Reply To: would nuclear energy really be accessible to all?

[Allan Brewer]

Could we do some clarification as to where the heat actually arises in the FF device because there seem to be some diverging statements:

(1) ELECTRODE RESISTANCE Some of the postings refer to the resistance in the surface layer of the anode, and I assume here we are addressing the simple electrical resistance in the anode to the 100KJoule input to initiate the pinch. “The current flows through a thin surface layer & hence all the resistive heating is concentrated there” What about the cathodes – will there not also be resistive heating there? – Can we cool those? – are they thick enough for Helium flow?

(2) ELECTRON EXIT BEAM Then some of the postings refer to the electron exit beam from the plasmoid ( “so it is more about the electron exit beam, that strikes the dimple in the anode“). But Eric in the thread about the anode said “We hope that when the DPF is optimized almost all of the e-beam energy will be deposited in the plasmoid, leaving very little in the exiting beam.“. So perhaps that would not be a major source of heat? And indeed there are ideas for extracting that energy (“This is quite a big area (referring to the target for the e-beam) – so I would think if the it were replaced by a fine mesh, rather than a simple hole, that let most of the electrons pass through to another small chamber behind the anode, they could be slowed down as you describe (extracting their energy in the process). “

(3) PLASMOID Does the plasmoid itself radiate heat to all adjacent parts of the device? – presumably depending on temperature, surface area and lifetime of the plasmoid?

(4) CAPACITORS We know there will be resistive heating in the capacitors, which can be addressed by water cooling.

Could our engineers and physicists assign rough percentages as to which of the above sources (or others) gives us the “4-8 MWatts ” of inefficiency heat??
(Apologies if I have misrepresented anybody)