Deuterium is hydrogen with a freeloader neutron in its nucleus, making it about twice as heavy as a regular hydrogen. So heavy water, is, in fact, slightly heavier water.
Also, Dirtball's icecap wasn't pure heavy water. As in, not all of its water molecules contained deuterium, it just had an unusually high percentage. For perspective, Earth's oceans have about one atom of deuterium in every 6,420 atoms of hydrogen, and Dirtball's ice cap had about 3 times that density. So not all of the water this plant processes turns into fusion fuel, a large amount of its byproduct is boring regular hydrogen. In fact, the plant in its heyday produced far more regular hydrogen than even oxygen gas.
Transcript
Talita: So... we're just going to run one block unit of the facility. That's only four electrolyzers. But at least we can avoid having to check several kilometers of gas pipes and tanks for leaks.
She points at four large cylinder clusters in the floor of the factory next to the elevated road they're walking on.
Bip: I suppose the only thing more suspicious than energy overuse would be a hydrogen tank explosion.
Talita rolls her eyes.
Talita: I have to admit, this would be a lot easier… If your highness took plain heavy water as fuel, not refined deuterium.
A sketched molecular diagram behind her head shows two 2H2O (heavy water) molecules being transformed by an electrical charge into one O2 (oxygen gas) and two 2H2 (deuterium molecules).
Bip: What can I say, I have…
The frontloader and the worm sitting on its steering wheel both mimic shrugging.
Bip: …Refined tastes.
28 thoughts on “Runaway to the Stars: Page 167”
Gar G
Booooo X”DD
JoB
“If your highness took plain heavy water, not refined deuterium.”
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Well, that’s the comeuppance for your snark on page 151, Talita. Of course Bip doesn’t want to waste the measly couple tons of fuel they’re getting on hauling the heavy water’s oxygen along for naught.
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Since “the plant” (used to) produce(s) “large amounts of […] boring regular hydrogen”, I suppose that the water in the tanks has already been preprocessed? (Because throwing a mix of 2H2O and H2O into normal electrolysis will not result in a mix of just 2H2 and H2, but also lots of mixed 2H–H molecules.)
JoB
… today’s lesson is that the RttS comments system “takes HTML”, but not all of it (as in, today, it filtered out [sup] and [sub], and a while back, [center] and [hn]) …
Enai
Oh dear, I hadn’t thought of that. Of course the Hydrogen atoms don’t stay atoms for very long after being “liberated” from their molecular bond to the oxygen atom… You’ll certainly need to separate the single proton ones from those with a proton and a neutron. I wonder if there’s a semipermeable membrane the protons would tunnel through that the proton-neutron kernels wouldn’t, or vice versa? Otherwise, it’s centrifuge time, babey!
NeedsMoreBirds
I love how sassy Bip is.
Marcie
Pretty sure the scientific diagrams are hand drawn, I’ve seen that dot grid in Jay’s inktober drawings
SIGSTKFLT
What do they do with the leftover non-heavy H2?
JoB
My guess would be that they recombine it with the surplus oxygen, returning part of the energy used for electrolysis and making water “safe” (non-heavy) for use in the habitat. Back then, that is. Or does your “they” refer to the current-day getaway team-to-be?
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In that case … I’d still guess the same. Recuperating energy that they’d otherwise have to sneak out of Mel’s hands helps them hide their activity, and water is certainly easier to hide from environmental sensors than hydrogen gas.
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(Hydrogen, if “allowed” to escape, like, per a ‘splodey tank, would mix into Dirtball’s scant CO2 atmosphere … for a while, as it’s certainly too light not to be blown away by the solar wind. The habitat better not vent any oxygen while a cloud of H2 is around, though. 😉 Not that water exposed to the near-vacuum wouldn’t likely go airborne as well, but slower, and it would be explained away as some residual natural ice that has been vaporized by a meteorite impact …)
sex 2
what’s the benefit of binocular vision on the worm robot?
Teod
Easier to control by an operator with natural binocular vision. Also depth preception. Also seeing both sides of a flat object simultaneously. Also redundancy in case one breaks.
Septemberdale
I’d assume having a backup eye to navigate back for repairs with if one gets busted.
Hosp
Obsessed with wormBip
blythe
i wonder if Talita looks weird to Bip since theyve lived around homeplanet centaurs and know their body language
Greebus
lol
Liza
Absolutely here for the rogue AI using both the little worm robot AND the giant ass loader to emote along with their Dad jokes
foca
talita in her spacesuit reminds me of a chicken.
JoB
[electrician worm slowly backs away]
Planetfall
I love how Bip is having the little worm pretend to drive.
Sparky Lurkdragon
Ba-dum, tish!
forest @ swifty's hq!
the final two panels really made me giggle. i love the dynamic between these two.
Claire
haaa ha. Xey have allll the jokes, huh.
(JK ILYSM BIP)
glazeliights
talita looks so incredibly cunty in the third panel
forest @ swifty's hq!
hold on youre right she’s kind of serving….. i dunno what she’s serving…. zucchini?
Apollo235
This comment reminds me that there’s fanart of an *even cuntier* Talita. It’s very good
https://www.tumblr.com/oodlesodoodles/777931402583883776?source=share
Greenjoe
Those Avian railings are TINY next to Tailita…
Amanda/OwlBear
just love that both worm and loader are emoting, bib you dramatic git
Amanda/OwlBear
*Bip
Enai
Also, quite the godawful pun. “Refined tastes” because it needs refined deuterium, geddit? Geddit??
*Groan* yes, Bip, we get it.