Demo Fusor Progress
Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 1:28 pm
Hello everyone! I hope I'm posting to the proper forum, but if not, please let me know!
As some of you may recall from previous posts, I am a high school special education and STEM teacher, as well as an advisor for the High Energy Physics club at the high school where I work. We considered several demo fusors but decided on the Make Magazine version for now due to relative ease of construction and cost (I am funding the club myself). Although this particular demo fusor is not even close to the scope of a research grade demo fusor, I wanted to take small steps in the process so that the science of the process would not be lost. I also felt it important that we research IEC and build a prototype of the demo fusor to understand the construction and how it would work. The pictures are of the finished prototype. The vacuum pump and OBIT are only for a visual for the students so they could see how it all connected and was powered. The gauge at the top is also only for visual purposes - it is actually a gauge from an old welding unit! For the actual unit, we will be using a 1-HP, 2-stage vacuum pump, and a 15kV NST connected to a 140V variac. The inner grid in the prototype is just soldered paper clips! The actual inner grid (in the 3rd picture) is 1mm stainless steel TIG welded. We will begin construction of the actual demo fusor after Thanksgiving break. Our goal is to eventually move to a stainless steel cross to house the grid.
The primary goal of this project is for the students in the club to understand how IEC works to produce fusion. Being a STEM project, I felt it important for the students to first become familiar with the components, evaluate the design plans, then build a prototype. We have access to a full welding and woodworking shop in our school so all components are constructed by students. Once the actual demo fusor is built, we will consult with an electrician regarding safety (he is a certified electrician with children in our school district so he is always willing to help us, as he did when we built CRT's from glass bottles this past Spring). Since we are not adding any gas (nor will we ever add gas to this demo fusor since it is not even close to having the necessary beefy components), we will not have any neutron detection devices, although I will have our Geiger counter next to the unit so students understand the importance of proper detection. We will also operate the demo fusor for only short stretches of time (minutes, at most), and behind a shield to ensure safety from implosion.
The kids are loving this project, and enjoying the learning process! We are hoping to achieve plasma and I would like my posts to serve as documentation of our efforts. We have learned a tremendous amount from this site, so thank you all for the input along the way!
As some of you may recall from previous posts, I am a high school special education and STEM teacher, as well as an advisor for the High Energy Physics club at the high school where I work. We considered several demo fusors but decided on the Make Magazine version for now due to relative ease of construction and cost (I am funding the club myself). Although this particular demo fusor is not even close to the scope of a research grade demo fusor, I wanted to take small steps in the process so that the science of the process would not be lost. I also felt it important that we research IEC and build a prototype of the demo fusor to understand the construction and how it would work. The pictures are of the finished prototype. The vacuum pump and OBIT are only for a visual for the students so they could see how it all connected and was powered. The gauge at the top is also only for visual purposes - it is actually a gauge from an old welding unit! For the actual unit, we will be using a 1-HP, 2-stage vacuum pump, and a 15kV NST connected to a 140V variac. The inner grid in the prototype is just soldered paper clips! The actual inner grid (in the 3rd picture) is 1mm stainless steel TIG welded. We will begin construction of the actual demo fusor after Thanksgiving break. Our goal is to eventually move to a stainless steel cross to house the grid.
The primary goal of this project is for the students in the club to understand how IEC works to produce fusion. Being a STEM project, I felt it important for the students to first become familiar with the components, evaluate the design plans, then build a prototype. We have access to a full welding and woodworking shop in our school so all components are constructed by students. Once the actual demo fusor is built, we will consult with an electrician regarding safety (he is a certified electrician with children in our school district so he is always willing to help us, as he did when we built CRT's from glass bottles this past Spring). Since we are not adding any gas (nor will we ever add gas to this demo fusor since it is not even close to having the necessary beefy components), we will not have any neutron detection devices, although I will have our Geiger counter next to the unit so students understand the importance of proper detection. We will also operate the demo fusor for only short stretches of time (minutes, at most), and behind a shield to ensure safety from implosion.
The kids are loving this project, and enjoying the learning process! We are hoping to achieve plasma and I would like my posts to serve as documentation of our efforts. We have learned a tremendous amount from this site, so thank you all for the input along the way!