- Wed Jul 21, 2004 5:43 pm
#5281
What Matthew refers to is probably the heat of solution of a chemical. Even in chemicals having the highest heat of solution the quantity of heat produced is quite small compared to the weight of the chemical. Unfortunately the chemical becomes a part of the water after dissolution. This renders the water unfit for use even for swimming.
There is an option. It is easy to produce gamma radiation sources in a nuclear reactor. If such a source is encapsulated in lead, the radiation cannot escape but warms the lead sheath. If such a capsule is buried in the water it will continuously warm the water. Since such sources have a half life of about 5 years, it should easily function for about 15 years before needing a replacement.
This idea was suggested many years back for use in sea beds to increase the plankton formation, which is the bottom end of the marine food chain. By stages this was to increase marine population to solve the food shotage of that omnivore called Homo Sapiens.
Rishi