SUBMITTED BY TEAM FUSION:

(Students of College of Engineering, Adoor. ) ( 4rth year , Mechanical students)

Deepak Soman Deepak Jose Dinoop P .M Dominic Joseph Achu .B Arjun .P.K

PREFACE

The aim of this pamphlet is to provide an overview of our Project in theory, in mechanisms involved and to briefly state the technological relevance of Nuclear Fusion Research to our future . This project represents Team Fusions aim and approach, along with a rough outline of the feasibility of the project. While most of the content has been hand typed, we have included some text directly from books and various sources, as we felt they explained the concepts in the most apt manner.

Team Fusion Representative

Contents

PROJECT SUMMARY INTRODUCTION

WHY IS FUSION HARD TO DO? ..................................................................................................... METHODS OF FUSION PLASMA PHYSICS THE FARNSWORTH FUSOR IN DETAIL EXPERIMENTAL SETUP SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM DANGERS AND RISKS BENEFITS MECHANICAL ASPECTS OF OUR PROJECT APPROACH TO OUR PROJECT PHASE ONE IN DETAIL PHASE TWO IN DETAIL PHASE THREE IN DETAIL . .. .. .. . .. . . . .. ..

Project summary

Our project includes building a Fusion Reactor. The design is based on typical IEC (Inertial Electrostatic Confinement) fusion devices which use high-voltage power supplies, pressurized deuterium gas, and stainless steel construction. While these technologies enhance neutron production, they are secondary to typical primary goals such as designing an economical construction, improving plasma confinement or improving ionization techniques. Simplification of the chamber construction, high-voltage power supply, and deuterium delivery system would allow researchers to focus on more pertinent issues. Our AIM: To make a suitable device able to contain Fusion capable extreme condition, able to create and confine plasma (300 million degrees Kelvin); this device should also function as a particle collider, hence producing Fusion. Our Output will be neutrons showing that we were successful in creating fusion. Fusion requires extreme conditions, producing this nuclear reaction on Earth is a difficult technical problem. We need very high temperatures in order of 300 million Kelvin, extremes of pressure. Hence, building a reactor capable of controlled fusion is very challenging, and our team aims at meeting challenge. Our design is based on the Farnsworth- Hirch Fusor. This design was patented on 1968, June and early devices were constructed as early as 1960s. This device would essentially be of table top construction, with practically no dangers of radiation (as proved by fusioneers).

On July 2007, India s Union Cabinet approved Indian participation in the ITER project. The project titled Indian Participation in International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, at a base cost of Rs.2500 crore. The FE component calculated at base cost will be Rs.1129 crore. Hence, our project is also aimed to support India s efforts as it tries to meets Fusion challenges. Such a devise has never been built in India to my knowledge. Fusion as well as Plasma studies have been extremely scarce in India; while in countries abroad at least 8 high school students have successfully attained fusion the youngest of whom is 11 years old. It s high time we rekindle Nuclear Research among Indian students, who still vision it as something impossible.

INTRODUCTION
What is Fusion? 1.Fusion is the process by which two light nuclei fuses together to form a heavier atom. 2.A tiny fraction of mass is converted to energy ( Einstein s equation: E=mc^2) 3. In our sun hydrogen fuses to form a helium molecule. 4. Fission is the process where a heavy nuclei breaks down to give many lighter nuclei. 5. In nuclear reactions it is the sub-atomic particles in the atomic nucleus, the protons and neutrons, which rearrange themselves to form new elements or isotopes with more stable nuclei. In this case the energy released by the reaction in the form of kinetic energy (eg: heat) and electromagnetic energy (eg: gamma radiation) is millions of times greater. 6. The great attractions of nuclear fusion as an energy source are that the fuel, mostly isotopes of hydrogen, is plentiful and easy to obtain, and the elements produced as a result of the fusion are usually light and stable atoms rather than the heavy radioactive products which result from nuclear fission. 7. The potential release of energy per unit mass of the fuel is much higher in the case of fusion than in fission since reactions allowing greater increases in binding energy are possible with fusion reactions. 8. All molecules want to be stable; they want to attain the middle position in a periodic table. Fission is the process used by heavier atoms to become stable. Fusion is the process for lighter atoms for attaining stability. Advantages:
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The fuel for fusion reactions is readily available. Deuterium and Tritium are virtually inexhaustible. Unlike the burning of coal or other fossil fuels, fusion does not emit harmful toxins into the atmosphere. The combustion of most fossil fuels involves some form of the reaction C + O2(g) --> CO2(g) + heat

The carbon dioxide (CO2(g)) emitted by this reaction contributes to the global warning/so-called "Greenhouse Effect" that we've all heard so much about. Fusion, however, produces only helium, a gas that is already in abundance in the atmosphere and will not contribute to global warming. A major concern with the use of fission power is the issue of nuclear waste, a dangerous material that can both directly injure people and be manufactured into weapons. Fusion has no such problems with dangerous byproducts.

Disadvantages
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Scientists have not yet been able to contain a fusion reaction long enough for there to be a net energy gain. Many countries are phasing out fusion research because of the failure to reach a breakthrough

Why is Fusion so Hard to do??

While it seems simple, nuclear fusion tends to be extremely hard: Nuclei make repelling each other their number one priority. It takes a lot of effort to push nuclei close enough together to get nuclear reactions to happen. The easy way to overcome that repulsion is to accelerate particles towards each other so that they have enough energy to overcome that barrier of repulsion. That's exactly what happens in particle accelerators; a typical accelerator might accelerate protons to 2 MeV1 and smash them into a target. Along with space and money requirements, electrostatic particle accelerators are typically limited to small bunches of particles and require extremely high voltages to perform. The electrostatic force repels two nuclei because they re oppositely charged (it s the entire like charges repel mechanism). This force is normally very strong on the scales we re talking about it s strong enough to prevent things from fusing together when collisions happen, for example. Even if two Jumbo Jets crashed into each other at 600 miles per hour, the resultant debris and catastrophe doesn t induce fusion. It s harder than that. The upshot is that one must find some way to confine hot, energetic particles so that they can collide many many times, and finally collide in just the right way, so that fusion occurs. The temperatures required are upwards of 100 million degrees (Kelvin - it would be about 200 million Fahrenheit!). At these temperatures, your fusion fuel will melt/evaporate any material wall. So the big difficulties in fusion are (a) getting the particles hot enough to fuse, and (b) confining them long enough so that they do fuse. So basically, the atoms to be forced together at high speeds or at high pressures those are the only two methods that we can use. We need a temperature of about 100 million Kelvin for this to happen remember, temperature is actually a measure of a materials atoms kinetic energy. The more temperature you have, the faster the gas atoms are flying around. So, let s look at our options.

Methods of Fusion
1) Tokamak/Stellerator (Magnetic Confinement)
Nuclear scientists initially started with high temperature gases, and then wanted to squeeze the gas together so that the atoms would be more likely to bump into each other with the necessary speed. To restrain the incredibly hot gas, there s only one method they can use: magnets. Magnets exert a force on electrically charged particles, and in a plasma (usually a very energetic state of matter, at around 30-100 million Kelvin), the electrons have already been literally ripped off of the hydrogen atoms they re all charged and running around, loose and fast as heck. Therefore they can use magnets to restrict and bind this charged body. However, the magnetic force needs to be incredibly strong they re essentially keeping particles together like they d be found at the center of the sun, and there s no gravity or other mechanism to help them along. There s a bunch of various quirks to this arrangement in practice, including the need for a housing in the shape of a donut. (The donut allows for

an incredibly uniform magnetic field). It also requires being built on a large scale, since the magnetic forces needed require room-loads of equipment and lots of power to run (these are electromagnets so that the scientists can control the magnetic field accurately). In general, it s expensive, large, bulky, and incredibly time-consuming to even plan out building a tokamak. Moreover, it s hard to extract any energy from this system because it s just a burning plasma. You can t stick things into the plasma and expect them to survive; it ll just melt away. The magnetic fields mean that there s a bunch of coils and support equipment that need to be close as possible to the plasma; you can t make the container transparent or even light-passing so that you can use the light to read, or something similar. It s pretty much like a miniature, donut-shaped sun, but you can t use its light or its heat, leaving you with little or no options for using the thing. (Using the emitted Radiation gamma/X-ray radiation or carrying away the hot byproducts that are spewn from the plasma are possibilities that are being looked into at present.) A variation on the tokamak design is the Stellerator, which is just a Tokamak with a different shaped enclosure in most cases, it looks like a twisty band loop.

2) The National Ignition Facility (Big Lasers/Inertial Confinement)

Another method of fusion is to get a small pellet of solid hydrogen, coat it with plastic or something else that will melt at high temperatures, and then fire lots of really big lasers at it. The lasers make the plastic hot enough that it literally explodes , forcing the solid hydrogen inward and inducing conditions with enough pressure and temperature to induce fusion. This is a great example of how much power is available in the world the National Ignition Facility, one of the only places in the world researching this, is capable of putting out 500 terawatts of power for a couple microseconds. And therein lies the rub: this process only works for small amounts of fuel, and it only works for a very, very short time. There isn t enough time to actually extract any energy from the equation, and it takes a long time for the lasers to charge up. This method isn t practical outside of research at the moment, really. There s some possibilities for expansion, but in general it suffers a pretty bad setback due to its non-continuous operation.

3 )Cold Fusion (The Quacks)

There are whole subsets of techniques that call themselves cold fusion, and most of them dont work. If they do work, they havent been able to reproduce it or get quantitative evidence. Well ignore them for the moment.

4) The Nuclear Fusor (Inertial Electrostatic Confinement)

Okay, so weve got magnetic methods and explosive methods of containing the fuel. What would happen if we instead figured out how to make the fuel collide with itself, instead of just pressing it together and hoping it works? Thats exactly the procedure that the nuclear fusor, or as its more commonly known, the Farnsworth fusor follows. (Its named after its inventor, Philo T. Farnsworth.) If you have a very low density gas, such that the particles can travel about a meter without colliding into one another, you can accelerate the individual atoms to very high speeds into a central point. How do you accelerate these atoms? you might ask. Well, the fusor exploits the natural enemy of nuclear fusion physiciststhat nasty electrostatic force that repels the atoms from getting together. The fusor accelerates ions by placing them in a very high voltage differential situation; the ions will naturally accelerate to an area of negative charge due to the electrostatic force. What would happen if that negative terminal wasnt solid, but was instead a grid, so that the ions would continue traveling at high speeds past the terminal? What would happen, pray tell, if the negative terminal was shaped like a sphere? With a spherical, grid-like negative electrode, hydrogen ions naturally accelerate toward it, and toward the center of the system. However, since the grid actually has space for them to pass in between, the hydrogen ions will go through that route. Of course, all the hydrogen ions in the system are heading for the centertheyll naturally collide at the center of the negative electrode. And there, in the center of the spherical grid, will be where fusion happens. This is the method that Im trying to build, and this it where all of my efforts have gone. Luckily, this fusor device can be built on a small scale, and high voltage equipment is relatively common compared to ridiculously big lasers or magnetic field equipment, so its within the reach of the amateur.

PLASMA PHYSICS
WHAT IS PLASMA?
Plasma is the fourth state of matter. Many places teach that there are three states of matter; solid, liquid and gas, but there are actually four. The fourth is plasma. To put it very simply, a plasma is an ionized gas, a gas into which sufficient energy is provided to free electrons from atoms or molecules and to allow both species, ions and electrons, to coexist. The funny thing about that is, that as far as we know, plasmas are the most common state of matter in the universe. They are even common here on earth. Plasma is a gas that has been energized to the point that some of the electrons break free from, but travel with, their nucleus. Gases can become plasmas in several ways, but all include pumping the gas with energy. A spark in a gas will create plasma. A hot gas passing through a big spark will turn the gas stream into plasma that can be useful. Plasma torches like that are used in industry to cut metals. The biggest chunk of plasma you will see is that dear friend to all of us, the sun. The sun's enormous heat rips electrons off the hydrogen and helium molecules that make up the sun. Essentially, the sun, like most stars, is a great big ball of plasma. Sources of plasma All of the following are examples where plasmas are to be found:
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Lightning! The Sunfrom Core to Corona Fluorescent Lights and Neon Signs Nebulae - Luminous Clouds in Space The Solar Wind Primordial Fusion during the evolution of the Universe Magnetic Confinement Fusion Plasmas Inertially Confined Fusion Plasmas Flames as Plasmas Auroras - the Northern and Southern Lights Interstellar Space - it's not empty, it's a plasma! Quasars, Radio galaxies, and Galaxiesthey emit plasma radiation and microwaves Large Scale Structures of Galaxiestheir filamentary and magnetized! Dense Solid State Matterwhen shocked by nuclear explosion or earthquakes, emit both light and radio emission.

Plasma and Fusion (in reference to tokamak)

Plasma is the so-called fourth state of matter , a cloud of ionized gas possessing many unique properties. Within this cloud of ionized gasses the process of fusion can be initiated under the correct circumstances. The process of fusion is far superior to that of fission because it leaves less nuclear waste that only remains for a short period of time rather than hundreds of thousands if not millions of years. At a certain temperature plasma begins to maintain itself allowing for the harvesting of energy released by the fusion of tritium and deuterium; to maintain this temperature the plasma cannot touch the walls of the containing chamber because much heat would be lost causing a failure in the self-sustainment of the plasma burn. It is projected that there will be a functional fusion power plant called ITER by 2050 that will be able to run for extended periods of time due to the use of superconducting electromagnets (resistance free conductors that do

not heat up when run for extended periods of time) ( What is ITER 2007). Thus, plasma was the most difficult problem encountered in the subject of fusion energy to this point.

Just how hot and confined do these plasmas need to be? (Fusion)
(Or, what conditions are needed for controlled fusion?)

Basically, the hotter your plasma, the more fusion you will have because the more ions will be flying around fast enough to stick together. (Although actually you can go *too* fast, and the atoms then start to whiz by too quickly, and don't stick together long enough to fuse properly. This limit is not usually achieved in practice.) The more dense your plasma is, the more ions there are in a small space, and the more collisions you are likely to have. Finally, the longer you can keep your plasma hot, the more likely it is that something will fuse, so duration is important too. More importantly, the slower your plasma loses energy, the more likely it is that it will be able to sustain its temperature from internal fusion reactions, and "ignite." The ratio of fusion energy production to plasma energy loss is what really counts here. Hotness is measured by temperature, and as explained above, the D-T fuel cycle (the easiest) requires temperatures of about 10 keV, or 100,000,000 degrees Kelvin. Density is typically measured in particles-per-cubic centimeter or particlesper-cubic meter. The required density depends on the confinement duration. The Lawson product, defined as (density)*(confinement time) is a key measure of plasma confinement, and determines what combinations of density and energy confinement will give you fusion at a given temperature. It is important to note that what you must confine is the *energy* (thermal energy) stored in the plasma, and not necessarily the plasma particles. There's a lot of subtlety here; for instance, you want to confine your fuel ions as well as their energy, so that they stick around and fuse, but you *don't* want to confine the "ash" from the reactions, because the ash needs to get out of the reactor... But you'd like to get the *energy*out of the ash to keep your fuel hot so it will fuse better! (And it gets even more complicated than that!) Regardless, it's true that for a special value of the Lawson product, the fusion power produced in your plasma will just balance the energy losses as energy in the plasma becomes unconfined, and *ignition* occurs. That is, as long as the plasma fuel stays around, the plasma will keep itself hot enough to keep fusing. A simple analogy here is to an ordinary fire. The fire won't burn unless the fuel is hot enough, and it won't keep burning unless the heat released by burning the fuel is enough to keep the fuel hot enough. The flame continually loses heat, but usually this loss is slow enough that the fire sustains itself. You can accelerate the heat loss, however, by pouring water on the fire to cool it quickly; this puts the fire out. In fusion, the plasma continually loses heat, much as a fire gives off heat, and if the plasma loses heat faster than heat is produced by fusion, it won't stay hot enough to keep burning. In fusion reactors today, the plasmas aren't quite confined well enough to sustain burning on their own (ignition), so we get them to burn by pumping in energy to keep them hot. This is sort of like getting wet wood to burn with a blowtorch (this last analogy is usually credited to Harold Furth of PPPL). For the D-T fuel cycle, the Lawson ignition value for a temperature of about 200,000,000 Kelvin is roughly 5E20 secondsparticles/m^3. Current fusion reactors such as TFTR have achieved about 1/10th of this - but 20 years ago they had only achieved 1/100,000th of this!

How can we improve the Lawson value of plasma further, so we get even closer to fusion ignition? The trick is to keep the heat in the plasma for as long as possible. As an analogy to this problem, suppose we had a thermos of coffee which we want to keep hot. We can keep the thermos hotter longer by (a) using a better type of insulation, so that the heat flows out more slowly, or (b) using thicker insulation, so the heat has farther to go to escape, and therefore takes longer to get out.

Going back to the fusion reactor, the insulation can be improved by studying plasmas and improving their insulating properties by reducing heat transport through them. And the other way to boost the Lawson value is simply to make larger plasmas, so the energy takes longer to flow out. Scientists believe it's technically feasible to build a powerproducing fusion reactor with high Lawson value *Right Now*, but it would have to be large, so large in fact that it would cost too much to be able to make electricity economically. So we're studying plasmas and trying to figure out how to make them trap energy more efficiently.

What are the basic approaches used to heat and confine the plasma? (Fusion)
(Or, what is magnetic confinement? Inertial confinement?) There are three basic ways to confine plasma. The first is the method the sun uses: gravity. If you have a big enough ball of plasma, it will stick together by gravity, and be self-confining. Unfortunately for fusion researchers, that doesn't work here on earth. The second method is that used in nuclear fusion bombs: you implode a small pellet of fusion fuel. If you do it quickly enough, and compress it hard enough, the temperature will go way up, and so will the density, and you can exceed the Lawson ignition value despite the fact that you are only confining your pellet for nanoseconds. Because the inertia of the imploding pellet keeps it momentarily confined, this method is known as inertial confinement. The third method uses the fact that charged particles placed in a magnetic field will gyrate in circles. If you can arrange the magnetic field carefully, the particles will be trapped by it. If you can trap them well enough, the plasma energy will be confined. Then you can heat the plasma, and achieve fusion with more modest particle densities. This method is known as magnetic confinement. Initial heating is achieved by a combination of microwaves, energetic/accelerated particle beams, and resistive heating from currents driven through the plasma. (Once the Lawson ignition value is achieved, the plasma becomes more-or-less self-heating.) In magnetic confinement, the plasma density is typically about 1E20 particles per cubic meter, and with a temperature of about 1E8 kelvin, we see that ignition could be achieved with a confinement time of about 4 seconds. (All these numbers in reality vary by factors of 2 or 3 from the rough values I've given.) Currently, magnetic-confinement reactors are about a factor of ten short of the ignition value. (TFTR has an energy confinement time of 0.25 seconds during its best shots.)

The Farnsworth Fusor in Detail

HOW IT WORKS?-by Richard hull
The simple fusor is the best example of how fusion can be done on the cheap. Physical description........ In our example, we will take a stainless steel spherical fusor of the type so common to budding fusioneers found here. The unit consists of an electrically conductive, vacuum tight, metallic outer shell. Within the outer spherical shell casing is found a single, centrally located, electrically conductive spherical grid that is more or less transparent in that it is made up of a hollow, wire ball. This "central" or "inner" grid is supported by and electrically connected to the outside world, by an insulated, electrically conductive stalk or post which is run through a "feed through" insulator that is also vacuum tight. There are other add-ons that facilitate operational control and observation, such as view ports, vacuum guage ports and the mandatory vacuum system connection which allows the air inside to be removed. There is also a mandatory gas line which allows the introduction of a fusionable gas. This gas is always deuterium in a simple amateur fusor. What verbiage describes the fusor best?.............. The fusor can be considered to be an electro statically focused, and accelerated, deuteron collider type of fusion device" relying on "inertial electrostatic confinement" to allow fusion to take place in "velocity space". How is it viewed in terms of its fusion function? . The fusor, as a form of accelerator, is a closed electrical system, voltage gradient device. It demands input energy to achieve fusion. It will not self sustain or achieve "ignition" as is classically sought in an energy producing fusion reactor. (None of this desirable breed has ever existed on earth). As such, the fusor is not a net energy producer. What is the fusion reaction?.......... The reactions found in the deuterium-deuterium fusor (d-d) manifest themselves in two forms, each being roughly of equal probability. (50:50). These reactions are as follows: d + d = He3 (.82mev) + n (2.45mev) d + d = H3(1mev) + p (3mev)

Stated verbally, d-d can make a reaction occur that yields a Helium 3 atom, (stable), with a kinetic energy of .82mev and a Neutron of 2.45 mev kinetic energy. 50% of the time, d-d can also form a reaction that yields a tritium atom, (radioactive), with a kinetic energy of 1

mev and a proton of 3 mev kinetic energy. All of these particles except the neutron will NEVER leave the fusor, but collide with other gas atoms in the device and or the metal outer shell wall. here, their energy will be transformed into fusion energy HEAT and X-rays/gamma rays. NOTE** these X-rays will be of massive energy, (up to 3mev!), but result in a normal, external, net x-ray current in the sub atto-ampere range and effectively be undetectable due to their large penetrating power. The neutrons will pass right through the casing as if it were not there. Thus, we say that the fusor is a "neutron producing device". There is a third reaction possible about every 10,000 fusions that is not part of any real discussion of d-d "hot" fusion and it is: d + d = He4 + gamma ray with about ~20 mev of energy distributed among the two particles. What is the physical process and how does it happen mechanically?......... The fusor device, first, has all the air extracted via a vacuum pump. This is much easier said than done. Much time, expense and effort is put forth in attaining this mandatory goal. The required pressure for evacuation is a minimum of one micron or 10e-3 torr. It is far better if one can achieve lower pressures in the 10e-4 to 10e-6 range. Such higher vacuum levels would indicate a more professional job and represent very "clean" and well sealed fusor. Ultimately, any vacuum achieved will be filled back up to a pressure of about 10 microns (10e-2 torr) with the reactant gas, deuterium, from which the fusion is actually derived. Getting the gas there and regulating it is another mission that must be accomplished for fusion to take place. We now have a fusor device that is evacuated of all air and depressurized to only about 1/100,000th of an atmosphere of pure deuterium gas. There is still a vacuum in the vessel, obviously, but all the gas in the vessel is a fusion ready, deuterium gas. To make fusion happen, we must apply energy externally to the device. This energy is electrical energy. This electrical energy is applied as a very high voltage gradient across the two fusor electrical components, the outer shell and the inner grid. This potential gradient can be as low as a few kilovolts to cause fusion to commence, though over 20 kilovolts is needed to make readily detectable fusion with normal instrumentation found in amateur hands. This application of electrical energy does two very important things. 1. It supplies the energy necessary to strip the outershell electrons from deuterium gas atoms. This turns them into "ions" called DEUTERONS which are a naked hydrogen nucleus with one neutron and one proton in it. 2. The potential gradient established between the negative inner grid and the positive outer spherical shell forces the, now positive, deuterons created within the inter grid gas region to push away or be repelled from

the positive outer shell and rush or be accelerated towards the highly negative inner grid. (Opposite charges attract, like charges repel) It only takes a minimum gradient of 14 volts or so to ionize a deuterium atom, transforming it into a deuteron. With such a huge gradient as we apply, deuterons can be created over the entire fusion gas volume!! This process is called field ionization. Most of this ionization occurs near the inner grid due to the small radius wires. Deuterons created here are lost to fusion.

Due to the laws of physics and conservation of energy, the location of a particular deuteron's creation within the volume of chamber gas is of key importance in its successful fusion. WHY?.................. In any accelerator, the bombarding particle is accelerated by falling through a potential gradient. The ideal is to have the particle fall through the entire gradient to allow it to rise in energy to the full gradient potential. Thus a deuteron falling from its creational point at zero energy, to a target of the opposite potential of say 100,000 volts would arrive at that target with a 0.1 mev energy or 0.1 million electron volts. In the average fusor the field gradient is spherical. This is fantastic, for it allows not just a beam of deuterons to collide with the target (other deuterons) but deuterons from anywhere in the vessel to fall into a central point. This is ideally where they are at a maximum velocity and can collide with each other summing their velocities and quadrupling the collisonal kinetic energy (1/2mv^2). In reality, and as deuterons are created all over the gaseous fill region, a 20kv fusor would have deuterons of 4kev colliding with deuterons of 10kev and of 1kev colliding with 18kev, etc, etc. What's wrong with this? CROSS SECTION.......................... There is a term called collisonal cross section and this relates to the probabilities of two identical particles actually being able to collide and do fusion. Without delving into the specifics, in general, higher energy particles colliding have more probability of fusing than lower energy particles. The graph of energy versus cross section is all non-linear and some are very bizarre. Most cross sectional data is gathered empirically from experiment. There exists a well known chart for the cross section of the d-d collisonal fusion reaction. As the deuterons rise in energy there is an ever increasing probability of fusion up to nearly 3 mev. Where it rolls off again towards zero. It turns out that in a practical situation, for easy neutron detection, (the normal signature heralding fusion in a fusor), the fusor needs to have an applied gradient potential of about 20kv. The bulk of the fusions demand head on, near full energy collisions of deuterons. In spite of currents of 10e14 to 10e16 deuterons/second, only about 30,000 d-d fusions occur per second. This makes the fusor a poor energy conversion device, (electrical energy to fusion energy). BUT, It is cheap and easy to fabricate judged by any other fusion energy standards around today.

What happened to all those other deuterons in the current?............ They just fall back to their creational point, for they can go no farther than their zero energy point. Thus, they turn around and are reaccelerated back for another go around. The thrifty fusor can reuse some of its old deuterons! Unfortunately, at the operational pressures in an amateur fusor, the very density of deuterons that make the device so attractive, also limits the "mean free path" of any particular deuteron to about 6 inches, though many do go farther. As such, there is some "recirculation" but even a very lucky deuteron would rarely get a third pass in an 6"-8" diameter amateur fusor. Some deuterons will not even be able to complete one pass!! Those deuterons that do not fuse and do not recirculate (99.99999 percent of the total deuteron count), just recombine with electrons

and become fast neutrals losing the energy they have slamming into the walls of the vessel, thereby, heating it a small amount. What about all those electrons we stripped off way back at the beginning of this FAQ?..... These represent the greatest loss and maximal heating component of the fusor shell. These are accelerated just like the deuteron, but towards the shell wall!! They slam into it producing x-rays and accounting for the bulk of the heating of outer shell wall. NOTE**** at voltages above 50 kv applied these electron generated 'wall x-rays' will start to "shine" through the shell along with the neutrons, creating a new and very serious radiation hazard that must be shielded against. So there you have the rough workings of the amateur fusor. If you have gathered the fusor is a terribly inefficient fusion engine, then you have listened well. If you think it can be improved, then have at it in hands on mode and keep us informed. The one positve note is that there is no currently available d-d fusion system or engine that can outperform, watt for watt out of the wall outlet, and dollar for dollar out of pocket, the simple farnsowrth fusor! Given that we are limited to d-d fusion for the most part, as amateurs, and that materials limit other aspects of amateur fusion, the best you might hope to do is about 1 million fusions per second in a 6-8" fusor with 50kv applied to the device. Order of magnitude mechanically related improvements are just not possible beyond raising the potential gradient. It would also be very instructive to look at the "mean free path" FAQ in the vacuum forum for more data on how the fusor works. http://www.fusor.net/board/view.php?site=fusor&bn=fusor_vacuum&key=1102445290 Addendum: This section added 12/14/04 relates to the rather high loss of created deuterons close to the inner grid.........RH The fusor, as we build it, gets its ionization through field emission and the subsequent collisions of electrons with neutrals. So, where we find the most electrons is where most of the ionization takes place. The electrons

and therefore the ions will be created at the highest density at points of high field gradient within the fusor. The highest gradient is just at the inner grid wires. (Tiny radius wire= high field zone) This literally means that virtually zero ions created in the area of greatest ionization stand any chance of fusing. This is all lost energy. While ions are created throughout the volume of the fusor, the bulk of ionization occurs at a place within the volume where the deuterons can do little good. The best fusor is a gunned fusor or a fusor with an ionizing grid. very close to the shell. While still grossly inefficient, a very much larger percentage of ions created per unit input energy will stand a better CHANCE at fusion. With the inner grid still in place, we would still have the high losses of ionization near it. That would not go away. It might turn out that we would apply about double the energy to ionize, (one price at the inner grid and another creating them where we want them), but at least half would now be doing decent ion production in the proper region of the fusor.

WHAT HEATS THE PLASMA??- Richard hull

Seth webster asked..."what heats the plasma" In a fusor we do not thermally heat a plasma. It is what makes the fusor special. We are operating an inertially confined, recirculating, ion collider, accelerator. The ions are produced in the device by high field conditions between the shell and cathode grid. This ionization is an analog of the glow current in the device. The voltage gradient established between electrodes accelerates the ions towards the inner grid, while the electrons accelerate and hit the shell. Ions created out near the shell arrive at the inner grid with close to the full accelerating energy. Many of the ions do not hit the grid but enter it and stand a slight chance of colliding with other ions coming in from the opposite direction. If these ions do not collide or deionize, they proceed right through the grid and slow down to a stop at about the same distance from the shell where they were created and then re-accelerate back towards the center again to make a second attempt at fusion. This continues until the ion is either, hits the inner grid, gets deionized, is slowed or deflected by collision or actually fuses. The successful collision rate to make fusion is but a billionth or trillionth part of the total ion current. The ions do have a maximum temperature based on a simple relationship, whereby, 1 electron volt = ~ 11,000

Deg K. If a fusor is powered with 30,000 volts then the maximum ion temperature would be 30,000 X 11,000 or about 360 million Kelvin. The degree term is dropped as this is a heat energy equivalent for the particular particle. The big scientists with their big tokomaks use this terminology mostly to hoax out and impress the public. They are not lying in the strictest sense, but only in the subjective sense of what the public thinks of or perceives as heat or temperature. It is pretty much just smoke and mirrors. When the big boys are alone, talking over a beer they speak only in terms of electron volts which are real physics talk when speaking about particles. In a thermal plasma device, input power heats plasma. The current forced into the machine tells how many particles are being heated and the voltage tells about collision velocity. This all relates to the energy and frequency of collision as all thermal machines seek to contain the plasma and not not let it expand, which it mightily wishes to do in obedience to the laws of physics. The hope is to create a CONTAINED plasma so dense (current- particles per unit volume) and so hot (voltage-velocity of collision) that fusion occurs.

A thermal fusion machine can't be made that can compete in size/dollar spent with a fusor in the 1-2 kilowatt input energy class. This is why amateur fusion is so interesting. You can do real fusion, on the cheap. Richard Hull

How do we produce 350 MILLION Kelvin ????

Since temperature is just a reading of atoms average kinetic energy, if youre given an amount of energy, you can calculate a particles temperature as well (if you know its mass). One electron volt = 1.60217653 _ 1019 J. One electron volt = 11605 Kelvin. One electron volt= energy gathered by an electron when accelerated by 1 volt potential Therefore, 30000V= 30000 electron volts =30000* 11605= approx 350 million Kelvin. The constant governing temperature-energy equivalence is known as the Boltzmann constant. Heres a full equation:

Nuclear Reactions

The two equations that youre most likely to encounter as an amateur are deuterium-deuterium reactions:

With the excess tritium created by these reactions, you may be lucky and get a deuterium-tritium reaction. The amount of reactions is highly related to the nuclear cross section, which is the amount of apparent area that an atom will present to be reacted with. (Higher is better.)

SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
Here are the minimum required materials: -A vacuum chamber: Can be spherical, can be in the form of a nipple or a cross of a glass beljar -A roughing vacuum pump capable of reaching at least 75 microns vacuum Rotary vane pump -A secondary high vacuum pump, either a turbo pump or oil diffusion pump or an ion pump -A high voltage supply, preferably capable of at least 40kv 10ma - Must be negative polarity Various souces would be discussed later. -A high voltage divider probe for use with a digital multimeter -A thermocouple or baratron (of appropriate scale) vacuum gauge -A neutron radiation detector, either a proportional He-3 or BF3 tube with counting instrumentation, or a bubble dosimeter -A Geiger counter, preferably a scintillation type, for x-ray detection and safety -Deuterium gas (can be purchased as a gas or extracted from D2O through electrolysis - it is much easier and more effective to use compressed gas) -A large ballast resistor in the range of 50-100k and at least a foot long -A camera and TV display for viewing the inside of the reactor -Lead to shield the camera viewport -General engineering tools, a machine shop if at all possible (LATHE, DRILLING AND BORING TOOLS)

Dangers and risks

( this extract is taken from Raymond Jimenezs article Backyard Fusion Reactor) There isnt a whole lot of risk involved in the operation. The main enemies are: 1. High voltage 2. Neutron radiation 3. Minute amounts of X-ray radiation 4. Implosion

High voltage is a well-studied field, and theres no reason for it to go out of control when proper procedures are followed. The levels of electricity Im working at can be found in old TVs (the cathode-ray-tubebased ones) as well as neon signs, the both of which operate around us every day without incident. All safety regulations will be followed strictly and with advice of our electrical department teachers. Neutron radiation is relatively benign, and the flux from a homebuilt reactor is small compared to other sources, such as a professional particle accelerator. It can be stopped by a foot of paraffin wax, but the amounts that I would be producing are harmless and would most likely not affect people at all. Moreover, the reactor can also be operated with very fine level of control over how much of this radiation is produced (if at all); it would be hard, if not impossible to get neutron flux levels high enough to injure or kill a human being. X-ray radiation is something thats well known to cause problems, but as is the case with neutron radiation, the levels are insignificant or extremely small. Unlike professional X-ray machines, the X-rays emitted by this fusor are at a very low voltage (several magnitudes less), and have much less Proper machining and welding procedures would be followed along with use of safety glasses and safety helmets, high voltage gloves or any other measures as would ensure a greater level of safety.

Benefits
Our efforts concentrate at designing an economical model of a I.EC fusor, such that could produce measurable Fusion and would act as a neutron source. This device is going to be one of the few devices capable of producing Fusion in India This fusor device would prove to be a solution to all armature students wanting to build similar devices or to conduct experiments. Research in fusion technologies if present in India are only there in scarce research institutes, and completely absent among students . MECHANICAL ASPECTS OF OUR DEVICE

Why should we consider this project as a mechanical project? This section answers this very important question. 1.Our project requires us to design and build a cost effective Ultra High Vacuum system. Building a UHV system is very complicated and extensive analysis of surface texture, hairline cracks, material out gassing, Virtual leakages, and excellent weld joints with no imperfections. The system we are needed to build should be capable of producing 1 micron vacuum. (1 micron= 1 milli torr) 2. Our vacuum system needs us to design the chamber with appropriate thickness and study the various UHV flanges and valves available in Indian market and select their use accordingly. 3. Our vacuum system also comprises of designing a pumping system that will bring the pressure down to 1 micron. 4. Fuel system designed to be able to handle an extremely reactive gas- deuterium (isotope of hydrogen), proper materials needs to be selected to be able to transport the fuel also, a pressure reducing system and a temporary storage would have to be designed. 5. The voltages we are dealing with , though is considered as high voltage, follows the basic study of transformer and rectification to produce a d.c current. 6. Overall this entire topic relates to attempt to produce Fusion reaction, and jump start man s quest towards endless green energy.

APPROACH TO OUR PROJECT

Our project is essentially a collection of experiments. And these experiments are divided into three main Phases. 1st: This phase consists of designing, machining and testing our vacuum chamber for UHV conditions. There would be two vacuum chambers to be built Chamber A: a pressure cooker chamber capable of doing fusion. Also there would be a Chamber B: Built to professional standards with proper ports and also capable of withstanding Fusion conditions. In the first phase we will have our first test of our chambers and hence conduct our first vacuum sealing attempt, subsequent attempts will hence be done till we get vacuum of 1 micron. This phase will be completed in the Seventh semester. 2nd: This phase will consist of construction of our power supply. I. Our target is reaching 30000volts at 30ma for a time of 45 mins II. Having a voltage measuring setup and a current measuring setup III. Having two ground connections IV. Isolating our power grid from mains magnetically. We will be using plan, a) NEON transformer and increase voltage using a voltage multiplier. b) X-ray transformers rated at 100 kv, so that it can be used at 40 kv continuously . c) Create a cascade of Flyback transformer ( TV SETS), or auto ignition transformer (cars). d) Create a cascade of Microwave transformers. This phase is to be completed in the first two months of our 8 th semester. 3rd : this phase consists of the final Fusion experiment. This phase requires us to have I. II. III. IV. V. Shielding for radiation (lead) Shielding for x-rays( stainless steel) Neutron detection equipment( dosimeter, cloud chamber etc) Safety guide to verify our results. Finally compiling our data and presenting it to a panel of experts.

PHASE 1

AIM: y y y y TO DESIGN A FEASIBLE VACUUM CHAMBER AND TO SIMULATE THE STRESSES INVOLVED IN THE DESIGN USING ANALYSIS SOFTWARES TO DESIGN THE MACHINING PROCEDURE FOR SUCH A CHAMBER, AND HENCE MACHINE IT TO THE DESIGN SPECS TO TEST OUR VACUUM CHAMBER. (AND POSSIBLY CERTIFY ITS SAFETY) TO MAKE A SECONDARY CHAMBER OUT OF A PRESSURE COOKER

Requirements: An extensive knowledge of reactor design principles, and also Ansys. Possible chamber material study and their availability in India. Research on various kinds of Seals available in market their operating range and feasibility. Study on valves and vacuum pumps. Study on pressure cookers Vacuum sealing fluids to fix leaks. To design an operating procedure. To design emergency guidelines.

PERIOD OF COMPLETION: AUGUST- NOVBEMBER; DEADLINE-NOVEMBER 1ST WEEK.

EXPENDITURE INVOLVED : To be calculated

PHASE 2
AIM: y y y y y TO DESIGN A POWER SUPPLY CAPABLE OF SUPPLYING THE FUSION POWER TO PROVIDE NECESSARY EARTHING TO OUR EQUIPMENT TO DESIGN OUR WORK ENVIRONMENT WITH A STABLE STAND AND PROPPER DISTANCES MAINTAINED WITH HIGH VOLTAGE SOURCES TO PRODUCE PLASMA ON A DRY RUN TO VERIFY OUR RESULTS

REQUIREMENTS: Knowledge on fields such as High voltage transformers, Rectification schemes Voltage multipliers High voltage safety Plasma physics

PERIOD OF COMPLETION: undecided

PHASE 3
AIM: y y y y TO DESIGN OUR FUEL SUPPLY TO CALCULATE ITS SPECS TO PRODUCE FUSION TO DETECT NEUTRONS

REQIREMENTS: SAFETY CLEARANCES GOVERNMENT ACKNOWLWDGEMENT NEUTRON DETECTION EQUIPMENT

PERIOD OF COMPLETION: UNCERTAIN