LawsonE wrote:

"Paul M. Koloc" <pmk@plasmak.com> wrote in message
news:3FE76759.2040909@plasmak.com...

The Carnot efficiency is based on the throughput temperature of the
thermal source.  The higher the temperature, the better the efficiency.

As long as the system doesn't melt, of course...

Excellent point.  The system is pulsed (cycled like a diesel).  The compression (burn) chamber walls are protected by the presence of the fusion radiation absorbing compression fluid for each new pulse. Additional protection can be applied by injecting onto the walls of a fluid of the appropriate volatility to produce any needed additional cooling by sublimation.  Since the pule burn will be fast, the thermal diffusion loss from the compression blanket to the compression wall is minimized.  The further adiabatic expansion of the fusion heated compression blanket as it is released into the inductive MHD generator will also help to cool the system as well as produce efficient electric power to drive both the thrust engine and the compression burner.
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