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Launch HN: Maritime Fusion (YC W25) – Fusion Reactors for Ships

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Re: Launch HN: Maritime Fusion (YC W25) – Fusion Reactors for Ships

#161

Post by AtlasBarfed »

phtrivier wrote: post #40

> and we believe we’ll witness Q > 1 within a few (say 3) years. That’s huge. I think it fits squarely in the "requires extraordinary evidence" bucket - what makes you so bold ? Also, what's you intermediate plans between : 2025 -> Post on HN 2028 -> Q>1 achieved (by you ? by someone else ?) ???? -> ???? 20xx -> a ship goes to sea powered by a fusion reactor ???? -> ???? 2060 -> fusion is so easy, let's use it for ba…

Batteries are steadily improving, at least in the cost factor. We haven't seen any 2x leaps in density from sulfur or solid state or aluminum air.

But LFP and Sodium Ion are making undeniable progress in cheap usable EV batteries that don't require nickel or cobalt.

Re: Launch HN: Maritime Fusion (YC W25) – Fusion Reactors for Ships

#162

Post by arrobbiato »

pclmulqdq wrote: post #153
nradov wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is at least the possibility that fusion power could eventually be viable for privately owned civilian merchant ships. Fission power is a non-starter in that market due to concerns (valid or not) over security, terrorism, proliferation, and meltdowns. Even if someone builds a new fission powered merchant ship it would be useless because many nations wouldn't allow it to enter their ports. Military fission power…

Aren't the products of fusion equally radioactive? I get that we all have the idea of helium being the main product, but don't you get a lot of tritium out of the process? It's not quite proliferation, but it's not non-radioactive either.

My understanding is that the tritium is bred in the reactor and then consumed in the reaction. But most designs do have some amount of radioactive waste, including structural parts and reactor walls that suffer huge amounts of neutron activation.

Re: Launch HN: Maritime Fusion (YC W25) – Fusion Reactors for Ships

#164

Post by nocoiner »

FiatLuxDave wrote: post #139

Greybeard former fusion founder here. Wishing you guys all the luck in the world! Email in profile in case you wish to chat. For all the naysayers, as a fusion startup, targeting the marine market is a good move. They aren't even the first fusion startup to do so; IIRC Rostoker's group got their first major funding from the NRL. The marine market pays a premium for not having to refuel, and historically emerging ener…

Can you elaborate on the use of photovoltaics in shipping? After a few searches, I haven’t been able to find anything that suggests the marine industry was an important sector for its development.

Also, I feel extremely confident predicting that the commercial maritime industry will never ever pay a premium for a particular fuel source. There may eventually be some applications where fusion is most efficient, but fusion reactors aren’t going to make their debut in cargo ships.

Re: Launch HN: Maritime Fusion (YC W25) – Fusion Reactors for Ships

#165

Post by defrost »

nocoiner wrote: post #164
FiatLuxDave wrote: post #139

Greybeard former fusion founder here. Wishing you guys all the luck in the world! Email in profile in case you wish to chat. For all the naysayers, as a fusion startup, targeting the marine market is a good move. They aren't even the first fusion startup to do so; IIRC Rostoker's group got their first major funding from the NRL. The marine market pays a premium for not having to refuel, and historically emerging ener…

Can you elaborate on the use of photovoltaics in shipping? After a few searches, I haven’t been able to find anything that suggests the marine industry was an important sector for its development. Also, I feel extremely confident predicting that the commercial maritime industry will never ever pay a premium for a particular fuel source. There may eventually be some applications where fusion is most efficient, but fus…

I suspect they're referring to the use of PV cells in lighthouses, Light-Buoys, Wireless Relay Stations, LORAN (pre GPS marine navigation) stations, etc.

Economics at the time restricted their limited use to mountainous areas, deserts, isolated areas, remote island outcrops, etc.

I saw PV use in the 1970s in remote Austalian rail operations to power signal boxes and repeaters .. the higher costs offset the equally high costs of maintaining a fueled generator in a remote location.

Marine shipping wasn't, to the best of my recollection, directly using PV's shipboard as they already had massive engines driving propulsion and it was trivial to bled off a little torque for a electrical generator.

Re: Launch HN: Maritime Fusion (YC W25) – Fusion Reactors for Ships

#166

Post by dmitrygr »

> we’re taking this soon-to-be breakthrough in fusion and applying it

Is this a parody? Performance art? Outright scam?

How does one "apply" a thing that does not exist and has been "coming soon" for decades?

What is next? Of course, my full-service woolly mammoth wash. They are promised to be cloned soon. No, i am not going to solve that problem, just assume someone else will! I am just accepting VC money for my mammoth wash.

Re: Launch HN: Maritime Fusion (YC W25) – Fusion Reactors for Ships

#167

Post by 12_throw_away »

DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #91
12_throw_away wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> An energy breakthrough is really required to get the world back on track Not really, the energy technologies we've needed have been around for about half a century, with quite reasonable economics (albeit less and less so, as the time pressure increases), especially compared to the alternative. The problems that need to be solved are political and economic, not technical.

> The problems that need to be solved are political and economic, not technical. You're saying the technical problems involved in fusion power have already been solved. They haven't.

> You're saying the technical problems involved in fusion power have already been solved

Nope, try reading it again.

Re: Launch HN: Maritime Fusion (YC W25) – Fusion Reactors for Ships

#168

Post by slashdev »

whatshisface wrote: post #137
slashdev wrote: post #136

At first I thought this was insane. But I also think HTS superconductors have changed the game for fusion. Picking an early adopter that could support higher prices than the grid makes sense. This is super ambitious and difficult, but I wish you all the best in overcoming these challenges. Someone will, sometime. Is now the time? Could be.

High temperature superconductors changed the game for fusion in 1986.

But what it has done recently is allowed creation of much more powerful magnets. This is a new development, the practical application of these high temperature superconductors. I don’t know why it took so long to get there, but it has.

Re: Launch HN: Maritime Fusion (YC W25) – Fusion Reactors for Ships

#169

Post by Terr_ »

jandrese wrote: post #88

I think your timeline is at best optimistic. I would personally like to see fixed land based fusion power work before we start trying to build them into moving vessels. Your claim that the shipping industry is "desperate to decarbonize" also needs a citation. From what I've seen shippers top three concerns are "how to minimize costs", "how to reduce costs", and "how to save money". Can you make this system cheaper to…

> Your claim that the shipping industry is "desperate to decarbonize" also needs a citation.

If anything, I think the shipping industry will be the last to de-carbonize, in the same way it's been the refuge of burning dirty fuels and NOx emissions.

Re: Launch HN: Maritime Fusion (YC W25) – Fusion Reactors for Ships

#170

Post by Terr_ »

DrNosferatu wrote: post #145

This feels a bit like launching a startup that offers services based on fully working quantum computing, depending on others to provide their fully working quantum computer.

Or a startup based on using cryogenic hibernation chambers on ships to provide shift-changes, or ultra-low-cost travel... after someone else finishes inventing them.
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