Maybe a stupid question, but you’d have to have something to hold the really hot thing, right? And obviously you’d need a bunch of stuff connected to the furnace to keep it in orbit and supplied with energy. So in that case wouldn’t the heat from the thing being heated spread to the rest of the satellite anyways? Like, clearly you can’t just use non-conductive materials because then we’d already have that on earth.
Not stupid at all, that’s an excellent question! I’m not privy to the details of this furnace satellite but I have an idea or two on how I’d approach the problem. Pure (somewhat educated) speculation ahead.
Firstly, you mentioned nonconductive materials. Insulating material isn’t perfectly nonconductive but can get pretty close. I’d imagine combining insulation with the vacuum of space would limit conductive heat transfer between furnace and the other equipment.
Insulating and limiting the conductive transfer of heat doesn’t eliminate it though. You’d still need an active form of transfer to shed the heat. I’d investigate the feasibility of a convective heat exchanger; use coolant to transfer heat from the furnace to a radiator.
From there I’d study how the James Webb Space Telescope maintains equilibrium. It uses a reflective shade to shield the radiator from the sun but I lack specific knowledge of the design. The temperature difference between hot side and cold side is a driving factor in heat transfer; maximizing the difference between the two leads to more efficient, effective control.
Honestly though, its been a few years since my senior heat transfer course. Radiative heat transfer in the vacuum of space is Master’s if not PhD level specialization. I’m not at that level yet, so please take this answer with a large block of pink Himalayan salt.
Maybe a stupid question, but you’d have to have something to hold the really hot thing, right? And obviously you’d need a bunch of stuff connected to the furnace to keep it in orbit and supplied with energy. So in that case wouldn’t the heat from the thing being heated spread to the rest of the satellite anyways? Like, clearly you can’t just use non-conductive materials because then we’d already have that on earth.
Not stupid at all, that’s an excellent question! I’m not privy to the details of this furnace satellite but I have an idea or two on how I’d approach the problem. Pure (somewhat educated) speculation ahead.
Firstly, you mentioned nonconductive materials. Insulating material isn’t perfectly nonconductive but can get pretty close. I’d imagine combining insulation with the vacuum of space would limit conductive heat transfer between furnace and the other equipment.
Insulating and limiting the conductive transfer of heat doesn’t eliminate it though. You’d still need an active form of transfer to shed the heat. I’d investigate the feasibility of a convective heat exchanger; use coolant to transfer heat from the furnace to a radiator.
From there I’d study how the James Webb Space Telescope maintains equilibrium. It uses a reflective shade to shield the radiator from the sun but I lack specific knowledge of the design. The temperature difference between hot side and cold side is a driving factor in heat transfer; maximizing the difference between the two leads to more efficient, effective control.
Honestly though, its been a few years since my senior heat transfer course. Radiative heat transfer in the vacuum of space is Master’s if not PhD level specialization. I’m not at that level yet, so please take this answer with a large block of pink Himalayan salt.