The Focus Fusion Society Forums Lawrenceville Plasma Physics Experiment (LPPX) On the problem of potential boron plating of the beryllium electrodes

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  • #1645
    krikkitz
    Participant

    I’m no engineer. But I have been looking at the properties of both beryllium and decaborane, and considering the reactivity of decaborane, plating seems like it will be a serious issue. The problem as I see it is that if the current simply runs through the fill gas in the vacuum chamber, the boron will plate out at any point where the decaborane comes into contact with the current. That means, long before the filaments reach the anode, boron will have plated out all along the cathode. So I’m wondering if there might be an engineering solution that delivers the gas to the tip of the anode, rather than simply filling the vacuum chamber. If that was possible, then the decaborane might be able to come into contact with the current only as it reaches the tip of the anode, minimizing any chance for it to plate out on the cathodes and providing a greater chance that it will actually be swept up in the filaments as they kink up.

    The only other solution I see is to let it plate out, hope it doesn’t disrupt the filament formation, and then when the resistance to the current becomes too great from deposition, break down the electrodes, melt the beryllium to separate it from the boron, recycle it and start over.

    Am I being too pessimistic, or might there actually be an engineering solution?

    Could it be delivered through the center of the anode? Who cares if boron plates out on the inside of the anode, as long as the outside can still conduct the current sheath …

    #13540
    Francisl
    Participant

    There is a good discussion at this post.

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