Posted on 09/02/2016 10:59:03 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Fusion energy has long been heralded as the power-supply of the future, but the sad joke is, it always will be. The experimental energy source is perennially 30 years away from being viable on a mass-scale.
...
Conventional tokamaks are shaped like a donut, but recent design improvements have led to the creation of spherical tokamaks, which are shaped more like a cored apple and are able to generate magnetic fields to produce high-pressure plasma in a more energy- and cost-effective manner.
The two most advanced spherical tokamaks on Earth are the UKs soon-to-be-completed Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST) and the National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab (PPPL), which came online last year. As PPPL physicists demonstrated in their recent paper in Nuclear Fusion,the spherical tokamak design is a leading candidate for the creation of a fusion nuclear science facility (FNSF), which would bridge the gap between ITER, which will be the worlds largest nuclear fusion experiment when it comes online in a few years, and a commercially viable nuclear fusion power plant.
For starters, the particles in the superhot plasma created in the tokamak are very turbulent, as a result of the magnetic field used to contain them. So figuring out a way to channel them around the tokamak more effectively is key. Physicists also must experiment with the materials used to build the walls of the tokamak to ensure the purity of the plasma particles which will inevitably interact with it.
Another key design consideration for a pilot FNSF would be replacing the large copper magnet coils used by conventional tokamaks by superconducting magnets which can generate higher magnetic fields while requiring less power to cool them.
(Excerpt) Read more at motherboard.vice.com ...
So much energy in the universe and we can’t harness it!
Ramparts!! :)
The phrase “star in a jar” reminds me of that old cold fusion fiasco back in the day.
I gather this isn’t that.
That’s a torus!
I’m still waiting for my flying car. But a Mr. Fusion would be nice, too.
No, this is hot fusion.
“Fiasco” is an interesting term. Pons and Fleischman found something difficult to explain, and even harder to replicate. Fusion? Maybe not. But something...
Small, fourth generation fission plants are more than enough to generate all the power we need for civilian activities. They’re cheap and safe, and we should build them by the thousands.
Fusion, if we can ever do it in a controlled fashion, is too much power for civilian use.
But it’s perfect for weapons.
Those are called H-Bommbs!
Yeah, how do you keep the star in the jar?
Inertial electrostatic confinement. The concept was discovered over a century ago.
A fusion reaction in a bell jar. The trick is the energy conversion, and energy gain.
I did some experiments with this process about 20 years ago.
To be commercially viable, the energy gain would have to be at least 20 to 1.
The process would produce fast neutrons, a lot of x-rays, and a helium daughter product.
The key will be direct conversion of reaction to electric potential.
Think of a diode vacuum tube with a nuclear powered cathode, with a fusion powered supply of electrons.
Lord knows that old Ben is not a scientist of any sort, but wouldn’t fast neutrons and x-rays be dangerous?
Doctor Who probably has a handheld version in a coat pocket.
The islam-a-Nazis are thinking about how to put a RPG or a TOW into one of those.
We've owned 2 of those, they're good cars.
Yes, extremely dangerous. Lots of heavy shielding combined with religious dosimetry measurements hopefully kept the nuclear genie in the bottle.
"Ceterum censeo Hillary esse delendam."
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
The good news is the Star in the Jar is just 20 years away. /s
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