Goods/Power supply

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Equipment classification: P - Power. Power Supplies. Power Cells. Energy Sources[edit]

The high technology personal equipment so many rely upon requires a continual source of power to operate. Most of the time the power required can be supplied by the local power grid or the starship Power Plant. Many devices include a small battery or power cell to allow for operation for several hours to several days. These power storage devices require recharging at periodic intervals.

Power for these devices can be supplied by chemical fuels, nuclear reactions like fission or fusion, or via anti-matter decay. The devices to convert these fuels into usable power can be very small, portable devices or large installations.


Anti-matter Battery

Anti-matter Battery
Type Power Supply
Tech Level TL–25
Cost MCr20
Size 0.2 liters
Weight 2kg

An Anti-matter Battery is a high technology energy storage device. As found, it is a small box finished in grey metal, with two gold colored contacts on its upper surface. The two contacts will provide almost unlimited current. The Battery operates by a controlled flow of anti-matter against an ordinary matter core. Flow is metered in response to demand, and very high levels of current are available. [1]

Anti-matter batteries are quite resistant to damage but are not armored or impervious. This type of battery is constructed to bleed energy slowly if broken or cracked. As a result, the battery will flash brightly for up to twenty minutes with very bright light and intense heat.

Batteries measure 6cm by 4cm by 10cm, and weigh about two kilograms.

Antimatter power plants come of age in the TL:16-18 technological epoch. Early prototype weapons become available in this time, but they have significant shortcomings. By TL:19-21, Antimatter becomes mainstream, affordable, and adequately miniaturized to widely used in smallarms, consumer vehicles, and even consumer goods. [2]

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.
  1. ↑ Marc Miller. Twilight's Peak (Game Designers Workshop, 1980), 39-40.
  2. ↑ Information provided to the library by Maksim-Smelchak
 

Batterized Portable Generator

Batterized Portable Generator
("B-Cell")
Type Power Supply
Tech Level TL–10
Cost Cr3,100
Size 8.5 liters
Weight 15 kg

A Batterized Portable Generator is an array of batteries mounted in an open frame with a number of power connection options. The 540Mj battery array can supply up to 4 Kw of power for 37 hours. Or correspondingly less power for longer periods. The whole thing may be recharged with any standard power source.

 

Body Generator

Body Generator
Type Power Supply
Tech Level TL–10
Cost Cr600
Size 4.0 liters (folded)
Weight 1 kg

A Body Generator is a set of equipment which is worn on the body and generates electricity, by the actions of walking or breathing. These generators are often incorporated into suits, such as stillsuits or very cold weather clothing, but they can be worn under ordinary clothes and used to power small electrical devices. The body generator consists of a few small electrical generators, attached in series to a small storage battery, and mounted in an undergarment.

One pair of spring generators are mounted in the footgear, where power is generated from the action of putting the foot down. Another pair of spring generators are mounted on an undershirt, under the arms, where power is generated by swinging the arms. Often, a third pair of generators are mounted on the hips or thighs, and power is generated by stepping. Additionally, a set of spring straps mounted in the undershirt around the chest uses the action of breathing to generate power.

Overall, a body generator can generate enough power to keep two small electrical devices charged. These can include pumps, heaters, lamps, or small electronic devices, such as communicators, inertial locators, motion trackers, or language translators.

Body generators usually include a small, hand-powered squeeze generator, wired to the sequence, and kept in a pocket, to be used in case of failure of one or more of the generators.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.
 

Campaign:NHNE/Equipment/Standard Battery Packs

Standard Battery Pack
Type Power Supply
Tech Level TL–10
Cost Cr25
Size .5 liters
Weight 1 kg
Manufacturer Various

The Fleet arrived with a Standard Battery Pack and this has become the de-facto provider of power to many tools ever since. A typical packs can provide 100 shots for the standard Police Issue Stunners, but also has widespread use for tools, etc. across many trades.

Chargers are commonplace and a full recharge takes about 4 hours.

 

Fuel Cell

Fuel Cell
("H-Cell")
Type Power Supply
Tech Level TL–8
Cost Cr715
Size 37.8 liters
Weight 25.8 kg

A Fuel Cell (or "H-Cell") is an electrochemical energy conversion and storage device.

Description (Specifications)[edit]

Fuel cells differ from batteries in that they are designed for continuous replenishment of the reactants consumed; they produce power from an external supply of fuel and oxidant (typically oxygen or air, although chlorine and chlorine dioxide have also been used among others) as opposed to the limited internal energy storage capacity of a battery. Additionally, while the electrodes within a battery react and change as a battery is charged or discharged, a fuel cell's electrodes are catalytic and relatively stable.

Efficiency[edit]

Fuel cells are not constrained by the maximum Carnot Cycle efficiency as combustion engines are, because they do not operate with a thermal cycle. Consequently, they can have very high efficiencies in converting chemical energy to electrical energy, especially when they are operated at low power density, and using pure hydrogen and oxygen as reactants.

The efficiency of a fuel is very dependent on the current through the fuel cell: as a general rule, the more current drawn, the lower the efficiency. A cell running at 0.6V has an efficiency of about 50%, meaning that 50% of the available energy content of the hydrogen is converted into electrical energy; the remaining 50% will be converted into heat.

For a fuel cell operated on air (rather than bottled oxygen), losses due to the air supply system must also be taken into account.

It is also important to take losses due to production, transportation, and storage into account. Fuel cell vehicles running on compressed hydrogen may have a power-plant-to-wheel efficiency of 22% if the hydrogen is stored as high-pressure gas, and 17% if it is stored as liquid hydrogen.

Fuel cells cannot store energy like a battery, but in some applications, such as stand-alone power plants based on discontinuous sources such as solar or wind power, they are combined with electrolyzers and storage systems to form an energy storage system. The overall efficiency (electricity to hydrogen and back to electricity) of such plants (known as round-trip efficiency) is between 30 and 50%, depending on conditions. While a much cheaper lead-acid battery might return about 90%, the electrolyser/fuel cell system can store indefinite quantities of hydrogen, and is therefore better suited for long-term storage.

History & Background (Dossier)[edit]

Fuel Cell Applications: Fuel Cells are often very attractive energy storage and utilization devices for TL:7-15 societies. Fuel cells are very useful as power sources in remote locations, such as spacecraft, remote weather stations, large parks, rural locations, and in certain military applications. A fuel cell system running on hydrogen can be compact, lightweight and has no major moving parts.

Because fuel cells have no moving parts, and do not involve combustion, in ideal conditions they can achieve up to 99.9999% reliability. This equates to less than one minute of down time in a six year period.

However, since electrolyzer systems do not store fuel in themselves, but rather rely on external storage units, they can be successfully applied in large-scale energy storage, rural areas being one example. In this application, batteries would have to be largely oversized to meet the storage demand, but fuel cells only need a larger storage unit (typically cheaper than an electrochemical device).

References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]

Smallwikipedialogo.png This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Fuel_Cell. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. The text of Wikipedia is available under the Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.
 

Fuel Cell Portable Generator

Fuel Cell Portable Generator
("H-Cell")
Type Power Supply
Tech Level TL–8
Cost Cr715
Size 37.8 liters
Weight 25.8 kg

The Fuel Cell Portable Generator has a Fuel Cell (or "H-Cell") mounted in an open frame designed for being carried by one or two people. The fuel cell runs on liquid hydrogen, and the fuel tank holds a three-hour supply. The generator outputs a maximum of 4 kW. The fuel cell requires atmospheric oxygen to operate correctly, though there is an adapter kit which adds a liquid oxygen supply and captures the resulting water exhaust.

 

Fusion+ Portable Generator

Fusion+ Portable Generator
Type Power Supply
Tech Level TL–14
Cost Cr10,000
Size 17 liters
Weight 25 kg

A Fusion+ Portable Generator is a small Fusion+ generator mounted in an open frame, designed for being carried by one or two people. The generator outputs a maximum of 4 kW. The generator has an internal 1-year fuel supply.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.
 

Internal Combustion Portable Generator

Internal Combustion
Portable Generator
("G-Motor")
Type Power Supply
Tech Level TL–7
Cost Cr300
Size 18.5 liters
Weight 21 kg

An Internal Combustion Portable Generator is a portable electrical generator powered by an internal combustion engine with a maximum output of 3 kW. The generator uses a hydrocarbon fuel and comes with a tank which holds a three-hour supply. May only be used in a thin or better atmosphere, which has a sufficient oxygen supply. The engine and generator are mounted in an open frame with handles to allow two people to carry the entire system.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.
 

Iquehuac

Iquehuac
Type Construction Material
Tech Level TL–6
Cost Cr200
Size 1 liters
Weight 1.2 kg

Iquehuac sun coral grows in the oceans of Shogun (Dagudashaag 0729). In its natural state the coral grows to a diameter of several kilometers. The name derives from the nature of the coral, which operates as a naturally occurring Photovoltaic Cell. When refined and polished, the coral makes small cells capable of generating electricity across a wide band of light.

Feathered Serpent Pharmaceuticals currently holds the license to harvest, refine, and sell off world.

References[edit]

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.
 

Photovoltaic Cell

Photovoltaic Cell
(Ambient Cell)
("A-Cell")
Type Power Supply
Tech Level TL–6
Cost Cr150,000
Size 8 liters
Weight 8 kg
per m2
Photovoltaic cell per m2
TL Weight
(kg) 		Cost
kCr 		Output
(kW)
6 8 150 3
7 6 80 3
8 4 45 3
9 3 25 2.5
10 2 12 1.8
11 1 6 1.4

A Photovoltaic Cell, also known as an Ambient Cell or "A-Cell", is a device that converts light energy into electricity via the photovoltaic effect, where the photons trigger the release of electrons in a semi-conductor material. These devices are also known as Photoelectic or Solar cells, the latter based upon the usual source of light to power them.

In most cases PV cells are gathered into a large array to provide more power. Most PV cells are about 1cm square.

These cells are mounted on a light aluminum or flexible plastic backing with a transparent cover to protect the cells from incidental damage. This is sufficient for light weight consumer goods. For industrial use, the cells are mounted on a heavier backing and given a stronger (but more transparent) cover.

Usually discovered around TL–5, PV cells become commercially available at TL–6. Primitive PV cells are highly inefficient (1% or worse) usually because the semiconductor material is sensitive to a single or limited array of wavelengths. At TL–7 this efficiency has improved to 6%, 15% at TL–8, and, with the addition of multiple layer crystal systems, 40% at TL–9.

Photovoltaic cells are an especially well adapted power source for Space Stations which are orbiting near a star: the PV panels may face constantly the star and receive a constant light radiation, thus giving a constant power output. PV panels having very long lifetimes (up to 30 years at TL–9), they make an interesting power source for such isolated stations.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.
 

Power Cell

Power Cell
("B-Cell")
Type Power Supply
Tech Level TL–10
Cost Cr10
Size 0.1 liters
Weight 0.1 kg

Power Cells (or "B-Cells") are a sealed power storage system. It is an energy storage system to supply power for small devices. Most small devices include power cells internally to operate for a full day. Recharging the power cell requires an external power supply and takes about an hour.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.
 

Radiothermal Portable Generator

Radiothermal Portable Generator (RTG)
Type Power Supply
Tech Level TL–9
Cost Cr2,100
Size 15.6 liters
Weight 21 kg

A Radiothermal Portable Generator (RTG) is a small, portable radiothermal generator mounted in an open frame for easy carrying. The generator outputs a continuous 2kW of power. The system requires no fuel and runs at full power for approximately 15 years. Thereafter the power produced falls off as the radioactive decay rate in the generator slows down. The generator produces a significant amount of heat, and the generator design incorporates several cooling technologies.

At TL–13 the generator incorporates a damper box to hold down the rate of radioactive decay and reduce the heat output while it's not being used. If unused the RTG can last for several decades with full output on demand.

 

Solar Fuel Station

Solar Fuel Station
Type Power Supply
Tech Level TL–12
Cost Cr400
Size 30 liters
Weight 20 kg

The Solar Fuel Station is a portable solar powered liquid hydrogen generator. It uses a collection of photovoltaic cells mounted on flexible panels to power a small central unit. The system comes with two panels, each 3.5m by 3.5m which produce 200Kw in the habitable zone of most stars. The power is used to crack water into the component parts of hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is then cooled to a liquid state and stored in a 20l tank. The oxygen can either be vented or captured into a separate tank.

Each liter of liquid Hydrogen requires 142 liters of water and produces 114 liters of liquid oxygen as a byproduct. This process takes about an hour per liter of liquid hydrogen produced.

 

Windcutter

Windcutter
Type Power Supply
Tech Level TL–8
Cost Cr2,300
Size 17.3 liters
Weight 15.7 kg

The Windcutter is a semi-portable Wind Mill designed for use away from existing power grids and without the use of fusion power. The windcutter consists of a 5 meter tall mast with a generator using 3.3 meter blades all constructed from a lightweight composite. Under ideal circumstances the system generates 300 watts of power. In places with a constant source of wind attaching this to a power storage system allows a constant supply of power as needed with little or no infrastructure.

Wind mills require a thin or denser atmosphere to function correctly. The windmill itself is sealed allowing it to operate in tainted atmospheres without problem, and will work in some exotic or corrosive ones as well.

Assembly and setup requires three people and a few hours of work, mostly to ensure the mast is correctly anchored to the ground. Disassembly should take about the same amount of time, depending on how the mast was anchored.

This article has metadata.
 

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14 Power Supply items[edit]

Item Type TL Size Weight Cost
Anti-matter Battery Power Supply 25 0.2 liters 2kg MCr20
Batterized Portable Generator Power Supply 10 8.5 liters 15 kg Cr3,100
Body Generator Power Supply 10 4.0 liters (folded) 1 kg Cr600
NHNE/Equipment/Standard Battery Packs Power Supply 10 .5 liters 1 kg Cr25
Fuel Cell Power Supply 8 37.8 liters 25.8 kg Cr715
Fuel Cell Portable Generator Power Supply 8 37.8 liters 25.8 kg Cr715
Fusion+ Portable Generator Power Supply 14 17 liters 25 kg Cr10,000
Internal Combustion Portable Generator Power Supply 7 18.5 liters 21 kg Cr300
Iquehuac Construction Material 6 1 liters 1.2 kg Cr200
Photovoltaic Cell Power Supply 6 8 liters 8 kg Cr150,000
Power Cell Power Supply 10 0.1 liters 0.1 kg Cr10
Radiothermal Portable Generator Power Supply 9 15.6 liters 21 kg Cr2,100
Solar Fuel Station Power Supply 12 30 liters 20 kg Cr400
Windcutter Power Supply 8 17.3 liters 15.7 kg Cr2,300
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