Planetary Core Tap

[robject]

Planetary Core Tap. Size 8, TCr1, TL 23.

The planetary core tap generates energy from planets which have molten centers. This involves a conversion station near the surface of the world, and a narrow tunnel which descends to the world's core. The whole installation displaces over one million tons -- most of it is the tunnel, of course.

Reinforcement of the tap, and how the energy is created, is an exercise left to the reader. Energy production is balanced against the need for maintenance: a station which produces energy for a world of ten billion people will need regular maintenance, while a station which produces energy for one base only requires checkups based on local seismic activity.

One application of the planetary core tap is to power the gigantic engines necessary to alter the world's orbit, for instance in constructing a Rosette of worlds.

 

[Timerover51]

Planetary Core Tap. Size 8, TCr1, TL 23.

The planetary core tap generates energy from planets which have molten centers. This involves a conversion station near the surface of the world, and a narrow tunnel which descends to the world's core. The whole installation displaces over one million tons -- most of it is the tunnel, of course.

Reinforcement of the tap, and how the energy is created, is an exercise left to the reader. Energy production is balanced against the need for maintenance: a station which produces energy for a world of ten billion people will need regular maintenance, while a station which produces energy for one base only requires checkups based on local seismic activity.

I could see this for a planet with a population in the billions, but for one base, no way. A straightforward fission or fusion plant makes a lot more sense, and is a whole lot cheaper.

 

[mike wightman]

Two of mine - I'll have to see if T5 can stat these two.

Coronal induction power converter.

A TL20+ device which uses the induction from a star to generate energy that can be transmitted via laser to anywhere in the system.

It may also be converted into a pretty nifty anti-ship weapon

Stellar energy halo.

TL12+ A series of energy collection sails, each the surface area of a large gas giant placed out of the plane of the ecliptic and designed to convert a star's radiant energy into laser energy which can be transmitted anywhere in the system.

Also makes a nifty anti-ship system.

 

[robject]

I could see this for a planet with a population in the billions, but for one base, no way. A straightforward fission or fusion plant makes a lot more sense, and is a whole lot cheaper.

You're right. If you don't need a tap, don't install it. Appropriate technology etc.

TCr is far far far too steep. Assume the cost of a million-ton starship. Much less than a trillion credits. Though of course fission power is still a better typical choice.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Iceland uses geothermal, though I think their taps only go as deep as "hot rock", and not down to "magma depths". A high tech civ probably has "conversion" technology of some form to take heat directly, and convert it to electricity.

 

[Lycanorukke]

Though a benefit of the tap is that it cant be detected. Fis/Fus/Anti can be picked up by neutrino detectors thus making a 'listenting post/spy base' detectable. Bury a base deep enough with a tap and you couldn't be detected. Install it on a moon (like Io) and you're set.

Instead of going a full core tap, maybe have a 'poor mans tap' (aka geothermal). Using the same basic of tech (say precursor to a full core tap) and instead of going to the core, go into the shallow mantle or a magma chamber of a convienent volcano. Lower tech, lower power but cheaper and easier for smallish setups.

 

[Jeff M. Hopper]

Two of mine - I'll have to see if T5 can stat these two.

Coronal induction power converter.

A TL20+ device which uses the induction from a star to generate energy that can be transmitted via laser to anywhere in the system.

It may also be converted into a pretty nifty anti-ship weapon

Stellar energy halo.

TL12+ A series of energy collection sails, each the surface area of a large gas giant placed out of the plane of the ecliptic and designed to convert a star's radiant energy into laser energy which can be transmitted anywhere in the system.

Also makes a nifty anti-ship system.

Anti-ship system? It makes a nifty anti-anything system!

 

[wbyrd]

Just as a mental exercise: worst case scenario..or the end of life as we know it core tap style...

Consider the pressure and heat differentials the structure of the tap would have to deal with. A shaft 6000 kilometers long would create a shaft of air 375 times the normal thickness of the earths atmosphere.

if my math is right that would produce approximately 5,500 PSI at the base of the shaft just from the column of air contained in it.

now that would barely be a drop in the bucket compared to the force of the pressure being exerted on it by the surrounding material.this would require the casing to have incredible structural strength.

it would also need to be structurally perfect any flaw would cause a leak which would allow high pressure high temperature material to flood into the shaft.

the sudden forceful injection of material severl times hotter than molten steel would force the gas in the shaft to rapidly (explosively) heat, and expand driving a plug of superhot air up the shaft and into the machinery of the tap.

Once the machinery at the top of the shaft was blown out of the way, opening a clear channel. the shaft would provide a direct route of escape for any material entering it from the earths core, acting lie a tap in an aerosol can.

As core or mantle material flowed up the shaft, it would cause the shaft to heat up, at some point the shaft would get hot enough to liquefy the crust material around it opening a channel for material from the upper mantle for flow unchecked up it's path of travel and reach the surface with more force than the largest volcano on earth.

since core and deep mantle material pressures keep materials at those depths from converting to gasses, or liquids normally. at the exit of the tap, the matterial now under seal level pressures (or less) would be free to explosively convert into a high temperature, highly charged plasma state.

the flo of material would continue until pressures at teh base of the shaft, were equal to pressures at teh top of the shaft, which would require quite some time depending on the diameter of the shaft. So for a very long time a flow of raw superheated plasma would be present on the surface of the planet. Heating the atmosphere and venting millions of tons of vaporized material into the atmosphere.

Another effect of the jet, material would be expelled from the atmosphere into orbit where it would either fall back to the surface, Or form a ring around the planet as it cooled, and created metallic dust.

By the way that metallic dust and plasma firing up into the atmosphere would creat a conduit for the electrically charged particles in the ionosphere and van Allen belts to ground directly to earth, so in addition to a volcanic disaster of apocalyptic proportions constant billion or more amp bolt of lightening would be arcing from the sky to the earth.


So one tiny flaw in the casing of a core tap could end lfe as it is known on any planet that it as installed in....however on the bright side it would hapily supply a hellish world for a GM to inflict on players

 

[atpollard]

Just as a mental exercise: worst case scenario..or the end of life as we know it core tap style...

Let me guess ... the glass is half empty?

 

[McPerth]

Just as a mental exercise: worst case scenario..or the end of life as we know it core tap style...

Consider the pressure and heat differentials the structure of the tap would have to deal with. A shaft 6000 kilometers long would create a shaft of air 375 times the normal thickness of the earths atmosphere.

if my math is right that would produce approximately 5,500 PSI at the base of the shaft just from the column of air contained in it.

now that would barely be a drop in the bucket compared to the force of the pressure being exerted on it by the surrounding material.this would require the casing to have incredible structural strength.

it would also need to be structurally perfect any flaw would cause a leak which would allow high pressure high temperature material to flood into the shaft.

the sudden forceful injection of material severl times hotter than molten steel would force the gas in the shaft to rapidly (explosively) heat, and expand driving a plug of superhot air up the shaft and into the machinery of the tap.

Once the machinery at the top of the shaft was blown out of the way, opening a clear channel. the shaft would provide a direct route of escape for any material entering it from the earths core, acting lie a tap in an aerosol can.

As core or mantle material flowed up the shaft, it would cause the shaft to heat up, at some point the shaft would get hot enough to liquefy the crust material around it opening a channel for material from the upper mantle for flow unchecked up it's path of travel and reach the surface with more force than the largest volcano on earth.

since core and deep mantle material pressures keep materials at those depths from converting to gasses, or liquids normally. at the exit of the tap, the matterial now under seal level pressures (or less) would be free to explosively convert into a high temperature, highly charged plasma state.

the flo of material would continue until pressures at teh base of the shaft, were equal to pressures at teh top of the shaft, which would require quite some time depending on the diameter of the shaft. So for a very long time a flow of raw superheated plasma would be present on the surface of the planet. Heating the atmosphere and venting millions of tons of vaporized material into the atmosphere.

Another effect of the jet, material would be expelled from the atmosphere into orbit where it would either fall back to the surface, Or form a ring around the planet as it cooled, and created metallic dust.

By the way that metallic dust and plasma firing up into the atmosphere would creat a conduit for the electrically charged particles in the ionosphere and van Allen belts to ground directly to earth, so in addition to a volcanic disaster of apocalyptic proportions constant billion or more amp bolt of lightening would be arcing from the sky to the earth.


So one tiny flaw in the casing of a core tap could end lfe as it is known on any planet that it as installed in....however on the bright side it would hapily supply a hellish world for a GM to inflict on players

In short, an artifical volcano, isn't it?

 

[Lycanorukke]

So one tiny flaw in the casing of a core tap could end lfe as it is known on any planet that it as installed in....

Two words - continental drift.

Any large world with a active core is going to have some form of drifting - wether it is slow (Earth) or fast (Venus resurfacing). I suspect a shift of a few centimeters a year would not be healthy for the 'pipe'. It's not totally bad though - most of the mantle magma is more like molassas rather than a liquid. So a breach would result in the magma slowly moving up the pipe rather than gushing out, so you would have time to 'reverse the polarity' or something to stop it.

What would be interesting though is what happens if they drilled into a core plume on its way up. Suddenly that nice viscious magma thurns into liquid core material....

 

[wbyrd]

Let me guess ... the glass is half empty?

I'm a writer, gamer, Game Master/referee... I can come up with a worst case end of all life scenario for a room full of fluffy bunnies, and cotton candy.

And yep this is basically a recipe for an artificial volcano...unfortunately the resulting eruption would make A Yellowstone caldera eruption look like a firecracker.

There really isn't an event you could use to gauge the scope of a complete burn through of the mantle and crust. Its something would require a set of extraordinary circumstances to occur.

 

[wbyrd]

Two words - continental drift.

Any large world with a active core is going to have some form of drifting - wether it is slow (Earth) or fast (Venus resurfacing). I suspect a shift of a few centimeters a year would not be healthy for the 'pipe'. It's not totally bad though - most of the mantle magma is more like molassas rather than a liquid. So a breach would result in the magma slowly moving up the pipe rather than gushing out, so you would have time to 'reverse the polarity' or something to stop it.

What would be interesting though is what happens if they drilled into a core plume on its way up. Suddenly that nice viscious magma thurns into liquid core material....

good point...if the breach occurred high up on the pipe you would get 2-3 thousand degree molasses...

but since the the material surrounding the core, and the core itself however are totally different than magma. they are super compressed and under truly massive pressure. It's also as hot as the surface of the sun..around 10k degrees which means it may exhibit some qualities of a super fluid....so a breach near the outer core might be a horse of a different color.

 

[Lycanorukke]

....breach near the outer core might be a horse of a different color.

A charred blackish one?

 

[Blue Ghost]

Hank Green gives the low-down on the Russian 12 Km hole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz6v6OfoQvs

I think Sci-Show also did a show on what would happen if you bored a straight hole all the way through the Earth. I can't remember all of the ramifications....good or ill, and that depresses me because I can't remember where I found the vid.

I shall look, and hopefully post a link later on.

 

[robject]

Though a benefit of the tap is that it cant be detected. Fis/Fus/Anti can be picked up by neutrino detectors thus making a 'listenting post/spy base' detectable. Bury a base deep enough with a tap and you couldn't be detected. Install it on a moon (like Io) and you're set.

You're also safe from "tactical" nuclear dampers, which would silently and quickly snuff out any fission or fusion reactor, or proton screens, which apparently(?) do the same thing to antimatter plants.

Hey, it's a niche device, but it has its uses.

Just as a mental exercise: worst case scenario..or the end of life as we know it core tap style...

Now THAT is fun material. Shoot me a PM and we can discuss you writing a short article for Imperiallines.

 

[robject]

Two of mine - I'll have to see if T5 can stat these two.

Coronal induction power converter.

A TL20+ device which uses the induction from a star to generate energy that can be transmitted via laser to anywhere in the system.

It may also be converted into a pretty nifty anti-ship weapon

Stellar energy halo.

TL12+ A series of energy collection sails, each the surface area of a large gas giant placed out of the plane of the ecliptic and designed to convert a star's radiant energy into laser energy which can be transmitted anywhere in the system.

Also makes a nifty anti-ship system.

All you need to T5-stat them is to have a relative size, TL, and cost.

"Size" tends to be less about volume and more about how far away you can see it.

Size 5 is man-sized to about one ton.
Size 6 is smallcraft-sized.
Size 7 is a smaller starship.
Size 8 is capital-ship sized.
Size 9 is a moonlet ("that's no moon...")


Cost is the hardest to estimate.

 

[Blue Ghost]

I found it

Fast forward to 3:45 if you don't want to hear the other nine most asked questions. The "bore a hole through" (and I think this applies to this thread of "boring a hole to" question) Earth question is at the end, but there are nine other interesting questions before that.

Hank Green explains all;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM09cbsL8Z8

 

[BlackBat242]

Two words - continental drift.

Any large world with a active core is going to have some form of drifting - wether it is slow (Earth) or fast (Venus resurfacing). I suspect a shift of a few centimeters a year would not be healthy for the 'pipe'. It's not totally bad though - most of the mantle magma is more like molassas rather than a liquid. So a breach would result in the magma slowly moving up the pipe rather than gushing out, so you would have time to 'reverse the polarity' or something to stop it.

Most likely the pipe is collapsed/cut by shifting material, and is thus completely plugged. No problem.

 

[robject]

Two words - continental drift.

Any large world with a active core is going to have some form of drifting - wether it is slow (Earth) or fast (Venus resurfacing). I suspect a shift of a few centimeters a year would not be healthy for the 'pipe'. It's not totally bad though - most of the mantle magma is more like molassas rather than a liquid. So a breach would result in the magma slowly moving up the pipe rather than gushing out, so you would have time to 'reverse the polarity' or something to stop it.

What would be interesting though is what happens if they drilled into a core plume on its way up. Suddenly that nice viscious magma thurns into liquid core material....

Is that one reason why the TL is so high?

Tovrak: "How did they DO this? Any world with an active core has drift. By all reasoning this tube should've been plugged seventy millenia ago. And these quakes we're seeing! I'm surprised this structure is still here AT ALL, with only a minor faultline to show off its age. It's not even safe for us to be IN THERE, and yet it's still standing. And there's power...!"

Jorn: "No idea. That's why we're interested in studying it."

...or...

Nathler: "Hey, look over here, guys!"

Kira: "What's that? Loot? Skeletons? Guns??"

Nathler: "No no, you idiot. This control panel... it's clearly part of the power plant. But look at this..."

Kira (whistles): "That's a big hole in the ground."

Sorel (approaching with Khaalo): "Betcha it's a core tap."

Khaalo: "You think?"

Sorel: "Why else have a bottomless pit? Latrine?"

Kira: "No, we found the teleporter-latrine. It's some kind of de-molecularizer. I stood on it, and it stripped a millimeter of sole off of my shoes. Then it started to work on the next millimeter. I'm sure, once I ran out of shoe, that it would start on my feet, and so on."

Sorel: "Okay then. They're powering this base off of the planet's core."

Nathler: "So... this is also probably part of the base's self-destruct system."

Sorel: "Ahh. You're probably right."

Nathler: "OK, nobody push any big red buttons."