Re:Microsoft Bets That Fusion Power Is Closer Than Many Think
by schiffern on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @01:31PM
(#35890578)
>they can tune it so [D-D] doesn't happen much
Can someone run through this, briefly?
I tried to reproduce this from First Principles, but I can't really make the numbers close.
Let's generously assume perfect tritium scavenging, so the relevant tuning parameters are temperature[0] and D-to-He3 ratio. However just using those two parameters, I can't make aneutronic fusion without starving the system of deuterium and plunging the power density, which (by the reciprocal relation) explodes the reactor size (and cost) for a given power output.
Can someone run through this, briefly?
I tried to reproduce this from First Principles, but I can't really make the numbers close.
Let's generously assume perfect tritium scavenging, so the relevant tuning parameters are temperature[0] and D-to-He3 ratio. However just using those two parameters, I can't make aneutronic fusion without starving the system of deuterium and plunging the power density, which (by the reciprocal relation) explodes the reactor size (and cost) for a given power output.
Can anyone square this circle?
[0] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RxDT-DD-DHe3.jpg