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: plasma circulation
Date: Mar 24, 7:01 pm
Poster: Richard HullOn Mar 24, 7:01 pm, Richard Hull wrote:
>The analogy that comes to mind is that your attempting to pour water into a running garden hose. Plasma going in against plasma coming out. Those few Deuterons that make it into the fusion zone must then be lucky enough to hit another Deuteron that has also made it into the "zone" and at an optimum intersection angle. Any idea what the percentages are?
This is a very complicated question and made more complicated as we keep rasiing the voltage and current in a system. (see my post on the physics of the fusor.)
The current of 10 ma might optimally see 10e16 deuterons produced per second and this results in between 10e4 and 10e5 neutrons/second. Thus a simple answer would be that a qualified one where by at 25kv in a 6" fusor assuming 10e16 deuterons produced per second we achieve fsuion whether head on, glancing blows, mismathced fusion energy single deuterons to the tune of only 10e-10% of the total! Many decimal points to the bad, but many bucks to the good. using their own neutron figures and budget $$$$, I figure, dollar for dollar spent we are about 10e6% better at producing fusion neutrons than the megalithic Princeton fusion lab! This is a raw and nasty truth even though they are a lot closer to break even than we are. Their neuts are a lot more costly than ours no matter from what computational viewpoint you choose.
Yes, one can indeed complicate the simple fusor we use and do better for more $$$. I looked at the Jarusch patent and found little to be gained for the added complexity. The bottom line is.....is anyone going to test this theory, this idea! Until they do it will be just another idea patented without test. His work seems that of a rank amateur with that critical angle figure computed out to the nth decimal which would in reality be an engineering impossiblity. We only gain an insight into the fact that his computer work out to those places. How that got in the patent is a stunning example of bad proof reading by someone with no real engineering experience.
I eagerly await others trying out Jarmusch's ideas. I have my plate full just running the simple Hirsch/Meeks variant of Farnsworth's original idea.
I hooe others express their ideas on this.
Richard Hull
>
>After looking over the patents of both Farnsworth and Jarmusch (yes, I think he's on to something valid) it's obvious the intent in Farnsworth's using ion guns is to reduce the effect of Deuterons moving against the flow of the outward bound plasma (I realize this is all elementary, but please forgive me, I am after all a beginner). Jarmusch proposes to intersect the ions in such a way as to use their natural repulsion as an advantage to promote fusion. All of this is merely useless information if it can't be used in a simple fusor. The point I'm trying to make is that if the Deuterons can be made to follow a predetermined path into the inner grid, perhaps the returning plasma would follow the path of least resistance and move away from the incoming ions there by increasing the numbers of Deuterons entering the fusion zone at fusion energy.
>
>If using a Stainless sphere as an outer grid, at least 8 small points were placed corresponding to the positions proposed by Jarmusch (they don't have to be that accurate!), might we imagine a thin layer of fusion energy Deuterons migrating across the outer grid, each to its closest point, and then jumping headlong into the inner grid? If this were possible would that not create a kind of plasma beam from each point in such a way that numbers of Deuterons in the center of the beam could travel unhindered into the fusion zone? This in turn feeding a stream of electrons, unfused Deuterons, Deuterium, Tritium, etc. back to the outer grid to be reionized and fed into the fusion zone again.
>
>I've posted a crude graphic that might help visualize this at
>
>http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/1017/
>
>It seems to take a while to load, sorry.
>
>Like I said, I'm just a beginner and ignorance is bliss.
>
>SC
>