Posted on 04/27/2005 12:18:08 PM PDT by AntiGuv
LOS ANGELES - A tabletop experiment created nuclear fusion — long seen as a possible clean energy solution — under lab conditions, scientists reported.
But the amount of energy produced was too little to be seen as a breakthrough in solving the world's energy needs
For years, scientists have sought to harness controllable nuclear fusion, the same power that lights the sun and stars. This latest experiment relied on a tiny crystal to generate a strong electric field. While falling short as a way to produce energy, the method could have potential uses in the oil-drilling industry and homeland security, said Seth Putterman, one of the physicists who did the experiment at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The experiment's results appear in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
Previous claims of tabletop fusion have been met with skepticism and even derision by physicists. In 1989, Dr. B. Stanley Pons of the University of Utah and Martin Fleischmann of Southampton University in England shocked the world when they announced that they had achieved so-called cold fusion at room temperature. Their work was discredited after repeated attempts to reproduce it failed.
Fusion experts noted that the UCLA experiment was credible because, unlike the 1989 work, it didn't violate basic principles of physics.
"This doesn't have any controversy in it because they're using a tried and true method," said David Ruzic, professor of nuclear and plasma engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "There's no mystery in terms of the physics."
Fusion power has been touted as the ultimate energy source and a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels like coal and oil. Fossil fuels are expected to run short in about 50 years.
In fusion, light atoms are joined in a high-temperature process that frees large amounts of energy.
It is considered environment-friendly because it produces virtually no air pollution and does not pose the safety and long-term radioactive waste concerns associated with modern nuclear power plants, where heavy uranium atoms are split to create energy in a process known as fission.
In the UCLA experiment, scientists placed a tiny crystal that can generate a strong electric field into a vacuum chamber filled with deuterium gas, a form of hydrogen capable of fusion. Then the researchers activated the crystal by heating it.
The resulting electric field created a beam of charged deuterium atoms that struck a nearby target, which was embedded with yet more deuterium. When some of the deuterium atoms in the beam collided with their counterparts in the target, they fused.
The reaction gave off an isotope of helium along with subatomic particles known as neutrons, a characteristic of fusion. The experiment did not, however, produce more energy than the amount put in — an achievement that would be a huge breakthrough.
UCLA's Putterman said future experiments will focus on refining the technique for potential commercial uses, including designing portable neutron generators that could be used for oil well drilling or scanning luggage and cargo at airports.
He3+He3 fusion results in no free neutrons (Seen as the holy-holy grail of fusion)
However it requires more energy to initiate than Deut+Deut fusion.
And we have to find the He-3. Not quite as abundant as H-2, is it?
Correct.
Except on the moon. Thats why people like to point to it for He3 mining. However its uneconomical since we have no way of producing a fusion effect without putting more energy into it - yet.
"Neutron embrittlement of the reactor vessel is one obvious problem."
Well *sigh* "...If the Roswell Aliens, can fly in a "vessel" across the galaxy...can't we" PING!
". . . this is "fusion" of a kind, but not "the real thing", in the sense of producing large quantities of convertible energy."
That's kinda like faulting the Wright brothers for not flying around the world instead of a few hundred feet at Kitty Hawk!
BWAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahahahahhahah..... duuuude... that's too funny. Let's order a pizza. I'm kinda hungry.
The money line as they say. UCLA should give a call when they don't have to explain that the lunch is still not free.
Thanks for that link! Interesting.
It's no less feasible than the alternative. (Converting the Arabs to Christianity...)
Also I believe at least one of the hydrogen isotopes (deuterium?) most feasible for a thermonuclear reaction right now would produce some radioactive by-products. The half life, though, would be much shorter than uranium/plutonium waste.
I really hope to see an operational fusion reactor in my lifetime-- I think the ITER project has a good chance of bringing us there, and I hate to see that govt research funding in this area has been cut over the last decade.
A fusion experiment technical paper being submitted to "Nature" is most suspect.
Submission to the IEEE or other far higher academic resource would be taken seriously.
This reminds me of a lame brain biology instructor I had at VWCC who accepted the Mother Earth News as an acceptable academic, technical resource for inclusion in research.
I'd say probably closer to 20-25 years before we see a controlled thermonuclear reaction used as a power source. There's a promising experimental design that's scheduled to begin production soon (ITER, will be built in either France or Japan)-- although construction could take up to 10-15 years and I assume that it would be another 10 years at least before we had a real working model.
Hmm..I'm in Lexington, Ky., I think, I'll go up there (only >145 miles) and ask to see them, you want some souvenirs?
But they crashed when they got to Roswell, just like many others.
...Tourists. :D
Well the last was sarcasm, but for real we'll never see this power source being used for electrical power and such. Too many jobs and money at stake. There is an unwritten rule that goes like this: If you invent something that will significantly impact the world's economy, then it will either be squashed, bought out, or forced to move at a slow pace as to be unprofitable (hydrogen fuel cells).
Yes! That explains why petroleum was quashed by the whale oil industry. And why the railroads were quashed by the stage coach industry. And why the automibile was quashed by the saddle-makers & blacksmiths cartel. And why xerography was quashed by the mimeograph industry. And why the fax machine was quashed by Western Union.
Didn't pick up on the sarcasm, my bad. I do think you're wrong about the application here, though.
The potential gains to whomever broke the international conspiracy against fusion power (and become the monopoly of cheap clean inexhaustible energy) would end up so filthy rich, there would be a mad scramble to avoid being the last one on the gravy train.
Hydrogen fuel cells are slow to catch on largely because they're horrible as energy storage. It takes alot of energy to store a significantly lesser amount of energy in a hydrogen fuel cell. Hydrogen is also extremely unstable and quite flamable (see Hindenburg).
The exception proves the rule-- gas/electric hybrids have met no resistance from the global oil conspirators, and car companies are rushing to come up with real competitors for the very successful Prius. Hummer, on the other hand, stands to lose millions of dollars in revenue this year because of gas prices.
I've got your buggy whips right here
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.