Talk-Polywell.org

TallDave wrote:I expect they'll do as well with their dates as Focus Fusion (three months from net power!!).

While I don't know exactly what Focus Fusion hopes to achieve with their current experiments, but I doubt it is net power. I think, that they hope to demonstrate the current scaling laws and the potential ability to achieve the necessary current levels. Added to that is the plasma characteristics and limits, and possible x-ray suppression. If they succeed, they will be able to borrow Bussard's quote: "The physics is finished, only engineering remains".

Of course, nothing works until it is built. That detail has been well demonstrated in the Tokamak approach.

Dan Tibbets

MSimon wrote:

ladajo wrote:You can also get away with just a cell phone and the look these days.

I'll have to get me a cell phone and try that.

To look really important, make sure you include the fancy ear-bud for the cell phone. At that point the phone itself might be optional.

How does the joke go? "Hands free phones -- blurring the line between communication and schizophrenia."

D Tibbets wrote:While I don't know exactly what Focus Fusion hopes to achieve with their current experiments, but I doubt it is net power.

The goal of the current experiment is the somewhat nebulous "demonstration of scientific feasibility of net energy". What this means in more practical terms is 10,000+ joules of energy produced by the fusion of pB11, probably in the form of decaborane gas. The LPP team expects to ultimately achieve about 33,000 joules of fusion energy per shot.

The current experiment is not designed to generate electricity from alpha particles and X-rays, nor is it designed to be cycled at 500kHz, as a working reactor would. It's ITER, not DEMO or, if you prefer, WB-8/8.1, not WB-D

Ivy Matt wrote:The current experiment is not designed to generate electricity from alpha particles and X-rays, nor is it designed to be cycled at 500kHz, as a working reactor would.

Time to pich is already in the 2 microseconds range, plus you should add time to evacuate the chamber and get ready for next shot, so I think that cycle at 500kHz is too much optimistic figure unless they come out with a way to reduce the time to pinch. I think they should be more than happy if they could cycle at 200KHz in the demo. Even slower will anyhow be an incredible feat.

Sorry, that's what I get for relying on memory. A working 5MW reactor is supposed to be cycled at 330Hz. The Hz/kHz confusion was just sheer laziness on my part, but I could have sworn I read somewhere that it was supposed to be 500Hz. *shrug* The patent mentions a pulse rate of 1kHz, and somewhere on the Focus Fusion forums there's a mention of a pulse rate of as much as 1.5kHz.

Oddly enough, according to the patent, the capacitors have a cycle time of 500kHz, but I don't think that's where I got the 500 number from.

Concerning X- rays. I'm not talking about their hopes for capturing x-ray emissions for useful energy. I am talking about Learner's claim that quantum mechanics effects reduces the bremsstrung output with these very strong magnetic fields. I understand that this, along with efficient capture of the x-ray energy that is produced are both required to get over the hump to net useful power.
It should be fairly simple to measure the x-ray dose with their current setup. They could compare this output with classic predictions to hopefully determine the validity of Learner's claim. There should be plenty of x-rays exiting/ penetrating the chamber. Electronic X-ray detection (if they can respond fast enough), or even photographic x-ray badges should serve (provided the predicted x-ray outputs are sufficiently different from classical predictions). If they can demonstrate this with their current setup, it will add to their portfolio that could be used to attract further investment, because less unknown risks would remain.

Dan Tibbets

I'm pretty certain that when I first read the specs on the reactor before it was built, that they planned to do a very careful study of X-ray production. Doesn't make sense not to with the cost of the equipment, to not gather this sort of data.

What I'd love to see is some peer review of the data in 6 months. Even SPESIF in 4 months would be great.

Ivy Matt wrote:Sorry, that's what I get for relying on memory. A working 5MW reactor is supposed to be cycled at 330Hz. The Hz/kHz confusion was just sheer laziness on my part, but I could have sworn I read somewhere that it was supposed to be 500Hz. *shrug* The patent mentions a pulse rate of 1kHz, and somewhere on the Focus Fusion forums there's a mention of a pulse rate of as much as 1.5kHz.

Oddly enough, according to the patent, the capacitors have a cycle time of 500kHz, but I don't think that's where I got the 500 number from.

That's great news. Means you can run a bank of 1,500 thrusters off a single bank of caps.

It looks like EEStor has been working on the production line and as suggested earlier, this together with the delay in getting patents probably explains the delay in the "reveal."

See this patent posted by T Villars (who owns 100,000 shares)
http://theeestory.com/topics/7345

Note the patent was filed in May 2009 and it seems the numbers are from actual practice.

My apologies for changing the subject.

GIThruster wrote:

Ivy Matt wrote:Sorry, that's what I get for relying on memory. A working 5MW reactor is supposed to be cycled at 330Hz. The Hz/kHz confusion was just sheer laziness on my part, but I could have sworn I read somewhere that it was supposed to be 500Hz. *shrug* The patent mentions a pulse rate of 1kHz, and somewhere on the Focus Fusion forums there's a mention of a pulse rate of as much as 1.5kHz.

Oddly enough, according to the patent, the capacitors have a cycle time of 500kHz, but I don't think that's where I got the 500 number from.

That's great news. Means you can run a bank of 1,500 thrusters off a single bank of caps.

They had to turn the pulse rate down in these initial scenarios because of heating issues.

The FF core is quite small in volume and it would not be easy for the helium coolant to remove the heat of pulse rates at 500 hz and above from those tight confines.

Thus the notional 20-35 MW unit became 5 MW... but as was noted above even that would be an amazing feat. A truly world-changing event.