Reply #10: Can I come over and play? Seems like you've reached higher temperatures [View All]

[NNadir]

than 550C, depending on the steel type:


http://hcrosscompany.com/metals/stainless.htm

The melting point of copper is 1084C.

The melting point of aluminum is 660C.

http://www.webelements.com/

From this same source we see that the heat capacity of copper is 24.4 J/(K-mol). Thus if you had one mole of copper (63.5 grams) theoretically at midday (assuming constancy of Cp, and P = 1300W/m^2) you'd be able to heat the copper over 50 degrees per second.

Impressive. I'll bet it's enormous fun.

As for the industrial applicability, I note that the plant described above is operating. 105 MW is a small, but respectable power plant.