I have to admire the people proposing to fuse H and B using Farnsworth
fuser. They will learn a lot and may actually make a useful contribution
in the future. Three problems exist. First, if they can actually
achieve a sufficient temperature to fuse H and B at a rate to make
useful energy, they should be able to fuse deuterium at a much higher
rate, hence produce even more useful energy. Second, the cross-section
for a two-element to one element fusion reaction is very small because a
gamma ray is required to carry some momentum away. For example, the
cross-section for the D+D to He reaction is trivial in a plasma. This
fusion reaction goes only because two other branches are possible that
produce two particles each. Third, the H and B need to be in gaseous
form. Boron forms a number of hydrides that are gas (B2H6 and B4H10 for
example). However, these compounds are fairly unstable and will
decompose in the plasma. As a result the boron will be quickly removed
from the plasma as fine powder. In addition, the compounds are very
toxic, not something a person without training and suitable equipment
wants to play with. In short, it is doubtful this method will produce
useful energy although it might generated a few fusion reactions. The
problem will be to know that such fusion has actually happened. B11
would produce C12 and some gamma radiation. B10 would produce C11 which
is a weak positron emitter. Because this has a 20 min half-life, it may
be possible to detect its presence with suitable equipment. As far as I
know, other branches are not available for this reaction.
In short, this is a nice training exercise, but has no hope of being useful.
Regards,
Ed
thomas malloy wrote:
I linked to this website. They are claiming an ion density of 1.7 X 10^
21 per CC, a significant number. Their plan is to fuse deuterium and
boron, an interesting concept. They are looking $5 million, which is
peanuts compaired to the $5 billion that the Bush Administration is
reported to have given the hot fusioneers. I'm looking forward to Ed
Storms evalution of the technical feasibility of their plan.
http://www.focusfusion.org/research/plan.html
I also found the website of a cosmologist who says that the Big Bang
didn't happen. From there I linked to a site which is promoting a two
set DVD on the origins of the universe. www.universe-film.com . This
sounds like something that we might like watching at the Tesla Society
meeting.
