[ExI] Asteroidal mining was Nukes was less expensive energy

[Dennis May]

Keith Henson wrote:
 
> Dennis, there is a vast literature on the subjects you have been
> talking about, much of it where people actually worked the numbers.
 
> Re cooling, there is rule of thumb number anyone can calculate on the
> radiator area you need per kW of waste heat at room temperature. 
 I
> suggest you might want to look up the formula and calculate it.
 
> There is a subtle problem with scaling down heaters like induction
> furnaces and scaling up radiators.
 
Samantha Atkins wrote:
 
"This is so much of a snip that a catching up reader 
has no idea what is being discussed.  Surely not optimal."
 
I was discussing the fact that large surface area radiators 
are required in space to reject accumulating heat.
 
Back in 2006 I ran some numbers using the data from
radiators used on the International Space Station to
see what was required for a 3,000 megawatt space
station [Ice_Station on yahoogroups].
 
In my view the industrialization of space would
start out small doing demonstrator projects for
low-g mining and processing - done using remote
control and automated processing.
 
Keith Henson has been providing the numbers for
powering and cooling a large scale manned nickel 
mining process.
 
My numbers were for cooling a mixed living quarters
light industrial city intended to be located near
mining and processing centers on low-g ice bodies.
That mining and processing would be done primarily
by automated and remote control means.  Ideally
large scale processing would be done on ice bodies
using the ice/water for a heat sink thus avoiding
the large overhead of building heat radiators.  The 
Ice Station rotates inside an ice shell providing 
artificial gravity and radiation protection.
 
The Ice Station could be cooled by a large radiator,
an umbilical system to the ice body, or as Dan
Ust suggested - rejecting volatiles.
 
Dennis May
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