Quote from Lynx on November 14th, 2012, 01:43 PM

Quote from FaradayEZ on November 14th, 2012, 12:57 PM

Quote from Lynx on November 14th, 2012, 08:19 AM

I'm still a bit interested in seeing what an external coil...............

I saw him once (in a liveshow) putting a capacitor on the bucketelectrodes and measure it after a pop and said..nope nothing in it... or something like that.........

I missed that.
Did you connect the electodes to the capacitor via a diode, Russ?
I think that's more or less needed, I think that the voltage coming from
either the electrodes themselves from inside the popper, or the voltage
from a pickup coil wrapped around the outside of the popper, is AC,
hence it doesn't serve any purpose trying to directly attach a capacitor
to the electrodes or to a pickup coil without first rectifying the current,
either via a diode or a full wave bridge rectifier.

I saw no diode

====================================================

Quote

Strange thing is that Bob got current back (the motor for capturing was rotating) both with and without the coils on the cylinder.

It could be that Bob Rohner has alpha emitters in his pots.  This would produce a positive charge on the surface of the pots and attract electrons to the surface of the pots.

This charge ionization may be necessary to make a circuit to recover the excess negative charge that accumulates after the Pop.

This idea could be tested by placing a positive charge bias on the pots and observe to see if feedback current flows the green afterglow goes away.

Quote from Axil on November 14th, 2012, 01:58 PM

====================================================

Quote

Strange thing is that Bob got current back (the motor for capturing was rotating) both with and without the coils on the cylinder.

It could be that Bob Rohner has alpha emitters in his pots.  This would produce a positive charge on the surface of the pots and attract electrons to the surface of the pots.

This charge ionization may be necessary to make a circuit to recover the excess negative charge that accumulates after the Pop.

This idea could be tested by placing a positive charge bias on the pots and observe to see if feedback current flows the green afterglow goes away.

Indeed, another one for the sheet. (and the diode one too) But it also implais that Dr.DR. Rohner has no feedbackcurrent as he doesn't use those pots..hmmm

====
On the other side... they say that the aluminum casing of the buckets doesn't let alpha rays pass it. Although i saw Josef Papp with a measuring device for radiation (i guess) near the buckets and heard the divice react on them.

For information (grab it while it's there) Kiril Chukanov has put up his view of the Papp secret on his website at www.chukanovenergy.com - it's not what Papp actually did but should also work. There's no energy recovery in Kiril's design, but you can add that in.

Maybe I should have pointed at his site earlier. It should be required reading for popper-makers. I don't agree with all his theory, but he can control fireballs.

Quote from FaradayEZ on November 14th, 2012, 02:05 PM

Quote from Axil on November 14th, 2012, 01:58 PM

====================================================

Quote

Strange thing is that Bob got current back (the motor for capturing was rotating) both with and without the coils on the cylinder.

It could be that Bob Rohner has alpha emitters in his pots.  This would produce a positive charge on the surface of the pots and attract electrons to the surface of the pots.

This charge ionization may be necessary to make a circuit to recover the excess negative charge that accumulates after the Pop.

This idea could be tested by placing a positive charge bias on the pots and observe to see if feedback current flows the green afterglow goes away.

Indeed, another one for the sheet. (and the diode one too) But it also implais that Dr.DR. Rohner has no feedbackcurrent as he doesn't use those pots..hmmm

====
On the other side... they say that the aluminum casing of the buckets doesn't let alpha rays pass it. Although i saw Josef Papp with a measuring device for radiation (i guess) near the buckets and heard the divice react on them.

Alpha particles need not completely pass through the material that the pot is made from to cause a positive charge to build on the surface of the pot.

Electron flow in the pot material can make electrostatic charge  mobil from the inner surface of the pot to the outer surface of the pot.

Quote from Axil on November 14th, 2012, 02:35 PM

Alpha particles need not completely pass through the material that the pot is made from to cause a positive charge to build on the surface of the pot.

Electron flow in the pot material can make electrostatic charge  mobil from the inner surface of the pot to the outer surface of the pot.

Agreed, charge inside is charge outside. But then a strange function those buckets may have. Are they for ionization, or for recapturing and maybe stabilizing the mixture by reducing the electron flow to ready it for the next pop?

Quote from simonderricutt on November 14th, 2012, 02:31 PM

For information (grab it while it's there) Kiril Chukanov has put up his view of the Papp secret on his website at www.chukanovenergy.com - it's not what Papp actually did but should also work. There's no energy recovery in Kiril's design, but you can add that in.

Maybe I should have pointed at his site earlier. It should be required reading for popper-makers. I don't agree with all his theory, but he can control fireballs.

Interesting, although the site reacts a bit odd on internetexplorer, i'll try opera later.

Quote from simonderricutt on November 14th, 2012, 02:31 PM

For information (grab it while it's there) Kiril Chukanov has put up his view of the Papp secret on his website at www.chukanovenergy.com - it's not what Papp actually did but should also work. There's no energy recovery in Kiril's design, but you can add that in.

Maybe I should have pointed at his site earlier. It should be required reading for popper-makers. I don't agree with all his theory, but he can control fireballs.

http://www.freewebs.com/pageantcentral/angelinachukanovinterview.htm

Quote from woody0068 on November 14th, 2012, 01:16 PM

Hello.
Im wondering if this talk about dumping huge amounts of current across the spark gap is really the way to go!
I mean it would have no practical use to spend all that energy just to move a piston to generate kinetic energy.
I Think it would be much more efficient just to dump that energy, or just a portion of it to an electrical motor.
I Think we need to figure out the most economical way to create a plasma and controll it with RF and DC coils.
Anyway,Thats the path im taking.
Waiting for ordered items and i will use Argon,Helium and Hydrogen to test.
By the way, does anyone know if "balloon Helium" is just Helium?
ive Heard that they add "air" to the Balloon Helium to make it safer if inhaled.
Input appreciated.
Also, does anyone know if Russ will post the schematic for his Three 555 timer Circuit? i was really impressed with that.
/Regards, Janne Ström

Yes the helium is not pure used for balloons, so if you were to use that helium mixed with air or oxygen and hydrogen, you could have a mad popper or explosion :angel:.

IMHO, the negative residual charge caused by the last pop must be electrostatically neutralized before the next pop can be effective.

I believe that the green glow is residual plasma.

If the reason for the popper’s power production is the propagation of an accelerating shockwave, a transition between plasma and non-plasma must be maintained.

The shockwave may not be able to be produced in the green plasma afterglow because no plasma transition can happen when a shockwave enters the green glow area since it is plasma.



Most of the money that Russ spent on the noble gas mix tank can be recovered if gas is extracted when the tank is held inverted.

The Xenon gas will settle to the bottom of the tank and when the tank is upside down, the Xenon will be positioned near the tank feed valve.

Xenon is by far the most expensive gas in the mix tank. Most of it can be recovered from the mix tank if the tank is inverted, and allowed to settle before needle fill-up.

If the popper power is derived from a supersonic accelerating plasmoid, I offer this document as a suggestion for how an improved popper can be built. I  also wonder if any experimenter is interested in this sort of design.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&ved=0CEMQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fntrs.nasa.gov%2Farchive%2Fnasa%2Fcasi.ntrs.nasa.gov%2F20110004350_2011003204.pdf&ei=hwOkUKvTHrSp0AGLrYCoBg&usg=AFQjCNHYtFVT3Phh49ra9tacdTy4-5JLjA


Recommendations for developing an operational plasmoid thruster

IMHO, this NASA plasmoid thruster design contains many of the design principles that the Papp cylinder should utilize.

A ring shaped plasmoid is created using pre-ionization.

Reverse field current is used to accelerate the plasmoid.

The current that produces the spark discharge is also used to power the accelerating magnetic field.

The design is efficient and uses low power.

This document lists pre-ionization strength in joules, circuit design and pre-ionization / spark discharge timing in microseconds.  

I request discussion of the ideas put forth in this document.

Quote from Axil on November 14th, 2012, 04:44 PM

The shockwave may not be able to be produced in the green plasma afterglow because no plasma transition can happen when a shockwave enters the green glow area since it is plasma.

Still Russ had a second Pop from the green glow. Not as potent as the first but still.

Quote

Most of the money that Russ spent on the noble gas mix tank can be recovered if gas is extracted when the tank is held inverted.

Do you think its possible to then bring that gas over into such a flask as Jo had? And also have part of it in liquid form?

On the plasmoid thruster:

I like it how they let the magnetic field turn on itself, like blowing a smoke ring it keeps turning inside out.

I don't see where the thrust is now aimed at. They perform this in a vacuumed tube and the plasmoid is directed towards the pre-ionizing coil?

If that brings no harm, then on the popper, the piston could be made to function as the pre-ionizer.

They mention that they haven't fired it repetively yet. I would think that the gas would build up or the vacuumpump has to work constant.
But we have learned that we don't need new gas all the time. One portion can be re-used, so no need for the highspeed valve and no need for the built-in vacuumpomp

Its not clear to me what kind of gauge wire they use. Also they mention kiloampere and that the pre-ionizer needs to bring 2-3 Joules per cycle and it has a Megaherz cycle.

So those numbers may be more difficult to reach then thought off at first glance?

Quote from Axil on November 14th, 2012, 04:44 PM

Recommendations for developing an operational plasmoid thruster

IMHO, this NASA plasmoid thruster design contains many of the design principles that the Papp cylinder should utilize.

A ring shaped plasmoid is created using pre-ionization.

Reverse field current is used to accelerate the plasmoid.

The current that produces the spark discharge is also used to power the accelerating magnetic field.

The design is efficient and uses low power.

This document lists pre-ionization strength in joules, circuit design and pre-ionization / spark discharge timing in microseconds.  

I request discussion of the ideas put forth in this document.

So this offers a way of first priming the noble gasses, igniting them, accelerating
the resulting plasma and shoot it out into the open air, which then would give you
a propulsive thrust, much like that which comes out of an aeroplane turbine?
The "fuel" would then be the noble gasses I take it.
If this is the case I guess it would be of interest to find out which of the
gasmixtures it is that gives you the biggest bang for the buck.
Of course this is only interesting when you're talking gas mileage.
Thanks for the document.

Quote

Still Russ had a second Pop from the green glow. Not as potent as the first but still.

Thanks for your response.

IMHO, the pop will still occur but it will not accelerate toward the piston because there is no change in the charge of the plasma since all the gas inside the cylinder is negatively charged.

There is negative charge inside the pop(plasmoid) and negative charge outside the plasmoid; that green glow is electrons hitting helium atoms.

A skier cannot accelerate on level ground. He needs a charge in altitude to ski down.

In like manner, a plasmoid cannot accelerate toward a positive charge when there is no charge difference.  

Quote

I like it how they let the magnetic field turn on itself, like blowing a smoke ring it keeps turning inside out.

I think that is cool too.

It is the latest thing in plasma physics. It is called Field Reverse Current(FRC).

Quote

I don't see where the thrust is now aimed at. They perform this in a vacuumed tube and the plasmoid is directed towards the pre-ionizing coil?

After the plasmoid is formed by the spark discharge, it is accelerated away from the primary spark discharge and shot down the tube by the magnetic field like a rail gun.

The pre-ionizing shot is part of the spark discharge and is done by the same electrodes as the primary high current spark discharge. The spark discharge is a two step process: 1- pre-ionization and 2- high current spark

The plasmoid exits the tube on the end of the tube opposite the spark discharge.

The accelerating plasmoid would be aimed at the face of the piston and would hit the face of the piston at the point of maximum plasmoid acceleration. This point would need to be determined by experiment.

The Papp cylinder is different from the space ion thruster in that there is no gas feeding process. The Papp engine does not need to operate in the vacuum of space. The Papp cylinder contains its own gas mix that is constant.

 

Quote

They mention that they haven't fired it repetively yet. I would think that the gas would build up or the vacuum pump has to work constant.

No vacuum pump is needed in the thruster. It operates in space.

Quote

But we have learned that we don't need new gas all the time

The Papp engine will only need to change gas every few years.

Quote

One portion can be re-used, so no need for the highspeed valve and no need for the built-in vacuum pump

This is true.
 But all the gas in the papp cylinder can be reused for years.

Quote

Its not clear to me what kind of gauge wire they use. Also they mention kiloampere and that the pre-ionizer needs to bring 2-3 Joules per cycle and it has a Megaherz cycle.

So those numbers may be more difficult to reach then thought off at first glance?

This thruster is being designed to push a spacecraft around in space. It is powerful; more power than we need.

The design of the Papp/thruster hybrid must be downsized. This is the job of the papp hardware designer.

Quote from woody0068 on November 14th, 2012, 01:16 PM

Hello.
Im wondering if this talk about dumping huge amounts of current across the spark gap is really the way to go!
I mean it would have no practical use to spend all that energy just to move a piston to generate kinetic energy.
I Think it would be much more efficient just to dump that energy, or just a portion of it to an electrical motor.
I Think we need to figure out the most economical way to create a plasma and controll it with RF and DC coils.
Anyway,Thats the path im taking.
Waiting for ordered items and i will use Argon,Helium and Hydrogen to test.
By the way, does anyone know if "balloon Helium" is just Helium?
ive Heard that they add "air" to the Balloon Helium to make it safer if inhaled.
Input appreciated.
Also, does anyone know if Russ will post the schematic for his Three 555 timer Circuit? i was really impressed with that.
/Regards, Janne Ström

It's not like that. It's more like paraffin in solar colector.
We put alot of energy to change paraffin physical state into liquid.
Then, paraffin changing into solid state again and  gives energy back.
I hope it is similiar in chenge from plasma. We should get some energy back.
Question is how and how much of that energy we can catch back.
I don't think it will be more then we put into (overunity). But if it will be around 90%, it will be realy great.

Quote from Axil on November 14th, 2012, 11:29 PM

Quote

They mention that they haven't fired it repetively yet. I would think that the gas would build up or the vacuum pump has to work constant.

No vacuum pump is needed in the thruster. It operates in space.

I beg to differ.
Here's a quote from the document you linked to, page 5:

Quote

The gas is pulsed into an enclosed
vacuum space constructed of pyrex
glass. Vacuum is provided by a turbo
pump & scroll pump combination

This tells me that the thruster is capable of operating in Earth's atmosphere
aswell as in the vacuum of space, why else the need of vacuum pumps?
Also, the arrow in the image on top of page 5 is pointing "to vacuum pumps".

Quote from Axil on November 14th, 2012, 11:29 PM

IMHO, the pop will still occur but it will not accelerate toward the piston because there is no change in the charge of the plasma since all the gas inside the cylinder is negatively charged. There is negative charge inside the pop(plasmoid) and negative charge outside the plasmoid; that green glow is electrons hitting helium atoms.

It give's a 85% Pop in my estimation, and i mean the pistonhight with that. It even made Russ contemplate if he could make that side of the process permanent and thus use less energy (because the second POP was done by the leftovers in the cap bank) But to stay in your theory, maybe the green glow has ionized Helium H+ and so the second PoP could be a heliumPOP...

Quote

like blowing a smoke ring

Quote

It is called Field Reverse Current(FRC).

If this field lasts they could also fire a plasma at a satelite and due to the EMF pulse render them useless. Would be fun to know how far the plasmaring can travel.

Quote

The pre-ionizing shot is part of the spark discharge and is done by the same electrodes as the primary high current spark discharge. The spark discharge is a two step process: 1- pre-ionization and 2- high current spark

Hmm then i really have a different view of the setup. In my picture of it, they had a seperate ionisation apparatus (The VIG, pg 6). Stage 1 conecoil and then  3 Microseconds later the ionization apparatus (which i saw was opposite the tube) and then the next energy burst on the conecoil..? And the VIG is opposite the burst and will get the impact when its fired...not?

Quote

The plasmoid exits the tube on the end of the tube opposite the spark discharge.

Through the plexiglass wall? Or only in space it is to be open? And again, the VIG is in the way...

Quote

The design of the Papp/thruster hybrid must be downsized. This is the job of the papp hardware designer.

Lol, we have a different appartement? I thought we had to do everything our selves, including the PR ;) letters? (thx) ;)

Quote from Lynx on November 15th, 2012, 02:22 AM

Quote from Axil on November 14th, 2012, 11:29 PM

Quote

They mention that they haven't fired it repetively yet. I would think that the gas would build up or the vacuum pump has to work constant.

No vacuum pump is needed in the thruster. It operates in space.

I beg to differ.
Here's a quote from the document you linked to, page 5:

Quote

The gas is pulsed into an enclosed
vacuum space constructed of pyrex
glass. Vacuum is provided by a turbo
pump & scroll pump combination

This tells me that the thruster is capable of operating in Earth's atmosphere
aswell as in the vacuum of space, why else the need of vacuum pumps?
Also, the arrow in the image on top of page 5 is pointing "to vacuum pumps".

I stand corrected.

This does make sense if the designers of the thruster wanted to run the ion thruster in the atmosphere.

The thruster would need to clear the air out of the spark gap so that the gas mix they used was pure.

We do not need to do such things inside the cylinder of the Papp engine.

Quote from Axil on November 15th, 2012, 11:10 AM

Quote from Lynx on November 15th, 2012, 02:22 AM

Quote from Axil on November 14th, 2012, 11:29 PM

Quote

They mention that they ..........

No vacuum pump is needed............

I beg to differ............

I stand corrected.........

True, but then you wouldn't be able to take advantage of the propulsion thrust
in moving/flying some vehicle/aeroplane/ufo :P

In LeClair’s later experiment where there are score lines across the surface of metal, there is a second self-sustaining effect, possibly involving bow waves and Casmir forces, although I was not left totally convinced that LeClair's Casmir force explanation is that entire answer.


Whatever it is, it seems that the presence of the metal/water surface is important for this second effect to be self-sustaining. It appears that there is feedback which results in the projectile neither burrowing into the metal nor leaving the metal surface.

The self-sustaining structure that preserves the positive water ionic crystal is a plasmoid.


I was reading this paper:

http://arxiv.org/pdf/1202.2663v1

COLLISIONLESS MAGNETIC RECONNECTION IN A PLASMOID CHAIN

To get an idea of what the plasmoid is.

This paper has losts of pictures of plasmoids as they form.

A plasmoid is a coil of negative and positive electric currents that form a ball with the positive ions on the inside and the negative electrons on the outside.

IMHO, The plasmoid is self-sustaining as it converts LENR reaction energy into electromagnetic current flow.

The tendency of electrons to flow along the surface of a metal would keep the plasmoid from penetrating the surface of the metal substrate.

In cavatation the plasmoid is imbedded in water. In the Papp engine the plasmoid is imbedded in gas.

The plasmoid may be converting LENR reaction energy into plasmoid energy as in cavatation. Time will tell, we will see.

Quote from Axil on November 12th, 2012, 10:43 AM

Quote

Russ agreed that that person should be contacted...it is my politeness that i wait for Axil to give his blessings because he introduced the guy and said he needed to be approached in the propper way...

Draft letter to Dr, Truchard as follows:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am contacting Dr. James Truchard President, CEO, and Cofounder of National Instruments(NI) as a representative of Russ Gries, an amateur experimentalist who has completed the initial proof of concept stage in the replication of the Papp engine based on information contained in the expired patents of Josef Papp the inventor of this device.

In more detail, the Papp engine is a device which is famous in the LENR(cold fusion) community  for its over unity energy production characteristics.

Unfortunately, the capability  to build this engine was lost when Josef Papp died in April 1989. Russ Gries intends to resurrect this engine technology to assess the validity of Papp’s claims.

After a promising proof of concept stage, Russ Gries has now entered into the data acquisition stage of this project which will eventually lead to an assessment of the over unity energy production claims made about the Papp engine.

This request  for support is inspired by the presentation made at a recent National Instruments conference supporting Low Energy nuclear reactions (LENR).

At about 15:00 into the following presentation Dr. James Truchard President, CEO, and Cofounder of NI offered a free copy of LabView to researchers working in the field of Cold Fusion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NxjxFdFEBsw

This inquiry asks if this offer of support and/or product discounts  for Cold Fusion research from Dr, Truchard and NI still stands and further wonders if Dr, James Truchard and/or NI is willing to support Russ Gries in his experimentation.

Please address your reply to Russ Gries directly as follows:

Russ Gries Contact inforation

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i will send this out and see what we get. ( i will make the changes to Reference my name differently?or should some one else send it ???)

thanks Axil. Things like this i just have a hard time doing so i will send the email. looks good. thanks you for taking the time and making the move.

~Russ

Hello Russ and everyone else.
I hope your work is coming along good .
How is your Three 555 timer/fire Circuit coming along?
Will you post it here?
Regards /Janne Ström

Quote from element 119 on November 12th, 2012, 05:55 PM

Here is what I’m thinking!

Take a normal 12-volt car battery and cables ( 2 - 4 - 6 - 8 - 10 gauge wire ? ) and hook the wires to the two popper electrodes. No current will flow because of the air gap. Batteries could be put is series for 24 – 36 – 48 or 50  > volts dc…

Now send the high frequency HV from the car coils to the same two popper electrodes. This should provide a path and then the high current from the car battery can cross the gap.

Now I realize this may not be a good idea because the HV could go into the battery or the high current from the battery could go into the coils.

So to take it to another level how about a relay between the car cable and the electrode that could be pulsed on and off?

Would it be possible to put diodes on the high current car cables to keep any HV from going into the car battery?

For a high current relay a normal car starter solenoid could be used.

Not sure if the high current would travel back into the coils because the path of least resistance may limit it to just crossing the electrode gap?

Are capacitors really needed to supply the current or could just the current from a battery do the trick?

No charge up time when just using batteries.

Just brainstorming!  :s

element 119

ok, i have been skipping around and must explain this battery/cap/ECT stuff...

think of it this way.

i could take a big ARC welder and do the same thing... i have some massive transformers that i could use right now...

The prob is shutting it off. if the gap is right, and the voltage is high enough, it will continue to arc. just like a  welder will.

now , batterys are out of the question... why... well the thing that is holding us back in electric cars ECT is batterys. that's why caps are best, they caps handle the raped charge and discharge we are trying to through at it.

now why not the welder idea... well once started we need to control the time that it "fires" so SCR's and electronics are the way to go... but some SCR's that will handle that kinda work load may be expensive. ( we still may need them to to timing with the caps...

any how, last point of why we don't need all this... POWER! we need to work on finding a way to use out other pre-izonation options...

and on the cap baink X option... again SCR's are the only good cheep way of doing that... contactors and ECT will not work... unless there HEVY HEVY duty... and even then it will not last long.

This will make the system much much more efficient and that's the path we need... thus far is was prof of consent.

any how that's the way I'm looking at it...

for those asking, yes once i get my 555 circuit done i will post it.

its fairly simple. will make a good project for new guys that want to get in to electronics...

~Russ

Quote from Jeff Nading on November 13th, 2012, 03:31 PM

Another way would be to use a mercury type contactor, no sticking of contacts there. Just a thought.:D[/quote]lol it probably would explode... lol but yes good idea... ( at lower powers)

Quote from FaradayEZ on November 14th, 2012, 01:46 PM

Quote from Lynx on November 14th, 2012, 01:43 PM

Quote from FaradayEZ on November 14th, 2012, 12:57 PM

Quote from Lynx on November 14th, 2012, 08:19 AM

I'm still a bit interested in seeing what an external coil...............

I saw him once (in a liveshow) putting a capacitor on the bucketelectrodes and measure it after a pop and said..nope nothing in it... or something like that.........

I missed that.
Did you connect the electodes to the capacitor via a diode, Russ?
I think that's more or less needed, I think that the voltage coming from
either the electrodes themselves from inside the popper, or the voltage
from a pickup coil wrapped around the outside of the popper, is AC,
hence it doesn't serve any purpose trying to directly attach a capacitor
to the electrodes or to a pickup coil without first rectifying the current,
either via a diode or a full wave bridge rectifier.

I saw no diode

correct, no diode.  as of the new circuit there will be some. but just for the HV...

~Russ

PS. posted the schematic somewhere... lol earlier in the thread.

Quote from ~Russ/Rwg42985 on November 16th, 2012, 07:17 AM

thanks Axil. Things like this i just have a hard time doing so i will send the email. looks good. thanks you for taking the time and making the move.

~Russ

In Holland we say: "no we already have, yes we may get" So i see it as trying a chance an opportunity so we don't have to later on feel that we left changes walk by without acting on them.
If it stays no then we know we tried for it and will stay (more easily) in peace with ourselves.

Like the story of the drowning believer at sea... he prays for help to God, some ship comes by for rescue but he waves them off, God will rescue him he says.
Two more ships, same thing. After drowning and dying he talks to God.."why didn't you rescue me..i'm a true believer, i put my live in your hands.."

And what did God say? .....

The Popper produces plasmoids, so I have been looking into this area of plasma physics. Ken shoulders has been doing research into plasmoids for some time now, and has make an observation that is valuable to us.  

Ken Shoulders' observations of the plasmoids support the conjecture that they are like vacuum energy pumps. As the plasmoid propagates down in a dielectric guide, it is constantly ionizing the dielectric surface, emitting electrons and emitting light. Yet the plasmoid does not decay. It yields the same pulse when it hits the anode regardless of the distance it travels in the guide. Also, when the high velocity plasmoid triggers a pulse on a surrounding coil, it likewise does not decay. Moreover, the output pulse from the coil exceeds the input pulse that originally launched the plasmoid. The plasmoid must keep moving to remain stable, and seems to "feed" from its environment, absorbing electrons preceding it and shedding electrons in its wake.

In our case, the plasmoid feeds on the electrons from the electrically neutral gas in front of it and  sheds electrons in its wake.

In our designs, it is important to neutralize the electrically ionized gas between spark discharges so that the plasmoid produced by the next spark discharge can feed properly in order to gain strength and speed.