Reply To: p-Li7 fusion

[Aeronaut]

dash wrote:

I began understanding FF as a series of electromagnets that culminate in (hopefully) around 12 GG, stronger than any other fusion reactor’s field. But the only way to get there is to dump around 2-3MA into the anode for that brief 10pS(?) of every cycle. More input current means more energy gets transferred into the plasmoid.

I’m hearing that the period of current flow is so brief that no physical spinning fan-type insulator could actually serve.

However I want to make sure I’m understanding this. Are you saying 10pS (10 picoseconds) of current must flow each cycle? Let’s examine that.

1 picosecond is 1/1000th of a nanosecond. According to wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picosecond light travels 1mm in 3.3 picoseconds (but it’s a simple calculation anyway). So in 10pS light can travel 3mm. Is this the size of the focus fusion pinching involved?

It’s like the whole thing can fit inside an almond.

-Dave

Dave, I’m guessing at the runout timeframe (the plasma sheaths traveling up the anode). That’s sure to be studied and maybe tweaked in the next year or so.

What’s really easy to miss in this machine is how fast everything happens and that the plasmoid is measured in microns. (!) When you stop to think about it, a smaller plasmoid is easier to compress. As long as it encapsulates enough fuel to get the desired energy output per pulse, we should be good(er) to go. A large, low density plasma (and electromagnets) are some of ITER’s major challenges.