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This page contains all of the posts and discussion on MemeStreams referencing the following web page: Table Top Nuclear Fisson. You can find discussions on MemeStreams as you surf the web, even if you aren't a MemeStreams member, using the Threads Bookmarklet.
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Table Top Nuclear Fisson
by Decius at 12:45 am EDT, Jul 18, 2005 |
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., July. 12 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at Purdue University have new evidence supporting earlier findings by other scientists who designed an inexpensive "tabletop" device that uses sound waves to produce nuclear fusion reactions. The technology, in theory, could lead to a new source of clean energy and a host of portable detectors and other applications. The new findings were detailed in a peer-reviewed paper appearing in the May issue of the journal Nuclear Engineering and Design. The paper was written by Yiban Xu, a post-doctoral research associate in the School of Nuclear Engineering, and Adam Butt, a graduate research assistant in both nuclear engineering and the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. A key component of the experiment was a glass test chamber about the size of two coffee mugs filled with a liquid called deuterated acetone, which contains a form of hydrogen known as deuterium, or heavy hydrogen. The researchers exposed the test chamber to subatomic particles called neutrons and then bombarded the liquid with a specific frequency of ultrasound, which caused cavities to form into tiny bubbles. The bubbles then expanded to a much larger size before imploding, apparently with enough force to cause thermonuclear fusion reactions. Fusion reactions emit neutrons that fall within a specific energy range of 2.5 mega-electron volts, which was the level of energy seen in neutrons produced in the experiment. The experiments also yielded a radioactive material called tritium, which is another product of fusion, Xu and Butt said. |
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RE: Table Top Nuclear Fisson
by Neoteric at 2:17 pm EDT, Jul 18, 2005 |
Decius wrote:
A key component of the experiment was a glass test chamber about the size of two coffee mugs filled with a liquid called deuterated acetone, which contains a form of hydrogen known as deuterium, or heavy hydrogen. The researchers exposed the test chamber to subatomic particles called neutrons and then bombarded the liquid with a specific frequency of ultrasound, which caused cavities to form into tiny bubbles. The bubbles then expanded to a much larger size before imploding, apparently with enough force to cause thermonuclear fusion reactions.
What's the sound of a Nobel Prize? Sounds like fusion to me!! |
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RE: Table Top Nuclear Fisson
by bucy at 3:50 pm EDT, Jul 18, 2005 |
I'm still skeptical but the upshot of this is that their experiment
is simple and cheap -- I suspect many physicists can set it up
with stuff lying around the lab. If this really works, can we generate power from it or is it
only useful as a neutron source? |
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RE: Table Top Nuclear Fisson
by Decius at 4:19 pm EDT, Jul 18, 2005 |
bucy wrote:
If this really works, can we generate power from it or is it
only useful as a neutron source?
There is an IEEE article links from my second meme on this that covers that topic. If the experiment can be reproduced it will need to be scaled, alot... Right now its not efficient. An efficient version is not going to be something that would run on a tabletop. This is still a big industry scale steam turbine. The advantage is that its easy to control, its waste products degrade quickly, and its fuel is abundant. I wonder if steam turbines are really the most efficient way of converting reactions like this into usable electric power. It seems like such a 19th century approach... |
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RE: Table Top Nuclear Fisson
by bucy at 5:14 pm EDT, Jul 18, 2005 |
Decius wrote: bucy wrote:
If this really works, can we generate power from it or is it
only useful as a neutron source?
There is an IEEE article links from my second meme on this that covers that topic. If the experiment can be reproduced it will need to be scaled, alot... Right now its not efficient. An efficient version is not going to be something that would run on a tabletop. This is still a big industry scale steam turbine. The advantage is that its easy to control, its waste products degrade quickly, and its fuel is abundant. I wonder if steam turbines are really the most efficient way of converting reactions like this into usable electric power. It seems like such a 19th century approach...
There are a number of other possibilities: Stirling engines -- great on paper but its been hard so far to build practical ones. magnetohydrodynamic generators Certain fusion reactions can apparently generate electricity more-or-less directly: there are some big electrodes in the reactor and you can pull electricity straight out. See the
Wikipedia article on fusion power. |
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Table Top Nuclear Fisson
by Shadow404 at 3:13 am EDT, Jul 17, 2005 |
quote{ WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., July. 12 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at Purdue University have new evidence supporting earlier findings by other scientists who designed an inexpensive "tabletop" device that uses sound waves to produce nuclear fusion reactions. The technology, in theory, could lead to a new source of clean energy and a host of portable detectors and other applications. The new findings were detailed in a peer-reviewed paper appearing in the May issue of the journal Nuclear Engineering and Design. The paper was written by Yiban Xu, a post-doctoral research associate in the School of Nuclear Engineering, and Adam Butt, a graduate research assistant in both nuclear engineering and the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. A key component of the experiment was a glass test chamber about the size of two coffee mugs filled with a liquid called deuterated acetone, which contains a form of hydrogen known as deuterium, or heavy hydrogen. The researchers exposed the test chamber to subatomic particles called neutrons and then bombarded the liquid with a specific frequency of ultrasound, which caused cavities to form into tiny bubbles. The bubbles then expanded to a much larger size before imploding, apparently with enough force to cause thermonuclear fusion reactions. Fusion reactions emit neutrons that fall within a specific energy range of 2.5 mega-electron volts, which was the level of energy seen in neutrons produced in the experiment. The experiments also yielded a radioactive material called tritium, which is another product of fusion, Xu and Butt said.
quote} |
There is a redundant post from ubernoir not displayed in this view.
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