Fuse me Already, I'm tired of Waiting.

Doer

Well-Known Member
Neutron flux is the problem. And Lockheed has decided to give up on cladding against it and goes with absorbing the flux and re-using the heat, to keep the fusion temperatures up.



The Compact Fusion reactor makes use of a magnetic bottle created by superconducting magnets to contain the temperatures that can reach hundreds of millions of degrees. This magnetic bottle can then release some of the heat so that it can be used for power generation. - See more at: http://www.eweek.com/news/lockheed-martin-claims-sustainable-fusion-is-within-its-grasp.html#sthash.Ulz8xSJR.dpuf
 

insidagain

Well-Known Member
Neutron flux is the problem. And Lockheed has decided to give up on cladding against it and goes with absorbing the flux and re-using the heat, to keep the fusion temperatures up.



The Compact Fusion reactor makes use of a magnetic bottle created by superconducting magnets to contain the temperatures that can reach hundreds of millions of degrees. This magnetic bottle can then release some of the heat so that it can be used for power generation. - See more at: http://www.eweek.com/news/lockheed-martin-claims-sustainable-fusion-is-within-its-grasp.html#sthash.Ulz8xSJR.dpuf
A very interesting article Doer, I have to wonder how the"bottle" would be cooled other than releasing the thermal heat for energy, without a meltdown. Thoughts?
 
The implications are mind-blowing. Just mind-blowing. Travel to Mars in a month? Ships and aircraft with unlimited range? Not to mention all the other neat stuff we can do with lots of cheap energy. This could change the world. Not like Facebook, either. Imagine indoor pot gardens producing pounds for a few dollars a month. Go, Skunk Works! Let's hear it for Skunk!
 

Doer

Well-Known Member
A very interesting article Doer, I have to wonder how the"bottle" would be cooled other than releasing the thermal heat for energy, without a meltdown. Thoughts?
The problem is not the heat. It is neutron flux ablation. Seems, there is no cladding that is proof against neutron bombardment at these energies. Bummer. So, just like re-entry from earth orbit, the compromise is to burn off material, ie to ablate it.

Ablation is a waste of everything. And in a Fusion reactor, it the main problem of sustaining fusion at a net return of energy.

And who knows why this was not in the cards before? But I am guessing advances in material science. So, the idea here, and I hope it works, is to have a material that absorbs the neutrons and does not reflect them and screw up the fusion process. And it does not waste away, from the nuetron flux, atomic sandblasting. It absorbs neutrons and just heats up.
Say what? :) Here is the problem.

You must maintain a deep vacuum. But, in that deep vacuum you are burning the cladding material in neutron fire and ruining your vacuum. You are adding gas material where you can't have it, unlike space re-entry where it doesn't matter.

So, you basically now have a way to keep your generator from burning up inside, and losing the fusion charge. And at the same time, you have a way to drain off the excess heat in a liquid sodium heat exchange loop and do some real work, like generating more energy than the device consumes, and it can run for years.
 
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heckler73

Well-Known Member
And who knows why this was not in the cards before? But I am guessing advances in material science. So, the idea here, and I hope it works, is to have a material that absorbs the neutrons and does not reflect them and screw up the fusion process. And it does not waste away, from the nuetron flux, atomic sandblasting. It absorbs neutrons and just heats up.
Say what? :) Here is the problem.
Layers of Graphene would make a pretty good moderator, kind of like how graphite is used in fission reactors. Hexagonally close-packed structures would (practically) guarantee slow-down and capture of high-speed neutrons into thermal ones.
Is that the issue you're getting at?
 

Doer

Well-Known Member
I don't remember what the material is or if they said, but that is the idea. :)
 

Glaucoma

Well-Known Member
I don't care who does it or how. I just want to see it in my lifetime. Talk about a game changer for humanity.

My money is still on the Polywell approach. The fuel they use doesn't produce neutrons.
 
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