Nuclear Fusion

"On the road..." ROFL, but fair...

As I understand it, the new Chinese enthusiasm for 'renewable' energy began when they discovered fusion sneers at even their researchers' '5 Year Plans'. So, to provide the power to pump their mega-aqueducts, currently a-building, they'll have to line the banks with wind and solar PV.

Upside, efficiencies of scale plus distributed generation. And, fortunately, those vast aqueducts should provide a useful amount of 'pumped storage'...
 
Iron kills stars, yes- but I think you can still fuse it. What if a thin, hollow sacrificial tube held a more easily fused element...a way to continously fuel a reaction? Spiral builds interest me. The 1986 MN tornado had a super concentrated single suction vortex because the vortex breakdown didn't quite reach the ground yet. When it did-two suction vortices formed a double helix. If the latter effect at deep sea smokers could perhaps spin up life-could vortex breakdown add to magnet fields to concentrate plasma where a fusion 'fuel rod' is introduced?
 
publiusr said:
Iron kills stars, yes- but I think you can still fuse it.
Click to expand...

Yes you can fuse Iron, but you have to put more energy in than you get out, which is why Iron fusion doesn't occur in stellar cores. Better to use Silicon, or graphene (Carbon), both of which are fusible . . .

cheers,
Robin.
 
That iron might be of help magnetized tho' -paper thin. I wonder if there is a way to combine all fusion approaches. Laser hit a palladium tip of the rod :)
 
Iron of course can be burnt. In fact it's more efficient a fuel than aluminium.....
 
And this little gem remains more pertinent than ever.

For MSR / MSRE, tritium is an unwanted poison. For thermonuclear fusion, its a Godsend.

More generally...

The fusion–fission hybrid was conceived to capitalize on the advantages and minimize the disadvantages of both processes, neatly encapsulated by Lidsky in his 1975 review of the subject 1 : "Fusion reactors are 'neutron rich' and 'power poor' while fission reactors are 'neutron poor' and 'power rich'
Click to expand...

So, what are we waiting for ? Tokamak Demo-FNS seems the right way to go.


And Velikhov certainly ain't a nobody. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evgeny_Velikhov

Russia develops a fission-fusion hybrid reactor - Nuclear Engineering International

A new fission-fusion hybrid reactor will be assembled at Russia’s Kurchatov Institute by the end of 2018, Peter Khvostenko, scientific adviser of the Kurchatov complex on thermonuclear energy and plasma technologies, announced on 14 May....
www.neimagazine.com www.neimagazine.com
 
With respect, that Russian fission/fusion hybrid seems to have gone the way of China's 'Commercial Fusion Within Five Years' which, IIRC, would be needed to power the vast lift-pumps on the mega-N/S aqueducts.

Fusion laughs at 'Five Year Plans': IIRC, China now planning linear-ish solar & wind-farms along aqueducts to pick up the lack. Upside, local power-grids to pumping stations and near-by communities. Also, 'economies of scale'. Plus, pumping water with such vast canals to 'buffer' output is well-suited to 'wind/solar' mix. Down-side, those Chinese planners must be feeling very unhappy at how the universe has conspired to humble them, too....
 
To me the most viable compromise between fusion and fission is something akin to this. But of course I'm no nuclear scientist, by a long shot.
 

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What about concentrated solar fusion? Using concentrated solar power to heat tritium pellets in inertial confinement. Like at NIF but with concentrated sunlight instead of lasers, thus the energy in is free.
 
Grey Havoc said:
Regarding the Chang'e-5:
science.slashdot.org

China Claims It's Discovered a New Mineral in Its 2020 Samples from the Moon - Slashdot

China is claiming it discovered a new lunar mineral in moon samples it retrieved in 2020. From the South China Morning Post: The mineral, called Changesite-(Y), was found in rock and dust samples retrieved from the moon by China's Chang'e-5 mission, the nation's first mission to return a...
science.slashdot.org
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https://www.reddit.com/r/nuclear/comments/xelmrz
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/nuclear/comments/xelmrz/chinas_top_weapons_scientist_says_nuclear_fusion/


https://www.reddit.com/r/nuclear/comments/xfa94l
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/nuclear/comments/xfa94l/china_discovers_stunning_crystal_on_the_moon/



Hmmmm.
 
What ability to scale down in size do the various designs and propsoals for fusion have?

Wondering if any could be made suitable for submarine propulsion?
 
We are getting ahead of ourselves. Until one is produced with a Qtotal >1, it's not even a powerplant.
 
Remember you can burn iron and it's hotter than a aluminium fire.
 
Zen, I've surely missed some arcane subtlety in your analogy but, IIRC, Iron is the 'sump' of fusion binding curve. Which is why giant stars get 'core collapse' when they reach that stage...
 
Here’s my guess:

The GREAT GALACTIC GHOUL sends out some cosmic rays to hit the Palladium targets of the true believers…and it’s all “Hello my Baby, hello my Darling, hello my Ragtime gal…”

Then the ghoul just sits back, let’s the suckers go peer review and….ribbet

No problem here. No I can’t prove it—-but par for the course…
 
publiusr said:
Here’s my guess:

The GREAT GALACTIC GHOUL sends out some cosmic rays to hit the Palladium targets of the true believers…and it’s all “Hello my Baby, hello my Darling, hello my Ragtime gal…”

Then the ghoul just sits back, let’s the suckers go peer review and….ribbet

No problem here. No I can’t prove it—-but par for the course…
Click to expand...
It's not the usual actually. They're investigating how the lower coulomb barrier in rare cold fusion events can be used to improve hot fusion.
 

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