from confinement to ignition to (continuous?) burn
Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:59 am
on transitioning from confinement to ignition to (continuous?) burn:
can anyone explain to me, what the current plan is to achieve 'ignition' and 'sustained' fusion in the WB, and what happens to our containment model once these states obtain?
Just as some background, Ive been reading through 'Aneutronic fusion in a degenerate plasma' - S. Son ., N.J. Fisch, 2004. ( http://w3.pppl.gov/~fisch/fischpapers/2 ... PLA_04.pdf ). This paper seems 'kinder' to the idea that IEC is capable of achieving ignition than Rider (who we largely seem to have discredited), and likewise favours p-B fuel regime; nevertheless, it puts some pretty 'mean' constraints on what must be physically established (in terms of density, relative velocity of ions and electrons, and thermalisation), in order to get where we want to be and sustain it. Overall, its conclusions are still pessimistic.
On a more simplistic level, i am really wondering what stops the core (or the well) simply 'blowing out' as soon as any appreciable fusion starts happening. Also, how our confinement recipe copes with intermediate and final products.
can anyone provide a clear picture of how the WB should behave through these phases?
thanks for any insight...
can anyone explain to me, what the current plan is to achieve 'ignition' and 'sustained' fusion in the WB, and what happens to our containment model once these states obtain?
Just as some background, Ive been reading through 'Aneutronic fusion in a degenerate plasma' - S. Son ., N.J. Fisch, 2004. ( http://w3.pppl.gov/~fisch/fischpapers/2 ... PLA_04.pdf ). This paper seems 'kinder' to the idea that IEC is capable of achieving ignition than Rider (who we largely seem to have discredited), and likewise favours p-B fuel regime; nevertheless, it puts some pretty 'mean' constraints on what must be physically established (in terms of density, relative velocity of ions and electrons, and thermalisation), in order to get where we want to be and sustain it. Overall, its conclusions are still pessimistic.
On a more simplistic level, i am really wondering what stops the core (or the well) simply 'blowing out' as soon as any appreciable fusion starts happening. Also, how our confinement recipe copes with intermediate and final products.
can anyone provide a clear picture of how the WB should behave through these phases?
thanks for any insight...