Joe Eck hits Tc = 187 C, 368 F

[ladajo]

As I recall, Eck talked previously about the difficulty of manufacturing any usable quanity of his compounds. I don't remember any specifics, just something to that effect. I could also be completely out to lunch on it. I am not bothered to look it up right now. Maybe later, or someone else remembers/looks it up.

[pbelter]

I wonder if our South African friend's theory predicts these results.
Johann where are you?

He is still out there. I just found his patent application for "Electrical Conductor". The patent details say it is a superconductor.
It was published on Jan 30, 2014

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20140027788

Seems though that it was originally applied for in 2012

http://www.sumobrain.com/patents/wipo/E ... 40611.html

[ladajo]

Now we get to see what he does with it!

Yeah for Johan!

[Betruger]

Best of luck Dr Prins!

[DeltaV]

Nice find, pbelter.

[ladajo]

I agree, and meant to say that earlier. Nice find.

[DeltaV]

http://www.superconductors.org/95C.htm

Boiling water just 5 degC away...

[Tom Ligon]

Boiling water is an interesting choice of milestones. I can boil water at 95C by reducing pressure a little, but most commercial uses of it use elevated pressure. But steam would seem to be the enemy ... Eck reminds us that the copper oxides are highly hydroscopic, and his tests are done soon after annealing.

Just about every application I can think of for room temperature superconductors would not involve steam, which I generally associate with the sort of Promethean technologies Watt would have considered revolutionary. HTC is for 21st-century thinking, not 18th.

When do I get this in wire form? Probably as a powder packed into a metal tube, hermetically-sealed.

[GIThruster]

Well of course steam is a reference to turbines and generating electricity, and steam turbines operate under pressure so you can't reduce the pressure and have a decent turbine.

What you can do is step up to 21st century technology and plan to use a supercritical CO2 turbine. They're smaller, lighter, and vastly more efficient than water/steam turbines, but one wants to operate them much hotter so Eck has a ways to go yet.

DOE has cash to burn for these things. Does anyone know if Joe is tapped into the funding keg?

[KitemanSA]

Excuse me? The reason to shoot for 100+ºC transition temperature is to keep the thing easily cooled below said temperature. Just stick it in a pipe full of unpressurized water.

[hanelyp]

Given that an operating superconductor doesn't produce heat, the cooling system just has to deal with heat from outside. Which might be a lot of heat in a fusion reactor. 95C is plenty warm for most applications, if you can get wire to deliver bulk superconductivity.

[KitemanSA]

Given that an operating superconductor doesn't produce heat, the cooling system just has to deal with heat from outside. Which might be a lot of heat in a fusion reactor. 95C is plenty warm for most applications, if you can get wire to deliver bulk superconductivity.

The superconductor doesn't produce heat, but the splices often do.

[MSimon]

Given that an operating superconductor doesn't produce heat, the cooling system just has to deal with heat from outside. Which might be a lot of heat in a fusion reactor. 95C is plenty warm for most applications, if you can get wire to deliver bulk superconductivity.

Well that is not strictly true. Micro instabilities produce small amounts of heat.

[DeltaV]

http://www.superconductors.org/110C.htm

[paperburn1]

Everybody keeps ignoring the 400 pound gorilla in the room. Any temperature above the boiling point of CO2 is a good working temperature. What I need to be is the product available in quality, quantity and at a price point that meets copper wiring. Then I can start making neat stuff with it