Tylium (RDM)
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Tylium is a fuel used in both the Original Series and Re-imagined Series.
Re-imagined Tylium
Tylium is a material used to fuel the propulsion systems of Colonial and Cylon spacecraft. Three forms are known of: 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 Twelve Colonies natively. Large tylium ore deposits can keep fleets fueled for years (The Hand of God). In its raw form tylium is a relatively fine, powdery substance that is liquefied and refined by refinery ships. Care needs to be taken to not introduce impurities into the fuel, which can cause engine malfunctions (Dirty Hands).
According to Dr. Baltar (The Hand of God) tylium has the following characteristics:
- Tylium ore is rendered inert and unusable when exposed to nuclear radiation
- Refined tylium precursor is much easier to ignite than the 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. It can be easily detonated by a conventional warhead. Moreover igniting fuel lines on spaceships usually quickly result in their loss (Miniseries)
- Tylium's detonation results in no radioactive fallout
Original Tylium
Practically nothing on the fuel is mentioned in the Original Series.
In the Original Series, the term was pronounced as "TIE-lee-um" as opposed to "TILL-lee-um" in the Re-imagined Series, as heard in "Saga of a Star World".
Notes
- Enthalpy is the sum of the internal energy of a body and the product of its volume multiplied by the pressure, or energy density.
- The official series web page on the 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.
See Also
Substances in the Re-imagined Series for a discussion on the nature of tylium.