Update on my "Mini-F" Dense Plasma Focus device
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:48 am
The Mini-F is a 3 kJ device fed by a single 10 kV, 59 uF capacitor with 35 nH internal inductance. The initial uses for it will be to study x-ray production and ion beam characteristics. A big part will be to characterize and optimize the electrode geometries in consideration of the total short circuit inductance and other parameters (energy, pressure, gas type, etc.). Key diagnostic devices will include Rogowski coils, x-ray diodes and eventually a Thompson spectrometer.
I had some concerns with the interface between the capacitor and the electrodes as most of the DPF devices have more complex spark gap and interface arrangements. I ran my design past Prof. Sing Lee (probably the world expert on DPF) and he gave it a general thumbs up. My thanks to him.
At the moment my device is scattered around the basement as a result of our move. I will begin to move it into the lab/office/ham shack over the course of the month and start to reassemble it.
At some point I will probably use it with deuterium to produce neutrons but that is not a near term goal.
For those who might be interested in DPF, the site to go to is Dr. Lee's Institute for Plasma Focus Studies at http://www.plasmafocus.net/. A tremendous amount of data is accessible from here including design rules, the numerical DPF model (an Excel worksheet with the model code inserted), links to other programs and hundreds of downloadable papers.
One interesting thing about the DPF - the parameters are very scalable. Working DPFs from under 1 joule to a megajoule fit the model.
One device that is similar to mine is described in this 2007 paper:
http://www.icenes2007.org/icenes_procee ... 0FOCUS.pdf
Steve
I had some concerns with the interface between the capacitor and the electrodes as most of the DPF devices have more complex spark gap and interface arrangements. I ran my design past Prof. Sing Lee (probably the world expert on DPF) and he gave it a general thumbs up. My thanks to him.
At the moment my device is scattered around the basement as a result of our move. I will begin to move it into the lab/office/ham shack over the course of the month and start to reassemble it.
At some point I will probably use it with deuterium to produce neutrons but that is not a near term goal.
For those who might be interested in DPF, the site to go to is Dr. Lee's Institute for Plasma Focus Studies at http://www.plasmafocus.net/. A tremendous amount of data is accessible from here including design rules, the numerical DPF model (an Excel worksheet with the model code inserted), links to other programs and hundreds of downloadable papers.
One interesting thing about the DPF - the parameters are very scalable. Working DPFs from under 1 joule to a megajoule fit the model.
One device that is similar to mine is described in this 2007 paper:
http://www.icenes2007.org/icenes_procee ... 0FOCUS.pdf
Steve