In this space, visitors are invited to post any comments, questions, or skeptical observations about Philo T. Farnsworth's contributions to the field of Nuclear Fusion research.Subject: Re: FC 77 a novel liquid for insulation/cooling
Date: May 13, 4:59 pm
Poster: Dave CooperOn May 13, 4:59 pm, Dave Cooper wrote:
Fluorinert is super stuff!! But, probably not all that practical for day in day out insulating...For Hi Voltage liquid insulation, if you don't like mineral oil or transformer oil, you can use Silicone Dieltric Fluid.. Dow XXX, GE Silicones...etc. These are about $25/gal at least. Transf. Oil is about $350 /bbl. so about $7/gal. (Often you can ge a few gallons of Transf. Oil from your local utility distribution yard, if you ask the right person.)
Another very good insulating oil, that is often overlooked is CASTOR OIL. McMaster Carr stocks it as a lubricating oil. which is quite good for HV insulationg right out of the bottle, after a brief degassing and drying under vacuum.. Cost is about $18/gal. We use routinely up to 90 kV. Other than the stickiness, it is an excellent dielectric. It is also considered a food product and therefore not HAZARDOUS WASTE. an important plus.
For cooling the fusor..exterior... why not just lace the exterior with soft copper tubing and use water?.. It is done all the time to cool chambers for RF induction heating. Nice part is that you can either soft solder or braze the copper tubing easily to stainless steel.
Obviously cooling a glass chamber is a different story, and there have been several cautions on this board about use of glass when you fire up your system.
Dave Cooper