"dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter" (dsigned001)
12/16/2014 at 17:50 • Filed to: None
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"dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter" (dsigned001)
12/16/2014 at 17:50 • Filed to: None | 4
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Fusion technology is the holy grail of energy generation: it promises clean sustainable energy, if only we could figure out those pesky "details." So pesky are those details that fusion power has seemingly been perpetually 20 years out. Always over the horizon, always progressing, but never coming to fruition. So it is not without a lot of trepidation that I'm going to suggest that General Fusion just might have solved the problem of nuclear fusion.
The Problem:
Fusion reactions are extremely hot. So hot in fact that they will melt any solid object we know how to make. The way scientists have conventionally worked around this issue is by something known as magnetic containment. Just like it sounds, this uses a magnetic field to keep the plasma far enough away from the container walls to keep them from melting. Unfortunately, generating this magnetic field is extremely energy intensive. Like generating the power for a small city intensive. Which means that bottling our little mini star has become the major roadblock to sustainable fusion – it takes more energy to produce the fusion reaction than the reaction itself produces. Lame.
The Idea:
Enter General Fusion. With a name that seems almost cloying, in the face of what has become one of mankind's most difficult challenges, like "Easy Cancer Cures", General Fusion has proposed a system that is, in many ways, not at all novel. Rather than containing the reaction with a magnetic field, which is energy intensive, or with some non-existent solids, they are proposing to contain it with liquid. Specifically, liquid that is only liquid at very high temperatures. The idea is to spin the liquid to make a little mini-funnel (think bathroom drain). The fusion reaction will heat the liquid, which will then be pumped out, and passed through a heat exchanger (think car radiator with molten metal instead of coolant and water instead of air) which will heat steam, which will then be passed through a conventional steam turbine. The beauty of the system is that cooling the system is also what allows the system to harness the energy.
There is one more component to this system, and it is also…well…elegant probably isn't the right word. It uses steam driven hammers operating in sync to send a shockwave through the spiraling liquid, compressing the plasma and igniting fusion. Like I said, not elegant, but certainly effective, and proven. In fact, this was very similar to the detonation method of the first atomic bombs: except they used dynamite instead of steam hammers.
All this sounds great, but what's the time table? A full-scale prototype built in 2015 and possible commercialization by 2020. FIVE YEARS.
Oh yeah, did I mention that it looks like something out of a steam punk nightmare?
Source: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
If you want to see them talk about their own thing, there is a TED talk
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
For Sweden
> dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter
12/16/2014 at 17:54 |
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Just wait until one of those steam injectors clogs up. Horrible clicking noise from the valvetrain and your power plant mounts go out.
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dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter
> For Sweden
12/16/2014 at 17:58 |
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"Dammit, which one of the three hundred is gummed up this time?" Replacing mounts on a fusion reactor is such a PAIN.
Tohru
> dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter
12/16/2014 at 18:21 |
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#futureworldproblems
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Tohru
> dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter
12/16/2014 at 18:23 |
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I have the biggest engineering boner right now.
E. Julius
> dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter
12/16/2014 at 18:27 |
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I remember reading an article about these guys in Popular Science years ago.
I found it, turns out it was from 2008. They said "Give us 6-10 years and we will have a working proof of concept". We'll see…
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/articl…
Racescort666
> dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter
12/16/2014 at 18:50 |
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I was pretty pumped when Skunkworks announced their fusion reactor but I will keep my skeptic hat on for now. They don't really explain how the keep the fusion reaction confined in the chamber with a liquid working fluid presumably flowing through the chamber as well.
GhostZ
> For Sweden
12/16/2014 at 19:18 |
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Let's hope the germans don't build it, or you'll have to ship it to a special office for them to use the unique unclogging tool specifically designed for that injector, and a huge cost more than if you could do it yourself.
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dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter
> Racescort666
12/16/2014 at 21:29 |
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The molten lead is spinning in the chamber, leaving a funnel in the middle which is where the plasma is injected. They then use the pistons to create an acoustic shock wave to initiate fusion.
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Racescort666
> dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter
12/16/2014 at 21:43 |
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If it was spinning, the centrifugal force would only be in 2 dimensions and the pressure needs to be in 3. Lead would be a bad choice as a working fluid since it boils at about 1750 C which isn't hot enough for fusion. Plus, lead vapor is toxic if they ever had a breach. Sorry to be a Debbie downer but I don't think they've thought this all the way through.
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dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter
> Racescort666
12/17/2014 at 00:05 |
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Lol. I don't think you've thought your response all the way through, Mr. Armchair nuclear physicist. Maybe you should do a bit more reading about how their fusion reactor works before you start critiquing their math.
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dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter
> GhostZ
12/22/2014 at 12:48 |
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I think a fusion reactor is one of the few instances where I might find that maintenance process acceptable.
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dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter
> E. Julius
12/22/2014 at 12:49 |
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They're actually pretty close to being on track with that one.
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E. Julius
> dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter
12/22/2014 at 17:25 |
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As I said, we'll see…
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dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter
> E. Julius
12/22/2014 at 17:48 |
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Obligatory XKCD:
Axial
> dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter
05/06/2015 at 21:26 |
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Those rams are going to have to be incredibly precise in their shape, positioning, and timing. Very, very tight tolerances. It was hard enough figuring out how to get fusion going using explosives in a one-time-use scenario (H-bomb), this is something else.
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dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter
> Axial
05/06/2015 at 22:26 |
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True. But as an engineering challenge, I think achievable. I wish there was more information available on it, I’d be interested to know what they think the tolerances will need to be.