Editing Tylium (RDM)

{{Disambiguation|tylium (TOS)|the fuel used in the [[Original Series]]|This article covers the [[Re-imagined Series]] fuel.}}[[Image:HandofGod.jpg|right|thumb|[[Lee Adama|Apollo]] [[Battle for the Tylium Asteroid|destroys a Cylon base]] to win supplies of tylium {{TRS|The Hand of God}}.]]

'''Tylium''' (pronounced "TILL-lee-um") is a material used to fuel the propulsion systems of Colonial and [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]] spacecraft. At least three forms exist: tylium ore, refined tylium precursor, and refined tylium (the fuel itself).

Typically, tylium ore is mined from asteroids and is apparently not found on the [[The Twelve Colonies (RDM)|Twelve Colonies]] natively. Large tylium ore deposits can keep fleets fueled for years {{TRS|The Hand of God (RDM)}}. In its raw form, tylium is a relatively fine, powdery substance that is liquefied and refined by [[refinery ship]]s. Care needs to be taken to not introduce impurities into the fuel, which can cause engine malfunctions {{TRS|Dirty Hands}}.

According to Dr. [[Gaius Baltar]], tylium has the following characteristics: 

* Tylium ore is rendered inert and unusable when exposed to nuclear radiation;
* Refined tylium precursor is more unstable and much easier to ignite than the finished fuel itself;
* Refined tylium has a tremendous enthalpy to the order of approximately half a million gigajoules per kilogram, or about 6 times greater than uranium-235 and 81% that of deuterium fusion;
* A tylium detonation results in no radioactive fallout {{TRS|The Hand of God (RDM)}}

Pure tylium can be easily detonated by a conventional warhead. Moreover, igniting fuel lines on spaceships usually quickly result in their loss {{TRS|Miniseries, Night 1}}. The fuel can also be used to construct improvised mines {{TRS|The Eye of Jupiter}}.
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==Notes==
*[[w:Enthalpy|Enthalpy]] describes the thermodynamic potential of a system (H), and its simplest definition is the sum of the system's internal energy (U), and the product of its pressure (p) and volume (V): ''H = U + pV''.
*The official series web page on the [http://www.scifi.com Sci-Fi Channel] web site incorrectly spells the substance as "'''tyllium'''" in the description of the [[mining ship]] on the ships page. As the Original Series DVD material, as well as labels seen in "[[Dirty Hands]]," show the spelling as "tylium," ''Battlestar Wiki'' contributors should use "tylium" as the correct spelling.
* The first usage of this term uses the "TIE-lee-um" pronunciation (q.v. {{OS|Saga of a Star World|prose=Y}}) as opposed to subsequent uses of "TILL-lee-um" (q.v. {{TRS|Miniseries|prose=Y}}).

==See Also==
*[[Substances in the Re-imagined Series]], for a discussion on the nature of tylium.
*[[Cylon Refinery]]
*[[Refinery ship]]
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