Nuclear Energy

I imagine that’s where most of the power consumtion of any fusion reactor comes from.

@bossk:

I imagine that’s where most of the power consumtion of any fusion reactor comes from.

Yup.

What you have to do, for a controlled fusion, is to
(1) get the hydrogen atoms really hot and under a really high pressure.
To do this, you can’t avoid to:
(2) break the hydrogen atoms into their nuclei and shells. Or: rip off the electrons from the shells, and form a “plasma”.
Then you
(3) put on a strong (!) magentic field, to keep the plasma away from the walls (it’s hot!) and confined (high pressure!).

So, heating, pressure and keeping these two inside something takes quite some energy. The heating on the other hand is only “expensive” a long as the fusion does not run on its own. Aftwards the fusion processes will heat up the plasma, so that you have a positive energy balance there and hopefully for the whole system.

Remember, once you light a match you have to keep it burning on its own.

@TG:

Remember, once you light a match you have to keep it burning on its own.

of course you have to provide fuel and oxygen in order for it to burn “on its own” . . . .

Ahhhh… it seems we can learn a lot about nuclear fusion from 5th grade science. :)

ya but think of it this way. all they need to fuel a fusion reaction is hydrogen and oxogen, now where can you find both of these together in a neat little package…. WATER!! you can actully extract enough Detireum (an isotope of hydrogen) from water to produce the same amount of electricity as 30,000 gallons of gasoline for about 34 cents. and the only thing left over from a fusion reaction is hellium gas.

Question is, how small scale can you get a fusion reactor down to? Small enough for an Aircraft Carrier? A Sub? Maybe a future Cruise Ship?

Relative to size of a nuclear reactor. However, you have to be careful that fusion does not use up more energy than it gives off. Of course this topic is about “Providing Power to the Masses” and not “How can we use alternative energy to power our Weapons of War,” so I’m assuming that this point is irrelevant.

they need to fuel a fusion reaction is hydrogen and oxogen, now where can you find both of these together in a neat little package…. WATER!! you can actully extract enough Detireum (an isotope of hydrogen) from water to produce the same amount of electricity as 30,000 gallons of gasoline for about 34 cents. and the only thing left over from a fusion reaction is hellium gas.

Well not exactly. To find Detireum you still need to extract it from sea. The other component is tritium, which can be taken from lithium. Also the left over waste, it isn’t exactly safe, as it is still radioactive from it activated materials and will take 50-100 years before it can be cleared from regulatory control or recycled.

@mini_phreek:

… all they need to fuel a fusion reaction is hydrogen and oxogen, now where can you find both of these together in a neat little package…

Why do i need oxygen for a fusion process? You can “fuse” everything up to iron, but why oxygen? It’s terribly inefficient compared to fusing hydrogen.
Or did you mix that up with the usual burning of hydrogen and oxygen to water (As happened to the zeppelin “Hindenburg” in the early 30s)?

my mastake, you don’t need oxygen in fusion, just the hydrogen isotopes and a lot of heat.

instead of thinking where to dump your c*ap think of how to harvest the power of a black hole, all that gravity has to do something.:)

Ummm… sorry your comment was so far fetched and incoherant that I really don’t know what to say. How about, do you know how far the closest black hole is (assuming it is)?

@TG:

Ummm… sorry your comment was so far fetched and incoherant that I really don’t know what to say. How about, do you know how far the closest black hole is (assuming it is)?

i think there’s one in my closet. You may borrow it if you like. Just remember that i need it back for the bodies - you know how it is.

Yes, the greatest black hole of all - my dryer. I keep on losing socks! :)

@TG:

Yes, the greatest black hole of all - my dryer. I keep on losing socks! :)

i’ve given up pinning losing socks on my dryer. I’m just going with the idea that “well, maybe i never really had more than 2 pairs and 18 million singles in the first place”. It makes me feel better, and my dryer and i don’t fight nearly as often anymore.

Some think theres a Black Hole not far from our Solar System. Some think its a dead star, or a Jupiter sized planet. But theres definately a large center of Gravity not far outside our system.

You’re talking about Planet “X” outside of Pluto?

theres a huge black hole in the center of the milkey way.

@TG:

Ummm… sorry your comment was so far fetched and incoherant that I really don’t know what to say. How about, do you know how far the closest black hole is (assuming it is)?

Since it’s so far, we better get started on getting its energy quickly.