I was looking around the forums and I noticed some threads mentioning "pulsed fusion". I'm not sure what exactly this means, but I gather it has something to do with making the ions arrive at the inner grid at roughly the same time to achieve higher fusion rates.
What are the main ideas out there for doing this? I assume that varying the potential between the grids might be involved but how does it work? Has anyone considered researching the behavior of particles in a time-varying electric field? Perhaps there are some cases where ions become concentrated in some areas more than others, rather than being spread out all over the place. I suppose this is rather complicated, as the one classical dynamics book I have doesn't treat time arying potentials. My guess is that it is very difficult to figure it out analytically, especially in the case of a fusor, which has a "discontinuity" at its center (electric field jumps from X just outside inner grid to 0 inside"), so computer simulations would be the way to go. Does anyone have ideas, suggestions?
Pulsed fusion question
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guest
Re: Pulsed fusion question
Actually there has a been a great deal of work on high speed fusion. (how do you think H-Bombs work?) The idea is to assemble a high quantity of deuterium in a small space. Why a small time you might ask? Fusion is plagued by inefficiences. The shorter time the fusing mass is assembled the less
time for problems to crop up in the plasma and the less energy that is needed to form that burning plasma. All successful fusion on the planet Earth is done by short assembly times. The shorter the assembly times the more likely you would get break even. What you put in is what you get out at breakeven. But of course you would have to do way better than that to get usable power out of deuterium. The big boys have'nt had any luck at this game .... They've been at it since 1949. Mr Farnsworth's machine gives me hope that we can finally do it. Look at my Pulsed Fusor # 3
Case Study of a 1hp Fusor" in the Fusor Construction & Operation for all the details.
The Shielding potential is called the Faraday effect or the ice bucket experiment done by Micheal Faraday.
If you look at the electric force potential between the deuterium ions you would find the distance between the focal spot of the grid and preclude the grid putting force on the deuterium at the position of "null" is very little. (put down your dynamics book and goto the library ... get a book on electrodynamics) But collisions between high speed deuterons and those at the focal point are very signifigant. The repulsion experienced by those two ionized deuterons is enormous! What to do? Put in Electrons so the deuterons can approach and fuse With less repulsion..
In essence this is what a fusor does. Mr Farnsworth came up with idea in the sixties!
As for analytic theory all the work has been done on spherical accelerators was done by Dr Farnsworth in the late 30's through early forties as a consequence of high power radio tube research. You might want to revue the material on the history of fusors in the Newbie section. Patents and the history of the ITT research at Pontiac Michigan.
This work has a long history ..... we didn't just pop up one day and say "Do it just do it"... We are standing on the shoulders of giants.
Speculation is easy but the work is tuff.
Most of us have backgrounds that allow us to press
forward. (in baby steps)
Fusion is fun!
Larry Leins
Physics Teacher
time for problems to crop up in the plasma and the less energy that is needed to form that burning plasma. All successful fusion on the planet Earth is done by short assembly times. The shorter the assembly times the more likely you would get break even. What you put in is what you get out at breakeven. But of course you would have to do way better than that to get usable power out of deuterium. The big boys have'nt had any luck at this game .... They've been at it since 1949. Mr Farnsworth's machine gives me hope that we can finally do it. Look at my Pulsed Fusor # 3
Case Study of a 1hp Fusor" in the Fusor Construction & Operation for all the details.
The Shielding potential is called the Faraday effect or the ice bucket experiment done by Micheal Faraday.
If you look at the electric force potential between the deuterium ions you would find the distance between the focal spot of the grid and preclude the grid putting force on the deuterium at the position of "null" is very little. (put down your dynamics book and goto the library ... get a book on electrodynamics) But collisions between high speed deuterons and those at the focal point are very signifigant. The repulsion experienced by those two ionized deuterons is enormous! What to do? Put in Electrons so the deuterons can approach and fuse With less repulsion..
In essence this is what a fusor does. Mr Farnsworth came up with idea in the sixties!
As for analytic theory all the work has been done on spherical accelerators was done by Dr Farnsworth in the late 30's through early forties as a consequence of high power radio tube research. You might want to revue the material on the history of fusors in the Newbie section. Patents and the history of the ITT research at Pontiac Michigan.
This work has a long history ..... we didn't just pop up one day and say "Do it just do it"... We are standing on the shoulders of giants.
Speculation is easy but the work is tuff.
Most of us have backgrounds that allow us to press
forward. (in baby steps)
Fusion is fun!
Larry Leins
Physics Teacher
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guest
Re: Pulsed fusion question
Mark Chiono wrote:
> I was looking around the forums and I noticed some threads mentioning "pulsed fusion". I'm not sure what exactly this means,
It often means that you can apply a big pulse for a short time - like a xenon strobe light. A pulse that won't burn up the electrodes and containment, because it is so short and the down time allow heat dissipation.
>but I gather it has something to do with making the ions arrive at the inner grid at roughly the same time to achieve higher fusion rates.
2ndly, the fusor plasma is resonant. You separate ions and electrons with an electric field, and the potential, charge and transit time defines a resonant system. So you can excite the resonant system at a frequency (what did Farnsworth call it, the multi-pactor frequency?) anyways, see his multipactor patents for details.
Plasmas have ion and electron plasma resonant frequencies. As you move from radio frequencies to microwave frequencies, you find particle and plasma beams are unstable, and vibrate like whistling air streams. Research gyrotrons, magnetrons, klystrons, TWT, et.
So the bain of fusioners is the 'anomalous transport', the damn annoying habit of plasma to vibrate and radiate rather than heat and fuse.
Think they'll ever find an appropriate electrodynamic confinement vehicle? Good ideas include ion crystals, Penning Traps, et. They account for dynamics as well as statics. Finally, the energy follows a nonlinear trajectory, so the electrodynamic environment must actively conform the evolving plasma.
You're trying to hit a moving target! As you get cleverer in confining the gorgon by scaring it with its own reflected image in your electrodynamic mirror, it finds more ways to vibrate and escape!
And ultimately particles themselves are resonating energy bubbles. To ignite the fire, a pulse of x-rays may be in order to introduce the nuclei, which vibrate many orders of magnitude above photons and orders of magnitude above microwaves.
I'm talking about a logarithmically staged implosion. My rants are archived here for your amusement.
Scott
> I was looking around the forums and I noticed some threads mentioning "pulsed fusion". I'm not sure what exactly this means,
It often means that you can apply a big pulse for a short time - like a xenon strobe light. A pulse that won't burn up the electrodes and containment, because it is so short and the down time allow heat dissipation.
>but I gather it has something to do with making the ions arrive at the inner grid at roughly the same time to achieve higher fusion rates.
2ndly, the fusor plasma is resonant. You separate ions and electrons with an electric field, and the potential, charge and transit time defines a resonant system. So you can excite the resonant system at a frequency (what did Farnsworth call it, the multi-pactor frequency?) anyways, see his multipactor patents for details.
Plasmas have ion and electron plasma resonant frequencies. As you move from radio frequencies to microwave frequencies, you find particle and plasma beams are unstable, and vibrate like whistling air streams. Research gyrotrons, magnetrons, klystrons, TWT, et.
So the bain of fusioners is the 'anomalous transport', the damn annoying habit of plasma to vibrate and radiate rather than heat and fuse.
Think they'll ever find an appropriate electrodynamic confinement vehicle? Good ideas include ion crystals, Penning Traps, et. They account for dynamics as well as statics. Finally, the energy follows a nonlinear trajectory, so the electrodynamic environment must actively conform the evolving plasma.
You're trying to hit a moving target! As you get cleverer in confining the gorgon by scaring it with its own reflected image in your electrodynamic mirror, it finds more ways to vibrate and escape!
And ultimately particles themselves are resonating energy bubbles. To ignite the fire, a pulse of x-rays may be in order to introduce the nuclei, which vibrate many orders of magnitude above photons and orders of magnitude above microwaves.
I'm talking about a logarithmically staged implosion. My rants are archived here for your amusement.
Scott
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guest
Re: Pulsed fusion question
We have covered x-ray fusion under "The z pinch machine" in Fusion History & News. I've even thought about modifing a z pinch device to deliver pure xrays.
The fusor is only one aspect of fusion.
Larry Leins
Physics Teacher
The fusor is only one aspect of fusion.
Larry Leins
Physics Teacher