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Famulus fusion

Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 11:11 pm
by icarus
http://prometheusfusionperfection.com/2 ... le-bubble/

Seems like he has got neutron bubbles, four in fact.

Officially, this is more fusion than the EMC2 Polywell experiments to date who got 3 neutron bubbles for WB-6.

Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 2:15 am
by rcain
.. and gets into The Neutron Club - http://prometheusfusionperfection.com/2 ... tron-club/ !

Congratulations Prometheus!

Are we still on for 5MW by christmas?

Re: Famulus fusion

Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 4:06 am
by D Tibbets
icarus wrote:http://prometheusfusionperfection.com/2 ... le-bubble/

Seems like he has got neutron bubbles, four in fact.

Officially, this is more fusion than the EMC2 Polywell experiments to date who got 3 neutron bubbles for WB-6.
Not quite. 3 neutron counts with EMC's electronic detectors do not directly convert to the bubble count unless they have the same sensitivity , area, and distance. And of course time. This run was ~ 40 minutes (2400 seconds). WB6 was ~ 0.25 milliseconds. WB6 reportedly produced ~ 500,000,000 neutrons per second. The rate for this test was probably around 1,000- 10,000 (or less) neutrons per second (ball park figure). IE: my guesstimate is that the Polywell was producing at least ~ 100,000 times as many neutrons per second. The best amateur fusors are getting ~ 1-10 million fusions per second. The bubbles this would represent depends on the bubble detector calibration ( they come in several sensitivities), the distance from the reactor center ( some argument about where most of the fusions are occurring in a gridded fusor), and the duration of the run.

[EDIT]. The neutron production rate for WB6 were not astounding when taken out out of context. But, the results were obtained at very limited conditions, compared to what the machine is claimed to be capable of with scaling predictions. The best gas discharge gridded fusors are operating near maximum efficiency, though some tricks like what Hirsch did can squeeze out several orders of magnitude better performance. The Polywell matches or exceeds this performance in it's most basic condition (WB6, earlier versions were probably significantly better than gridded fusors but still fell short on growth potential).

Dan Tibbets

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 11:35 pm
by ladajo
Famulus got his pump back from repair.
I would expect that he starts moving again on the Sydney experiment.
He has his magrid built and mouted, and as I recall just needed to pull vacuum, which is what he was doing when he last fried his pump (again).

Go team!

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:27 am
by Giorgio
Let's hope all goes well this time. I am curious to see if he will be able to replicate the Sydney experiment.

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 1:16 am
by icarus
I'm curious to see if he can avoid frying his vacuum pump again.

As M.simon has said, he's got drive .... but sometimes, well ya know ...

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 7:09 am
by Giorgio
He is a smart guy and a fast learner, he will not make the same mistakes twice.
And even if he fries again the pump for some new issue he will learn from it, fix it again and move on.

Isn't this what research is after all?

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:53 am
by chrismb
He should implement some 'fool-proof' mechanisms, especially if he's done it twice now. To leave a risk of doing it a 3rd time would be crazy.

The valve between chamber and turbo should only be a gate valve to regulate the flow. It doesn't have to be a 'fully closed' valve type.

So if anyone is in contact with him, or he reads this, just wedge something in the way of the gate so that it can't close completely. Then, there can never be a build up of gas in the chamber with the turbo running.

I did this myself a few weeks back. Fortunately I have a multi-turn bellows valve, which is not something you can open quick anyway. A leaky regulator had bled gas into the chamber, I thought the valve was already part opened, and so I went to open it some more!

The turbo did an extreme speed decent and I closed the valve again quick. Prob not full air pressure in the chamber, and prob only a tiny opening on the valve. The pump seems OK (a bit worried I've taken good life off the bearings), but I skipped a few heart-beats when I heard the poor pump take its nose-dive.

So I shall also be implementing my own good advice here to avoid that again and will install a 'full-close preventer' when the chamber is open next. I also have a vent valve to the chamber and to evacuate the back-side of a flow control orifice, and will be adding a fine orifice to that so that, if it is opened suddenly with the turbo going, it'll admit air at a rate, hopefully, slow enough for me to close it again.

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 9:25 am
by Giorgio
I sent him a link to this thread, just in case he didn't notice it.

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 12:41 pm
by ladajo
His last posting says that the pump was mot fried after all. He believes he has a big leak in his chamber, but cannot find it.

FIXED

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 3:54 pm
by FAMULUS
The vacuum system is working!!!!!!!

Now for the sydney experiment.

http://prometheusfusionperfection.com/2011/02/17/fixed/

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 4:17 pm
by Giorgio
Show us some neutrons!
:twisted:

Re: FIXED

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:21 pm
by TallDave
FAMULUS wrote:The vacuum system is working!!!!!!!

Now for the sydney experiment.

http://prometheusfusionperfection.com/2011/02/17/fixed/
Glad to hear it. 98 nanotorr, not bad!

Are you still using these:

http://prometheusfusionperfection.com/2 ... the-coils/

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 9:07 pm
by FAMULUS
Yup.

I'm doing the final fit and finish for the whole experiment:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/0 ... directlink

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 9:28 pm
by ladajo
Are the supports Al?
What about the fastners, looks like a mixed bag for material. Some look stainless or steel, the others some other burnished steel?