DIY fusion

[Agafaster]

hey blobrana,
I guess these chaps didnt read more...

I've seen this kid before - it IS a fusion reactor, but its only a demonstrator, and is only REALLY useful for generating a neutron flux, as a by product of the fusion.

IIRC its a farnsworth fusor...
-edit-
yup ! it is! (just read.)

the article is misleading about the waste products, D+D will ALWAYS produce neutrons.
now- p+B11 (proton + Boron-11) is more interesting...
3 alpha particles + energy; could be used to generate electricity relying on the double positive charge of the ejected alphas nicking electrons from the vessel's metal wall creating a potential difference...

[Agafaster]

blobrana wrote:
Hum,
the deuterium is the difficult one  to separate, with all the hassle of  distilling at different boiling points, but luckily i think you can get it  via mail-order. Which i presume is exactly what the teenager did.

well I wouldnt fancy trying it!!
I think the BPs of H2O and D2O are only a fraction of a degree apart - I guess the easiest (but least productive) method would be to split the water, and use the mass/charge ratio to good effect in a spectrometer - but what would you gain? not a lot!

incidentally I watched The Heroes of Telemark the other day.
good film!

However just creating a neutron machine is still a long way short of  producing an overall gain in practical energy via fusion.
But it is early days yet i guess.

indeed, but the neutrons really are the big problem facing current fusion research - degradation of the supporting structures by neutron irradiation, and actually getting the energy locked up in those pesky neutrons to name but two!

wouldnt it be nice if there were a reaction that didnt produce them, but produced only charged particles ? ;-)

[Agafaster]

Karlos wrote:

Agafaster wrote:

wouldnt it be nice if there were a reaction that didnt produce them, but produced only charged particles ? ;-)

D + He-3 -> He-4 + H ?

(couldnae get superscript working to represent it properly)

Pity about Helium 3 being as rare as hens teeth...

yeah, but

D + D -> He3 + n / T + p (roughly even split)
He3 + T -> He4 + n
not to mention the other 2nd order reactions - you have to watch the potentials, and these reactions occur at roughly the same energy potential.

what I actually suggest is

p + B11 -> He4 + He4 + He4
by producing an excited C12 which emits an alpha, leaving a Be8 which quickly splits into two alphas since 8 nucleons arent allowed.
even then, you get side reactions involving B10 (the other isotope) impurities, and D impurities in the hydrogen, causing neutrons, but admittedly way less than the D + D reaction.

the trouble is that the energy potentials are [color=0000ff]Yooje !![/color][/b][/i]

...but it could be done in an Electrostatic Confinement process or using plasma focus looky here...

[Agafaster]

quote]
metalman wrote:
@Karlos

rare as hens teeth...

Hens' Teeth Not So Rare After All

Hens Teeth


[/quote]

thats cheating! ones a mutant, the other is scientists messing around manipulating and experimenting...

[Agafaster]

well, to be fair, thats how my missus refers to the male gender...