How could indestructible materials be used in power generation?












3












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Background:



In this scenario assume technology is initially equal to our own, but a method is discovered to render material indestructible. The affected material is treated as requiring infinite or arbitrarily high amounts of energy to break any of its bonds whether they be nuclear or chemical (this does mean a previously radioactive material will no longer be able to decay).

Indestructible material can deform provided this wouldn't require breaking bonds or stretching them beyond what would have been possible for the starting material.



The process to make something indestructible costs hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter affected so answers should be limited to scenarios where using such an expensive material makes financial sense. Making an object indestructible involves placing it in a sealed reaction chamber and applying the Mcguffin effect to everything within, so you can't make only part of a contiguous object indestructible.



My Question: So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?



At the very least though I'd imagine there's great utility for power generation in taking advantage of this Mcguffin's ability to easily contain extreme pressures indefinitely (emitting energy through radiation, heat emitted by the vessel and light if the vessel is transparent).










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$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    What are the properties of the material? For instance, it's thermo-conductive and electro-conductive properties? If it transfers heat well then one could simply dig a deep hole put in a rod of the stuff using the heat from below the earth to boil water and run a steam turbine.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    @Rob The properties of the material are mostly the same as they were before it was made indestructible. The main difference is just that you can't cause any bonds within the material to break. So if you applied the process to say silver it should retain its conductivity.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    33 mins ago
















3












$begingroup$


Background:



In this scenario assume technology is initially equal to our own, but a method is discovered to render material indestructible. The affected material is treated as requiring infinite or arbitrarily high amounts of energy to break any of its bonds whether they be nuclear or chemical (this does mean a previously radioactive material will no longer be able to decay).

Indestructible material can deform provided this wouldn't require breaking bonds or stretching them beyond what would have been possible for the starting material.



The process to make something indestructible costs hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter affected so answers should be limited to scenarios where using such an expensive material makes financial sense. Making an object indestructible involves placing it in a sealed reaction chamber and applying the Mcguffin effect to everything within, so you can't make only part of a contiguous object indestructible.



My Question: So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?



At the very least though I'd imagine there's great utility for power generation in taking advantage of this Mcguffin's ability to easily contain extreme pressures indefinitely (emitting energy through radiation, heat emitted by the vessel and light if the vessel is transparent).










share|improve this question









$endgroup$












  • $begingroup$
    What are the properties of the material? For instance, it's thermo-conductive and electro-conductive properties? If it transfers heat well then one could simply dig a deep hole put in a rod of the stuff using the heat from below the earth to boil water and run a steam turbine.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    @Rob The properties of the material are mostly the same as they were before it was made indestructible. The main difference is just that you can't cause any bonds within the material to break. So if you applied the process to say silver it should retain its conductivity.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    33 mins ago














3












3








3





$begingroup$


Background:



In this scenario assume technology is initially equal to our own, but a method is discovered to render material indestructible. The affected material is treated as requiring infinite or arbitrarily high amounts of energy to break any of its bonds whether they be nuclear or chemical (this does mean a previously radioactive material will no longer be able to decay).

Indestructible material can deform provided this wouldn't require breaking bonds or stretching them beyond what would have been possible for the starting material.



The process to make something indestructible costs hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter affected so answers should be limited to scenarios where using such an expensive material makes financial sense. Making an object indestructible involves placing it in a sealed reaction chamber and applying the Mcguffin effect to everything within, so you can't make only part of a contiguous object indestructible.



My Question: So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?



At the very least though I'd imagine there's great utility for power generation in taking advantage of this Mcguffin's ability to easily contain extreme pressures indefinitely (emitting energy through radiation, heat emitted by the vessel and light if the vessel is transparent).










share|improve this question









$endgroup$




Background:



In this scenario assume technology is initially equal to our own, but a method is discovered to render material indestructible. The affected material is treated as requiring infinite or arbitrarily high amounts of energy to break any of its bonds whether they be nuclear or chemical (this does mean a previously radioactive material will no longer be able to decay).

Indestructible material can deform provided this wouldn't require breaking bonds or stretching them beyond what would have been possible for the starting material.



The process to make something indestructible costs hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter affected so answers should be limited to scenarios where using such an expensive material makes financial sense. Making an object indestructible involves placing it in a sealed reaction chamber and applying the Mcguffin effect to everything within, so you can't make only part of a contiguous object indestructible.



My Question: So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?



At the very least though I'd imagine there's great utility for power generation in taking advantage of this Mcguffin's ability to easily contain extreme pressures indefinitely (emitting energy through radiation, heat emitted by the vessel and light if the vessel is transparent).







science-based technology physics chemistry power-sources






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 2 hours ago









Vakus DrakeVakus Drake

860928




860928












  • $begingroup$
    What are the properties of the material? For instance, it's thermo-conductive and electro-conductive properties? If it transfers heat well then one could simply dig a deep hole put in a rod of the stuff using the heat from below the earth to boil water and run a steam turbine.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    @Rob The properties of the material are mostly the same as they were before it was made indestructible. The main difference is just that you can't cause any bonds within the material to break. So if you applied the process to say silver it should retain its conductivity.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    33 mins ago


















  • $begingroup$
    What are the properties of the material? For instance, it's thermo-conductive and electro-conductive properties? If it transfers heat well then one could simply dig a deep hole put in a rod of the stuff using the heat from below the earth to boil water and run a steam turbine.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    @Rob The properties of the material are mostly the same as they were before it was made indestructible. The main difference is just that you can't cause any bonds within the material to break. So if you applied the process to say silver it should retain its conductivity.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    33 mins ago
















$begingroup$
What are the properties of the material? For instance, it's thermo-conductive and electro-conductive properties? If it transfers heat well then one could simply dig a deep hole put in a rod of the stuff using the heat from below the earth to boil water and run a steam turbine.
$endgroup$
– Rob
1 hour ago




$begingroup$
What are the properties of the material? For instance, it's thermo-conductive and electro-conductive properties? If it transfers heat well then one could simply dig a deep hole put in a rod of the stuff using the heat from below the earth to boil water and run a steam turbine.
$endgroup$
– Rob
1 hour ago












$begingroup$
@Rob The properties of the material are mostly the same as they were before it was made indestructible. The main difference is just that you can't cause any bonds within the material to break. So if you applied the process to say silver it should retain its conductivity.
$endgroup$
– Vakus Drake
33 mins ago




$begingroup$
@Rob The properties of the material are mostly the same as they were before it was made indestructible. The main difference is just that you can't cause any bonds within the material to break. So if you applied the process to say silver it should retain its conductivity.
$endgroup$
– Vakus Drake
33 mins ago










3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















5












$begingroup$

Easy Peasy. Fusion reactors.



The primary challenge involved with fusion power is maintaining containment, which is a big challenge given the pressures and temperatures involved. I've included a link below, but here's the important bit:



"Not only will the neutrons deposit energy in the blanket material, but their impact will convert atoms in the wall and blanket into radioactive forms. Materials will be needed that can extract heat effectively while surviving the neutron-induced structural weakening for extended periods of time."



http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/challenges/fusion.aspx



The TLDR is that currently a PHYSICAL containment solution is impossible, requiring magnetic solutions that suck up most, if not ALL of the power being generated. Your Macguffin would solve this neatly, allowing a simple machined or cast sphere to be turned into a perfect containment vessel for a fusion powerplant of pretty much any size you need.



EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about it, it'd be a good solution for FISSION reactors as well, since a reactor vessel macguffin'd in the manner you describe wouldn't lose containment in a runaway nuclear reaction. The core could still melt down, but it'd stay in the reactor vessel. Your reactor would be destroyed, but it couldn't irradiate the entire powerplant ala Chernobyl or Fukushima.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Your link doesn't work
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake weird... try now?
    $endgroup$
    – Morris The Cat
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    Yeah it works now, you just left the /fusion.aspx off the link at first
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Note that meltdowns in an indestructable crucible might be considered a feature not a failure... if you don't have to worry about your fuel elements remaining solid, you can run them at a much higher temperature, which is great for a thermal powerplant.
    $endgroup$
    – Starfish Prime
    15 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    @StarfishPrime If you have an idea for using these materials to construct a super high energy reactor you should make that into an answer, especially if you know enough about nuclear physics to give a more in depth description of how it would work.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    10 mins ago



















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$begingroup$


How could indestructible materials be used in power generation?





Energy storage.



If you can spin a flywheel to relativistic speeds on indestructable bearings using electromagnets (in vacuo), then you can use that flywheel as a lossless energy storage device.



enter image description here



Wikipedia 2019 - CCSA License



The energy density would be infinite (or limited by the unspecified arbitrary high amounts of energy in the question) - thus you would need a microscopic miniscule ammount, a nano-flywheel mounted on gimbals - radically reducing the price per flywheel and opening it up to mass marketing, totally outclassing all battery tech available today.



Not only the obvious solution to the supply and demand issues with windpower, but for vehicles - cars/planes, phones, power-tools, toys, mobile phones and of course space exploration.



Infinite energy storage in the size of a grain of sand.



Miniature Tactical Nuke:



Of course, this section is about political power generation.



To release all that energy in one instant - perhaps an object charged with just below the threshold of it's (unspecified arbitrary potential energy) capacity, could be placed near an enemy stronghold and fed that last few jouls of energy to tip it over the edge, that's the dark side, someone will find a way to weaponise it for sure, if not the leader of some isolationist sanctioned state, then a disaffected teenager.



Power of a civilisation through time travel.



Speculativley: Also it would have potential to enable time travel or at least the potential to send messages back in time as it would exhibit frame dragging. For a few hints on how this could be of tactical use see this answer to another question.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    I think the "Hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter" criteria excludes your disaffected teenagers. =P
    $endgroup$
    – Morris The Cat
    1 hour ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    I don't really understand how you propose to use this to violate causality since the indestructible material isn't made perfectly rigid (so you can't push/pull on one end of an indestructible rod and have the other end move instantly). Also being indestructible isn't going to make the pivots perfectly frictionless, so you're still going to be losing some energy to heat in your flywheels.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    21 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake Quite right, I've no Idea how causality violation would work, I'll edit to clear-up the bearings thing too.
    $endgroup$
    – Agrajag
    17 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    I forsee a couple of issues... 1. charging up a micro flywheel to silly levels is going to require silly hardware (eg. enormous lasers or particle beams) which tend to be silly inefficient. Useful for specialist purposes, not for general purpose. 2. Indestructable does not imply frictionless. 3. extracting large amounts of energy at a useful rate from a miniature flywheel is going to be technically awkward...
    $endgroup$
    – Starfish Prime
    9 mins ago



















0












$begingroup$

"So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?"



Well, if you could make copper indestructible then you could use it as I mentioned in my comment. Simply dig a very deep hole and place a copper rod in it. The heat at the bottom of the hole would conduct through the rod to boil water at ground level. The boiling water would be used in a convention steam turbine and BAM nearly infinite free and clean energy. The only reason we don't already do this is because copper would melt at the temperatures needed to get enough heat conducting through the rod to boil water on the other end. That and it would be very hard to dig a hole that deep because all the drill bits would melt but since we can make indestructible drill bits, it should be no problem... heck, we could reach the core with indestructible material.






share|improve this answer








New contributor




Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    I think you need to work on the logistics of that idea a bit more (though I can see some variation of it working): The copper rod would conduct heat to the surrounding stone so little heat would make it all the way to the surface, and magma can only conduct heat into/through the copper rod so quickly placing limits on power generation (especially given indestructible material is pretty expensive).
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    17 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    @Vakus Drake Sure, agreed but people are already trying to do this with graphene because of its unique ability to conduct heat. You could surround the copper with a less thermal conductive material to reduce heat transfer to the surrounding rock. Copper conducts heat very well and very fast. See for yourself, grab a piece, hold one end in your fingers and put a lighter to the other end. You can boil water with a blow torch and a copper rod.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    9 mins ago












  • $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake In reality I wouldn't worry too much about logistics or details because an indestructible material would take an infinite amount of energy just to exist.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    6 mins ago












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3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes








3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









5












$begingroup$

Easy Peasy. Fusion reactors.



The primary challenge involved with fusion power is maintaining containment, which is a big challenge given the pressures and temperatures involved. I've included a link below, but here's the important bit:



"Not only will the neutrons deposit energy in the blanket material, but their impact will convert atoms in the wall and blanket into radioactive forms. Materials will be needed that can extract heat effectively while surviving the neutron-induced structural weakening for extended periods of time."



http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/challenges/fusion.aspx



The TLDR is that currently a PHYSICAL containment solution is impossible, requiring magnetic solutions that suck up most, if not ALL of the power being generated. Your Macguffin would solve this neatly, allowing a simple machined or cast sphere to be turned into a perfect containment vessel for a fusion powerplant of pretty much any size you need.



EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about it, it'd be a good solution for FISSION reactors as well, since a reactor vessel macguffin'd in the manner you describe wouldn't lose containment in a runaway nuclear reaction. The core could still melt down, but it'd stay in the reactor vessel. Your reactor would be destroyed, but it couldn't irradiate the entire powerplant ala Chernobyl or Fukushima.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Your link doesn't work
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake weird... try now?
    $endgroup$
    – Morris The Cat
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    Yeah it works now, you just left the /fusion.aspx off the link at first
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Note that meltdowns in an indestructable crucible might be considered a feature not a failure... if you don't have to worry about your fuel elements remaining solid, you can run them at a much higher temperature, which is great for a thermal powerplant.
    $endgroup$
    – Starfish Prime
    15 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    @StarfishPrime If you have an idea for using these materials to construct a super high energy reactor you should make that into an answer, especially if you know enough about nuclear physics to give a more in depth description of how it would work.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    10 mins ago
















5












$begingroup$

Easy Peasy. Fusion reactors.



The primary challenge involved with fusion power is maintaining containment, which is a big challenge given the pressures and temperatures involved. I've included a link below, but here's the important bit:



"Not only will the neutrons deposit energy in the blanket material, but their impact will convert atoms in the wall and blanket into radioactive forms. Materials will be needed that can extract heat effectively while surviving the neutron-induced structural weakening for extended periods of time."



http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/challenges/fusion.aspx



The TLDR is that currently a PHYSICAL containment solution is impossible, requiring magnetic solutions that suck up most, if not ALL of the power being generated. Your Macguffin would solve this neatly, allowing a simple machined or cast sphere to be turned into a perfect containment vessel for a fusion powerplant of pretty much any size you need.



EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about it, it'd be a good solution for FISSION reactors as well, since a reactor vessel macguffin'd in the manner you describe wouldn't lose containment in a runaway nuclear reaction. The core could still melt down, but it'd stay in the reactor vessel. Your reactor would be destroyed, but it couldn't irradiate the entire powerplant ala Chernobyl or Fukushima.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Your link doesn't work
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake weird... try now?
    $endgroup$
    – Morris The Cat
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    Yeah it works now, you just left the /fusion.aspx off the link at first
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Note that meltdowns in an indestructable crucible might be considered a feature not a failure... if you don't have to worry about your fuel elements remaining solid, you can run them at a much higher temperature, which is great for a thermal powerplant.
    $endgroup$
    – Starfish Prime
    15 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    @StarfishPrime If you have an idea for using these materials to construct a super high energy reactor you should make that into an answer, especially if you know enough about nuclear physics to give a more in depth description of how it would work.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    10 mins ago














5












5








5





$begingroup$

Easy Peasy. Fusion reactors.



The primary challenge involved with fusion power is maintaining containment, which is a big challenge given the pressures and temperatures involved. I've included a link below, but here's the important bit:



"Not only will the neutrons deposit energy in the blanket material, but their impact will convert atoms in the wall and blanket into radioactive forms. Materials will be needed that can extract heat effectively while surviving the neutron-induced structural weakening for extended periods of time."



http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/challenges/fusion.aspx



The TLDR is that currently a PHYSICAL containment solution is impossible, requiring magnetic solutions that suck up most, if not ALL of the power being generated. Your Macguffin would solve this neatly, allowing a simple machined or cast sphere to be turned into a perfect containment vessel for a fusion powerplant of pretty much any size you need.



EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about it, it'd be a good solution for FISSION reactors as well, since a reactor vessel macguffin'd in the manner you describe wouldn't lose containment in a runaway nuclear reaction. The core could still melt down, but it'd stay in the reactor vessel. Your reactor would be destroyed, but it couldn't irradiate the entire powerplant ala Chernobyl or Fukushima.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$



Easy Peasy. Fusion reactors.



The primary challenge involved with fusion power is maintaining containment, which is a big challenge given the pressures and temperatures involved. I've included a link below, but here's the important bit:



"Not only will the neutrons deposit energy in the blanket material, but their impact will convert atoms in the wall and blanket into radioactive forms. Materials will be needed that can extract heat effectively while surviving the neutron-induced structural weakening for extended periods of time."



http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/challenges/fusion.aspx



The TLDR is that currently a PHYSICAL containment solution is impossible, requiring magnetic solutions that suck up most, if not ALL of the power being generated. Your Macguffin would solve this neatly, allowing a simple machined or cast sphere to be turned into a perfect containment vessel for a fusion powerplant of pretty much any size you need.



EDIT: Now that I'm thinking about it, it'd be a good solution for FISSION reactors as well, since a reactor vessel macguffin'd in the manner you describe wouldn't lose containment in a runaway nuclear reaction. The core could still melt down, but it'd stay in the reactor vessel. Your reactor would be destroyed, but it couldn't irradiate the entire powerplant ala Chernobyl or Fukushima.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 1 hour ago

























answered 1 hour ago









Morris The CatMorris The Cat

3,274521




3,274521












  • $begingroup$
    Your link doesn't work
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake weird... try now?
    $endgroup$
    – Morris The Cat
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    Yeah it works now, you just left the /fusion.aspx off the link at first
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Note that meltdowns in an indestructable crucible might be considered a feature not a failure... if you don't have to worry about your fuel elements remaining solid, you can run them at a much higher temperature, which is great for a thermal powerplant.
    $endgroup$
    – Starfish Prime
    15 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    @StarfishPrime If you have an idea for using these materials to construct a super high energy reactor you should make that into an answer, especially if you know enough about nuclear physics to give a more in depth description of how it would work.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    10 mins ago


















  • $begingroup$
    Your link doesn't work
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake weird... try now?
    $endgroup$
    – Morris The Cat
    1 hour ago










  • $begingroup$
    Yeah it works now, you just left the /fusion.aspx off the link at first
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    1 hour ago








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Note that meltdowns in an indestructable crucible might be considered a feature not a failure... if you don't have to worry about your fuel elements remaining solid, you can run them at a much higher temperature, which is great for a thermal powerplant.
    $endgroup$
    – Starfish Prime
    15 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    @StarfishPrime If you have an idea for using these materials to construct a super high energy reactor you should make that into an answer, especially if you know enough about nuclear physics to give a more in depth description of how it would work.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    10 mins ago
















$begingroup$
Your link doesn't work
$endgroup$
– Vakus Drake
1 hour ago




$begingroup$
Your link doesn't work
$endgroup$
– Vakus Drake
1 hour ago












$begingroup$
@VakusDrake weird... try now?
$endgroup$
– Morris The Cat
1 hour ago




$begingroup$
@VakusDrake weird... try now?
$endgroup$
– Morris The Cat
1 hour ago












$begingroup$
Yeah it works now, you just left the /fusion.aspx off the link at first
$endgroup$
– Vakus Drake
1 hour ago






$begingroup$
Yeah it works now, you just left the /fusion.aspx off the link at first
$endgroup$
– Vakus Drake
1 hour ago






1




1




$begingroup$
Note that meltdowns in an indestructable crucible might be considered a feature not a failure... if you don't have to worry about your fuel elements remaining solid, you can run them at a much higher temperature, which is great for a thermal powerplant.
$endgroup$
– Starfish Prime
15 mins ago




$begingroup$
Note that meltdowns in an indestructable crucible might be considered a feature not a failure... if you don't have to worry about your fuel elements remaining solid, you can run them at a much higher temperature, which is great for a thermal powerplant.
$endgroup$
– Starfish Prime
15 mins ago












$begingroup$
@StarfishPrime If you have an idea for using these materials to construct a super high energy reactor you should make that into an answer, especially if you know enough about nuclear physics to give a more in depth description of how it would work.
$endgroup$
– Vakus Drake
10 mins ago




$begingroup$
@StarfishPrime If you have an idea for using these materials to construct a super high energy reactor you should make that into an answer, especially if you know enough about nuclear physics to give a more in depth description of how it would work.
$endgroup$
– Vakus Drake
10 mins ago











2












$begingroup$


How could indestructible materials be used in power generation?





Energy storage.



If you can spin a flywheel to relativistic speeds on indestructable bearings using electromagnets (in vacuo), then you can use that flywheel as a lossless energy storage device.



enter image description here



Wikipedia 2019 - CCSA License



The energy density would be infinite (or limited by the unspecified arbitrary high amounts of energy in the question) - thus you would need a microscopic miniscule ammount, a nano-flywheel mounted on gimbals - radically reducing the price per flywheel and opening it up to mass marketing, totally outclassing all battery tech available today.



Not only the obvious solution to the supply and demand issues with windpower, but for vehicles - cars/planes, phones, power-tools, toys, mobile phones and of course space exploration.



Infinite energy storage in the size of a grain of sand.



Miniature Tactical Nuke:



Of course, this section is about political power generation.



To release all that energy in one instant - perhaps an object charged with just below the threshold of it's (unspecified arbitrary potential energy) capacity, could be placed near an enemy stronghold and fed that last few jouls of energy to tip it over the edge, that's the dark side, someone will find a way to weaponise it for sure, if not the leader of some isolationist sanctioned state, then a disaffected teenager.



Power of a civilisation through time travel.



Speculativley: Also it would have potential to enable time travel or at least the potential to send messages back in time as it would exhibit frame dragging. For a few hints on how this could be of tactical use see this answer to another question.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    I think the "Hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter" criteria excludes your disaffected teenagers. =P
    $endgroup$
    – Morris The Cat
    1 hour ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    I don't really understand how you propose to use this to violate causality since the indestructible material isn't made perfectly rigid (so you can't push/pull on one end of an indestructible rod and have the other end move instantly). Also being indestructible isn't going to make the pivots perfectly frictionless, so you're still going to be losing some energy to heat in your flywheels.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    21 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake Quite right, I've no Idea how causality violation would work, I'll edit to clear-up the bearings thing too.
    $endgroup$
    – Agrajag
    17 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    I forsee a couple of issues... 1. charging up a micro flywheel to silly levels is going to require silly hardware (eg. enormous lasers or particle beams) which tend to be silly inefficient. Useful for specialist purposes, not for general purpose. 2. Indestructable does not imply frictionless. 3. extracting large amounts of energy at a useful rate from a miniature flywheel is going to be technically awkward...
    $endgroup$
    – Starfish Prime
    9 mins ago
















2












$begingroup$


How could indestructible materials be used in power generation?





Energy storage.



If you can spin a flywheel to relativistic speeds on indestructable bearings using electromagnets (in vacuo), then you can use that flywheel as a lossless energy storage device.



enter image description here



Wikipedia 2019 - CCSA License



The energy density would be infinite (or limited by the unspecified arbitrary high amounts of energy in the question) - thus you would need a microscopic miniscule ammount, a nano-flywheel mounted on gimbals - radically reducing the price per flywheel and opening it up to mass marketing, totally outclassing all battery tech available today.



Not only the obvious solution to the supply and demand issues with windpower, but for vehicles - cars/planes, phones, power-tools, toys, mobile phones and of course space exploration.



Infinite energy storage in the size of a grain of sand.



Miniature Tactical Nuke:



Of course, this section is about political power generation.



To release all that energy in one instant - perhaps an object charged with just below the threshold of it's (unspecified arbitrary potential energy) capacity, could be placed near an enemy stronghold and fed that last few jouls of energy to tip it over the edge, that's the dark side, someone will find a way to weaponise it for sure, if not the leader of some isolationist sanctioned state, then a disaffected teenager.



Power of a civilisation through time travel.



Speculativley: Also it would have potential to enable time travel or at least the potential to send messages back in time as it would exhibit frame dragging. For a few hints on how this could be of tactical use see this answer to another question.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    I think the "Hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter" criteria excludes your disaffected teenagers. =P
    $endgroup$
    – Morris The Cat
    1 hour ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    I don't really understand how you propose to use this to violate causality since the indestructible material isn't made perfectly rigid (so you can't push/pull on one end of an indestructible rod and have the other end move instantly). Also being indestructible isn't going to make the pivots perfectly frictionless, so you're still going to be losing some energy to heat in your flywheels.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    21 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake Quite right, I've no Idea how causality violation would work, I'll edit to clear-up the bearings thing too.
    $endgroup$
    – Agrajag
    17 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    I forsee a couple of issues... 1. charging up a micro flywheel to silly levels is going to require silly hardware (eg. enormous lasers or particle beams) which tend to be silly inefficient. Useful for specialist purposes, not for general purpose. 2. Indestructable does not imply frictionless. 3. extracting large amounts of energy at a useful rate from a miniature flywheel is going to be technically awkward...
    $endgroup$
    – Starfish Prime
    9 mins ago














2












2








2





$begingroup$


How could indestructible materials be used in power generation?





Energy storage.



If you can spin a flywheel to relativistic speeds on indestructable bearings using electromagnets (in vacuo), then you can use that flywheel as a lossless energy storage device.



enter image description here



Wikipedia 2019 - CCSA License



The energy density would be infinite (or limited by the unspecified arbitrary high amounts of energy in the question) - thus you would need a microscopic miniscule ammount, a nano-flywheel mounted on gimbals - radically reducing the price per flywheel and opening it up to mass marketing, totally outclassing all battery tech available today.



Not only the obvious solution to the supply and demand issues with windpower, but for vehicles - cars/planes, phones, power-tools, toys, mobile phones and of course space exploration.



Infinite energy storage in the size of a grain of sand.



Miniature Tactical Nuke:



Of course, this section is about political power generation.



To release all that energy in one instant - perhaps an object charged with just below the threshold of it's (unspecified arbitrary potential energy) capacity, could be placed near an enemy stronghold and fed that last few jouls of energy to tip it over the edge, that's the dark side, someone will find a way to weaponise it for sure, if not the leader of some isolationist sanctioned state, then a disaffected teenager.



Power of a civilisation through time travel.



Speculativley: Also it would have potential to enable time travel or at least the potential to send messages back in time as it would exhibit frame dragging. For a few hints on how this could be of tactical use see this answer to another question.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$




How could indestructible materials be used in power generation?





Energy storage.



If you can spin a flywheel to relativistic speeds on indestructable bearings using electromagnets (in vacuo), then you can use that flywheel as a lossless energy storage device.



enter image description here



Wikipedia 2019 - CCSA License



The energy density would be infinite (or limited by the unspecified arbitrary high amounts of energy in the question) - thus you would need a microscopic miniscule ammount, a nano-flywheel mounted on gimbals - radically reducing the price per flywheel and opening it up to mass marketing, totally outclassing all battery tech available today.



Not only the obvious solution to the supply and demand issues with windpower, but for vehicles - cars/planes, phones, power-tools, toys, mobile phones and of course space exploration.



Infinite energy storage in the size of a grain of sand.



Miniature Tactical Nuke:



Of course, this section is about political power generation.



To release all that energy in one instant - perhaps an object charged with just below the threshold of it's (unspecified arbitrary potential energy) capacity, could be placed near an enemy stronghold and fed that last few jouls of energy to tip it over the edge, that's the dark side, someone will find a way to weaponise it for sure, if not the leader of some isolationist sanctioned state, then a disaffected teenager.



Power of a civilisation through time travel.



Speculativley: Also it would have potential to enable time travel or at least the potential to send messages back in time as it would exhibit frame dragging. For a few hints on how this could be of tactical use see this answer to another question.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 11 mins ago

























answered 1 hour ago









AgrajagAgrajag

6,45911347




6,45911347












  • $begingroup$
    I think the "Hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter" criteria excludes your disaffected teenagers. =P
    $endgroup$
    – Morris The Cat
    1 hour ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    I don't really understand how you propose to use this to violate causality since the indestructible material isn't made perfectly rigid (so you can't push/pull on one end of an indestructible rod and have the other end move instantly). Also being indestructible isn't going to make the pivots perfectly frictionless, so you're still going to be losing some energy to heat in your flywheels.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    21 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake Quite right, I've no Idea how causality violation would work, I'll edit to clear-up the bearings thing too.
    $endgroup$
    – Agrajag
    17 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    I forsee a couple of issues... 1. charging up a micro flywheel to silly levels is going to require silly hardware (eg. enormous lasers or particle beams) which tend to be silly inefficient. Useful for specialist purposes, not for general purpose. 2. Indestructable does not imply frictionless. 3. extracting large amounts of energy at a useful rate from a miniature flywheel is going to be technically awkward...
    $endgroup$
    – Starfish Prime
    9 mins ago


















  • $begingroup$
    I think the "Hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter" criteria excludes your disaffected teenagers. =P
    $endgroup$
    – Morris The Cat
    1 hour ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    I don't really understand how you propose to use this to violate causality since the indestructible material isn't made perfectly rigid (so you can't push/pull on one end of an indestructible rod and have the other end move instantly). Also being indestructible isn't going to make the pivots perfectly frictionless, so you're still going to be losing some energy to heat in your flywheels.
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    21 mins ago






  • 1




    $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake Quite right, I've no Idea how causality violation would work, I'll edit to clear-up the bearings thing too.
    $endgroup$
    – Agrajag
    17 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    I forsee a couple of issues... 1. charging up a micro flywheel to silly levels is going to require silly hardware (eg. enormous lasers or particle beams) which tend to be silly inefficient. Useful for specialist purposes, not for general purpose. 2. Indestructable does not imply frictionless. 3. extracting large amounts of energy at a useful rate from a miniature flywheel is going to be technically awkward...
    $endgroup$
    – Starfish Prime
    9 mins ago
















$begingroup$
I think the "Hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter" criteria excludes your disaffected teenagers. =P
$endgroup$
– Morris The Cat
1 hour ago




$begingroup$
I think the "Hundreds of millions of dollars per cubic meter" criteria excludes your disaffected teenagers. =P
$endgroup$
– Morris The Cat
1 hour ago




1




1




$begingroup$
I don't really understand how you propose to use this to violate causality since the indestructible material isn't made perfectly rigid (so you can't push/pull on one end of an indestructible rod and have the other end move instantly). Also being indestructible isn't going to make the pivots perfectly frictionless, so you're still going to be losing some energy to heat in your flywheels.
$endgroup$
– Vakus Drake
21 mins ago




$begingroup$
I don't really understand how you propose to use this to violate causality since the indestructible material isn't made perfectly rigid (so you can't push/pull on one end of an indestructible rod and have the other end move instantly). Also being indestructible isn't going to make the pivots perfectly frictionless, so you're still going to be losing some energy to heat in your flywheels.
$endgroup$
– Vakus Drake
21 mins ago




1




1




$begingroup$
@VakusDrake Quite right, I've no Idea how causality violation would work, I'll edit to clear-up the bearings thing too.
$endgroup$
– Agrajag
17 mins ago




$begingroup$
@VakusDrake Quite right, I've no Idea how causality violation would work, I'll edit to clear-up the bearings thing too.
$endgroup$
– Agrajag
17 mins ago












$begingroup$
I forsee a couple of issues... 1. charging up a micro flywheel to silly levels is going to require silly hardware (eg. enormous lasers or particle beams) which tend to be silly inefficient. Useful for specialist purposes, not for general purpose. 2. Indestructable does not imply frictionless. 3. extracting large amounts of energy at a useful rate from a miniature flywheel is going to be technically awkward...
$endgroup$
– Starfish Prime
9 mins ago




$begingroup$
I forsee a couple of issues... 1. charging up a micro flywheel to silly levels is going to require silly hardware (eg. enormous lasers or particle beams) which tend to be silly inefficient. Useful for specialist purposes, not for general purpose. 2. Indestructable does not imply frictionless. 3. extracting large amounts of energy at a useful rate from a miniature flywheel is going to be technically awkward...
$endgroup$
– Starfish Prime
9 mins ago











0












$begingroup$

"So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?"



Well, if you could make copper indestructible then you could use it as I mentioned in my comment. Simply dig a very deep hole and place a copper rod in it. The heat at the bottom of the hole would conduct through the rod to boil water at ground level. The boiling water would be used in a convention steam turbine and BAM nearly infinite free and clean energy. The only reason we don't already do this is because copper would melt at the temperatures needed to get enough heat conducting through the rod to boil water on the other end. That and it would be very hard to dig a hole that deep because all the drill bits would melt but since we can make indestructible drill bits, it should be no problem... heck, we could reach the core with indestructible material.






share|improve this answer








New contributor




Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    I think you need to work on the logistics of that idea a bit more (though I can see some variation of it working): The copper rod would conduct heat to the surrounding stone so little heat would make it all the way to the surface, and magma can only conduct heat into/through the copper rod so quickly placing limits on power generation (especially given indestructible material is pretty expensive).
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    17 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    @Vakus Drake Sure, agreed but people are already trying to do this with graphene because of its unique ability to conduct heat. You could surround the copper with a less thermal conductive material to reduce heat transfer to the surrounding rock. Copper conducts heat very well and very fast. See for yourself, grab a piece, hold one end in your fingers and put a lighter to the other end. You can boil water with a blow torch and a copper rod.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    9 mins ago












  • $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake In reality I wouldn't worry too much about logistics or details because an indestructible material would take an infinite amount of energy just to exist.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    6 mins ago
















0












$begingroup$

"So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?"



Well, if you could make copper indestructible then you could use it as I mentioned in my comment. Simply dig a very deep hole and place a copper rod in it. The heat at the bottom of the hole would conduct through the rod to boil water at ground level. The boiling water would be used in a convention steam turbine and BAM nearly infinite free and clean energy. The only reason we don't already do this is because copper would melt at the temperatures needed to get enough heat conducting through the rod to boil water on the other end. That and it would be very hard to dig a hole that deep because all the drill bits would melt but since we can make indestructible drill bits, it should be no problem... heck, we could reach the core with indestructible material.






share|improve this answer








New contributor




Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    I think you need to work on the logistics of that idea a bit more (though I can see some variation of it working): The copper rod would conduct heat to the surrounding stone so little heat would make it all the way to the surface, and magma can only conduct heat into/through the copper rod so quickly placing limits on power generation (especially given indestructible material is pretty expensive).
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    17 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    @Vakus Drake Sure, agreed but people are already trying to do this with graphene because of its unique ability to conduct heat. You could surround the copper with a less thermal conductive material to reduce heat transfer to the surrounding rock. Copper conducts heat very well and very fast. See for yourself, grab a piece, hold one end in your fingers and put a lighter to the other end. You can boil water with a blow torch and a copper rod.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    9 mins ago












  • $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake In reality I wouldn't worry too much about logistics or details because an indestructible material would take an infinite amount of energy just to exist.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    6 mins ago














0












0








0





$begingroup$

"So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?"



Well, if you could make copper indestructible then you could use it as I mentioned in my comment. Simply dig a very deep hole and place a copper rod in it. The heat at the bottom of the hole would conduct through the rod to boil water at ground level. The boiling water would be used in a convention steam turbine and BAM nearly infinite free and clean energy. The only reason we don't already do this is because copper would melt at the temperatures needed to get enough heat conducting through the rod to boil water on the other end. That and it would be very hard to dig a hole that deep because all the drill bits would melt but since we can make indestructible drill bits, it should be no problem... heck, we could reach the core with indestructible material.






share|improve this answer








New contributor




Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






$endgroup$



"So how could these aforementioned indestructible materials be used in conjunction with existing or near future technology to improve power generation?"



Well, if you could make copper indestructible then you could use it as I mentioned in my comment. Simply dig a very deep hole and place a copper rod in it. The heat at the bottom of the hole would conduct through the rod to boil water at ground level. The boiling water would be used in a convention steam turbine and BAM nearly infinite free and clean energy. The only reason we don't already do this is because copper would melt at the temperatures needed to get enough heat conducting through the rod to boil water on the other end. That and it would be very hard to dig a hole that deep because all the drill bits would melt but since we can make indestructible drill bits, it should be no problem... heck, we could reach the core with indestructible material.







share|improve this answer








New contributor




Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer






New contributor




Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









answered 21 mins ago









RobRob

2014




2014




New contributor




Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.





New contributor





Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






Rob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.












  • $begingroup$
    I think you need to work on the logistics of that idea a bit more (though I can see some variation of it working): The copper rod would conduct heat to the surrounding stone so little heat would make it all the way to the surface, and magma can only conduct heat into/through the copper rod so quickly placing limits on power generation (especially given indestructible material is pretty expensive).
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    17 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    @Vakus Drake Sure, agreed but people are already trying to do this with graphene because of its unique ability to conduct heat. You could surround the copper with a less thermal conductive material to reduce heat transfer to the surrounding rock. Copper conducts heat very well and very fast. See for yourself, grab a piece, hold one end in your fingers and put a lighter to the other end. You can boil water with a blow torch and a copper rod.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    9 mins ago












  • $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake In reality I wouldn't worry too much about logistics or details because an indestructible material would take an infinite amount of energy just to exist.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    6 mins ago


















  • $begingroup$
    I think you need to work on the logistics of that idea a bit more (though I can see some variation of it working): The copper rod would conduct heat to the surrounding stone so little heat would make it all the way to the surface, and magma can only conduct heat into/through the copper rod so quickly placing limits on power generation (especially given indestructible material is pretty expensive).
    $endgroup$
    – Vakus Drake
    17 mins ago










  • $begingroup$
    @Vakus Drake Sure, agreed but people are already trying to do this with graphene because of its unique ability to conduct heat. You could surround the copper with a less thermal conductive material to reduce heat transfer to the surrounding rock. Copper conducts heat very well and very fast. See for yourself, grab a piece, hold one end in your fingers and put a lighter to the other end. You can boil water with a blow torch and a copper rod.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    9 mins ago












  • $begingroup$
    @VakusDrake In reality I wouldn't worry too much about logistics or details because an indestructible material would take an infinite amount of energy just to exist.
    $endgroup$
    – Rob
    6 mins ago
















$begingroup$
I think you need to work on the logistics of that idea a bit more (though I can see some variation of it working): The copper rod would conduct heat to the surrounding stone so little heat would make it all the way to the surface, and magma can only conduct heat into/through the copper rod so quickly placing limits on power generation (especially given indestructible material is pretty expensive).
$endgroup$
– Vakus Drake
17 mins ago




$begingroup$
I think you need to work on the logistics of that idea a bit more (though I can see some variation of it working): The copper rod would conduct heat to the surrounding stone so little heat would make it all the way to the surface, and magma can only conduct heat into/through the copper rod so quickly placing limits on power generation (especially given indestructible material is pretty expensive).
$endgroup$
– Vakus Drake
17 mins ago












$begingroup$
@Vakus Drake Sure, agreed but people are already trying to do this with graphene because of its unique ability to conduct heat. You could surround the copper with a less thermal conductive material to reduce heat transfer to the surrounding rock. Copper conducts heat very well and very fast. See for yourself, grab a piece, hold one end in your fingers and put a lighter to the other end. You can boil water with a blow torch and a copper rod.
$endgroup$
– Rob
9 mins ago






$begingroup$
@Vakus Drake Sure, agreed but people are already trying to do this with graphene because of its unique ability to conduct heat. You could surround the copper with a less thermal conductive material to reduce heat transfer to the surrounding rock. Copper conducts heat very well and very fast. See for yourself, grab a piece, hold one end in your fingers and put a lighter to the other end. You can boil water with a blow torch and a copper rod.
$endgroup$
– Rob
9 mins ago














$begingroup$
@VakusDrake In reality I wouldn't worry too much about logistics or details because an indestructible material would take an infinite amount of energy just to exist.
$endgroup$
– Rob
6 mins ago




$begingroup$
@VakusDrake In reality I wouldn't worry too much about logistics or details because an indestructible material would take an infinite amount of energy just to exist.
$endgroup$
– Rob
6 mins ago


















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