Talk-Polywell.org

I don't understand the derivation of Tokomak electrical output. Is seems the thermal and electrical conversions are redundant. If ITER produces 500 MW of fusion power, almost all of this energy will be captured as heat. The conversion to electricity might be 30% efficient, so gross electrical outpu...

The problem with fusion is economic. It is an anemic energy producer, especially aneutronic boron fusion. Next, boron fusion will produce enough neutrons to activate its structural material and make O&M difficult so why go through all the effort. High energy electrons and ions are far more erosive t...

Why not use them for something? I would think that such a hybrid plant would produce 2-3 times the energy of the fusion-only plant. For a thorium hybrid plant it is more like 10,000 times. I will address the thorium fuel cycle since it is highly proliferation resistant (I think proliferation proof)...

In the first post on this thread, Jmc said as follows: Why no focus on translating the plasmoid to ever higher kinetic energies through repeated magnetic squeezing at the rear and then let the FRCs own kinetic energy accomplish the compression stage. This is a very simple idea, so it most probably w...

The Big Picture: Quasi-steady Fusion Reactor based on the Pulsed High Density FRC excerpt: Neutron source for fissile and fusile fuel breeding FRC plasmoid fusion, as presented here, has the unique attribute of maintaining critical formation, heating and diverter systems physically far from high neu...

Hi all Dr. J. Slough made a very recent presentation of his Field Reversed Configuration (FRC) at UCLA describing his recent fusion efforts and future plans as follows. http://www.fusion.ucla.edu/FNST/Renew_Presentations/Tuesday/5.7-Slough-ReNeW%20Theme%204%20talk.pdf He has achieved 10e15 neutrons ...

<snip> • First, it's much easier to produce plutonium-239 than U-233 in reactors fueled by natural uranium, which are the kinds of reactors with which countries seeking weapons tend to start. If a country seeking weapons has the capacity to make enriched uranium (which is needed to fuel the type of...

IMO, the one advantage that a molten salt /Polywell fusor has over a standard Liquid salt fluoride reactor (Lftr) is that the excess neutrons from the fusion process mitigates the need to reprocess the core salt to sustain fission. That makes the sealed Lftr operationally simple and enables it to o...

When I say fission is a nasty business I'm talking about the diverse array of radionuclides produced. Nasty soup that. IMO, the one advantage that a molten salt /Polywell fusor has over a standard Liquid salt fluoride reactor (Lftr) is that the excess neutrons from the fusion process mitigates the ...

MSimon, I get your point about bloody minded people, actually a fusion fission hybrid could be used to breed plutonium at a much faster rate that a typical breeder reactor. Absorbtion cross-sections of U-238 for 14MeV neutrons are MUCH higher than even "fast" 2MeV neutrons which fast breeders use. ...

Except that MSimon in designing coils to go inside the core so the hot part is on the outside of the magnet and he is protecting the superconductor on the inside of the coil. I have been reading some posts and I saw a wonderful and hopeful statement as follows: MSimon: “I love disagreement. It is a...

It is really a bad idea to run the grids too hot. The inner most section will be 4K - vacuum - 77K - vacuum - 300K - vacuum - 600K - chamber . The reason to keep the temp as low as possible is to minimize radiation across the vacuum barriers. Heat transfer is expected to be 1 Mw/sq m. about 100 w/s...

It is really a bad idea to run the grids too hot. The inner most section will be 4K - vacuum - 77K - vacuum - 300K - vacuum - 600K - chamber . The reason to keep the temp as low as possible is to minimize radiation across the vacuum barriers. Heat transfer is expected to be 1 Mw/sq m. about 100 w/s...

Heat pipes are a perfect enabling technology for the Polywell fusor. They are currently used to cool leading edges and exhaust nozzles of hypersonic aircraft. The lithium filled heat pipe has an axial heat removal capacity of 30 kilowatts/cm2 and runs at about 1000C. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3...

SiC is not a very good heat conductor and it is brittle. And very hard. It is difficult to machine. Interesting idea though. But as I said up thread - if D-D is doable do it. No fuel breeding required. http://www.hexoloy.com/product-applications/heat-exchanger-tubing/product-applications/heat-excha...