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jlf1961 -> RE: Solution to mid-east oil dependence? (3/1/2011 1:07:20 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Moonhead
I wish I'd known that when Terry Pratchett was inviting people to submit alternative history novels last year...
(That definitely rings a bell, though. Another too late engineering project...)
It was called the The Walter Submarine Turbine
quote:
In the 1930s, Professor Hellmuth Walter began experimenting with hydrogen peroxide as a possible power source. By the early 1940s, Walter's research had progressed to the point where he was able to convince the Kriegsmarine to built some prototype submarines. By 1943, a Walter hydrogen peroxide turbine had been used to power an unarmed test U-Boat to a submerged speed of 26 knots. This was some 18 knots faster than the fastest conventional submarine of the period, and actually about 5 knots faster than the most common Allied escort vessels. (As 21 knots was, in any case, about the upper speed limit at which Asdic could be used, and few merchant vessels were faster than about 15 knots, it wasn't thought necessary to build faster escorts.)
Designs were drawn up for several types of Walter submarine. In the end, none ever became operational, though the design of the larger Typ XVIII Walter submarine provided the basis for the Typ XXI "elektroboot," which was almost ready for deployment at the end of the war. The Walter Submarine Turbine
No alternative history at all. It is proven fact.
The fact is that there have been alternative fuel engines around for decades. At one time the army used a truck that could run on Diesel, Kerosene, aviation fuel and gasoline, and if you could find it, 80% alcohol. (actually a waste of good whiskey)
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