Update on the Dense Plasma Focus Dr. Walter Rowntree Affiliate Faculty Idaho State University Blog: The Tesla and the Tent Teslatent.wordpress.com
Update or Introduction?
Show of hands: Did you attend the first DPF lecture in 2012?
What is a Dense Plasma Focus Device? Progress over the last 2 years Roadmap to breakeven DPF? ● 1961
● 1954 Who are these people?
● 40 DPF machines are in use around the world, studying plasma physics
● Lawrenceville Plasma Physics in New Jersey
– Focus Fusion-1 DPF (FF-1) VIDEO
● Animation of a DPF Shot
Why Do Martians Care?
● Ions discharged at 1000's of Km/sec
● VASIMR
● 5 MegaWatts of power
This is NOT technology for Mars Direct VASIMR Net Power From Fusion
● Physics Problems
– ITER (Tokamak)
● Engineering Problems
– NIF (Gigantoid Lasers)
● Funding problems
– Everyone else
● Cheap? Abundant? Clean? Cheap? Abundant? Clean?
● D-D vs D-T vs B-H (aneutronic)
Lawrenceville Plasma Physics
● 2007 Eric Lerner gives Google Tech Talk outlining concept youtube: yhKB-VxJWpg
● 2008 Additional funding received
● 2009 First pinch with FF-1 machine
● 2011 FF-1 achieves shots with considerably higher yields than historical DPF trend
● 2012 LPP reports 1.8 billion degrees, beating old record from 1978 of 1.1 FF-1 Advantages
● Scales to smaller size
● No steam turbine
● Safe
● Cheap
● Clean
What is needed for fusion breakeven?
● Temperatures
● Confinement time
● Density
● T x t x D = triple product Recent Milestones
● 1.8 billion degrees achieved
● 20 ns confinement time achieved
– FF-1 now has the highest triple product
● Validation of theory
– Where do fusion reactions occur?
● http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/pop/19/3/10.1063/1.3694746
● Independent review
● Tungsten electrode Roadmap to higher densities
● Other DPF's: x 100
● Reduce impurities
● Heavier gases
● Shorter Electrodes Validation of Theory
● The DPF operates more effectively with heavier elements
● The pinch improves when the DPF is scaled to smaller sizes
● The Quantum Magnetic Field Effect
● Plasma ions exhaust along axis Further Validation of Theory
Achieve Billion Gauss magnetic fields
● Increase current
● Tungsten electrodes
● Shorten electrodes
● Beryllium electrodes
Independent Review Commitee Teslatent.wordpress.com