Posted on 02/27/2021 11:40:42 PM PST by Kevmo
How about we get the fusion reactors working here on Earth, then we’ll worry about spacecraft engines.
“...lattice confinement fusion...”
This is not a new idea. This approach has been talked about for years.
“ says that when she would handle samples after an experiment, they were very warm.”
So, it’s lukewarm fusion on your desk in a lab.
Bkmk
They come right up to the edge of saying it but don’t.
“Lattice confinement fusion initially has lower temperatures and pressures” than something like a tokamak, says Benyo. But “where the actual deuteron-deuteron fusion takes place is in these very hot, energetic locations.”
Google filed several patents in this arena, and has a $10 million / year program. They got a peer reviewed article published in Nature. They call it Enhanced Coulomb Repulsion.
That’s their way of saying it’s cold fusion but they dare not call it that.
The reason plasma fusion is so hot is because trillions of fusion events take place. These guys are looking at thousands of fusion events.
Yup. Since 1989.
Www.lenr-canr.org
Do they use trilithium crystals?
Nope. Deuterium.
NASA is seeing neutrons. Next up will be dead grad students.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1572665721000503
Yup. cramming deuterium into platinum by electrochemistry is totally different from using pressure to cram deuterium into erbium and titanium!
I maintained back in the day that the deuterium in the platinum effectively lost its electrons in the sea on electrons that make up the structure of conductive metals like platinum.
That's pretty much what the article says for the erbium and titanium.
Maybe they will get a small example working, but when they build a full sized one ... Kaboom!
Now they're just getting to it. UGH!
Don’t give any of the stuff to Musk—he might blow up a city or two by mistake...
Trial and error is fine...until it involves nuclear stuff. :-)
Guessing that you are a Musk hater?
Some pretty dramatic results, some positive but most a bust on a very random basis.
In retrospect this was probably due to using catalysts that loaded with deuterium macroscopically on a consistent basis, but failed to interpenetrate into the proper lattice configuration except in a very infrequent and random fashion.
Seems properly engineering the incorporation of the deuterium into the optimum metallurgy to provide a consistent, properly structured lattice configuration that generates fusion could be the key.
It remains to be seen if there is a sweet spot were deuterium loading gives a high enough probability of proximate deuterium molecules to support sustained, controlled fusion without melt down or worse.
Good to see this is finally coming to fruition but glad I backed away as 32 years is a bit to long to see practical results and commercialization is still well into future.
FWIW, US DOE owns all patents for nuclear process technolgy
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.