Skunk wirks have built a fusion reactor?
Discussion
Lefty said:
No not really. They have designed one.http://www.gizmag.com/dynomak-fusion-reactor-unive...
"Called Dynomak, the new concept reactor is simpler than ITER by a factor of ten, yet has the potential of making more energy at less cost.
According to the UW team, Dynomak builds on existing technology, such as an ITER-developed cryogenic pumping system. Technically, its a spheromak, which means that instead of a torus, it’s a simple oblate spheroid. There’s no central core and it doesn’t need the large, complex superconducting magnets that ITER uses. Instead the magnetic fields are produced by putting electrical fields into the center of the plasma using high temperature superconducting tapes wrapped around the vessel, so, in a sense, the plasma contains itself.
According to the UW team, this means the Dynomak is smaller simpler, and cheaper to build, yet produces more power than the ITER reactor. Also, since the plasma heats itself, the fusion reaction is self-sustaining as excess heat is drawn off by a molten salt blanket to boil water to run a steam turbine to generate electricity.
If the UW’s calculations are correct, a Dynomak reactor would cost a tenth of ITER and produce five times as much energy at an efficiency of 40 percent. that means that a one gigawatt Dynomak power plant would have a total cost of US$2.7 billion against the US$2.8 billion needed to build a coal plant
The UW team says that the current Dynomak is only ten percent of the size and power of a practical reactor, which years away in terms of development. However, they say that the test reactor has so far demonstrated its ability to sustain a plasma and they plan to increase the temperature and power output of the unit."
"Called Dynomak, the new concept reactor is simpler than ITER by a factor of ten, yet has the potential of making more energy at less cost.
According to the UW team, Dynomak builds on existing technology, such as an ITER-developed cryogenic pumping system. Technically, its a spheromak, which means that instead of a torus, it’s a simple oblate spheroid. There’s no central core and it doesn’t need the large, complex superconducting magnets that ITER uses. Instead the magnetic fields are produced by putting electrical fields into the center of the plasma using high temperature superconducting tapes wrapped around the vessel, so, in a sense, the plasma contains itself.
According to the UW team, this means the Dynomak is smaller simpler, and cheaper to build, yet produces more power than the ITER reactor. Also, since the plasma heats itself, the fusion reaction is self-sustaining as excess heat is drawn off by a molten salt blanket to boil water to run a steam turbine to generate electricity.
If the UW’s calculations are correct, a Dynomak reactor would cost a tenth of ITER and produce five times as much energy at an efficiency of 40 percent. that means that a one gigawatt Dynomak power plant would have a total cost of US$2.7 billion against the US$2.8 billion needed to build a coal plant
The UW team says that the current Dynomak is only ten percent of the size and power of a practical reactor, which years away in terms of development. However, they say that the test reactor has so far demonstrated its ability to sustain a plasma and they plan to increase the temperature and power output of the unit."
John_S4x4 said:
I had to check that again, I first read it as jizzmag...I need to get out more.
I can’t see the breakthrough in energy production only that Lockheedmartin have figured out a way of making a reactor 10 times smaller, in theory. They now need to work on building a prototype, so sadly there is no new news.
When a nuclear fusion plant is built and more energy is extracted then put in that will be a milestone in human evolution, I hope it becomes reality someday.
When a nuclear fusion plant is built and more energy is extracted then put in that will be a milestone in human evolution, I hope it becomes reality someday.
I seriously doubt they would make such an announcement based solely on theoretical data. And the quote below (and the picture it captions on the AW article) suggests they have a test mule already.
"The CFR test team, led by Thomas McGuire (left), is focusing on plasma containment following successful magnetized ion confinement experiments. Credit: Eric Schulzinger/Lockheed Martin"
Aviation Week article
Exciting times.. Nuclear Fusion is absolutely the holy grail of energy production!
"The CFR test team, led by Thomas McGuire (left), is focusing on plasma containment following successful magnetized ion confinement experiments. Credit: Eric Schulzinger/Lockheed Martin"
Aviation Week article
Exciting times.. Nuclear Fusion is absolutely the holy grail of energy production!
Okay, excuse me for not being that clued up on fusion reactors - but this new reactor contains a spheroid instead of a torus chamber - why has it taken so long to figure out the former is probably easier to achieve? Is there something new (computing or materials) that has enabled this? And has someone told the EU, Japanese or whoever is spending billions on developing doughnut-shaped reactors?
Tycho said:
Have you noticed that this kind of stuff is always 10 years off?
2 years ago it was 5 years off!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAsRFVbcyUY&fea...
Actually its quite an interesting talk worth watching all of it.
PhillipM said:
There's a few fusion reactors about. It's just at the minute, we have to put more energy in to power them than we get out...
Watched a programme a few years ago. Filmed at the JET laboratory in Oxfordshire. Once it is fired up and Fusion is taking place, the damn thing drew 85% more power than it was creating. fido said:
Okay, excuse me for not being that clued up on fusion reactors - but this new reactor contains a spheroid instead of a torus chamber - why has it taken so long to figure out the former is probably easier to achieve? Is there something new (computing or materials) that has enabled this? And has someone told the EU, Japanese or whoever is spending billions on developing doughnut-shaped reactors?
It's certainly the view of some fusion researchers that spheres are better than doughnuts; watch the google techtalk by Robert Bussard from 2006(I think); to paraphrase his (and others) thinking, space is filled with fusion reactors and not one of them is toroidal.knitware said:
When a nuclear fusion plant is built and more energy is extracted then put in that will be a milestone in human evolution, I hope it becomes reality someday.
That's what ITER will do once its complete. More than 100% energy extraction has been achieved on a smaller experimental scale, but only by a couple of % I believe, meaning this wouldn't be commercially viable given the huge cost of any power-station sized facility.ITER is supposed to be this first (small) power-station sized facility, albeit for development, and I think they are aiming for a net energy output of soemthing like 110-115%..
hidetheelephants said:
It's certainly the view of some fusion researchers that spheres are better than doughnuts; watch the google techtalk by Robert Bussard from 2006(I think); to paraphrase his (and others) thinking, space is filled with fusion reactors and not one of them is toroidal.
Those ones do have a slight size advantage though.hidetheelephants said:
It's certainly the view of some fusion researchers that spheres are better than doughnuts; watch the google techtalk by Robert Bussard from 2006(I think); to paraphrase his (and others) thinking, space is filled with fusion reactors and not one of them is toroidal.
Mentioning Robert Bussard; this may be of interest.Here's a tin foil hat thought for you. IF the us government did have in its possession a crashed UFO then one possible power source could be some kind of fusion device. IF they did have one to study it would most likely be LM Skunkworks that was studying it 
If in ten years they come with a vaccuum energy tapping device, I WILL be donning my tin-foil hat!
If in ten years they come with a vaccuum energy tapping device, I WILL be donning my tin-foil hat!
I suspect this thread is only 50 years from completion.
However it seems Lockheed Martin are still self funding their fusion research - http://nextbigfuture.com/2016/05/lockheed-portable...
In related news the new boss of the ITER fusion program has announced that previous estimates are completely unrealistic and the project will need an extra 10 years/4 billion euros. Reuters report
However it seems Lockheed Martin are still self funding their fusion research - http://nextbigfuture.com/2016/05/lockheed-portable...
In related news the new boss of the ITER fusion program has announced that previous estimates are completely unrealistic and the project will need an extra 10 years/4 billion euros. Reuters report
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