New Method of Magnetic Confinement that has Received Some Interest from DARPA

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Richard Hull
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Re: New Method of Magnetic Confinement that has Received Some Interest from DARPA

Post by Richard Hull »

I'm not saying every seemingly good idea related to fusion has already been tried, 1952-2021, but all those that were good enough to be fully tested in hardware, have failed miserably. I just heard that the ITER debacle is now estimated to cost 93 billion euros when it is done. 2025 is ITERs first supposed turn on date. Assuming it will go over unity for an unspecified run period, they note that they expect 10X efficiency to be achieved in 2035. 50 MW in 500MW out! Such a deal for only 93 billion of the money. If 2035 works out, DEMO is next and will actually produce electricity that WILL NOT be distributed to the public. Assuming all I have written comes to fruition, they expect power fusion distribution might be possible by 2070. This assumes a stable world for the next 50 years with continued, uninterrupted work on ITER then DEMO proceeding apace, flawlessly.

Good luck with all of this. The bean counters are then brought to bear at the power companies...Can we build a fusion reactor that will pay for itself? Will the public pay our determined price point? Then comes the ever present....Will there be a significant profit for us to do it? Sadly, if the public consumer price rate goes to $12.82per KWh how many will say "screw that!... Come and disconnect me, Mr. power company!"

For anything discussed in this thread to even reach the baseline testing stage, some powerful people in both the science and investment arenas will have to think the idea is just the prettiest thing they have seen on all fronts. Until then, it is not even a theoretical construct. It is just an idea, thrown out there. If not taken up in a serious and testable manner, it will join many hundreds of other ideas that didn't even make honorable mention. It is important to remember that many ideas that have, indeed, looked really pretty, did actually reach the full testing stage with the blessings of the scientific community and are now on the trash heap of officially failed, tested fusion efforts with billions in the treasure now gone.

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
Patrick Lindecker
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Re: New Method of Magnetic Confinement that has Received Some Interest from DARPA

Post by Patrick Lindecker »

Hello Pierre,

>I have a buddy that is currently working on a stellarator being built here in the states, at Wisconsin, I may have to reach out to him and ask that question. If I can get a straight answer on that, I will let you know.
Thanks to forward the question. It could be of interest to know why with the same basic principles (a toroidal + a poloidal magnetic fields obtained in obvioulsly different ways), the confinement has not at all the same quality. 0.2 sec of confinement time is a big escape of particles... Perhaps the Divertor extracts much more impureties (and so ions) on Stellarators. I read in this indispensable book "Project Sherwood" by Amasa S. Bishop (my only regret is that it covers only 1951 to 1959) that impureties was a real drawback for the first stellarators and prevent them to rise in temperature.

Let us also inform to your progress on your concept. In all cases, it can be of interest.

Regards
Patrick (and also "Pierre" for my second first name ☺)
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Dennis P Brown
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Re: New Method of Magnetic Confinement that has Received Some Interest from DARPA

Post by Dennis P Brown »

If you can get basic funding to work on some of the ideas then you have certainly crossed a milestone that really few outside major labs can say.

AS for ideas that might work, again, as you also pointed out the stellarator is certainly in that class and the Germans have made amazing progress (on plasma density/storage times) unlike tokamaks (that's you ITER and MIT.)

But do follow your ideas and try to get funding. Best of luck!
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