally safe, eliminating the oil used in many conventional power cables in cities across the U.S. " http://www.amsc.com/products/htswire/faq.html Q: To estimate shipping costs, how much does your wire weigh? A: 100 meters of HTS wire weighs approximately 3 pounds, plus packaging. Total shipping weight for 100 meters is less than 10 pounds depending on how it is packaged. Please contact our Wires Sales Department for more details. 100 meters of HTS wire weighs approximately 3 pounds So 1 km = 30 lbs. 100 km = 3000 lbs. 1000 km = 30,000 lbs or 15 tons lunar equatorial circumference 10,940 km 328,200 lbs. or 164 tons 164/31 = 5.3 so 6 Ares launches could get enuff HTS wire to the Moon with some left over. We could set up solar power plants at O and 180 degrees or at O, 90, 180 and 270 on the lunar equator for constant power. I've balked at that because AC can only go 600 to 1000 miles and the lunar equatorial circumference is 6780 miles. With HTS wires/cables we could transmit electrical power virtually unlimited distances. I would imagine that the LN2 tube of this HTS wire is as thin as a hypodermic needle and the superconductor wrapped around it merely a piece of tape clad with thin layers of copper and plastic insulation and that it is somewhat delicate. It might be wise to put the wire in cast or sintered basalt tubing and bury it or put it up on poles. Or it could be wrapped in layers of glass fiber cloth made on the Moon for protection and buried or put up on poles. For interior wiring, robot wiring, manned vehicle wiring aluminum will still have uses. But we won't need a hell of a lot of it. 10 gauge Al wire can carry 25 amps. At 14.2 gr/m we need 14.2 kg/1000m and only 14.2 metric tons per 1000 km! We could do plenty of wiring with that. 0000 cable 165 amps 290 gr/m 290 kg/km 290 tons/1000 km Although 1000 km of 10 guage Al wire amasses about as much as HTS wire, it can only carry 25 amps and only over a short distance while HTS wire can carry thousands of amps over unlimited distances practically. HTS wire is worth spending a billion $ to get to the Moon. Cryogenic equipment is also needed but we will try to make that on the Moon. We might be seeing the lunar circumferential power grid sooner than previously imagined by me at least, and the lunar RR might appear not to long after the industrial seed is planted, the way is paved for humans, and progress accelerates. After developing Newton Base on Mt. Malapert as written about in The Moon: Resources, Future Development and Settlement by Schrunk, Sharpe, Cooper and Thangavelu we could then rocket up to Frigoris Coast to access mare and highland regolith easily enough, Sulpicious Gallus in Mare Serenitatis and its rich volanic glass deposits, to the Aristarchus Plateau that is very interesting, the KREEP terrain of the Ocean of Storms and the Marius Hills that has 200+ low volcanic domes and perhaps chambers of trapped volcanic gas-CO, radon and perhaps uranium and lead below the surface. An even better set of locations would be Sulpicious Gallus, Mare Imbrium on the coast of the Apenines, Aristarchus and the Marius Hills in the Ocean of Storms. We would build mining bases at these locations and transport the mined and refined materials into space by launching with mass drivers eventually located on the lunar equator. We would build a lunar railroad to connect all these places in the Northern Hemisphere together. Dirt roads made by scrapers to clear rocks out of the way and compacting of the regolith with “steam rollers” would come before a railroad. At various points along the way there could be battery recharging stations spliced into the HTS cable. Perhaps we should land our HTS wire in these northern places instead of stringing a cable from Newton Base into the Aitken Basin. |
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| Simple Analysis of Solar Plant Locations on the Moon
By Dave Dietzler Using a cord, a ruler and a 12 inch globe (180 miles per inch) I determined these rough figures: Sulpicious Gallus 18N/12E to Mare Imbrium 20N/5W 360 miles/580 km. Imbrium 20N/5W to Aristarchus 24N/47W 720 mi./1160 km. Aristarchus to Marius 11N/51W 360 mi./580 km. Subtotal: 1440 mi./2320 km. Aristarchus to 24N/139W power plant 1710 mi./2760 km. S. Gallus to 18N/101E power plant 1440 mi./2320 km. Total: 4590 miles / 7400 km. This would require at least 111 english tons or 100 metric tons of HST wire or cable at 3 lbs/100meters Since the bases rely on power from the cable during night span it would be safer to have at least two cables in case one fails. Two cables might be required for a completed DC circuit if AC cannot be used because of low ground conductivity. Additionally, silicon PVs produce only DC but solar thermal plants can produce AC. This is one of the advantages of solar thermal power in a addition to the higher efficiency of solar thermal. So four cables might be necessary or 400 metric tons of them. When Aristarchus at 47W is on the sunset terminator the 139W power plant is 92 deg. from the sunset terminator and the 101E plant is 120 deg. behind or 28 deg. from the sunrise terminator in the darkness. When the Sun rises at the 101E plant the 139W plant is 64 deg. from the sunset terminator. When the Sun sets at the 139W plant the 101 E plant is 120 deg. away from the sunset terminator. When the Sun sets at 101E, S.Gallus is almost at “noon” or 89 deg. from the sunset terminator and 91 deg. from the sunrise terminator. All bases are in dayspan. During night span, the S. Gallus, Imbrium, Aristarchus and Marius mining bases will be relying on power from one, sometimes both, farside power plants. They will probably not have full power so nightspan will be time to power down and do maintenance work and take breaks from the grueling day span schedules. |
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