MIT-designed project achieves major advance toward fusion energy

Re:MIT-designed project achieves major advance toward fusion... by lambdatronics on Thursday September 09, 2021 @11:44PM (#28477582)

>However, turbulence increases with stronger magnetic field gradients

Mmm, this isn't right. The stronger magnetic field reduces turbulence, it's the gradient of the pressure that generates turbulence. As best as anyone can tell, SPARC should be able to get Q~10 without any miracles involved -- the engineering rules of thumb and the advanced simulations all say the same.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-plasma-ph...

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Re:MIT-designed project achieves major advance toward fusion... by sigmoid10 on Sunday September 12, 2021 @01:40PM (#28503141)

>The stronger magnetic field reduces turbulence

That's why I specifically said field gradients - i.e. the thing that gets larger when you have a stronger field in a smaller volume.

>it's the gradient of the pressure that generates turbulence

How exactly do you think that pressure is created?

Also, that link you provided is an editorial from one of the directors behind SPARC. If you want an objective analysis that is not geered towards possible investors, you need to look elsewhere. FYI, anyone selling you Q~10 designs without a considerable theoretical breakthrough is almost certainly conning you. If you don't believe me just look at how Lockheed's compact fusion reactor panned out. Stronger magnets are not some kind of miracle solution that will enable fusion tomorrow.

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