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The End of the Steam Age? China’s Breakthrough CO2 Generator

2026-01-30 Science & Technology
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Anton Petrov
Anton Petrov
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Support this channel on Patreon to help me make this a full time job: https://www.patreon.com/whatdamath (Unreleased videos, extra footage, DMs, no ads) Alternatively, PayPal donations can be sent here: http://paypal.me/whatdamath Get a Wonderful Person Tee: https://teespring.com/stores/whatdamath More cool designs are on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3QFIrFX Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about an exciting breakthrough from China - a supercritical co2 generator Links: https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/312207/1-s2.0-S1738573322X0003X/1-s2.0-S1738573321005702/main.pdf https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0196890424012366 https://www.swri.org/newsroom/press-releases/swri-gti-energy-ge-celebrate-mechanical-completion-of-155-million-supercritical-co2-pilot-plant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cQCbmzN8Ew https://newsreleases.sandia.gov/brayton_power/ #sco2 #china #energy 0:00 China's supercritical co2 reactor - what is it? (Cheotan-1) 1:20 Steam technology in a nutshell 2:10 Why this is inefficient 2:45 Supercritical co2 explained and why it's so efficient 4:55 Recent breakthroughs 6:50 First US prototypes 8:35 China said "hold my beer" 10:20 Why this is important and what's next? 12:00 Implications and conclusions 13:20 Possible challenges? Enjoy and please subscribe Bitcoin/Ethereum to spare? Donate them here to help this channel grow! bc1qnkl3nk0zt7w0xzrgur9pnkcduj7a3xxllcn7d4 or ETH: 0x60f088B10b03115405d313f964BeA93eF0Bd3DbF The hardware used to record these videos: New Camera: https://amzn.to/4pCVINS CPU: https://amzn.to/4qXIaxC Video Card: https://amzn.to/2M1W26C Motherboard: https://amzn.to/2JYGiQQ RAM: https://amzn.to/2Mwy2t4 PSU: https://amzn.to/2LZcrIH Case: https://amzn.to/2MwJZz4 Microphone: https://amzn.to/2t5jTv0 Mixer: https://amzn.to/2JOL0oF Recording and Editing: https://amzn.to/2LX6uvU Some of the above are affiliate links, meaning I would get a (very small) percentage of the price paid. Thank you to all Patreon supporters of this channel Special thanks also goes to all the wonderful supporters of the channel through YouTube Memberships Credit: Mark Garlick www.markgarlick.com suCOO-Lab / TEA / TU Dresden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GemthMqZ84s andrew.ainsworth CC BY SA 3.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_engine#/media/File:Rankine_cycle_layout.png Licenses used: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ and relevant Creative Commons licenses

Top Comments (10)

@brabdnon 2026-01-30

Do we have to call it Super Critical Carbon Dioxide Punk instead of Steampunk, now?😢

3.8k 236 replies
@Mark_Williams. 2026-01-31

New tech tree level unlocked!

2.6k 86 replies
@nejsonsvejson9861 2026-01-30

finally after millenia we've gone from boiling water to boiling co2

2.4k 86 replies
@HackedToaster 2026-01-30

Finally, a breakthrough that doesn't look like a showroom set-up specifically for taking pictures and host tours

1.1k 102 replies
@Yattayatta 2026-01-30

2:20 The big problem is criticality, water becomes supercritical at 374 °C and 22.1 MPa. If we raise the temperature any more it goes super critical and it won't transfer energy as favorably. Co2 doesn't have the same criticality issues, so efficiency can be increased by 50-85%. That's why this is a huge deal.

745 67 replies
@davids9027 2026-01-31

I am very pleased that you are talking about real breakthrough events.

490 16 replies
@euchiron 2026-01-30

You are one of my favorite science communicators and one of my key gauges for my own science literacy. Thank you, Wonderful Person.

470 3 replies
@bagel-gyatt 2026-02-02

This can not be overstated enough, making steel manufacturing a greener, more efficient process is absolutely massive and will change steel manufacturing forever

435 16 replies
@MartinMizner 2026-01-31

After 250 years, the steam engine finally got an update!!!

60 5 replies
@MrBoubource 2026-02-02

In France, one of the big limitations we have on nuclear power plants is to respect a threshold on river temperature. It would be huge to not depend on rivers anymore because we maxed out our "river heating".

37

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