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FourierFaux
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The purpose of this thread is to spark discussion of how to generate energy from Inertial Confinement Fusion. I have a few questions about the process, so hopefully someone who's more in-the-know will have the time and the inclination to answer them. (I would appreciate it greatly)
With respect to ICF (Inertial Confinement Fusion):
If I understand correctly, you use mixture of Deuterium/Tritium pellets; you fire a laser (possibly even 192) at the pellet, causing fusion within the pellet. Once Fusion occurs in the pellet, you get much more energy in heat than you put in. That's the ideal scenario.
Then there's the question; how are you going to make sure that enough heat goes to where you want it to go (i.e. a big "bucket" of water attached to a steam turbine)? It would be really interesting to play with LASNEX and/or HYDRA, and play with several design ideas; unfortunately, I have neither one on my calculator. ;) ;)
Process:
1) Shoot pellet with lasers.
2) Make pellet go boom.
3) Move heat from boom to vat of water to generate steam, which will in turn generate electricity. (Note: none of these energy conversions occur at 100%. So you might assume 10% for a minimum amount)
Anways, there are several problems with this approach:
1) You have an energy budget throughout this process; you want to generate (at the steam generator in electricity) more than you put in.
2) Heat is fickle, it tends to go where IT wants to go; not where YOU want it to go.
(Is there an engineering idea analogous to electrical circuitry for controlling the motion of heat flux instead of electrical current? [I've never seen anything more advanced than what you'd see in a regular class on Thermodynamics/Statistical Mechanics])
3) It's difficult to produce the temperatures and pressures necessary to generate fusion.
Questions about the process:
1) Fusion is tough to obtain; assuming 100% of the pellet's were to fuse, how much energy would that generate? Realistically, how much energy are we getting out of it? (Have experimental trials even begun?)
2) We're using lasers to power the process; what does that electric bill look like?
3) How accurately do the computer models reflect the measurements from experimental trials?
4) Are there other techniques than generation of electricity via steam that have been suggested? (I.E. generation of electricity via heat like a thermocouple)
Slightly unrelated question:
Might it be possible in Magnetic Confinement Fusion to produce a magnetic field that's reactive to the motions of the plasma? When the plasma pushes the magnetic field detects the change and pulls and when the plasma pulls the magnetic fields push. (Is this made significantly more difficult by the fact that there aren't many stability solutions to the Magneto-Hydrodynamic Equations?)
I apologize if any of these ideas appear unclear, I'll do my best to clarify these ideas when confusions arise.
To throw an article out for discussion:
Analysis of the National Ignition Facility Ignition Hohlraum Energetics Experiments
Published in: Physics of Plasmas, vol. 18, no. 5, April 7, 2011, p.056302
LLNL-JRNL-463439
With respect to ICF (Inertial Confinement Fusion):
If I understand correctly, you use mixture of Deuterium/Tritium pellets; you fire a laser (possibly even 192) at the pellet, causing fusion within the pellet. Once Fusion occurs in the pellet, you get much more energy in heat than you put in. That's the ideal scenario.
Then there's the question; how are you going to make sure that enough heat goes to where you want it to go (i.e. a big "bucket" of water attached to a steam turbine)? It would be really interesting to play with LASNEX and/or HYDRA, and play with several design ideas; unfortunately, I have neither one on my calculator. ;) ;)
Process:
1) Shoot pellet with lasers.
2) Make pellet go boom.
3) Move heat from boom to vat of water to generate steam, which will in turn generate electricity. (Note: none of these energy conversions occur at 100%. So you might assume 10% for a minimum amount)
Anways, there are several problems with this approach:
1) You have an energy budget throughout this process; you want to generate (at the steam generator in electricity) more than you put in.
2) Heat is fickle, it tends to go where IT wants to go; not where YOU want it to go.
(Is there an engineering idea analogous to electrical circuitry for controlling the motion of heat flux instead of electrical current? [I've never seen anything more advanced than what you'd see in a regular class on Thermodynamics/Statistical Mechanics])
3) It's difficult to produce the temperatures and pressures necessary to generate fusion.
Questions about the process:
1) Fusion is tough to obtain; assuming 100% of the pellet's were to fuse, how much energy would that generate? Realistically, how much energy are we getting out of it? (Have experimental trials even begun?)
2) We're using lasers to power the process; what does that electric bill look like?
3) How accurately do the computer models reflect the measurements from experimental trials?
4) Are there other techniques than generation of electricity via steam that have been suggested? (I.E. generation of electricity via heat like a thermocouple)
Slightly unrelated question:
Might it be possible in Magnetic Confinement Fusion to produce a magnetic field that's reactive to the motions of the plasma? When the plasma pushes the magnetic field detects the change and pulls and when the plasma pulls the magnetic fields push. (Is this made significantly more difficult by the fact that there aren't many stability solutions to the Magneto-Hydrodynamic Equations?)
I apologize if any of these ideas appear unclear, I'll do my best to clarify these ideas when confusions arise.
To throw an article out for discussion:
Analysis of the National Ignition Facility Ignition Hohlraum Energetics Experiments
Published in: Physics of Plasmas, vol. 18, no. 5, April 7, 2011, p.056302
LLNL-JRNL-463439
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