Polywell In Space? NASA funding?
Polywell In Space? NASA funding?
Engineering is the art of making what you want from what you can get at a profit.
EPRI has a history with Bussard and Polywell --NASA/JSC intends to purchase research and development services from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) for a continuation of an aneutronic fusion research project currently being conducted at the Johnson Space Center.
EPRI Contract RP8012-16
EPRI TR-103394s
But, they also have a history with LENR research, some of which has gone under the name of "aneutronic fusion".
This could also be related to Slough's FRC or Miley's IEC work. Probably Slough, since it comes so soon after he won a NIAC Phase II contract.
EPRI has pre-existing knowledge and intrinsic insight into the research and development of the existing project for aneutronic fusion power for spacecraft applications.
Whoa.The Government intends to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12.
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Plasma Fusion (Polywell) 0634201N And what exactly does TRL 2-3 entail beside testing a unit
I also find it interesting both of these items are in the same section of the comptrollers report and are sequential line items
Hybrid Electric Drive System Development for Surface Combatants 0634202N
But of course I could be wrong
I also find it interesting both of these items are in the same section of the comptrollers report and are sequential line items
Hybrid Electric Drive System Development for Surface Combatants 0634202N
But of course I could be wrong
They are not related.paperburn1 wrote:Plasma Fusion (Polywell) 0634201N And what exactly does TRL 2-3 entail beside testing a unit
I also find it interesting both of these items are in the same section of the comptrollers report and are sequential line items
Hybrid Electric Drive System Development for Surface Combatants 0634202N
But of course I could be wrong
The development of atomic power, though it could confer unimaginable blessings on mankind, is something that is dreaded by the owners of coal mines and oil wells. (Hazlitt)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)
Couldn't find any fusion propulsion research that's been conducted at Johnson. I did find this recent American Nuclear Society conference agenda chaired by John Scott from Johnson with links to familiar aneutronic fusion research (Miley, Chapman, Project Icarus):
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=ca ... yR-U0ngQeg
Not familiar with the research by Sedwick at Maryland though. Has John Scott headed up any previous fusion research?
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=ca ... yR-U0ngQeg
Not familiar with the research by Sedwick at Maryland though. Has John Scott headed up any previous fusion research?
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I know but I want them to be so badlyladajo wrote:They are not related.paperburn1 wrote:Plasma Fusion (Polywell) 0634201N And what exactly does TRL 2-3 entail beside testing a unit
I also find it interesting both of these items are in the same section of the comptrollers report and are sequential line items
Hybrid Electric Drive System Development for Surface Combatants 0634202N
But of course I could be wrong
Give it time.
The navy is pressing ahead with Electric Ship. Sooner or later the power source will catch up.
The navy is pressing ahead with Electric Ship. Sooner or later the power source will catch up.
The development of atomic power, though it could confer unimaginable blessings on mankind, is something that is dreaded by the owners of coal mines and oil wells. (Hazlitt)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)
This is more about reducing the Isp (increasing the thrust) of an aneutronic fusion propulsor than it is about the reactor itself. Seems like Miley's IEC is just being used as a 'pathfinder' source of fast ions. What they are proposing also seems applicable if Polywell, Slough's FRC, or some other aneutronic reactor produces the fast ion beam (or pulses).alexjrgreen wrote:http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/637127main_Tard ... tation.pdf
The double connection to Houston (U. Houston and NASA JSC) in alexjrgreen's link, combined with JSC being the contracting office for Solicitation Number NNJ12440017Q, probably clinches this as part of the Tarditi/Miley/Scott effort.
Good news. The practical aspects of interfacing an aneutronic fusion reactor to higher-thrust propulsion are being actively studied.
Superficially, Fast-to-Slow Bunch Energy Exchange looks more like Bussard's high-Isp/low-thrust QED-DFP (Quiet Electric Discharge - Diluted Fusion Product) than his low-Isp/high-thrust QED-ARC (Quiet Electric Discharge - All Regeneratively Cooled, relativistic e-beam heating), but the whole point of their approach is to reduce Isp and increase thrust.
Maybe another contender for SSTO propulsion? Isp of 10^4 s is only about one order of magnitude greater than that needed for SSTO, and they are claiming at least a 2 order of magnitude reduction from 10^6 s.
Now that might work.
Isp = 10,000 seconds gives Ve= 98100 m/s so let the SSTO produce 6 MN of thrust gives a mass flow, mdot = 61.16 kg/s, with engines burning for 600 seconds to reach orbit at 9.2 km/s. I calculate MR = 1.09832 and reaction mass (fuel) expended is about 36.7 tonnes.
So given an SSTO massing 373 tonnes at launch and 340 tonnes at LEO those numbers might work.
Isp = 10,000 seconds gives Ve= 98100 m/s so let the SSTO produce 6 MN of thrust gives a mass flow, mdot = 61.16 kg/s, with engines burning for 600 seconds to reach orbit at 9.2 km/s. I calculate MR = 1.09832 and reaction mass (fuel) expended is about 36.7 tonnes.
So given an SSTO massing 373 tonnes at launch and 340 tonnes at LEO those numbers might work.
Aero
It pretty much already has. The LM2500 is a fairly reliable and efficient gas turbine as long as it is running at near full capacity. So if they have electric drive, they can run both props at half power with one turbine rather than two turbines at an inefficient 1/2 power each.ladajo wrote:Give it time.
The navy is pressing ahead with Electric Ship. Sooner or later the power source will catch up.