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March 27th, 2012
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am not a Scientist or a person with expertise in the area of fusion research, but I do propose a compact revolutionary fusion reactor system [based on the long and developed technology of the Dense Plasma Focus device] that may well rapidly and effectively transform the status- quo of fossil fuel power generation [and propulsion systems] and nuclear fission power generation, into a clean [non-polluting] zero emissions era that will form the bedrock for future generations to thrive and prosper thru the 21st. century.
For this to happen in the short period of time available to us [before global warming and climate change proceeds to the condition that humanity can no longer control the deterioration of the environment from dooming are future existence], we must unite our efforts with the many experts and specialists able to transform this conceptual design into a practical reality.
We can best achieve this by governments getting off its collective arse and directing the participation of established research groups and major international corporations towards an urgent and totally committed project schedule and budget to replace the fossil and nuclear fission fuel era within the next decade.
It can be done and it must be done now, before we all fall asleep in comfortable denial of the dire, global predicament.
Illustration of the DPF reactor system [.pdf]
Strategy to operate a Dense Plasma Focus Device at high pressure
Assumptions:
Reactor chamber is to be placed in a pressure vessel [a sphere] that is designed to applicable ASME codes [to say a design pressure of 1000 psig and a design temperature of say 800 degrees F].
Size and proportions of Cathode and Anode optimized for anticipated requirements for operating with pressurization of fill gas from initially to 10 atmospheres and ultimately to say 50 atmospheres.
Design of decelerators to be suitable for operation under vacuum inside their own cylindrical chambers [integrated to opposite sides of reactor sphere and each decelerator served by a electromagnetic sphincter device to maintain pressure in reactor sphere and a vacuum condition in the decelerator chamber.
Operating [conceptual] procedure:
Initiate pressurization to say 0.1 atmos. and initiate the electric charge frequency to give desired fusion pulse.
Increase gas fill pressure in increments of 0.1 atmos. until existing charge frequency begins to lose maintenance of fusion pulse [because of the retardation of plasma sheath movement down the anode due to increasing gas density].
Double charge frequency [whilst simultaneously adjusting voltage downwards] so that the frequency of fusion pulse is approximately maintained but the input charge is now in two increments that deliver more energy to the plasma forming process thus maintaining a healthy fusion pulse.
Proceed with pressurization in increments of 0.2 atmos. whilst gradually increasing charge voltage [to maintain energy input requirements but still at the double frequency of electric charge].
As fill gas pressurization continues, the double charge per fusion pulse may again begin to be inadequate to maintain the plasma full cycle and again the charge frequency should undergo a step increase to three charges per fusion pulse [whilst again, adjusting voltage downward to match ongoing energy requirement for maintaining the frequency of fusion pulse.
As long as reactor performance continues to be enhanced and all components operate safely within the mechanical and electrical designed limits, this pressurization of reactor operation should advance [with further increase in charge frequency as necessary] to achieve performance optimization.
Note: Before and after a step change in charge frequency, a manipulation of the charge voltage may enable a better match of the required charge energy application to the plasma sheath, to be effected.
Comment with speculation of plasma production:
When doubling, tripling or further increasing the charge pulse this may well reduce the amplitude [but not the essential characteristics of] the plasma pulse with a result that a degree of fusion events will appear to exist constantly at a low flux level and as a baseline threshold that is subject to peak fusion event flux occurring at the constant pulse frequency.
The overall result with vastly increased pressure, a baseline of constant low level fusion together with high power peaks may deliver gain ratios well beyond our most optimistic expectations.
Reactor pressure vessel enclosing DPF reactor system
A pressure sphere is required to provide a pressurized chamber filled with hydrogen/boron fuel that is at the same pressure as the operating reactor thus removing any pressure differential across the wall of the cathode. All cabling and piping from the reactor system are routed thru the wall of the pressure vessel with appropriate electrically insulated and pressure containing connections, to components beyond the pressure vessel [for example to the integrated decelerator chambers, switches, capacitors, local control station, export power grid and site services harnesses].
Within the reactor sphere will be housings [diametrically opposite each other] for the electromagnetic sphincter devices [together with electromagnetic emergency shut-off units] that will convey the pulsating energy beams [Ion beam on one side and electron beam on the other side] to the decelerators, whilst the beams briefly exist, then providing a tight pressure seal for the brief moment that they do not exist.
Two cylindrical pockets [extending from the outer surface of the sphere into its interior and including a pressure lens in the end wall], will house high speed cameras to monitor the pulsating beams and thus enable the display of these pulsations [substantially slowed down] on a screen at the local and remote control stations.
The reactor pressure vessel will include an access man-way that allows for inspection and service and will be adequately sized to enable components to be removed and replaced as necessary.
Ion Beam and Electron Beam Decelerators
The Varney Protocol strategy may be successful, as originally defined, however the pressurization of the ion beam and electron beam decelerators and the associated retardation of the beam due to extreme gas pressure will probably result in substantial energy loss and very low efficiency of energy recovery.
It is therefore proposed to operate both decelerators [housed in their own chambers but still integrated with the reactor system pressure chamber], at a vacuum condition!
This would be effected by positioning at the beam entry point to the decelerator, a small but powerful electromagnetic sphincter that would open for the duration of the ion beam pulse [but tightly embracing the beam] and then, as the beam collapses, close to isolate totally the decelerator chamber from the reactor system chamber. We would then get the best of both worlds as follows:-
[a] reap the benefit of an extremely dense plasma sheath-forming cycle because of the fill gas [fuel] pressure thus delivering a much more powerful ion beam to the decelerator via the sphincter.
[b] reap the benefit of a high efficiency decelerator [within its own chamber] operating at an acceptable vacuum.
It may also become evident that the increased number of charge cycles per ion beam pulse under steady operation [at high pressure] will provide a constant beam of varying size [in unison with the pulse cycle].
The essence of the decelerator device, as I understand it [as a non expert in the discipline of electrical engineering], is that a tightly wound helical coil, arranged to embrace the axis of the ion beam [or electron beam] and with the excitation of an appropriate electric field, will act as a transformer by decelerating the beam, converting the beams energy into electric currents that are then routed to banks of capacitors [thus providing a source of electric power to be transmitted to the grid].
Each decelerator unit would incorporate all necessary electrical insulation and if necessary a water cooling coil embracing the outer surface of the vacuum vessel, to remove heat radiating from the decelerating beam whilst maintaining an acceptable temperature of the thermally insulated decelerator shell.
The vacuum drawing exhaust connection [on each decelerator vessel] would be relatively large and would provide, via a relief valve in a branch line, a route for large flow-rates of fill gas to be relieved from system [to a storage vessel] should total failure of electromagnetic sphincter system occur.
The Ion Beam decelerator, providing the vast majority of energy for power generation [via the capacitor banks], will be substantially longer than the Electron Beam decelerator but both units will have the same vessel and coil diameter.
Note: Owing to the high density of fill gas [fuel] in the reactor sphere the deceleration of X-Rays produced in the process may well be achieved without the use of the special decelerator device [patented by Eric Lerner] and therefore only the high-tech. photo-electric cells [panels] for capturing the residual X-Ray energy, need be placed on the inside surface of the sphere.
Capacitor banks for the Dense Plasma Focus Reactor system
Part of the “Varney Protocol” is to integrate the several banks of high voltage capacitors into this simple and compact DPF reactor system such that these capacitors and all system components can be strategically positioned and mounted on a strong bed suitable for air-freight to any site location in the world where, on arrival, it can easily be set in place, undergo testing, be commissioned and brought on-line to the grid within hours.
The Vacuum type capacitor stacks would be designed in the form of cartridges with an outer diameter [over the outer vacuum casing] of approximately 2 meters and with an inner diameter [over the inner vacuum casing] of approximately 0.5 meters. These capacitor stacks would [during the assembly of the reactor system] be positioned around [envelope] the decelerator vessels with both reactor assembly and capacitor stacks orientated in the vertical position. The stacks and reactor system will be in a horizontal position and all mounted on unit bed when assembly is complete.
The Charge capacitor bank will consist of 4 stacks [operating in parallel] and will via a switching unit, deliver the charge to the reactor in sequence [thus reducing frequency of charge firing/ stack by a factor of 4]. During the latter stages of pressurization the frequency of firing, overall, will be much higher than at the beginning of the process.
The capacitor banks serving the ion beam and electron beam decelerators will each consist of single stacks with the electron beam decelerator capacitor having only about 30% of the plates that will be included with the ion beam decelerator capacitor. Outputs from these power generating capacitors will require processing for either 50 cycle or 60 cycle grid frequency together with a device for synchronizing with grid frequency.
An option exists to either seal vacuum condition into capacitors or to connect each stack into the DPF reactor system unit vacuum system.
After reaching full operating pressure, the power for the Charge capacitor bank should be taken from the power output main and, with a small transformed [low voltage] power supply, auxiliaries should also be supplied from the power output main.
Unit size range and features of self contained DPF systems
In consideration of the possibility that DPF generating plants could, in the not too distant future, become a mass produced product in a wide variety of standardized sizes, we could contemplate automated [but necessarily labor intensive] production lines similar to those of the auto industry.
Each production line would assemble a specific size [MW rating] of DPF integrated power plant [mounted on a common bed and including all connected and tested components together with a local control station] and would be placed on a flatbed for shipment to its site of installation. When placed in its operating location and a secure high integrity quick-connect harness integrates it to the power grid, the central control station and necessary site services, it will be ready for testing and commissioning.
With a vigorous worldwide market anticipated [in all categories of application] the offering of standard, mass produced sizes, may be a more practical strategy than offering units custom designed for each client.
The following unit sizes are envisaged for each category of application with the intention that the power plant for any specific application would incorporate [for flexibility and reliability of operation] multiple reactor systems:-
Central power stations – 100 MW units
Local power stations – 10 MW and 25 MW units
Rail transportation [for non-electrified rail systems] – 5 MW units
Large marine vessels [including naval surface and submarine craft] – 10 MW, 25 MW, 50 MW and 100 MW units
Small marine craft [in all categories] – 0.5 MW, 1 MW, 2.5 MW and 5 MW units
Aircraft [in all categories] – 0.5 MW, 1 MW, 2.5 MW, 5 MW, 10 MW, 20 MW, 40 MW, 60 MW and 80 MW units
Sales [worldwide]of the 100 MW units for new power stations and for replacing all existing fossil and nuclear fired stations, could exceed 70,000 units over a 5 year period [being supplied by perhaps 10 major multinational corporations].
In the case of units for the aerospace industry, standard size power plants would still prevail but incorporate arrangements and materials that optimized compactness and weight.
I hope these ideas have some merit and that your assessment of this evolving DPF technology, make them relevant to your team participating in an investigation and initiating a priority project.
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