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/sci/ - Science & Math

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7493563 No.7493563 [Reply] [Original]

What do you think of radioisotope thermoelectric generators(RTG)?

What would someone major in if they wanted to work on/with these?

>> No.7493569
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7493569

nuclear engineering

>> No.7493571

Electrical, nuclear, or mechanical engineering.

>> No.7493629

>>7493569
Is that homework actually as complicated as it looks? I see so many engineers post their homework and it looks like insanity to someone like myself who isn't even in his first semester, yet.

>> No.7493646

>>7493629
the first part is just showing the total efficiency of an n-stage TEG thermally in series, electrically in parallel, pretty simple. the second part was to derive an expression to maximize the figure of merit

>> No.7493717

>>7493569
>>7493571
>NE
My school is top 5 in NE but from what I read on here and forums like physicsforum, most NEs don't actually work in NE because there aren't many NE jobs.

>> No.7493970

>>7493717
what school
but theyre building 4 new AP1000s in the US right now. power production is like 5th or 6th on my jobs list, but lots of old fuckers retiring soon. plus theres way cooler shit in nuke than commercial power production, like fusion, materials shit, radiation detection/nonproliferation, plasma phys, etc

>> No.7494017

Political science. NASA's running out of Pu-238 to make em and NASA does not have much money to make much plutonium. NASA got their funding cancelled to make a better one.

#plutonium4NASA

>> No.7494116

>>7493970
Pennsylvania State University

>> No.7494168

>>7494116
Fellow PSU NucE major? What year?

>> No.7494175

>>7494168
I never said that I was NE. I'm a first semester that doesn't start until spring, sadly. NE sounds cool and PSU is top in it, but I don't think the jobs are plentiful enough to take the risk of possibly not being able to pay the loans off.

>> No.7494186

>>7494175
not all nukes work in power generation, just like not all EEs work in power transmission or electronics. you're only pigeon-holed by you inability to be useful to an employer or sell yourself, not by your degree. 6 of the top 10 engineers working for intel were nukes doing shit with plasma switching and other stuff

>> No.7494191

>>7494175
What this anon said >>7494186
And if you're still worried about the NE job market enroll in the ME/NE dual major program here.

>> No.7494198

>>7494186
Well, I always see that it's power transmission or nuclear medicine. I really don't know much else about it. I was considering the ME program simply for the broad scope, but if you can do both like suggested >>7494191 then maybe that's a good idea.

http://www.engr.psu.edu/AcademicPlans/UniversityPark/ME.aspx

http://www.engr.psu.edu/AcademicPlans/UniversityPark/NUCE.aspx

Looking at both programs, they seem to be fairly similar to a point.

>> No.7494203

>>7494198
>I was considering the ME program simply for the broad scope
nuke is really just as broad, covering phys, chemistry, fluids, thermo, heat transfer, materials science, circuits, then going into the nuclear stuff like radiation, neutronics, nuclear system design/analysis, etc. plus elective like fusion, direct conversion, fuel cell engineering, waste management, etc
radiation detection/nonproliferation
materials science
plasma physics

>> No.7494204

>>7494198
https://www.mne.psu.edu/Undergraduate/Curriculum/MNEConcurrent9-AcademicPlan.pdf

one extra semester, but it seems pretty hardcore.

there is also ME with BIOE if anyone is interested

https://www.mne.psu.edu/Undergraduate/Curriculum/MEBioEConcurrent-AcademicPlan.pdf

>> No.7494209
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7494209

>mfw nobody doing Six Sigma with ME/NE
It's like you anons don't even know how to make it.

>> No.7494216
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7494216

This is now a PSU thread

>> No.7494218
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7494218

do a based nuke degree

>> No.7494224
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7494224

>>7494218
>not posting the PSU NUCE flow chart

This is a PSU thread, anon.

>> No.7495446
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7495446

>doing NE
>ever

Some of us actually want to use what we learned in school, NEs.

>> No.7495573
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7495573

>>7495446
we learn everything MEs learn and more

>> No.7495618

>>7495573
...Aren't you the anon that shills his paper on here like every other day?

>> No.7495622

>>7495573
I don't believe you and would like if you explained how that is true across the board. At PSU, you need to go for an extra semester to have ME and NE degrees.

>> No.7495639

>>7495622
i just mean we learn the same concepts as MEs. MEs may take an extra thermo or controls course, but MEs and nukes both learn the same basic stuff like fluids, thermo, heat transfer, statics, dynamics, mechanics of materials, materials science, mechanics, optics, electromagnetism, circuits, chem, programming, etc. i was just making the point that nuke programs as narrow and focused as people think

>> No.7495646

implanted pacemakers used to be powered by tiny plutonium fueld RTGs.

after the Soviet Union fell. A lot of RTGs at light houses and other remote locations were vandalized for their copper and other valuable scrap metals. probably a lot of dead russians from radiation poisoning.

>> No.7495719

>>7495639
Right, but all of that stuff related to NE will not be used unless you work in NE, which statistically, you will not.

>> No.7495721

>>7495719
what is you idea of "work in NE"

>> No.7495730

>>7495721
nuclear medicine or nuclear power

>> No.7495750

>>7495730
what if i want to do R&D work with plasma facing materials, or shielding for magnet systems or BWR turbines? or work with homeland security to develop novel detection systems for special nuclear materials? or develop more radiation-resistant materials for use in electronics shielding for space missions, fusion first wall components, etc? its retarded to say nukes dont work in NE, just like its retarded to say EEs and MEs dont work in EE and ME. all engineers are pretty multidisciplinary nowadays anyway with how theyre taught

>> No.7495755

>>7493569
You know anything about recent fusion experiments? Has it succeeded on a large scale yet?

>> No.7495759

>>7495750
Do it man please we need more people like you. We as in the whole effing world.

>> No.7495766

>>7495750
Isn't a position in R&D rare? Don't you have to be very lucky? From what I've read, you automatically need at least a masters.

>> No.7495771

>>7495766
not really. you need a masters if you want to get your foot in the door at the national lab level but industry R&D employs lots of engineering bachelors

>> No.7495824

>>7495755
i know about fusion stuff, but not a whole lot of current events in the field. a lot of the work being done currently is with hydrogen plasmas without tritium, since it blasts the walls with neutrons and permeates into the lattice in the reactor walls

big ones i know of are the german stellarator w7x, iter, the skunkworks magnetoelectric mirror, general fusion lead ram shit, and then there are the old ones like tore supra, JET, jt-60, MFTF, MFTR, pppl does lots of work with spheromaks, etc.

>> No.7495831
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7495831

NE

>> No.7496671

It's not that hard to get an NE job.

>> No.7496819

>>7496671
then go and get one then

>> No.7496828

>>7493569
I see NE doesn't change much across schools

>> No.7496860

>>7496671
It's easily one of the smallest engineering areas and i read guys on physicsforum say that they've never known an NE that ever actually worked an NE job.

>> No.7496867

>>7496819
>>7496860
I do.

>> No.7496875

>>7496867
Where did you go to uni?

What was your GPA & extracurriculars?

What is the job?

>> No.7496879

>>7496875
NC State
~3.3/3.4
Extracurricular? lol, I spent some times in labs outside of class.
I work in nuclear shipbuilding and for s time was pursuing the CIA

>> No.7496887

>>7496879
>nuclear shipbuilding
>implying this is an NE job

>> No.7496889

>>7496879
>nc state
>ship building
you fucked up somewhere along the line

>> No.7496893
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7496893

>>7496879
>got a 3.4 from NC State
>"nuclear shipbuilding"
m8

>> No.7496896

>>7496887
>>7496889

Admittedly. I didn't do a lot of extra shit in college. Nevertheless, shipbuilding's what I wanted to do. It's more exciting than civilian power production. What do you think qualifies as an NE job?

>> No.7496900
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7496900

>>7496879
yeah and I got an AE degree and do martian bricklaying

>> No.7496901

>>7496900
The fuck are you even talking about?

>> No.7496902

>>7496896
see
>>7495750

>> No.7496904

>>7496901
saying that it's not a real engineering job and you fucked up

>> No.7496913

>>7496902
I'm not arguing that it's not a multidisciplinary job. I actually work more with the fluid aspects of NE and I enjoy that aspect of it.
>>7496904
Alright, what exactly do you do then?

>> No.7496921

>>7496913
I'm a SpaceX AE.

>> No.7496924

>>7496921
Like that's JUST THAT MUCH different from what I do. But OK, bro.

>> No.7496931

>>7496924
>"~nuclear shipbuilder~"
>SpaceX AE
p diff tbh

>> No.7496932

>>7496924
>caps
>bro
go do another shot you fucking NC State POS degenerate

>> No.7496933

>>7496931
>>7496932
At least the shit I work on actually works.

>> No.7496941

>>7496933
that's like saying as a bricklayer that at least the wall you made stays up while the spacecraft that a team of thousands work on malfunctioned. stay mad

>> No.7496944
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7496944

>>7496933
the only reason that craft failed was due to a part that SpaceX had no part in manufacturing.

>> No.7496951

>>7496941
Apparently you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what I do. I'm not a pipe fitter or a goddamn tradesmen. I work with literally hundreds of engineers for an entire boat while I specifically work on the design of reactor core components. Meanwhile we consistently design and manufacture almost hundreds of boats that consistently perform thousands of hours at sea (under particularly harsh conditions) with not so much as a goddamn hiccup. So tell me, are you retarded?

>> No.7496954

>>7496944
That would be good and well if I wasn't just talking about one craft.

>> No.7496961

>>7496954
Apparently you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what I do. I'm not a pipe fitter or a goddamn tradesmen. I work with literally hundreds of engineers for an entire craft while I specifically work on the design of propulsion components. Meanwhile we consistently design and manufacture almost hundreds of engines that consistently perform thousands of hours in LEO (under particularly harsh conditions) with not so much as a goddamn hiccup. So tell me, are you retarded?

>> No.7496971

>>7496961
You do realize we do the exact goddamn thing, but in different areas, right?

>> No.7496978

>>7496961
>>7496961
rekt

>> No.7496980

>>7496971
>dick measuring with a SpaceX AE
kek

>> No.7496987

>>7496921
ayy i applied for an internship at spacex to work with radiation shielding of electronic systems but i never heard shit back from anyone

>> No.7497590

>>7496987
You usually get a call back within 3-14 days, depending on how much they want you. The interview process is rigorous. You're basically interviewed for hours by their top engineers and you absolutely need to know the answers to any problem they throw at you, so it's pretty intimidating.

>> No.7497592

>>7497590
>3-14 days
well they dont want me then. i'd probably make a fool of myself in the interview anyway

>> No.7497593

>>7493629
It's actually not that complicated, the first part looks like finding the efficiency of something while the second part looks like either maximising or minimising something.

>> No.7498031

>>7495824
>no mention of the polywell
It's like people hate fusion.

>> No.7498035

>>7493563
You know, I wonder. If nuclear waste is so hot and dangerous, why not wrap in a lot of lead, add a few thermoelectric seeback effects pads all around it, and get free electricity?

>> No.7498037

>>7493970
the old fuckers have been retiring for a few decades now... :(

>> No.7498438

>>7498035
>yfw a group of seniors at my uni won a national award for that idea back when yucca mt was a hot topic for their senior design project

>> No.7498631

>>7498438
See, if even a retard can think of it (the retard being me), why aren't we doing it? Instead of a 10000 year problem, we get a 10000 year battery. Once it stops producing enough power to matter, it should be safe.