InnerworldMar 2

China tests world's first megawatt-class flying wind turbine

https://lemmy.world/post/43748878

China tests world's first megawatt-class flying wind turbine - Lemmy.World

Lemmy

Show threadoyzmo
Helium is a non-renewable substance which there is a global shortage of. I wonder how much it takes to lift that thing 😅
Mar 2 at 4:11amWeb
Show threadBlade9732Mar 2
Wouldn’t hydrogen be better for lifting something like a wind turbine.
Show threadoyzmoMar 2
Yes, but I think hydrogen likes to go bang 😆
Show threadparaphrandMar 2
Show threadporcoesphinoMar 2
“Skytanic” was a great episode of Archer. For anyone that hasn’t seen it, the running gag is that Archer thinks the non-flammable helium is going to explode leading to things like this slap
Show threadExLisperMar 2
“What part of this you’re not getting?”
Show threadporcoesphinoMar 2
“All of it, obviously!”
Show threadbus_factorMar 2
No worries, that only happens if there’s a spark, like for instance some static electricity. Shouldn’t be a problem here, surely this thing won’t generate any of that.
Show threadkbobabobMar 2
Wouldn’t this still need to be tethered to the ground? Would that likely have grounding cables?
Show threadbus_factorMar 2
That helps against sparks jumping between the balloon and the ground, but things could still get zappy between the individual components of the balloon.
Show threadGreenShimadaMar 2

Not necessarily. It’s not about the boom factor alone - hydrogen is a small atom, and so under pressure, most commonly used materials are permeable to it. It leaks through every material. It really takes something as solid as steel pipes for hydrogen atoms to not work their way through and escape. So while hydrogen would be cheaper to produce at scale, it’s also constantly leaking out of any container.

For wind turbines, static electricity and storms would be huge risks as well, so the application of a floating wind turbine would not be ideal.

Show threadwewbullMar 2
Helium does a pretty good job of that too.
Show threadthebestaquamanMar 2
Even with steel pipes you get problems with hydrogen embrittlement because hydrogen diffuses into the steel and can cause it to crack.
Show threadAceticonMar 2

If you’re producing electricity in it, you can always bring some water up and use some of that electricity to extract hydrogen from the water to make up for any leaks.

It really depends how bad the leaking is since that dictates how much weight of water is needed to be brought up and electricity must be used for hydrolysis.

Show threadramenshamanMar 2
Yeah, that’s what the folks who designed the Hindenburg thought as well.
Show threadWorldsDumbestManMar 2
Nah, it’s perfect!
Show threadgravitas_deficiencyMar 2
For an autonomous platform with some sort of safety mechanisms for jettisoning the air bag if a catastrophic failure occurs, hydrogen does in fact sound like a way better and less scarce lifting gas.
Show threadAceticonMar 2
Wasn’t the way the Hindenburg burned due to both the Hidrogen AND the alumium oxide paint covering it?
Show threadBussyCatMar 2
Helium may not be renewable but we can manufacture it from things like boron
Show threadBrave Little Hitachi WandMar 2
I did not know that
Show threadtrololololMar 2
I need someone to explain the joke. Waiting 100,000 years for radioactive decay seems to be a bit boring as a punch line.
Show threadSneezycatMar 2
It’ll be really funny in 100 000 years.
Show threadBussyCatMar 2

It’s not a joke if you hit boron with a neutron it releases the energy in the form of an alpha particle which is just a helium atom.

So take some boron-10 put it in a neutron flux and you get helium. This is being done in nearly every nuclear power plant in the world every second

Show threadrecked_wralphMar 2
Not once we get fusion reactors up and running, then we’ll be drowning in that sweet sweet helium-4
Show threadJännätMar 2

Not once we get fusion reactors up and running

Yeah, about that…