[Tim1]

I think that the problem is that tungsten oxidizes in air. You would have to bake it in an inert atmosphere and keep it in one until it is in the vacuum chamber. The assembly has parts that can’t be baked and assembly is to complicated to do in a glove box or similar device.

In a few months they should be switching to a beryllium electrode that won’t have as much of a problem with oxides.

[Tim1]

Thanks. The “recent topics” link looks like what I wanted. It may help to add a login button next to the notice that you have to be logged in to post replies. Also I think there may be a broken image link just under the logo on the top of the page. It looks like it’s a link to the first image in a set of images. It might be associated with something called “new-wallpage02”

Great work!

[Tim1]

On the old site I was able to get a list of the most recent posts. How can I do this on the new one?

[Tim1]

The momentum provided by the earth’s magnetic field was just a bit of luck that helped LPF understand how to make things work. Today they have a small electromagnetic coil to supplement the earth’s magnetic field.

In deep space, the coil could provide the full magnetic field.

[Tim1]

In the earth’s crust, beryllium is about as abundant as copper and more abundant than lead. The reason that it is hard to source is that it is not used much commercially. If there is a large scale demand for it, the sourcing problem will disappear. It will probably be more expensive than copper or lead though. There is a nice chart showing the relative abundances of elements in the earth crust at Wikimedia.

[Tim1]

Eric Lerner has a paper here. Nothing really new about the experiment, but a couple of slides about potential applications that I had not seen before.

[Tim1]

Instead of “replace[ing] the vacuum chambers inner surface with titanium,” could you try lining the inner surface with titanium foil?

This would let you get some data on the new tungsten electrodes while you research the coating at your leisure. You could also try both titanium and titanium nitride. Any idea how many joules are transferred to the surface each shot?

[Tim1]

I was wondering if any Nitrogen showed up in the optical spectra from the Focus Fusion shots. The cathode wasn’t quite as dense as tungsten. Could air or some other gas be trapped in voids left from the sintering process? Could this explain the pressure pops after firing?

[Tim1]

Most of the information from the newsletter has been posted at:
http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/04/lpp-fusions-tungsten-cathode-already.html

[Tim1]

Since a beryllium cathode is in the works, what will we learn from the tungsten cathode that we won’t know from the beryllium cathode? (And anode.)

[Tim1]

Andrew Palfreyman wrote: So sorry to hear about the cathode assembly troubles. Deepest sympathies.

For those of you who don’t get the newsletter. (Maybe only investors?) The cathode had a lower strength than expected and developed (micro?) cracks. It sounds like they have a fix, so it doesn’t sound like a real setback.

I am a bit confused about the information contained in the newsletter. I think I saw it posted on nextbigfuture.com the day the newsletter was emailed once. Should it be embargoed until it is posted on the LPPF site, or should it be available immediately after it is sent?

[Tim1]

Would a cold plate, possibly a cylinder just beyond the anode be used to collect most of the boron?

[Tim1]

Thanks. The article covers most everyone except LPP as alternatives to the over priced IETR. LPP was mentioned in the comments. There was nothing that explained why Q should be limited in p-B11 fusion. Happily, it looks like Focus Fusion works with a Q of less than 2. If we got 3 or 4 things will be great.

[Tim1]

Could you post a link to NatureNews so we can get some context. Also I don’t understand why there would be a maximum ideal Q. Wouldn’t higher Q always be better? I would expect people to talk about a minimum Q that will allow one to get back enough energy to power the next pulse in addition to provide a reasonable output. Focus Fusion has the ability to be viable at relatively low Q because it gets its energy back as electricity rather than heat so that it can avoid Carnot cycle losses.

[Tim1]

Di Vita wrote:
Inclusion of berillium coating in future Plasma Focus is far from trivial: costs may be skyrocketing.

They aren’t coating anything, it’s solid beryllium. It’s use is necessary to prevent X-ray absorption. It requires special precautions, but there are a number of companies in the nuclear and aerospace industry that have the technology.

[Author]

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