Re:New superconductor microprocessor yields a substantial bo...
by mdturnerphys on Wednesday January 13, 2021 @03:11PM
(#25767334)
That's the cost for one-time use of the helium. If you're running a liquefier the cost is much lower, since you're recycling the helium, but it still "costs" ~400W to cool 1W at 4K.
Re:New superconductor microprocessor yields a substantial bo...
by pushrax on Wednesday January 13, 2021 @11:11PM
(#25771879)
In other words, the helium is used to move heat around, and isn’t lost. It’s like the refrigerant in your air conditioner, except that it needs several stages of pre-cooling.
Initial cost is high but running it should mostly just incur energy costs if it’s well designed.
Plus, liquid helium is produced as a byproduct of some natural gas extraction. If you needed volumes beyond that production, which seems likely if you wanted to switch the world's data centers to it, you'd be stuck condensing it from the atmosphere, which is far more expensive than collecting it from natural gas. I haven't done the math. I'm curious if someone else has.