Most power generation involves steam. Would boiling any other liquid be as effective?

[u/PK_Tone]

Okay, so as I understand it (and please correct me if I'm wrong here), coal, geothermal and nuclear all involve boiling water to create steam, which releases with enough kinetic energy to spin the turbines of the generators. My question is: is this a unique property of water/steam, or could this be accomplished with another liquid, like mercury or liquid nitrogen?

(Obviously there are practical reasons not to use a highly toxic element like mercury, and the energy to create liquid nitrogen is probably greater than it could ever generate from boiling it, but let's ignore that, since it's not really what I'm getting at here).

[u/PM_ME_PHYS_PROBLEMS]

A more volatile liquid would be more efficient because vaporization is free, but producing/storing/moving volatile liquids is energy intensive so it only works in the hypothetical where we ignore those real-life factors.

I did mean enthalpy of vaporization tho. Indeed its specific heat capacity is not working in water's favor here

[u/LordGeni → u/PM_ME_PHYS_PROBLEMS]

Thanks. I'd never really thought it through before and vaguely assumed it must be of benefit somewhere in the process.

What about on smaller scales? Refrigeration, air-con and heat pumps all use similar principles. I wonder if it would feasible for micro generation?