Lawaranceville E-Newsletter

Point out news stories, on the net or in mainstream media, related to polywell fusion.

Moderators: tonybarry, MSimon

Post Reply
zapkitty
Posts: 267
Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2010 8:13 pm

Post by zapkitty »

jrvz wrote: High energy particles are deflected by magnetic fields, but in the process they emit synchrontron radiation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchrotron_radiation. These are X or gamma rays, primarily forward along the particle's original path (like headlights). Maybe the resulting radiation dose is too small to require shielding, but I'm surprised the article doesn't even mention it.
Even with energy shields it seems that the hull of the ship (or at least the hab module) will require some passive shielding. My thought was a thin layer of lead backed by boron. It's the only way to be sure :)

The heavy shielding of the storm shelter would be for shield failure during an SPE etc...

... locked-room mystery... power failure in close orbit around Jupiter... the storm shelter will protect you from the Jovian radiation belts... but how do you get out long enough to make repairs and leave orbit?

Brian H
Posts: 105
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2009 8:37 pm
Contact:

Post by Brian H »

zapkitty wrote:
jrvz wrote: High energy particles are deflected by magnetic fields, but in the process they emit synchrontron radiation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchrotron_radiation. These are X or gamma rays, primarily forward along the particle's original path (like headlights). Maybe the resulting radiation dose is too small to require shielding, but I'm surprised the article doesn't even mention it.
Even with energy shields it seems that the hull of the ship (or at least the hab module) will require some passive shielding. My thought was a thin layer of lead backed by boron. It's the only way to be sure :)

The heavy shielding of the storm shelter would be for shield failure during an SPE etc...

... locked-room mystery... power failure in close orbit around Jupiter... the storm shelter will protect you from the Jovian radiation belts... but how do you get out long enough to make repairs and leave orbit?
The short straw system.
Help Keep the Planet Green! Maximize your CO2 and CH4 Output!
Global Warming = More Life. Global Cooling = More Death.

clonan
Posts: 91
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2008 4:16 pm

Post by clonan »

zapkitty wrote: ... locked-room mystery... power failure in close orbit around Jupiter... the storm shelter will protect you from the Jovian radiation belts... but how do you get out long enough to make repairs and leave orbit?
Teleoperated Robots...

Aeronaut
Posts: 58
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2009 11:36 am
Location: West Michigan
Contact:

Post by Aeronaut »

zapkitty wrote:
jrvz wrote:
... locked-room mystery... power failure in close orbit around Jupiter... the storm shelter will protect you from the Jovian radiation belts... but how do you get out long enough to make repairs and leave orbit?
Design with 2 reactors.
The Power To Get Things Done

Skipjack
Posts: 6805
Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:29 pm

Post by Skipjack »

There is another LPP update on Nextbigfuture:
http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/04/lawren ... .html#more
In all three cases, Ti exceeds 40 keV, and in the best shot it exceeds 65 keV. [...]
For comparison, ion energies of around 100 keV will be enough to ignite pB11 fuel, given adequate density
Nothing groundbreakingly new, but they do seem to be making progress.

Aeronaut
Posts: 58
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2009 11:36 am
Location: West Michigan
Contact:

Post by Aeronaut »

Skipjack wrote:There is another LPP update on Nextbigfuture:
http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/04/lawren ... .html#more
In all three cases, Ti exceeds 40 keV, and in the best shot it exceeds 65 keV. [...]
For comparison, ion energies of around 100 keV will be enough to ignite pB11 fuel, given adequate density
Nothing groundbreakingly new, but they do seem to be making progress.
On track, all information good.

LPP's confirming the Texas A&M scaling experiments on a full-sized machine, which now seems to be duplicating the ion temperatures on a little over half the current.

Peak current is directly related to peak field strength and the high magnetic field effect that is expected to keep bremstrahlung in a range we can live with.
The Power To Get Things Done

Betruger
Posts: 2321
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 11:54 am

Post by Betruger »

Good to hear the straight dope from you guys. Hope to hear news by year's end.. Best of luck.

Aeronaut
Posts: 58
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2009 11:36 am
Location: West Michigan
Contact:

Post by Aeronaut »

Betruger wrote:Good to hear the straight dope from you guys. Hope to hear news by year's end.. Best of luck.
Our pleasure, Betruger. We're hoping for one helluva New Year's party around the world this year.
The Power To Get Things Done

Kahuna
Posts: 300
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2009 12:17 pm
Location: CA

Post by Kahuna »

More detail on high-energy ion production and collection/measurment methodology here: http://focusfusion.org/assets/pdf/LPP_TR2_Apr_2010.pdf

KAHUNA

Brian H
Posts: 105
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2009 8:37 pm
Contact:

Post by Brian H »

kurt9 wrote:
Giorgio wrote:I am still convinced that the Polywell has a more sound physics in respect to LPP hypothesis. Yet I have to take my hat off to the accomplishments and openness of LPP people.

They are burning the ground in their experiments, and if Eric Lerner is right they might beat anyone else to accomplish Fusion.
Yes, this is good. It would be kiss-ass if they were sucessful.
:shock: :lol: I HOPE you mean "kick-ass"!! :P
Help Keep the Planet Green! Maximize your CO2 and CH4 Output!
Global Warming = More Life. Global Cooling = More Death.

Brian H
Posts: 105
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2009 8:37 pm
Contact:

New news: 1 MA, Simultaneity, Simulation, etc.

Post by Brian H »

Help Keep the Planet Green! Maximize your CO2 and CH4 Output!
Global Warming = More Life. Global Cooling = More Death.

Skipjack
Posts: 6805
Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:29 pm

Post by Skipjack »

Interesting. I guess they are on track. Though they will have to replace the electrodes, which will - from what I understand- result in a delay?
Still, it is nice to see frequent updates on their research. It makes it much more tangible. I wished we had that frequent updates from Dr. Nebel and co.

Brian H
Posts: 105
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2009 8:37 pm
Contact:

Post by Brian H »

Skipjack wrote:Interesting. I guess they are on track. Though they will have to replace the electrodes, which will - from what I understand- result in a delay?
Still, it is nice to see frequent updates on their research. It makes it much more tangible. I wished we had that frequent updates from Dr. Nebel and co.
AFAIK, the only electrode replacements are those which will be required for different gas mixtures and different energy regimes. The new firing "pins" in the switches are to replace the old standard spark-plugs, which were causing timing problems.
Help Keep the Planet Green! Maximize your CO2 and CH4 Output!
Global Warming = More Life. Global Cooling = More Death.

Skipjack
Posts: 6805
Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:29 pm

Post by Skipjack »

Duh, yeah, sorry, I should not be doing so many things at once. I wanted to say spark plugs. Sigh...

TallDave
Posts: 3140
Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:12 pm
Contact:

Post by TallDave »

clonan wrote:
zapkitty wrote: ... locked-room mystery... power failure in close orbit around Jupiter... the storm shelter will protect you from the Jovian radiation belts... but how do you get out long enough to make repairs and leave orbit?
Teleoperated Robots...
Screw that. I'm in Jovian orbit for the view on my 22nd honeymoon. The septuple-redundant AI systems are taking care of all that crap.


Re Focus Fusion -- Lerner's good at fundraising. I don't believe electrode erosion is going to allow sufficient pulses to get anything like a reactor going.
n*kBolt*Te = B**2/(2*mu0) and B^.25 loss scaling? Or not so much? Hopefully we'll know soon...

Post Reply