# Magnetic Compression

1. Jan 13, 2008

### taylaron

Despite my very limited knowledge on magnetic fields and nuclear fusion being a high school student;

I am curious whether you can take a perfect hollow sphere; and (if possible) wrap magnet wire around the shell in such a way that has a magnetic field on the inside of the container (respectably) and a oppositely magnetic field on the other.
has anything like this been accomplished?
(if possible;) I think this could have potential use in the fusion industry. after solving the pressure, and fuel problem, along with energy requirements; you could use this "spherical magnetic compression method" to compress the charged deuterium-tritium (D-T) to an extent of reaching the required kinetic energy required to induce fusion. the temperature of the device would (right?) be limited to the inside of the container (only deuterium-tritium (D-T) mix inside) because thermal energy can't travel through a vacuum. the magnetic field would create a void in space along the rim of the shell (right?) because the magnetic field is forcing the deuterium-tritium mix toward the center of the shell.

would there be any radiation risks involved in such an experiment? Because neutron particles are neutral in charge.

forgive my lack of knowledge and understanding.

Issac Newton- "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

2. Jan 13, 2008

### theCandyman

According to Gauss' Law the magnetic flux through any closed surface is zero.

Think about it this way, remember the demonstration where iron fillings are scattered on a magnet covered by a piece of paper? The lines start and end in loops. Now if we convert this image to a three dimensional case, we'd see that magnetic field lines would go into the sphere and then loop back.

The sun has a magnetic field, but since it is not solid, the field lines move around. But you can still see that solar flares follow the field lines, and loop back towards the sun.

But your idea just needs a little tweaking, and there has been research that is simlar. Here's a link to the Wikipedia article on inertial electrostatic confinement: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inertial_electrostatic_confinement

3. Jan 21, 2008

### taylaron

Ok great,
now take that "fusion sphere" and wrap x ammount of carbon nano-fiber (for holding the pressure) and wrap it in a way that it uniformly distributed.
how about that? what would some of the problems be? except energy requirements
thanks,
Taylaron

4. Jan 21, 2008

### theCandyman

I'm not sure what you mean. What is the carbon for? Usually carbon and plasmas don't mix since you'll get bremmstralung losses if carbon gets into the plasma.

The magnetic pressure in a tokamak is given by $$\frac{\beta^2}{2 \mu_0}$$. I'm not sure magnetic pressure matters for the IEC, as it is mostly a "trap" for energetic ions.

5. Mar 20, 2008

### taylaron

so if you've got a hollow shell of metal; you can not wrap magnet wire on it in such a way it will create a uniform magnetic field inside the shell (force inward)
although this would essentially be a monopole magnet; which is impossible. right?

hey, the carbon nano-fiber is to contain the massive amounts of pressure that the magnetic field is applying inward thus it would exert a force the opposite direction.
although even this probably isn't enough right?
you could have thermal electric cells which convert the heat into energy (efficient)

6. Apr 17, 2008

### taylaron

the problem with growing CNT's is the process in growing one (or more?) that long and then wrapping them uniformly around the container.

as you know; when you run current through a wire it creates a electro-magnetic field around it.
i am curious whether you can model a way to wind magnet wire around a sphere; which would in turn make a positive pole on the inside of the sphere and negative pole outside the sphere.
is there a computer modeling program that can calculate this what this model would look like?

It is my understanding that the experimental fusion reactor they have now uses a donut shape enclosure for their fusion reactions. which employs the same concept. right?

after looking at how a tokamak works; it employs the usage of a square coil and using one side as the "center core" and using the resulting donut shape magnetic field to trap ions in the center. around one side of the square shaped electromagnet.

im interested in a very similar concept. one that uses a sphere. not having a "core or center partition" it would be a uniform structure with uniform pressure exerted outward by the pressure of the magnetic field reacting with the deuterium (fusion reaction) and the resulting force would be counteracted by the use of carbon nano-tubes coiled around the outside for structural support and pressure retention. heat would have to be dealt with somewhere in there. obviously; thats the whole point of using fusion: heat.

Last edited: Apr 17, 2008
7. Apr 20, 2008

### taylaron

has anyone heard of this being done (besides the tokamak)?

8. May 8, 2008

### Avitar

Yes it can be done...

Yes you can get this sort of result, but not in the way you think. There are issues when you run a continious wire. What you should focus on should be an array of either pemanent magnets or electric magnets.

It would be difficult to prevent leaks and the high quality of machinery would be required.

With a series of custom made powerfull concave hexagon/triangular magnets in the primary array and a secondary array of magnets (secondary outer shell) that covers/lays over the seams of the inner shell would more then likely be required (possibly serveral layers/shells of magnets).

It would be very difficult to create an intake/outtake for the fuel material though, even more then building the reactor core of this type in my opinion.

-- Dave Smith

PS: I was thinking about a similair design myself but I have no where near the capitol to invest in it or many of my other theoretical designs.

Last edited: May 8, 2008
9. Aug 27, 2008

### taylaron

What type of magnetic field is created when you place 2 EM coils perpendicular to each other (making a basic sphere.....kinda).

10. Sep 12, 2008

### taylaron

what type of field is created?
-some input would be great

Thanks.

11. Nov 27, 2008

### taylaron

what experiments have been done that prooves Gauss' Law
--> the magnetic flux through any closed surface is zero.

can anyone please provide information to such an experiment?
thanks.

*happy thanks giving everyone*

12. Nov 30, 2008

### theCandyman

I'm not sure, but I don't think there are any - that's why some people still argue about the existance of magnetic monopoles.

13. Nov 30, 2008

### taylaron

thanks candyman, sounds like i'll have to scratch my brain with this one.....

14. Jul 31, 2009