[Aeronaut]

I find it interesting that Gates and Obama started actively supporting nuclear about the same time. And we are Nuc 2.0 .

[Aeronaut]

Phil’s Dad wrote:

I heard they’re doing the Christopher Columbus thing…

‘cept this time if they fall off the edge they take us all with them :gulp:

I wonder what the precise meaning of local is in that context? nm? cm? km?

[Aeronaut]

Rezwan wrote: There’s a published article on the effect of cathode structure on neutron yield performance in our very own denseplasmafocus.org website.

The “squirrel cage cathode” is the type with bars/pins/rods, whatever you’re calling them. (Why “squirrel”?)

The rods are more useful than the cylinder for neutron yield. Eric explained this to me using the words “magnetosonic shockwave”.

I am unable to explain this to anyone else, which leads me to conclude that I didn’t fully understand.

The Lee Model (a simplified and much easier to grasp description of how DPFs work) explains the axial phase (runout) as a porous current sheath driving a shock wave ahead of it. The next 4 phases of a cycle deal with radial inward shock wave, it’s reflection when it hits the centerline (more or less), and is then expanded to full width (not quite sure what that is in our squirrel cage, but it sounds like a solid cathode could set up a second reflected shock wave.

Whether the second reflected shock wave would help or hinder the plasmoid is beyond my understanding of these things. in the first three phases, the shock wave jacks the temperature around 2:1…

Hope this helps. And that someone else can make it a little clearer.

[Aeronaut]

Brian H wrote: If you squirt positive ions far, far, away, the electrons are left behind. Everything would become charged, and would assume a maximal dispersion pattern within the spacecraft. If the charge was large enough, it would all fly apart by repulsion.

Electrons don’t like each other very much. ;-P

Speaking of CERN, didja hear they’re likely to make strangelets and annihilate the local cosmos? :grrr:

I heard they’re doing the Christopher Columbus thing…

[Aeronaut]

Brian H wrote: Do the pins not have something to do with the formation of filaments? Perhaps they become disorderly if a cylinder is used, or don’t form at all. (Just a WAG).

The pins would definitely have a lower total inductance than 1 ring, hence faster rise time.

[Aeronaut]

4dpf:

I can see you’re dead serious about this, but lighten up, some, ok?

With all the magnetic fields running around in a DPF to tap, and with frequencies of 1kHz or higher, I’m sure a FF could be designed to operate like an industrial lift truck over a steel floor and/or under a steel ceiling. Go sell one of these cranes and I’ll design it for you.

Also, you show me proof (preferrably in a circuit formula) that mass is a variable, especially an electrically influenced one, and I’ll do handsprings for a month or two. But like both sides in the carbon wars, the friendly folks at CERN can talk all they want. I’m busy with bringing the near future into the world’s focal point.

[Aeronaut]

Yes, that would be interesting. Since it usually happens well within 100nS, and best transfer efficiency I’ve heard of is just over 50% by the Japanese X-ray researchers, this could lead to doubling effective transfer efficiency if it can be made to happen reliably.

[Aeronaut]

Henning wrote: Rezwan reported at Preliminary Evidence of Angular Momentum Effect that a higher current through the angular momentum coil (AMC) disturbs the forming of the initial sheath.

The here discussed ring at the cathode’s base could resolve that issue, enabling the sheath to form more easily although being disturbed by an extra magnetic field.

Glad there’s a view port in that area. Maybe a UV camera could see the sheath forming up?. Another approach to smoothing the sheath formation may be to reduce the number of turns in the coil, and/or using smaller diameter coils. But since that would be a tear-down and reseal operation (ugghhhhhh!), followed by at least a week of new experiments, that would be one of the very last resorts.

I read an abstract last night that some groups design the vacuum chamber as the cathode. Doesn’t seem to be any distinction about where the cathode ends in that case. I’ve also read of at least one group reversing polarity, but that would introduce a host of high voltage hazards if the anode were also the vac chamber wall.

[Aeronaut]

Phil’s Dad wrote: Any sign of FF1 levitating? 😆

Doesn’t look like it was designed to. Maybe FFn will be. :coolsmile:

[Aeronaut]

I think the first thing to remember about the DPF is that it’s a pulsed device with a very short duty cycle. This makes it very good at delivering energy impulses. But Nature keeps precise books, so that longish period between pulses is where I’d expect the space charge from an individual pulse to dissipate (neutralize the ship’s charge to conserve energy).

In an earth-bound machine, I can see magnetic pulses happening fast enough to reduce the apparent weight of the machine, if not actually levitate it. But mass wouldn’t change, and the weight of the fuel consumed in a day won’t be noticeable on even a 10 ton machine.

I have a hunch that the Higgs Bosun and related particles (if they exist and are found) can get you closer to where you’re heading. Good luck- low mass asteroids would be a boon to space travel. Turn the carcass left by the miners into a ship using relatively little new material for the size…

[Aeronaut]

I don’t remember seeing radiators or hearing about it being used as a CH&P Combined Heat & Power plant. It probably is running some type of combined cycle internally.

[Aeronaut]

Sounds like his definition of leading scientists is more in line with Obama’s advisors than the ICC Workshop’s. How’d the presentation go, Eric?

http://www.iccworkshops.org/icc2010/abstract.php?view=145

[Aeronaut]

Short term, this is going to be a very good thing for the world, and we can learn a lot from Bloom’s playbook. How fast they ramp up production and bring the price down (remember there’s a VC and IPO pressures involved) is going to keep this a corporate appliance to reduce energy bills, not eliminate them. So the really important questions are about the Bloom’s economic life, resale value, and scrap value.

The bright side is that they’re giving the world hope that energy costs can be dramatically reduced and distribution can be as local as every home.

Update: These links give a much clearer picture of the energy and VC landscape-

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/top-ten-high-concepts-in-2009/
http://www.gtmresearch.com/report/grid-scale-energy-storage-technologies-and-forecasts-through-2015

Greentech Media seems to be relying heavily on VC industry PR and filings, so we’re under that radar. They also mention that Silence As A Business seems to have been mastered by 2 VC firms.

Bottom line seems to be that the Bloom Box is more efficient on a grid scale since it bypasses the steam cycle. It still makes ~1,000 C temperatures, and nobody seems to be talking local energy efficiency or actual CO2 output. The financial breakeven is also far longer than we project for FoFu2. As you read through the bottom link you’re going to see all sorts of markets for FF to shore up the grid.

The rollout is what’s really impressive on the Bloom Box.

[Aeronaut]

Aren’t we already subsidizing CO2 production by funding projects with long-term payoff projections instead of diligently seeking out alternatives? After all, it’s not like Eric and Aaron just arrived on the fusion scene and are still wet behind the ears. Can’t wait for the world’s collective gasp when we get readily repeatable, unquestionable unity and then follow it with rapid yield gains.

[Aeronaut]

Brian H wrote:

I do have one small problem with the phrase “harnessing ( or leveraging ) plasma instabilities”. To my mind “instability” connotes a random, uncontrollable process, and focus fusion is hardly that. Instability is what is plaguing the ITER project.

The plasma focus works as it does because it exploits the inherent properties of the electromagnetic force to control the plasma. It expresses the jujitsu of physics, whereas the tokomak represents the brute force approach.

Perhaps this is a small point, but the impression I get of “working with instabilities” is nowhere near as positive as “harnessing the electromagnetic force”. Compare the image of trying to maintain order at a day care center with that of controlling a lightning strike.

TCG

The science of “instabilities” is probably too important to abandon. Perhaps changing the phrasing to “exploiting instabilities and their power” would come closer to how the “pinch” is used to hyper-compress the plasma.

Tough call, indeed. I always thought the X-ray picture looked and acted a lot like water spiraling down a drain. Sure it can be called an instability, but its all part of the plan. Might want to emphasize that the Blake coil pretty much eliminates the shot to shot variations of other DPFs, which means unmatched precision.

We also have detailed formulae and experimental evidence (in either technical paper, preferably the second one) that reinforces the control aspects.

[Author]

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