The reactor is based on an inverted cyclotron design. Instead of each ion circling a shared central point, each ion in this device is on it's own cyclotron trajectory that intersects a shared central focus region. Arrival at this focus region happens simultaneously for all ions, and forms a momentary dense plasma similar to what is produced in Inertial Confinement Fusion.
Unlike traditional Inertial Confinement Fusion, the presence of a uniform magnetic field curves all ions that did not fuse around to collide again once every period. End containment would be accomplished via positively charged plates, effectively creating a Penning trap. Because Deuterium and Tritium have different cyclotron frequencies, only Deuterium fuel would be used.
Several papers by DC Barnes, and RA Nebel have explored similar concepts, but have not examined this arrangement specifically. Crucially the paper "Beyond the Brillouin Limit with the Penning Fusion Experiment" mentioned:
Barns and Nebel went on to examine spatial focusing, referencing gridded Hirsch fusors, and non-gridded ion focus designs, but did not examine concentrations that varied over time.Penning traps have exhibited remarkable confinement of non-neutral plasmas. It is natural to ask whether such excellent confinement might be useful for controlled thermonuclear fusion. One fundamental difficulty is the density limit associated with un-neutralized space charge.
Due to the charge non-neutrality of these plasmas, the uniform densities attainable in static traps are limited, the maximum value being the Brillouin limit.
n=B^2/2umc^2
where B is the magnetic induction, u the permeability of free space, m the mass of confined particles and c the speed of light.
It was suggested recently that the local density might exceed n in a strongly nonequilibrium plasma. This local concentration may occur either in space or time.
The device I'm attempting to build will address this glaring omission.
My website http://www.DDproFusion.com has an early simulation video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT6nvmN7GB0), and a link to the issued patent on a fusion device using this method. http://www.ddprofusion.com/US10354761.pdf
A more recent, but unfinished simulation, created with help from a fellow named Darrell Taylor, is available at http://www.ddprofusion.com/simulation/index.html
I have been acquiring equipment in order to begin construction of the prototype. I recently attended HEAS 2021, and purchased some much needed vacuum equipment, as well as other useful items. The most recent acquisition is the 35,000 pound MRI magnet that will be used to create the uniform field, which is currently sitting in my facility in Arkansas.
Here are a few of the many previous discussions of this device:
Introduction on this forum:
viewtopic.php?t=10093
Discussion of similarity to another proposed device:
viewtopic.php?t=11281
Question about focusing analysis in relation to the Liouville theorem:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25222442
Reddit patent announcement:
https://www.reddit.com/r/fusion/comment ... on_patent/
Reddit funding announcement:
https://www.reddit.com/r/fusion/comment ... g_secured/
Answers to some Frequently asked questions:
Yes, I've read Rider's thesis about non-equilibrium fusion. The ions in my device have a thermal energy distribution.
It is similar, but not the same as MIGMA. Migma is not periodic, and suffers from collisions outside the focus region due to ions traveling in different directions through the same space at the same time. MIGMA also does not continue to confine ions after non-fusion collisions.