• Cyrus Draegur@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    Steam implies water! What if we used some OTHER phase-change working fluid? :D

    ||(No idea what, though. my question is implied with a playful tone and is at least 50% facetious; any actual discussion that might result would be little more than a pleasant coincidence)||

    • MehBlah@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      You want to see weird water look up super critical boilers. That stuff was nasty. A regular steam leak will set things on fire. That stuff would explode a broom. We looked for the leaks with straw brooms. You can’t see steam in normal conditions. Only its effects.

      • Benjaben@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Blech, I’ve heard stories in my industrial automation days of people being clipped by invisible high pressure steam leaks. No frickin thank you, regular stovetop steam jacks me up frequently enough.

        • xthexder@l.sw0.com
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          1 month ago

          Well, now this is on my list of invisible things that scare me:

          • Radiation
          • Methanol fires
          • Supercritical steam jets
          • Benjaben@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            Not quite invisible but you could also splash and wade into a pool of strong acid thinking it was water, during what first seemed like a somewhat routine FUBAR maintenance situation…filling your boots etc.

            • xthexder@l.sw0.com
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              1 month ago

              Definitely dangerous, but I’m less scared of that one. I’ve got detectors for that, and that’s more of a “go peacefully in your sleep” kind of danger.

          • MehBlah@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            The regular ones will kill you as well. Boiling water on a stove is nothing compared to steam under pressure.

    • chaogomu@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Molten salt?

      We can then use compressed CO2 in the place of steam to drive the turbine.