Next Anti-Gravity....
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| Science & Technology |
| AV Week: Skunk Works Reveals Compact Fusion Reactor Details |
| 2014-10-16 |
| Although the company released limited information on the CFR in 2013, Lockheed is now providing new details of its invention. Aviation Week was given exclusive access to view the Skunk Works experiment, dubbed "T4," first hand. Led by Thomas McGuire, an aeronautical engineer in the Skunk Work's aptly named Revolutionary Technology Programs unit, the current experiments are focused on a containment vessel roughly the size of a business-jet engine. Connected to sensors, injectors, a turbopump to generate an internal vacuum and a huge array of batteries, the stainless steel container seems an unlikely first step toward solving a conundrum that has defeated generations of nuclear physicists—namely finding an effective way to control the fusion reaction. Instead of constraining the plasma within tubular rings, a series of superconducting coils will generate a new magnetic-field geometry in which the plasma is held within the broader confines of the entire reaction chamber. Superconducting magnets within the coils will generate a magnetic field around the outer border of the chamber. "So for us, instead of a bike tire expanding into air, we have something more like a tube that expands into an ever-stronger wall," McGuire says. The system is therefore regulated by a self-tuning feedback mechanism, whereby the farther out the plasma goes, the stronger the magnetic field pushes back to contain it. The CFR is expected to have a beta limit ratio of one. "We should be able to go to 100% or beyond," he adds. The 100-MW unit would provide sufficient power for up to 80,000 homes in a power-hungry U.S. city and is also "enough to run a ship," he notes. |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #19 Maybe there's a (rather short) comment length restriction? |
| Posted by: KBK 2014-10-16 18:36 |
| #18 Well, it posted in paragraphs, so I have no idea what the problem was. Time for another scotch. |
| Posted by: KBK 2014-10-16 18:34 |
| #17 A little more at Wikipedia. Stay tuned. |
| Posted by: KBK 2014-10-16 18:33 |
| #16 A hundred times smaller refers apparently to the reaction volume, so that would be around five times smaller in scale. That would be a big advance, since combined with the skunk works organization (as opposed to ITER bureaucracy) it allows a much shorter prototype cycle. |
| Posted by: KBK 2014-10-16 18:33 |
| #15 For people familiar with hot fusion, the article is also thin on information. It appears the main development is to turn the magnetic design inside out compared to a Tokomak, with perhaps an extra containing field generated by coils outside the reaction chamber. If I understand correctly, they are also using end mirrors, which have not worked well in the past and have been pretty much abandoned in favor of toroids. |
| Posted by: KBK 2014-10-16 18:32 |
| #14 I've been trying to post this, but can't get it by the filters! Trying first graf: McGuire may be a wizard MIT engineer, but he's also an accomplished snake oil specialist. The video has very high production values (and a damsel for window dressing), but is essentially content free. |
| Posted by: KBK 2014-10-16 18:31 |
| #13 Dude, theEPA will try to kill it with fire. This dooms them to irrelevance. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2014-10-16 18:27 |
| #12 Test |
| Posted by: KBK 2014-10-16 18:26 |
| #11 And the EPA will call it Administratium |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2014-10-16 17:18 |
| #10 Which does it have a DiLithium core or Beryllium sphere? The sieracluub will say unobtainium. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2014-10-16 16:41 |
| #9 But fusion means nuclear, right? And nuclear is bad. So we should shut down this research right now! /sarcasm. yes, I know the difference between fission and fusion. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2014-10-16 15:12 |
| #8 Massive Changes, headlong into the unknown, just... Next Anti-Gravity.... |
| Posted by: Deadeye Whererong8165 2014-10-16 11:05 |
| #7 Fusion seems to always be a decade away. But when it does come, it will solve a huge amount of problems. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2014-10-16 09:46 |
| #6 Which does it have a DiLithium core or Beryllium sphere? |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2014-10-16 09:46 |
| #5 Ed, running it by lots of my physics friends and awaiting their comments in the coming weeks. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2014-10-16 09:01 |
| #4 Read the article through; basically, the Lockheed guys have sort of a plan, and are looking for outside ideas to solve problems. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2014-10-16 08:21 |
| #3 If, A BIG IF, this pans out to be true, decades from now it will be what everybody remembers and Ebola will be long forgotten. But you won't see this news in the MSM. This is the first fusion promise I recall ever seeing with an expiration date of less than 20 years. Wow. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2014-10-16 07:45 |
| #2 Thanks 3dc. My guess is, that fellow will never have to worry about "finding another job." |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-10-16 07:28 |
| #1 |
| Posted by: 3dc 2014-10-16 06:53 |