Bert Reuling Introduction

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Bert Reuling
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Joined: Mon May 29, 2023 3:38 pm
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Bert Reuling Introduction

Post by Bert Reuling »

Hello,

I would like to introduce myself. I work at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam as a software engineer. As a teenager (before there was internet!), I read about the Farnsworth fusor. As I was already trying to make gas discharge lamps and worked with high voltages, it seemed a good idea to try to make a fusor myself. With hindsight I did almost everything wrong. The (refrigerator) pump was not up to the task, it probably also polluted the vacuum (and the room) with carcinogenic oil fumes..., my voltage was probably way too low (flyback circuit from small black & white TV set), D2O extraction was way off etc. It did glow however...

At present (45 years later) I have a better theoretical background in physics and more tools at my disposal. So I thought of re-doing the project (Retro-Fusor 2.0) but now right. In the mean time I got myself a nice (glass) vacuum chamber, vacuum pump, 60kv power supply, XR-100CR x-ray detector (I am planning to use a tungsten cathode) and few baratron vacuum gauges, etc. Getting a SNM-10/12/14 neutron detection tube is a lot more difficult than it used to be (because of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine). So I'm here mainly to look for tips and alternatives for neutron detection. My original idea (as a teenager) was to use a moderator to slow the neutrons down and use a (thin) silver covered GM tube.

Cheers
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Richard Hull
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Re: Bert Reuling Introduction

Post by Richard Hull »

Welcome Bert. It sounds like you have some good tools and a lot more knowledge to proceed. Real fusion should not be attempted in a glass vacuum bell jar. The electron streams or rays will super heat the glass at impact points and the risk of implosion is great. Metal chambers are preferred.

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
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Rich Gorski
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Re: Bert Reuling Introduction

Post by Rich Gorski »

Hello Bert,

Sounds like you have a good start on the equipment you'll need to get your fusor project off and running but take heed of Richard's words of wisdom on the glass bell jar. Definitely not a good choice for a fusor chamber. With a glass bell jar you will need a metal anode electrode (a cylindrical stainless steel sheet ?) placed inside the chamber and connected to ground. At fusion voltage and currents you will be pumping in hundreds of watts of power most of which will be dissipated by the ground electrode. It will likely glow red hot is some areas. Not something you want near the glass wall of a chamber under vacuum. A metal chamber preferably stainless steel is the way to go. At these power levels stainless steel chambers will get too hot to touch when doing neutron generation for any length of time but they can handle it.

Rich G.
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