Any News about Polywell ?

TallDave · Post by **TallDave** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 5:16 pm

I think Aero has it right -- enough of the basics are out there that private fusion would be fait accompli pretty quick. And the Navy knows that too.

OTOH, we don't yet know enough to say whether a functional PW reactor is really going to be competitive with an LWR. We can certainly hope. It's also possible it will have some military advantages that don't translate into commercial viability.

GIThruster · Post by **GIThruster** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 5:28 pm

TallDave wrote:It's also possible it will have some military advantages that don't translate into commercial viability.

You mean like a particle cannon?

MSimon · Post by **MSimon** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 6:22 pm

GIThruster wrote:
TallDave wrote:It's also possible it will have some military advantages that don't translate into commercial viability.
You mean like a particle cannon?

How about 1,000 ton (weight of cargo) aircraft capable of water takeoff and 250 mph cruising speed? You are looking at 12 or so hours across the Atlantic about 24 hours across the Pacific. Build a fleet of 100 and amortize their costs by using them for commercial cargo in peacetime. Operational reserve.

Maybe a ground effect machine.

jsbiff · Post by **jsbiff** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 7:43 pm

MSimon wrote:
GIThruster wrote:
TallDave wrote:It's also possible it will have some military advantages that don't translate into commercial viability.
You mean like a particle cannon?
How about 1,000 ton (weight of cargo) aircraft capable of water takeoff and 250 mph cruising speed?

How about aircraft (like bombers or something) which could have sleeping quarters, and staffed by 2 or 3 sets of crew (which would fly the craft on shifts), which doesn't need to land except maybe once every six months (like they do with submarines, I think) to swap crews (and do any maintenance necessary)? Or, perhaps unmanned drones which only need to land to get more ordinance (well, ok, PW still might be too big/heavy for a Predator)?

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I'm thinking a (relatively) small/lightweight fusion reactor could lead to aircraft which don't need to be refueled often(?), so they could stay in flight over (or near) countries like N. Korea or Iran, at the ready should we need to attack targets in the country?

CaptainBeowulf · Post by **CaptainBeowulf** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 8:45 pm

Sounds a bit like this stuff:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_aircraft

KitemanSA · Post by **KitemanSA** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 2:17 am

GIThruster wrote:That's a decision subject to executive authority, which means it will probably stay as a trade secret, like 40 years of US rocket science, until some foreign power offers the DNC $40 million in campaign contributions for it.

And keeping rocket science a "trade secret" as you say sure did wonders for US rocketry. It took us from a 2 horse race in the early 60s to a 12ish horse race and corraled US companies (until quite recently) into the "government services" business model.

KitemanSA · Post by **KitemanSA** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 2:19 am

MSimon wrote: Maybe a ground effect machine.

Unhh... "wing in ground effect" or just ground effect?

TallDave · Post by **TallDave** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 3:21 am

Heh. I was just thinking specific impulse and refuelling (a carrier could run forever if it can extract D from seawater and fuse it).

If it has power density too, then it is probably commercial.

MSimon · Post by **MSimon** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 4:18 am

Navy schedule for submarine Gold Crew:

1 month at sea, 1 month training, 1 month getting the ship ready for deployment.

Blue Crew does the same. So the submarine is on active patrol 1/3 rd of the time and each crew is ashore 4 months out of 6.

Aircraft would probably do something similar for military work.

===

Wing + ground effect.

DeltaV · Post by **DeltaV** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 4:22 am

KitemanSA wrote:
MSimon wrote: Maybe a ground effect machine.
Unhh... "wing in ground effect" or just ground effect?

Ekranoplan!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lun-class_ekranoplan

ladajo · Post by **ladajo** » Fri Jul 09, 2010 3:36 pm

You have got to love the launchers on top. Photos like these helped fund the Aegis program.

I think a better use of Polywell would be a type of super-hydro foil class warship. Lots of possibilities with that.

cuddihy · Post by **cuddihy** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 3:14 am

I think we all know the best use of polywell is SSTO earth-orbit launcher with high mass fraction. Just sayin'

Enginerd · Post by **Enginerd** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 6:31 am

cuddihy wrote:I think we all know the best use of polywell is SSTO earth-orbit launcher with high mass fraction. Just sayin'

I think we all know the best use of polywell is building power plants so we can have energy to power civilization without burning coal, buying oil from despots in the Middle East and South America, and making a mess drilling for oil in places like the Gulf of Mexico...
We can build rockets later. Just sayin'

Solo · Post by **Solo** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 7:33 am

I think we all know the best use of a polywell is a paperweight .... unless we find out that it works!

Enough speculation guys, this is a news thread!

sd_matt · Post by **sd_matt** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 7:45 pm

To sum it up. If we hear nothing and can't account for the EMC2 staff and then other countries start their own PWRs then high chance it works.