Energy Sources & Conversion

An Overview of Energy Conversion Processes

---

One of the fundamental principles of physics is the conservation of energy. Energy can take on many forms, and various processes convert one form into another. Thermodynamics governs these conversions. While total energy always remains the same, after most conversion processes the amount of useful energy remaining is reduced.

The processes which convert energy into useful forms have limited thermodynamic efficiencies, typically only 10-40%. This means that typically 60-90% of the input energy becomes waste energy. Often significant waste materials are also produced.

 

---

Energy-Releasing Reactions

	Chemical	Fission	Fusion
Sample Reaction	C + O2 -> CO2	n + U-235 -> Ba-143 + Kr-91 + 2 n	H-2 + H-3 -> He-4 + n
Typical Inputs (to Power Plant)	Bituminous Coal	UO2 (3% U-235 + 97% U-238)	Deuterium & Lithium
Typical Reaction Temperature (K)	700	1000	108
Energy Released per kg of Fuel (J/kg)	3.3 x 107	2.1 x 1012	3.4 x 1014

 

---

More Information:

Sound demonstration
Continue the Tour

Page originally created by students Jason Edson and Hannah Cohen.

 

---

CPEP grants permission for teachers and students to reproduce these copyrighted images and materials for their personal or classroom use, provided http://FusEdWeb.llnl.gov/CPEP/ is cited as the source. For other CPEP copyright permissions, email fusion@cpepweb.org.