Talk-Polywell.org

ltgbrown wrote:Well, what I was referring to was the general lack of mention of Polywell in any fusion discussion. I watched a "panel" discussion on fusion with Focus Fusion, Tri Alpha, NIF and someone representing investors, but no mention of Polywell. It just seems like almost all venues about fusion don't include Polywell. Why? Are "we" the fringe?

I think the main reason is that EMC2 has been really quiet lately and has not put out a lot of information in years. There is also the fact that the (relative) lack of funding makes them a relatively small player. I think that the latter is also the reason why LPP does not get more press and is rarely inviting to these panels and conferences, even though they are (IMHO) doing a fairly good job with their research.
There are other fusion startups that are in the same boat as these two for either one of or both of these reasons. I could name a whole bunch of them, that are quite interesting in their approach but you barely hear and see anything about them in the media.

ltgbrown wrote: Tired and extra glass of wine complicates my typing!

Ha! I know that feeling

Hopefully this talk will be webcasted and also archived for later viewing as usually is the case at PPPL. For some reason the starting time has been changed to 9:30.

crowberry wrote:Dr. Michl Binderbauer will give the talk On the Path to Clean Fusion Energy at PPPL on March 17, 2018,
9:00am to 11:00am. Hopefully also this talk will be webcasted as many of previous PPPL talks.

http://www.pppl.gov/events/science-satu ... ion-energy

Tri Alpha's $150 million "Norman" fusion device was built in nine months, according to Michel Binderbauer, chief technology officer

https://twitter.com/DeVoeJjackson/statu ... 0191993858

That seems really quick, I have to say.

I haven't listened yet, but saw this was posted:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtcrb-Q4QQc

Maui wrote:I haven't listened yet, but saw this was posted:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtcrb-Q4QQc

I finally had a chance to finish it. Very good and insightful interview! I fully agree with Michl that fusion research in the west lacks a sense of urgency.
Political and public support is weak. Dennis Whyte from the MIT said something similar in a recent panel, IIRC and his SPARC is aimed at demonstrating break even as soon as possible in order to bring fusion back into the attention of the public (and politics). That said, I think that TE has a chance to beat both TAE and the MIT to it (funding provided). Helion is also relatively close (about 2 to 3 years away, I would guess).
A recent addition to my "groups to watch" list is Uri Shumlak and his FuZE. They have made good progress, from what I gather and their device is so small and simple, maybe they can make it first.
All of them of course need to have enough funding to get anywhere.

crowberry wrote:Hopefully this talk will be webcasted and also archived for later viewing as usually is the case at PPPL. For some reason the starting time has been changed to 9:30.

crowberry wrote:Dr. Michl Binderbauer will give the talk On the Path to Clean Fusion Energy at PPPL on March 17, 2018,
9:00am to 11:00am. Hopefully also this talk will be webcasted as many of previous PPPL talks.

http://www.pppl.gov/events/science-satu ... ion-energy

The 1 h 26 min 29 s long video of Dr. Michl Binderbauers talk On the Path to Aneutronic Fusion is available at https://www.pppl.gov/events/science-sat ... ion-energy. It is a very clear and broad overview of TAE Technologies past, present and future activities. The machine after the current Norman machine will be called Copernicus. Copernicus is being planned at the moment and the scaling results achieved on Norman in 2018 and 2019 will determine how Copernicus will be built. A central design criterion is that it should be a break even capable device. They will run it on a hydrogen plasma and aim to be able to show that a real fusion fuel (DT, or someting else) would show break even if it would be used. Copernicus is expected to cost 1 or 2 G$. In a first generation TAE Technologies power reactor the energy would be mostly extracted from thermal conversion of the about 100 keV X-rays escaping from the FRC to the first wall. The estimate for Q is on the order of 6 or 7.

crowberry wrote:

crowberry wrote:Hopefully this talk will be webcasted and also archived for later viewing as usually is the case at PPPL. For some reason the starting time has been changed to 9:30.

crowberry wrote:Dr. Michl Binderbauer will give the talk On the Path to Clean Fusion Energy at PPPL on March 17, 2018,
9:00am to 11:00am. Hopefully also this talk will be webcasted as many of previous PPPL talks.

http://www.pppl.gov/events/science-satu ... ion-energy

The 1 h 26 min 29 s long video of Dr. Michl Binderbauers talk On the Path to Aneutronic Fusion is available at https://www.pppl.gov/events/science-sat ... ion-energy. It is a very clear and broad overview of TAE Technologies past, present and future activities. The machine after the current Norman machine will be called Copernicus. Copernicus is being planned at the moment and the scaling results achieved on Norman in 2018 and 2019 will determine how Copernicus will be built. A central design criterion is that it should be a break even capable device. They will run it on a hydrogen plasma and aim to be able to show that a real fusion fuel (DT, or someting else) would show break even if it would be used. Copernicus is expected to cost 1 or 2 G$. In a first generation TAE Technologies power reactor the energy would be mostly extracted from thermal conversion of the about 100 keV X-rays escaping from the FRC to the first wall. The estimate for Q is on the order of 6 or 7.

Interesting! So that means that they will be building it by 2020 and maybe achieve break even as early as 2021, provided they manage to get the funding.
Their normal build times are 9 months. So they might have the build ready before the end of 2020.
Edit: Listening in on the presentation, they will most likely take longer than that, mostly because of the high level of funding needed... unless they get some billionaire taking a risk with them.

They built Norman in about nine months, but because Copernicus is a much larger and more expensive device it will take also much more time to raise the needed money and to build it. It will also not fit on their current premises as it needs more infrastructure, so they will need to move. In the talk Michl Binderbauer described it as a five years project. As usually all fusion time lines should be taken with several grains of salt, but surely they will not have the device ready by 2021.

crowberry wrote:They built Norman in about nine months, but because Copernicus is a much larger and more expensive device it will take also much more time to raise the needed money and to build it. It will also not fit on their current premises as it needs more infrastructure, so they will need to move. In the talk Michl Binderbauer described it as a five years project. As usually all fusion time lines should be taken with several grains of salt, but surely they will not have the device ready by 2021.

Yeah, I just gathered that, after listening to the whole thing. Though, the D+T thing might work our earlier. I think the mid 2020ies is what he thinks of for PB11.

Here is another talk by Michl Binderbauer: On TAE’s Path to Fusion, A Private-Sector Perspective http://www.firefusionpower.org/NAS_Tri- ... 022718.pdf.

I found the 8¢/kWh target disheartening. Nevermind gas, even wind/solar + storage is going to be beating that before TAE would have any potential to have something to market.

Maui wrote:I found the 8¢/kWh target disheartening. Nevermind gas, even wind/solar + storage is going to be beating that before TAE would have any potential to have something to market.

Those don't work everywhere and gas will go up, I am sure about that.
And the 8 cent might only be the beginning. Look how much cheaper solar got!

ASIPP and TAE Shake Hands to Increase Cooperate in Fusion Technologies
Institute of Plasma Physics (ASIPP) and TAE Technologies Inc. (TAE) is to increase their cooperate in Fusion Technologies, according to MOU signed on a high-level meeting between the two side, which was held on 1st June in Hefei.

http://english.hf.cas.cn/new/news/Event ... 94206.html.

https://twitter.com/POWERmagazine/statu ... 5302834176
Rick Perry visited Tri Alpha. Why is that important? Obvious. Current fossil push needs a Fusion reality check not being told by the ITER Gruberment bureaucrats... you can bet your last dollar on that.

So, why doesn't EMC2 fire up its Navy contacts? Afraid it will be torpedoed? Not likely given the other Fusion efforts that are breathing down the neck of the oil, gas, and coal industry.

Alan Boyle has written about the plans of TAE Technologies: TAE rearranges its leadership and gets ready for next chapter in fusion quest backed by Paul Allen,
https://www.geekwire.com/2018/tae-rearr ... aul-allen/