Massive injections of electrons from Caps
From an engineering perspective, the best way to get noble gases to explode in an improved Papp engine design is to hit them with dense sheets of high energy electrons to produce shockwaves and compression.
Furthermore, if high energy x-rays can be added to the blend, they are useful in producing even more electrons and ions in a noble gas mix. This additional plasma source further supplements the cascading production of more electrons and ions, more secondary high energy EMF, more shockwaves, all within an over unity energy amplification framework.
The best way to generate this plasma environment is to produce a focused plasmoid whose power output scales only with instantaneous pulsed power and not voltage.
The electrode and constraining coil assembly should be small so that they can be integrated using a common pulse power bus source with all these components carried by the piston.
I think our optimum solution which can meets all these engineering goals and also meets all our other needs lie in plasma focus technology.
In more detail, the plasma focus is a well-developed pulsed inertial confinement fusion based technology. It can provide us with a copious source of both multiple EMF radiation frequencies and highly energetic particles: hard and soft x-rays, electromagnetic radiation, fusion neutrons, relativistic electron beams, fast ion beams and highly energetic plasma streams with shock fronts exceeding Mach 1000.
All these complex interactive radiation and particle streams are generated from a small and compact device which can be fitted inside the head of a piston
It is a triumph of modern science and technology that we can now present a complete picture of the plasma focus in the lifetime of its dynamic evolution.
That lifetime typically occupies not more than 10 microseconds; from the time a spark starts its instantaneous power pulse rise to some 10,000,000,000 joules/second. This amazing amount of power production occurs within just a 50 nanoseconds timeframe, driving a shock wave to Mach 1000 straight down the fairway; to the radial compression phase when increasing electromagnetic forces doubles the speed of the hot plasma shock waves; before the final focusing action; squeezing the plasma into a superheated highly dense ‘pinch’ with temperatures exceeding that of the center of the sun.
From this minute cauldron of ‘solar’ ‘stellar’ matter comes forth the rich explosion of multiple EMF radiation and energetic particles and beams.
In a typical device this tremendous explosion of electrons ions and high energy EMF lasts less than 0.1 microsecond.
Input power can be greatly amplified thanks to the requirement that the reaction lives and grows only within an almost instantaneously short sub nanosecond duration of this ion explosion.
We must press this short timeframe to our maximum advantage. We do that by using an Instantaneous pulse power discharge.
Instantaneous pulse power takes advantage of power application by trading off time duration against power output in the same way that a lever trades off lift distance against lifting force.
If the ion explosion requires only 50 nanoseconds to occur, then 500 joules of power can be packed into this short timeframe.
This is the engineering challenge; to pack significant amounts of joules into a short nanosecond pulse.
From our studies we find that any energy that is expended outside of this short timeframe is wasted. The key to success is packing more energy into a shorter timeframe because the ion explosion happens so fast; less than a nanosecond
Steady accumulation of energy in a capacitor bank followed by its rapid release can result in the delivery of a larger amount of instantaneous power over a much shorter period of time (although the total energy is the same).
The compression power of a coil that constrains the plasma to the focus point using the same pulsed power as the spark discharge will also greatly accelerate the plasma to the ends of the piston tightly confined to the axial center line.
This confining magnetic field will also protect the anode from the plama.
This coil will provide a huge confinment force while aiding in applying rotation to the plasmoid formation process helping in the initiation of magnetic kinks in the plasmoid that accelerate electrons.
Pulse power is the key. The energy is slowly accumulated and stored within our capacitors and then released in a very short interval. This process is called energy compression.
A huge amount of peak power can be delivered to a load in a form of electrical leverage.
For example, if 500 joules of energy is stored within a capacitor and then evenly released to a load over a 50 nanosecond timeframe, the peak power delivered to the load would only be 500 watts total.
However, if all of the stored energy were released within just 50 ns, the peak power would be 10,000 megawatts.
The voltage of the input current is not important; it is the speed in which the power is received; that is what really counts.
The plasmoid will convert that power to magnetic fields that accelerate electrons and ions to high energies.
It is these high energy electrons that produce the high energy EMF and ion shockwaves which is central to the production of the ion explosion during the Papp reaction.
For example when operated in neon, the x-ray emission power peaks at 10exp9 Watts over a period of nanoseconds. When operated in deuterium the neutron burst produces rates of neutron typically 10exp15 neutrons per second over burst durations of tens of nanosecond.
The emission comes from a point source making these devices among the most powerful laboratory pulsed radiation sources in the world. These sources are plasma-based.
Focusing power into a small volume is another way to amplify that power. Pushing power into a point like power radiation source concentrates power in a small, high density volume further adding to electrical leverage.
The way that this focusing is typically done is by using a cylindrical shaped transparent cathode located inside a solid anode shell. A transparent cathode uses rods or a screen structure to produce electrons which lets most of the electrons and ions flow freely through it.
In order to increase the start of plasmoid formation both the start conditions and the rate of build-up are important.
The start conditions can be improved by various priming techniques.
Fast rate of build-up can be achieved from large azimuthal electric field.
The geometry of the transparent cathode is such that it self-consistently provides
- Cathode Priming
- Magnetic Priming
- Electric priming
In addition, the large value of the E field in the electron sheath provides fast rate of build-up of plasmoid formation.
Simulations of the transparent cathode have shown significant improvement in the following output characteristics:
Large radiated power, high electron efficiency, and EMF production.
These factors all contribute to the explosive movement of the piston through the application of plasma explosive pressure.
The following document describes the electrode configuration of a fusion device that uses a pulse powered hollow anode that encloses a transparent cathode (made of rods) inside a cylindrical solid walled anode.
[attachment=3079]
