Fusion Power

[Spinward Flow]

 

[mike wightman]

This one actually looks like it may work.

 

[acgetchell]

And half of it is a plasma gun!

 

[Spinward Flow]

And half of it is a plasma gun!

Actually ... it's TWO plasma guns ... to make a (pulsed) fusion reactor!

My favorite thing about this report is that the "light of fusion" happening inside the machine ... is PINK!

 

[aramis]

This one actually looks like it may work.

Not for power production...
It produces a 5-10 msec pulse, and then takes half an hour to an hour to reset... for about 0.5 kWH generated plasma- conversion of plasma to electricity is about 20% efficient, so it's not even close to useful

Also, noting from Dr. Rebeca Smethers, the "ignition" is quoted as energy out vs energy in from/to the capsule, not to the lasers... which said, the lasers are about 10% efficiency... so the output of 2× laser energy input is only 0.2× the cost to fuse, and given a potential of 50% recovery (not yet demonstrable) maybe 0.1, that is, 10%, of the outside energy cost.

Meanwhile, tokamaks are showing a 0.9 release/generation AND sustained (5 sec, vs LICF's under 10 msec); further, the current larger generation of tokamaks are more efficient than smaller ones, on a clear trajectory - The Tokamaks are using total energy input to the tokamak, not energy input to the plasma by the tokamak.

 

[Spinward Flow]

It produces a 5-10 msec pulse, and then takes half an hour to an hour to reset... for about 0.5 kWH generated plasma- conversion of plasma to electricity is about 20% efficient, so it's not even close to useful

Uh ... research prototype utilizing engineering that no one else in history has ever tried to do before ...?

Also, they found out with the current prototype that reality isn't exactly matching what their modeling suggested, so they're moving onto the next iteration about (25% larger) to take care of some of the confinement issues and efficiency problems that have cropped up in the design of their 7th generation prototype shown in the video. They're also moving into new manufacturing techniques for engineering of capacitor banks to make the whole thing work much more efficiently and increase the operational tempo.

So plenty of research and development yet to do, but the Helion design is looking mighty promising.

Also, noting from Dr. Rebeca Smethers, the "ignition" is quoted as energy out vs energy in from/to the capsule, not to the lasers... which said, the lasers are about 10% efficiency... so the output of 2× laser energy input is only 0.2× the cost to fuse, and given a potential of 50% recovery (not yet demonstrable) maybe 0.1, that is, 10%, of the outside energy cost.

Yeah, that's the laser fusion IGNITION announcement that was all the rage this past week or so.
And I'm pretty sure you're referring to ... this ...

Meanwhile, tokamaks are showing a 0.9 release/generation AND sustained (5 sec, vs LICF's under 10 msec); further, the current larger generation of tokamaks are more efficient than smaller ones, on a clear trajectory - The Tokamaks are using total energy input to the tokamak, not energy input to the plasma by the tokamak.

Are you SURE ABOUT THAT CHIEF ...?

 

[aramis]

Fusion of either kind has the recapture issue.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Things are looking promising over at Helion ...

 

[whartung]

Just waiting for my home model. I eat enough bananas weekly that I don't think I'll have a problem fueling it.