problems with polywell device design

[Betruger]

The plot thickens!

[Aero]

From reading this thread, it is clear that the Polywell has been well and thoroughly debunked by authority. Unfortunately, even though we now finally have outside expert opinion assuring us that it won't work, there are still those among us who would rather see our polywell deity as we wish it to be, rather than as authority tells us that it is. Oh how do we control such bad thoughts. Can our leaders lead us to the land of good and approved thought so that we can escape from this never ending spiral, our minds mired in the underworld of unapproved and inexpert ideas? Oh, to see the sun again...

[scareduck]

First and foremost, the data, what little has been released, has indicated that the #6 design made fusion at a rate almost unmeasureable against background.

And what is background radiation for neutrons?

[IntLibber]

This is all wrong, but good news I believe I have solved all our problems. I'll get back to you later on what's wrong and how to fix it.

I am amazed at my own genius, you are all wrong. The nonexistence of public data means there are no results ergo no fusion happened since we did not witness it. I shall therefore build a polywell by my own secret 5 step design so that I can witness it and fusion shall exist. You shall then worship me and all will be well. That is all.


HINT: We are all mocking jwalding

[joedead]

The Holy Roman Church of Polywell? Who gets to be the pope?

[cuddihy]

The Holy Roman Church of Polywell? Who gets to be the pope?

Well the first one was clearly Bussard. I'd say that makes Nebel the current pope, but he's clearly too skeptical.

And where does that leave Art Carlson? Does that make him like a Martin Luther or something?

[KitemanSA]

The Holy Roman Church of Polywell? Who gets to be the pope?

Well the first one was clearly Bussard. I'd say that makes Nebel the current pope, but he's clearly too skeptical.
And where does that leave Art Carlson? Does that make him like a Martin Luther or something?

Well obviously DrB was the first Pope, and that makes DrN the first POP, and AC the anti... no, I'll let that drop.

[chrismb]

I was reading of the Philo Farnsworth devices and link by link found the polywell. It is an interesting device, but in the form that it exist I do not beleive that it will work.

I beleive that you will need further heating from pumping with coherent light or possibly microwaves to get it to go critical.

You've fundamentally misunderstood how this device works. Either that, or other IEC devices like the Farnsworth fusor, will now promptly stop working, by means of your mental powers!

You are thinking that this 'contains' the fuel and reactants. It does not. Each and every fuel ion is individually accelerated by electric fields. No fuel particle is ever accelerated by any products of fusion. This is not so for thermal plasmas, as you seems to be thinking of, where the fusion products feed the thermal requirements of the plasma.

In an IEC device (which is often described as 'generally cold, locally hot', if that helps your understanding) the energy of fusion products will be immediately expelled to the extremities of the device. There is never any 'feedback' nor criticality in these devices. There is only one question - has the ion been accelerated to a sufficient, 'fusing' velocity?

Unfortunately, IEC devices don't work as net power devices because ions are more likey to bounce off a target and thermalise, than to fuse with it, so almost all the ion energy drains away in thermalising lossy collisions.

The design intent of the Polywell is as an IEC beam-target device, not a thermal device.

That's not to say it will work as intended, and your next question on the environment inside the device if it does start working is certainly one of the discussion points you could legitimately raise, though it already has been raised many times and there are no clear resolutions to it. There is no evidence of an operating-as-designed Polywell yet so no-one really knows what is likely to come out of it.

[D Tibbets]

Deleated text

[D Tibbets]

And, Bussard tried external magnets in some of the earlier designs- they didn't work. If MUCH more enegetic magnets are used the area where B=1 and the unavoidable cusps locations may be deep enough inside the machine that external magnets could be used (?).

Dr. B also said that recirculation was also critical, so the field would also need to be outside the grid. But the field is there to protect the grid. Hmmm.

Duh, as pointed out, the outer aspect of the positive magrid needs to be exposed to the cusp escaping electrons for recirculation... Unless you had a seperate positively charged grid inside the vessel, that was still protected by the external magnets. If the vacuum vessel walls were shaped so that there were bulges where the cusps were, you might be able to move the pos. grid closer to the walls- assumeing recirculation is 'ossillation' no more than a short distance beyond the pos grid, and looping recirculation is insignificant or nonexistant. And I'm guessing that the magnets would have to be orders of magnitude stronger, if it worked at all, and only in a thermal recovery reactor (D-D). Also, there would be increased problems with Debye sheaths, etc that have been highlighted by A. Carlson (which I don't understand, so will conviently ignor).

Dan Tibbets