Fusion with Helium-3

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Samu Pekar
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Fusion with Helium-3

Post by Samu Pekar »

Greetings!
A friend and I have our intentions set on building a fusor- but we were wondering if more than just Deuterium could be used in the fuser, more specifically; Helium-3. In a Deuterium fuser, Helium-4 is created which breaks down into Helium-3. Because we have the capability to produce Helium-3 we want to know if its possible to gather said Helium-3 and then use it in place of Deuterium. Would we need to adjust the electric input to account for the increased atomic size? Or would the setup be the same? Thanks for your time and consideration.
Sincerely, Samu Pekar
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Scott Moroch
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Re: Fusion with Helium-3

Post by Scott Moroch »

Samu,

The short answer to your question is yes, it can technically be done. However, much like most things in life, it is far easier said than done. If you read about IEC research on the university level, you will notice that many professional IEC devices are designed for D-3He fusion. On the amateur level I believe only one attempt has been made to achieve D-3He fusion and this was several years ago by Eric Stroud-I am not sure if he ever successfully proved it.

D-3He fusion requires a much higher voltage than D-D fusion. I know that the professionals will run their device anywhere between 80-200kv. Keep in mind that at this voltage range, the x rays are lethal and additional shielding will be necessary. Even if you manage to assemble a system that can achieve that voltage, has proper shielding, and a detector for the products of the reaction, the biggest obstacle of all is obtaining the 3He gas itself. Since about 2008 (maybe even a bit earlier) there has been a worldwide shortage of 3He gas. For this reason the price of 3He gas is several thousands of dollars for one liter. To put this into perspective, my 10 liter lecture bottle of deuterium was $128.

Hope this helps!

Scott Moroch
"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity"
-Albert Einstein
Samu Pekar
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Re: Fusion with Helium-3

Post by Samu Pekar »

Thanks for replying, this information is actually very helpful. I have another question though, isn't Helium-3 created inside the vacuum chamber during fusion? Couldn't this Helium-3 be drained from the vacuum chamber and used rather than having to buy the Helium-3?
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Richard Hull
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Re: Fusion with Helium-3

Post by Richard Hull »

Yes it could, but even better than 3He is the tritium produced in every fusor. D-T fusion is very easy and happens at an much lower voltage than D-D fusion AND produces much, much more energy!

There is always the ever present negatives in particle physics. You will never, ever make enough 3He or T in a working, fusing fusor to affect its operation in a positive manner. If you run the math, which has been done here in past posts, you will find that the ratio of created 3He and T atoms to gas atoms in the fusor is not even at a trace level measurable with an RGA (residual gas analyizer) and is in parts per quadrillion. Nice ideas, but worthless in any form of workable reality.

Blessedly, nature has found a way to burn its most prevalent fuel in a very slow manner without creating a wild fire. You might say nature has found a way of burning a lot of microscopic gasoline fires inside a drum of gasoline. They are called stars immersed in a universe of hydrogen.

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
Samu Pekar
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Re: Fusion with Helium-3

Post by Samu Pekar »

Interesting, I didn't know that so little Helium-3 was produced. On the other hand, I hadn't heard of the benefits of Deuterium-Tritium fusion either. How expensive is Tritium? I'm interested in trying that type of fusion out in place of Helium-3. Thanks for all the feedback so far, its been immensely informative.
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Andrew Robinson
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Re: Fusion with Helium-3

Post by Andrew Robinson »

Richard Hull wrote:We have posted on this many times in the past. As the amateur cannot under, any circumstances, legally obtain or utilize tritium, the entire issue is one of worthless discussion. Everyone who knows about fusion fuels, knows D-T fusion is easy and at least 100 times as productive at most fusion energy levels over D-D fusion. The amateur is pretty much doomed to a single fuel solution of D-D fusion which does just fine in the right and talented hand.

Thus, we have banned such discussions related to any actual use of illegal fuels and processes in amateur hands.

Richard Hull
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9286&p=62855&hilit=tritium#p62855
I can wire anything directly into anything! I'm the professor!
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