Research Plan
(1) CommentsHow does LPP plan to get to a Focus Fusion reactor? Step by Step.
Today, LPP is only a few major steps away from a working prototype Focus Fusion reactor.
- What is the Focus Fusion research goal?
- What is the history of Focus Fusion research?
- What have experiments demonstrated so far?
- Recent theoretical breakthroughs
- Next Research Steps
What is the Focus Fusion research goal?
The goal is to develop the Focus Fusion Reactor, using a Dense Plasma Focus (“DPF”) device with Hydrogen-Boron Fuel in which a fusion reaction takes place. Unlike conventional approaches to fusion that produce heat and require expensive turbines and generators to produce electricity, the Focus Fusion reactor will generate electricity directly.
What is the history of Focus Fusion research?
Click here for the history page that describes how LPP got to this point.
What have experiments demonstrated so far?
The experiments so far have demonstrated three main things:
- Lerner’s basic theory of the functioning of the plasma focus is valid;
- The plasma focus has achieved the more than one billion degrees needed to burn hydrogen-boron fuel (See: details on the breakthrough and how to meaure a billion degrees);
- the focus can simultaneously achieve densities that are within striking range of that needed for net energy output (click here for details).
Recent theoretical breakthroughs
In 2003 new theoretical work demonstrated that a strong magnetic field effect, known for thirty years but little applied in fusion, could greatly reduce the cooling of the plasmas by x-ray radiation, and thus make it far easier to achieve net energy production. Such strong magnetic fields, millions of times more intense than those produced by the most powerful electromagnets, can be generated briefly by the intense currents in the plasma focus.
Next research steps
Confirming the theoretical model
LPP’s next step is to demonstrate that it can reach high efficiency in transferring energy into the plasmoid (the extremely tiny dense knot of plasma where the fusion reaction occurs). This needs to occur simultaneously with reaching high densities. High efficiency is important, because the more energy gets into the plasmoid, the bigger it is and the more fusion energy will be produced.
LPP has theoretical models to tell it how to get high efficiency, but it needs some small-scale experiments to confirm our ideas. LPP will be using a 0.35 MA DPF (Million Amp Dense Plasma Focus) machine, and changing the shape and size of the electrodes to determine which variation produces higher efficiency. In this way LPP will optimize the dense plasma focus. [Update 12/18/08: 2MA to be used]
These confirmation experiments will be carried out at a collaborating university facility. At the same time LPP will be conducting advanced simulations that will show exactly how the plasmoids form and will help us to interpret and guide the experiments. The simulations will be carried out in collaboration with researchers at George Mason University (“GMU”) and Naval Research Laboratory (“NRL”).
This confirmation phase will take six months to a year and cost about $200,000.
Net Energy Experiment:
Once LPP has completed the experiments to confirm our theoretical model, LPP will be ready for our main, high-current experiments, which will be aimed at achieving net energy - more energy out of the plasma than is put in. This is something that has never been achieved with any fusion device and would demonstrate the feasibility of fusion power. For these experiments LPP will need to build a larger device, capable of reaching 3 MA. (million amps)
Preliminary Setup
For the Net Energy Experiment phase, LPP first needs to assemble the equipment for a net energy device. (This is not the same as a prototype reactor. A net energy device is a laboratory device that will demonstrate that you can get more energy out than you put in. A prototype reactor would convert that energy into electricity and will be developed in the final, Engineering phase of the project).
The necessary equipment includes: capacitors to store the energy, an ultra-fast switch to turn the current on, the vacuum chamber and electrodes, and a significant number of diagnostic instruments. These include x-ray and neutron detectors as well as fast CCD cameras, capable of taking a picture in a few nanoseconds. Total equipment cost is estimated at $360,000.
The calibration and the main experimental work will be carried by a team of two scientists and a technician at a cost of $400,000 per year at prevailing rates.
Once LPP assembles the equipment in a suitable laboratory, probably in New Jersey; LPP will need to test it and then carefully calibrate the instruments. Photomultiplier tubes, for example, which amplify the tiny flashes of light from the oscillator plastics that detect x-rays, are not uniform and their output must be calibrated against each other and standard sources.
At the same time, LPP will be further developing the simulations that will help guide our experiments. These simulations will be conducted by GMU and NRL at a cost of $200,000 per year for wages and institutional overhead.
The final costs for the Net Energy Experiment phase include the costs mentioned, plus overhead. LPP estimates this phase will cost $2,000,000. These costs cover the Experimental Tests and Data Collection (see below).
Experimental Tests and Data Collection
Once this preliminary work is complete, LPP will begin the main experiments. First LPP will do tests with gases that LPP has used before - deuterium and mixtures of helium with deuterium. LPP will measure the amount of fusion energy produced, the strength of the output ion beam, and the amount of x-rays produced. LPP will check the new results at large currents against the results LPP obtained at smaller currents and our theories and simulations. As needed, LPP’ll change the electrodes to optimize efficiency and obtain the highest densities and temperatures. Higher densities and temperatures lead to more fusion energy output.
Once LPP is operating optimally with helium, they’ll introduce a small mixture of decaborane, a hydrogen-boron compound. At this point LPP will start to achieve fusion reactions with hydrogen-boron for the first time.
Finally, as conditions are optimized, LPP will step-by-step increase the hydrogen-boron in the mix until they are running with pure hydrogen-boron and achieving net energy production.
Result Replication
After this decisive stage is achieved they will run further tests to unarguably document that they in fact reached net energy. LPP will publish the results, which will allow others to replicate the results and confirm them.
The Net Energy Experiment phase should take about two years from commencement, which depends on our obtaining funding.
Engineering Research Phase: Developing a functional reactor
This completes the scientific research phase. At this point, LPP will have shown that electrical power can be derived from a fusion reaction and that fusion power is feasible. The only thing remaining is an engineering development phase to convert the laboratory device into a working reactor.
In this phase, over a period of three to five years, working with engineers, LPP would perfect the device, based on existing, proven technology to directly extract the energy from the ion beam and the x-rays emitted by the plasmoid and convert it into electricity. LPP will also perfect the repetitive functioning of the device, which will have to pulse a thousand times a second for a year between replacement of the electrodes.
LPP estimates that this reactor engineering development phase will cost about $20 million dollars. At this stage, these are only rough estimates.
Once a prototype reactor is developed, it will be ready to be licensed to governments and other manufactures around the world for mass production. With mass production, it is expected that the cost of each reactor will be far less than the cost of research funds spent to design the first reactor, and much less than any nuclear, coal, hydro or oil-based power plants currently available.
At that point the Fusion Age will have begun!
The Energy Industry
Is This a Scam?
Comments
For a more in depth discussion, start a thread in the forums.November, 2009. Deuterium pulses begun on Focus-Fusion-1, aka FoFu-1.
Post a Comment