Re: dumping a lot of heat

On 12/5/24 6:14 AM, john larkin wrote:

On Thu, 05 Dec 2024 08:01:01 -0500, legg <legg@nospam.magma.ca> wrote:

...

 If I'm going to use a finned circular heat sink, why put a tube
inside? Resistors would be cheaper.
 But as noted, it would be hard to dump a kilowatt or two into a finned
heat sink. Well, unless I let its surface temp approach incandescence.
 I'm considering using a class-D amplifier that can sometimes be
back-driven as a dummy load, in which case it pumps up its own power
supply, normally something like 70 volts maybe. I need to synthesize
the equivalent of a two kilowatt, 75 volt zener.
 We're just brainstorming a product at this point, toying with goofy
ideas. With the right people, that is as Phil says, the most fun you
can have standing up.
 

You could do what large battery analysis equipment does and feed the energy back to the AC supply. Then you wouldn't have to dissipate the heat within your equipment.
Grid-tied inverters for solar power are relatively low cost (< $1/Watt) and don't use large transformers so it shouldn't be too difficult, although there are probably lots of rules they would need to honour.
kw