Aeronaut
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Aeronaut
ParticipantTidal surge, no doubt. Its going to leave a lot of wreckage in the process of sorting out the real companies.
ParticipantTulse, as a Navy vet, I can see them approaching FF like a diesel engine- to power backup generators or small boats, for instance. Ship engines have traditionally required a certain size and “wow” factor to be credible. ‘Sides, you saw how they tried to lock up all experimental data and sort of imply that the theory can be classified. I say sell it to the military just like a diesel engine- particularly the intellectual property rights!
Dennis, I like the related apps & solutions bubble scenario. Fits the dot com bubble to a tee, and it’s been long enough ago to repeat.
ParticipantAny way you slice it, military funding= classified information, proof of competitive advantage that we would have sold on the cheap. They seem to like polywell for its scalability.
Once aneutronic fusion is proven, I’m assuming that several groups are going to want alternative reactor designs like PW and CBFR for their own niches and other reasons. Put another way, would somebody else’s success end my involvement with FF? No. It’d be further proof that aneutronic does work!
ParticipantBig Science is funded by an attitude that I refer to as the “Popular Science” and “Popular Mechanics” objectives. The common copy writing theme seems to always include the phrase “May one day provide a solution”. Never anything aimed at short-term, results-oriented developments in a field. Wesley coined a great phrase in the FB discussions today, referring to the coming rout of 2010.
ParticipantThe US Navy is already backing Polywell, which may actually be better suited for their needs. If we supply the US military, I’d be betting on the Army and Air Force, with the Marines as a relatively small player due to their rapid movements and smaller overall number of bases. Taken as a group, the US government, embassies, and military bases could power a lot of the developing world (including the US) with a “good enough” shield (not quite below background radiation) so it, the switching gear, and a transmission transformer might fit in a 40′ shipping container. Burying the containers would limit neutron exposure to perhaps 90 degrees or less with very little effort.
ParticipantAre there any realistic options such as perhaps diamond switches that could handle the load in a single unit or at most 4 switching units per capacitor? Also, what are the odds of the present switching technology becoming reliable right out of the box? I can’t help but believe that the switching and capacitor industries are way overdue for a Six Sigma grade rude awakening.
Participantrashidas wrote: Has anyone come up with cost estimates or budgets of a proposed FF power plant? How much would the capital cost and operating costs be for starting such a plant from scratch? Can an existing power plant be modified using aneutronic technology? Remember no matter how environmental attractive focus fusion might be it has to compete in the real world with existing energy prodcution facilities.
LPP’s lab can be cloned and staffed for less than $1M/yr, reinforcing estimates of $200k to $300k to manufacture but not ship a FF system. Installed price is to be at or below $1M installed and presumably commissioned (operating) in return for 5MW to 20MW per unit. This should make it a no-brainer, even if a quarterly core-swap overhaul model costs $4M annually.
Ideal locations are in former factories since they’re so close to existing regional transmission lines, which a FF power plant can effectively double the number of by splicing a Tee into each and every one of them. Other ideal locations are french fry crinkling factories and any place with gas pumps, a huge energy bill to whip into shape, and the associated EPA regulatory exposure, which I expect pending legislation to make even more expensive.
ParticipantThanx for the link, PM. I’d missed that thread somehow. Probably for the better. I’ll look into re-writing the About page with an emphasis on how FF can solve nearly all of the government’s “impossible dreams” – and the overwhelming tax advantages of doing so before those loopholes disappear.
Welcome to the 21st Century, round 2 of the American Century. AKA the 3rd Industrial Revolution.
ParticipantMichigan’s energy policy is closely aligned with Washington’s (sound like a puppet government?). We have a State mandate to produce a certain percentage from “renewable sources” which I believe is ambitious relative to most states and has bleak prospects without FF production absorbing the jobs and capital which I believe these programs were meant to create in solar, wind, and possibly the continental grid.
Further, I believe that attempting to pass legislation is putting the cart before the horse. When a million FFs are pre-sold- with or without confirmation by Big Science- enough political influence will appear “as if by magic” to grease the enabling regulatory legislation.
In graphic terms, who (that wants to get re-elected) could vote against giving his or her constituency a decided energy price advantage, fleeting as it may be with FF in full production by a horizontally and vertically integrated research, sales, service, and marketing company?
ParticipantWombat wrote: This may be a dumb question but that’s never stopped me before…
Will the eventual power output of the finished reactor be continuous, or will it be pulsed?
I’ve never let it stop me, either, Wombat. The power will be produced in pulses and can be used in that form (synchronized to a local motor or to the national grid, for instance) or it can appear constant using a diode and capacitor arrangement like a DC power supply.
ParticipantGood points. I’m still learning FB as I go, but I’ve seen some really wicked layouts on one of my local TV station’s FB site. Sounds like bringing in business-oriented visitors could really help with the story idea, since the format vaguely resembles that already.
ParticipantBreakable wrote: Great news everyone. Rezwan promised to put attribution license on the gallery, so everyone can share images on Wikipedia. I will get to it eventually, but meanwhile everyone will be able to do it as well.
That’s great news! I take it the license is for use in more than Wikipedia?
ParticipantVery well said, as always, Patientman. What would you suggest for our FaceBook page and its discussions?
ParticipantDreamstime, Fotalia, and Istockphoto are all far more reasonably priced than Getty. Just be sure to read the licensing details. I don’t remember anything about non-profit, but there is a commercial use definition that determines price per image for some uses.
ParticipantWhy not wait 1 year and see if we can build a plasma torch? The 50 years or so approach rightfully belongs to the modular reactor design over at Babcock & Wilcox. I suspect that Hyperion also involves the postpone strategy.
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