Dense Plasma Focus FUsion

[shawn]

Focus Fusion Society: Developing an environmentally safe, clean, low cost, unlimited energy source for everyone.
They have been working on this for several decades but have had difficulty due to lack of funding.

I have limited technical background, but started this thread to inform others who are technically advanced or interested in any way.

[Aromaz]

Focus Fusion is based on well-confirmed scientific theories.

@shawn; Thanks for this link. Amongst all my lists and readings I never found this one. Very well presented, informative and models.

[phi1.62]

With the nuclear debate appearing again thanks to the Fukushima incident I'd thought I'd bring this thread to the attention of fellow posters. I think that there still isn't enough attention being given to this technology which I believe is the most promising method of clean and cheap energy production.

To give a bit of background information, a Dense Plasma Focus Fusion device creates a pinch which can be used to fuse hydrogen-boron fuel. What makes Dense Plasma Focus Fusion superior to other forms of energy production is that once the fuel is fused it releases charged particles. By constructing a special transformer around the dense plasma focus the charged particles are turned straight into AC electricty without having to heat up water to turn a steam turbine attached to an electrical generator.

As a result construction of the device would be very cheap. As a comparison, to build a 1000 MW coal-fired power plant would cost between 1-2 billion dollars. To construct several DPFF devices producing the same amount of energy would cost about 60 million dollars. A DPFF generation facility would generate about 5MW and be about the size of a large garage. This allows DPFF generators to be built in areas which are too far from the main distribution grid that rely on diesel and renewable energy sources for their electricity. It would also give developing countries the chance to provide cheap electricity to their citizens that have a limited or no electrical grid without having to build or expand on their high voltage distribution network.

The fuel for DPFF is practically limitless. The radioactivity produced by a DPFF generator has a short half life - a person needing to access a DPFF generator could do so safely within 12 hours of shutdown.

There are several research facilities around the world working on DPFF around the world but the one which seems to be achieving the best results are Lawrenceville Plasma Physic's Focus Fusion. Focus Fusion is headed by Eric Lerner who figured out that by making the dense plasma focus smaller a more powerful pinch was developed. Back in January, Focus Fusion achieved the critical 1 Billion Kelvin barrier that is necessary for the fusion to take place and will be conducting experiments with decaborane fuel, which is rich in hydrogen and boron, later in the year. Should Focus Fusion prove to be successful it would probably be another 8-10 years of engineering development before we saw the first Focus Fusion generator.

I can see DPFF having several applications not possible with current energy generation methods. I believe that fast charging electric cars and electric cars in general would be more practical with DPFF generators rather than the current distribution network due to the upgrades you would need to make to run such vehicles, in addition to the extra generation capacity. The DPFF device would be small enough not only to retrofit a diesel train but retrofit container ships. DPFF could be used to design an electric plane and space vehicles.

Further information can be found in the following links:

Directory:Focus Fusion - PESWiki
Focus Fusion: The Fastest Route to Cheap, Clean Energy
YouTube - Solstice Seminar 2/5 - The quest for fusion begins
YouTube - Solstice Seminar 3/5: The quest for fusion continues to begin!
YouTube - Solstice Seminar 4/5 - This Q&A is juicy like a pomegranate
YouTube - Solstice Seminar 5/5 - Who wants a sandwich?