We Have to Try
We Have to Try
Mankind is facing a storm. From shrinking water, energy and resources - we have problems. Climate change does not help this. Neither does the population boom. To solve this, we must try some new ideas.
Fusion power would be a tool; like a hammer or a gun. Like them, this tool can have a big impact. Like them, it can be used to help or to hurt us. Our goal is to get this to mankind. But our other hope is that we use it wisely.
Summary:
This post covers work from Convergent
Scientific Incorporated. It has four
parts: experimental work, modeling, talk highlights and a conclusion. Experiment details were imperfect. CSI trapped electrons for 20 seconds, using:
model one. It is assumed, that this is a wire shaped
into a diamond - 14 cm a side with 1,500 amps and held at +500 volts. This was within a ~0.6 pascal vacuum with
four emitters at each corner. Model one
was cooled with a chilling system. The
emitter voltage was varied from -500 to -9,500 volts and a probe measured the
resulting trapping. Results were
questioned because the emitters remained on the whole test. The magnetic and electric fields are mapped
using single wire and point charge models.
The excel
file is open to the public. The
forces are plotted along the face path of the diamond. The resulting motion is described. The effect of sliding or rotating the
emitters is explored. Talk highlights
are given. These include: the impact of
pressurizing, moving, shaping and forming structure within the plasma. The relevant plasma instabilities are
mentioned as well as a discussion of structure.
Finally a call for experiments is made, with a list of good reference
material.
Part 1: Experimental Work:
Overview:
Experimental
Setup:
The team is testing model 1. This is a single tungsten or rhodium wire bent into a diamond shape [10]. Attached to it, is a cooling system, power supply and voltage source. This is placed inside a cylindrical vacuum chamber, about the size of a trash bin [6]. Four electron emitters sit around model one [1]. They may align with the device’s corners. There is also a Langmuir probe. The probe may be a simple wire, or a fancy tool with software. The probe is critical. It proves the concept. If everything works correctly, it should measure a negative voltage. The chamber is also connected to a pump and a gas supply. One possible chamber configuration is shown below.
Vacuum
Chamber:
Model
one:
Inside the chamber is model one. It is the most unique device in the chamber. It is shaped like a diamond, shown below.
This is a single wire. With only one pass, a lot of current will be needed. At full power, 1,500 amps flow through this wire; creating a 1,000 gauss field at the corners [22]. This current, heats up the wire [7]. The team tried to re-snake this many times – but the heat still built up [1]. As you will see, heat is a common problem with model one. Hot wires create problems, like arching. Moreover, this problem grows as the device runs “long-term”. Tests could have been longer - if they could just keep the thing cold!
Cooling Issues:
The first
version of model one was a bent copper pipe.
Coolant moved inside the pipe, while, current moved in its walls. This failed.
The copper overheated. It
exploded. The team wants you to know: do
not use melting copper. They switched to
a tungsten or rhodium wire. Both are
very hard materials, with high melting points [12, 13]. Tungsten will be used for modeling [10]. Unfortunately, a wire does not have a cavity
for coolant. The team tried an outside
ring of coolant - but this behaved poorly [1]. Finally, Model one was merely arranged to
touch a chilling system [10]. Heat was
conducted away. This is a mediocre
solution. Better chillers would allow
longer runs.
Chilling System:
The chilling system is rather elaborate. The first cooling loop uses a Fluorinert. This is a liquid, often used to cool electronics. The fluid does not conduct; lowering its negative impacts on electric conduction [1]. The fluid moves in a closed loop: from the pump, near the device, and into a heat exchanger. The exchanger moves heat into a second water and glycol loop. This flows into a giant open tank. A sketch and model of the cooling system is shown below [7]. This coolant system can pull about six kilowatts of heat from model one [5]. Estimates (using joule heating) show that this is probably more than they need.
The
Fields:
Electron
Emitters:
CSI examined three ways to make electrons [1]. The first is field emission. Electrons can spontaneously leave metals in a vacuum. This can happen at room temperature and may have happen inside CSI’s chamber [2]. However this can easily avoided by engineering. The effect amplifies as the temperature rises. This is known thermionic emission. If you heat the wire, more electrons will leave. CSI purposely used four heated nichrome wires to do this. Nichrome is a common emitter [3]. In addition, these wires can be part of a proper electron gun. This was CSI third method [1]. The company altered an e-gun design from the Sydney team [10]. A schematic and picture of their electron gun is shown below [14].
Operating
Procedure:
CSI ran experiments from January to late summer 2012 [5]. Many tests were done. These included: several geometries, various emitters and even a fusor/polywell hybrid. Tests meant several steps. First, the vacuum chamber was prepared. The chamber was filled with helium, to check for leaks. Once sealed, nitrogen was pumped in. Next, they pumped down the chamber. It reached pressures between 1.3 and 0.04 Pascals [22]. The next step is turning on the coolant system. This makes the chamber, low pressure and cool. Next, the voltages are applied. From here the test can start. The device and emitters are turned on. Runs typically lasted for 35 seconds [1]. CSI states that for 20 of those seconds, it measured a steady, constant voltage drop.
Experimental
Results:
The company ran three
tests. In each test, the drive voltage was
changed. This is the drop between the
emitters and device. The device was
always at a positive 500 volts; but the four emitters were set at lower voltages. Each time, the probe measured a negative voltage
in the center. This meant that electrons were present. Gausses’ law gives a rough estimate of how
many electrons (multiply by 5.5E7).
The company would not provide results for the third test (1,500 volts). These results prompt some questions. First, why were the emitters left on
throughout the test? How does the
company know it measured trapping – and not electrons merely streaming
past? There are many good practices that
need to be followed here, such as control tests and checking equipment. We must assume CSI abides by these
rules. Despite these questions, the work is commendable – it
took years to get this data.
Part 2: Modeling
Device
Geometry:
The magnetic and electric fields need to be modeled. They create a Lorentz force which guides the electrons in. CSI gives some of specifications of model one. It lists the plasma volume as 1.4E-3 cubic meters [5]. If this is the total volume, than model one is fourteen centimeters per side. We take the current to be 1,500 amps with a 1,000 gauss field at the corners. The electrons modelled as flying into the face of the diamond. The emitters are 30 centimeters from device center. This is the geometry to simulate.
Simple
Models:
Electric
Field:
Electron
Worldview:
Electron
Motion:
The motion of a beam is wildly different than one
electron. Electrons in a beam
interact. They ricochet off one another, vary the surround fields and shift the forces. Hence, beams are modeled differently than one electron [19, 20, 21]. Also, the fields change once electrons fill the device center.
Changing
The Geometry:
There was no time to look at the other path into model one. Here, the particles enter through the corners of the diamond. They reach the device sooner, and pass through the biggest magnetic field possible. This occurs at the tiny gap between the two wires. After this, they see a very sharp decline in the field. The sharper field should improve containment [5]. Based on this knowledge, a rough sketch of the force plots is shown below. Between these two paths, there is a sense of the fields inside model one.
Part 3: Talk Highlights
October
Talk:
Talk
Highlights:
1. Pressurize
It. The plasma is held in by a magnetic
field. The higher the field, the better
the hold. This is the approach Lockheed
martin is taking [41].
2. Keep
It Moving. It helps to keep plasma
moving. Especially on the outside edge. The easiest way to do this is to spin
it. You can do this by applying a
revolving current. Once, a team stabilized
a tiny amount of plasma for weeks this way [24]. Both tokamaks and stellarators spin material
for stability [38]. People have also tried
collapsing or converging it [40]. You
can also oscillate it in a wave, as LANL tried a few years ago [39].
3. Make
Structure. Riders
argues that if you merely had a hot blob of plasma (unstructured, thermalized,
isentropic, uniform) that you cannot expect net power [29, 30, 31]. Hence, anything you do to move plasma away
from a blob - helps. This means forcing
any structure, through steep fields or steep density changes inside the cloud
[5]. It also means using clouds which
are mainly positive or negative.
4. Shape
it. We like big plasma volumes - with small skin
areas [5]. The best example is the
sun. It is a big sphere. It has a tiny surface-area to volume
ratio. Hence, the polywell improves as
it gets bigger. It also improves if the
cusps are pinched off; and the plasma balloons into a sphere [8].
Structure
verses Instabilities:
1. Weibel
instability.
When a beam enters plasma, there is a chance that it can break up
into filaments [49]. This is the
due to the fields that it generates during its motion. This has been studied extensively.
2. Diocotron
instability.
When two sheets of plasma move past one another, eddies form. This represents an energy loss
mechanism.
CSI also hints at a structure within the cloud. Specifically: an edge and a core region. This is a bit controversial. Critics would argue the cloud lacks that level of detail. Supporters have opposed this. Now, we have some data. Khachans’ 2013 paper measured electron densities inside the cloud [48]. The results hint at different density in center verses the edge. CSI want these densities to be vastly different, but, so far they have only found a 5 or 10 times difference [5].
Part
4: Conclusion
Modeling
is for wimps:
No model is a substitute for
data. This could be an excel worksheet,
a matlab program or a vast FORTRAN code.
This became clear - in 2012 - when NIF failed to get ignition. Vast teams of experts used models to predict
success. Their models were flawed. For example, excel shows that CSI has met a
condition for the mirror. Does this mean
the device traps? Hell no. Only data can prove trapping. The model only helps you get a sense of the
physics.
Theory
is also for wimps:
Work
Cited:
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Folks - I am working through bugs and typos. If you see a spelling mistake let me know!
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