rexresearch.com
Leif HOLMLID
Ultra-Dense Deuterium Fusion
Ultra-Dense Deuterium Fusion
https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/energy/small-reactor-with-big-potential
October 2015
Small Reactor with Big Potential
by Michael Abrams
by Michael Abrams
The key to a future of safe, cheap, clean energy is simple: go with nuclear, but remove the risk. That, of course, would mean cutting out radiation. If we could render our Geiger counters archaic and shrink the scale of our reactors and use an easier-to-come-by source of fuel, then we’d have something truly utopian.
Such a future may be within our grasp, thanks to the work of Leif Holmlid, a professor of atmospheric science in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Gothenburg. For ten years now, he has been researching ultra-dense deuterium. This potential fuel source is made from heavy hydrogen, which happens to be found in that plentiful stuff of our planet called water. After a while, Holmlid realized that the distance between the atoms of the ultra-dense stuff was rather close. “So it was quite possible to easily start fusion in this material,” he says. Holmlid then set about doing just that, first in the theoretical world, then in the real.
The result is a laser-fired fusion reactor that has already managed to produce more energy than it takes to run. In short, the technique involves putting deuterium in a high-pressure chamber so the ultra-dense material forms on the surface. When zapped with a laser for a few nanoseconds, the fusion process begins. The trick is timing the pulses of the laser with the production of deuterium, currently about ten times a second. “That’s the main thing in the reactor. You don’t have to do much more,” says Holmlid.
The initial laser process in ultra-dense deuterium. Image: Leif Holmlid
First attempts revealed that the particles coming out of the reactor were “too fast to be coming from ordinary fusion.” Further investigation revealed that the particles were not the typical neutrons, but muons. Muons decay much faster than neutrons, in 2.2 microseconds compared to a neutron’s 1,000-second-long decay. That means they can easily be absorbed by a simple wall. “There is a risk with muons,” says Holmid, “You can’t just neglect them. But the enclosure is much smaller than if you have neutrons.”
Another great advantage to the emission of muons is that, unlike neutrons, they’re charged, so they can be used to directly produce electricity. Just how, though, has not yet been determined. “That is what we are going to investigate next,” says Holmid. The reactor will likely use a “so-called inverted cyclotron,” a small magnetic device that makes a charge a circle. And harvesting the heat the reactor produces will be a mere technical matter.
With the threat of radiation reduced to nearly nothing, Holmlid’s reactors needn’t take up massive swaths of any municipality. They could be built small enough to power neighborhoods or even single homes. “It doesn’t seem that it will be small enough that you can have it in a car or a robot or something like that,” he says. “But in a house, yes.”
The ultra-dense deuterium reactor isn’t the only one in development using heavy hydrogen. But those add tritium, which is not safe to handle at a large scale, says Holmid. “It is usually believed you can measure and take care of radioactivity, but that’s the not the case with tritium,” he says. “You can have lots of tritium around but you cannot measure it with any instrument, in the lab, or anywhere.”
Ultra-dense deuterium is some 100,000 times denser than water and thought to be denser than the stuff at the sun’s core. With luck, and a good deal more work, it too may bring us free safe light and warmth
http://atom-ecology.russgeorge.net/2016/04/03/cold-fusion-real-revolutionary-ready/
April 3, 2016
COLD FUSION Real, Revolutionary, and Ready
Says Leading Scandinavian Newspaper
Aftenposten, a mainstream newspaper in Norway is publishing on Cold Fusion.
Here is a ‘translation patched up with contextual English/Physics parlance’ of the April 2, 2016, Norwegian report that features an interview with Physicist Sindre Zeiner-Gundersen, who revealed details of an operating experimental cold fusion device in Norway generating 20 times more energy than required to activate it!
According to Scandinavian physicists ‘cold fusion’ happens due to the formation of ultradense hydrogen/deuterium as described in the widely acclaimed work and theoretical understanding by professor Svein Olafsson (Sindre’s Phd. supervisor in Iceland) and Norway’s Professor Svein Holmlid.
Finally a proven testable theory for cold fusion that occurs in microscopic stars inside ordinary metals!
Is this the solution to all our energy problems? Can two guys in a small industrial office be sitting on the solution to the climate crisis? The ‘cold fusion’ of ultra dense hydrogen will give us cars and aircraft with unlimited range. Heat and electricity for houses will allow them to be unplugged from power company networks. Or is it just wishful thinking?
In an industrial building, ‘in smoke’ meaning hidden away in a Norwegian industrial district not academia, that no one in the Norwegian public has heard about, lies the commercialization R&D laboratory. There attending to the engineering facility is PhD student Sindre Zeiner-Gundersen bent over a small reactor of thick metal.
Even before newly funded research began, he experienced that up to 20 times as much energy coming out of the reactor as what he put in. Was it cold fusion he witnessed? Aftenposten wrote last summer about the research in this field, which is not accepted in science excellent (polite) company. But now the American Physicist Society, APS, which until this Norwegian work emerged has been dismissive, has begun to publish works of scientists who show the effect is real and offer a viable theoretical mechanism proven via classical physics procedures.
Editors note: Holmlid’s elegant table top fusion reactor and detector with schematic, can be easily and relatively inexpensively built of ‘off-the-shelf’ high vacuum parts. A wonderful contribution to global energy ‘crowd science’. With Prof. Holmlid’s offer of coaching and help to those reproducing the work this revelation of every detail will very quickly separate the pathological skeptics and physics trolls from the ‘earnest and honest scientists’!
The closest thing to the theoretical work and testable supporting data of Holmlid is the mythical energy announced to the world more than 25 years ago by Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons as cold fusion (it also goes under the name LENR for Low Energy Nuclear Reaction). Cold fusion occurs when hydrogen (in the form of deuterium) is loaded into metals and ‘energized’ in one form or another. Hydrogen atoms merge with each other and simultaneously releases an enormous amount of energy that follows Einstein’s famouse E=mC2 equation.
The energy released is far, far greater than that applied to create the reaction(s). It’s like fire in the fireplace, really, just that nuclear fusion, delivers a million times more energy than any chemical process of combustion. Editors note: Imagine your homes winters firewood supply multiplied by one million times, enough wood to bury the city of Gothenburg for each household contained instead in a single cup full of ‘heavy water.’
Unlike combustion cold fusion does not quickly run out of fuel. As many other cold fusion researchers have reported in over 1000 published scientific papers Zeiner-Gundersen have run experiments for long times where they measured an energy production that is so high that it is impossible to completely explain it as any known (or conceivable) chemical reaction.
This Will change all energy
“The so-called Coulomb barrier between two atom nuclei suggests that what we see here is not possible. That I acknowledge. But I note that it still happens. Therefore we have focused on finding bugs in our own methods, through probably 1,000 days of tests. The result varies, but we note still that the reaction takes place. I’m guessing that within three years, ‘people everywhere’ will be thinking completely differently about energy than today. Perhaps as soon 5-10 years we will see this used in aerospace, for the propulsion of vehicles, boats and aircraft,” says Sindre Zeiner-Gundersen.
Mohammed Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince, interviewed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Source: Saudi Arabia's Royal Court
Editors Note: Is Cold Fusion an energy black swan? A series of reports reveals how seriously some of the world is taking Cold Fusion transformative technology is revealed in news from Saudi Arabia’s Royal family and it’s rapid development of the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund that will rapidly make trillions in foreign investments to move the country quickly away from it’s dependence on oil! It’s not just oil sheiks who are interested, Bill Gates of Microsoft, reportedly the richest man on Earth has personally visited cold fusion labs in Europe, indulging his interest and history with ‘black swan’ tech.
A brief history
Researchers who have been pursuing cold fusion energy for decades claims that it will be possible to create an energy that is so enormously powerful and so cheap that we will be able to provide enough energy to power a city like Hamar (where this lab research is being done) for a year using the energy of cold fusion energy that comes from a glass of water – without harmful radiation or emission. Such energy would be so potent that it can become immediately economically affordable to pull harmful CO2 back from the atmosphere, or to make saltwater into freshwater. It will simply be the solution to all our energy problems.
Up to now Cold Fusion/LENR researchers have had difficulty getting published material in major scientific journals. They acknowledge as well that they have lacked a credible working theory behind the experimental results they observe in the lab. Most scientists believe that nuclear fusion will in fact not be possible without massive energy levels that simply can not be produced at any laboratory table. Take for example the work of physicists at CERN.
The results that have come since last summer are still more remarkable and carries with it a much higher degree of scientific credibility than before. Meanwhile, the team here are the only Norwegian physicists who will comment on the case that is based on their new and solid scientific findings now published and most possibly due to this new energy source.
Rydberg Matter explains the impossible chemistry
Such hydrogen matter is more dense than what is found in the core of stars. This shows how normally separated atomic nuclei can be squashed so closely together, in microscopically small but atomicly huge domains, such that cold ‘micro’ fusion is easily be made to occur and be controlled. Click to enlarge
Sindre Zeiner-Gundersen is pursuing a genuine PhD degree at the so-called Rydberg Matter (see graphic) at the University of Iceland. Rydbergmaterie is probably a precursor to cold fusion, according Zeiner-Gundersen. He also believes his supervisor in Iceland, Svein Olafsson. Olafsson is a professor of solid state nuclear physics and has since 2014 made efforts which also confirms cold fusion. Olafsson, who has been chairman of the Icelandic physicist Association for several years and has also done experiments at Isolde laboratory CERN, picks happily up the phone when Aftenposten rings.
For me the Cold Fusion/LENR effect is an experimental reality. I have studied some of the 500 – 1000 articles published in the field since 1989. We can already say that we have discovered so much enormous energy that this source within 5-10 years will transform all energy. But it will take time before the world understands it. You could compare it to when Wright brothers first flew. They flew in 1903. But it was not until 1908 that they broke through. People did not believe it before they even saw it. When such a breakthrough occurs in the public consciousness, there will be enormous resources to the field.
More than 400 scientists worldwide work on it but the pursuit of cold fusion comes at a price
Until now there have been very few and far between academics like Olafsson, who endorse cold fusion. It is taught at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), but at the start of the course students are warned that their choice of study might harm their career.
One of the reasons that Olafsson now may speak so cocksure about that which among mainstream physicists most perceived an impossibility, is that he is not alone anymore. For example, the American academic physicist Robert Duncan (Texas Tech) who like the American physicist association pointed out the need to make independent examination of the phenomenon before the mainstream is convinced.
We are now an informal network of some 400 physicists worldwide who work with matter and look at cold fusion as real, says Olafsson.
Another reason why Olafsson feels confident the research is real is the work of Leif Holmlid. Holmlid is professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Gothenburg and has a long career. He has both helped assess potential laureates for the Nobel Committee, and has published over 200 scientific papers. Unlike most Cold Fusion/LENR researchers, the work of both Olafsson and Holmlid very recently published their revolutionary work on Rdyberg Matter in the prestigious journals of the American Physical Society, with its 50,000 members it is the largest organization physicists in the world. There will be no more “mainstream” than that.
Holmlid would still rather not be called a Cold Fusion/LENR researcher or associated with the concept of cold fusion. (Perhaps he sat in on that course at MIT.) It is a tough title to dodge as last autumn he published startling results from his pursuit of a new energy source in one of the journals of the American Physical Society, AIP Advances.
Svein Olafsson characterizes Holmlid as follows, – Until now, cold fusion research groped blindly, because we have not had any credible theory about what’s going on. But with Holmlid work we have a path that we can start walking. I would not be surprised if Holmlid ends with getting the Nobel Prize for what he now found out, says Olafsson.
Impossible according to the current laws of physics
There are several things that make disregard for cold fusion natural among physicists in general. Fundamental physical laws dictate namely two things: One is that any nuclear merger/fusion process must emit radiation, and the second is that the so-called Coulomb barrier must be exceeded to initiate fusion.
The Coulomb barrier is a force between atoms that prevents everyday nuclear reactions by pushing reactive nuclei apart. Traditional theory suggests that one must up the energy levels of atoms to the equivalent of a temperature of millions of degrees to start a process that will begin to allow nuclei to collide, merge and release large amounts of energy through fusion.
Cold fusion researchers have for years claimed that they can initiate a merger process with some equipment on a desk. This has profoundly challenged the established scientific community who have refused to accept it since it was proclaimed in 1989.
When first declared the there-to-fore prestigious American Physical Society denounced it by calling for a show of hands at a press conference and claiming that the show of hands proved cold fusion could not have taken place since the scientists did not measure sufficient neutrons. (Editors note: The ‘high priest/inquisitors’ of APS physics conducted this ‘Kangaroo Court’ only four weeks after the news of the cold fusion energy discovery had gone worldwide.)
That Mysterious Rydberg Micro Matter
The physicists then knew nothing about, the extreme fabric ultra dense deuterium, which Holmlid later detected. This new cold fusion drug is admittedly not yet perfectly experimentally fully verified, but very close.
According Holmlid his Rydberg Matter has nevertheless a local density which makes it weighs mind-boggling 130 tons per. liter. If you had a milk carton with ultra dense deuterium in the refrigerator, the carton tunnel a hole through your house immediately.
The substance is 1,000 times denser than solar core. The quantities used in the experiments are fortunately only ultra thin flakes and is therefore not dangerous heavy. This material contains the secret that makes cold fusion is possible, according Holmlid.
I think it’s ultra dense deuterium that can explain all the results from experiments with cold fusion, he said.
It is worth noting that virtually all Cold Fusion/LENR experiments are using just hydrogen and deuterium, which in different ways are packed as closely as possible into a metal and then energized.
Cold fusion tests variability now understood
In ultra dense deuterium is the core particles according Holmlid theory become so dense that Coulomb barrier is no longer an insurmountable obstacle. With just a little extra energy begins nuclei to fuse and emit extremely high energy.
This theory may also explain why it is so difficult to repeat Cold Fusion/LENR experiments with similar results. The tests can appear to be simple to repeat, and it is published over 100 such repetitions since 1989, but the amount of energy that comes out is highly variable from time to time.
The reason is, according Holmlid the merger takes place in the microscopic fracture zones within the solid metal substances deuterium loaded in. Since it is impossible to create the interior of a metal sample 100 percent identical from time to time, it may become violent fluctuations in the effect of attempts to experiments, depending on exactly how the metal is composed.
Mysterious Muon Radiation (Mischugenons?)
When Holmlid initiated the process of laser pulse on ultra dense deuterium his work always revealed one or other form of energetic particles (radiation) out. But what kind? The researchers looked and looked for different types with different detectors. After much ado, they found eventually that laser pulse of ultra dense matter emits so-called muons, contrary to assumptions.
Olafsson is now accepted to give a talk about the experiment for the prestigious American Physical Society in April.
One of the “problems” with both Holmlid attempts and cold fusion research is that experiments only produce very little radiation. It’s no wonder that physicists most do not believe that it can proceed fusion at room temperature, because all fusion according to the (former) ‘laws of nature’ MUST produce abundant dangerous unmistakable radiation. Another article by Holmlid and Olafsson found that even with no laser pulse a weak radiation arises similar to that detected in the second laser activated cold fusion experiments. Olafsson think that ultra dense deuterium may have two different methods to conduct a nuclear process.
Editors note: Read more about another discovery of crazy radiation, mischugenons, in the 1990’s described with the help of the real Dr. Strangelove, father of the hydrogen bomb Edward Teller.
Revives research from the 50’s
The interesting thing with the discovery of muons is that this is extremely coveted and rare particles. They can be used to conduct so-called muon-catalyzed fusion, which was discovered already in the ’50s. The method has never received special attention because muons are far too costly to produce.
Now therefore Holmlid discovered a rich source of the extremely coveted particles. The next step now is to use them to drive a fusion reactor. This he has already signed a contract with the so-called incubator at the University of Gothenburg to realize industrially.
The idea is to replace the dirty boiler in existing coal power plants with a pure fusion reactor, which is also much cheaper to operate because it almost does not need fuel. Already from the beginning there will be more economical with such a merger than to burn coal, thinks Holmlid. He believes that all the necessary scientific findings are now done. The professor thinks we already, in 2-3 years, could see a completely finished new energy technology ready for full-scale commercialization.
Unfortunately muon catalyzed fusion ordinarily is expected to produce much radiation. Next steps Holmlid will be to achieve muon cold fusion, which almost will not emit radiation. The muons it emits are so weak that they are stopped by a few centimeters of concrete or steel. In addition muons are negatively charged particles, effectively electrons! That means they can be used to produce electricity directly, without using the heat to first produce steam.
How about a fusion power plant in the basement?
My Cold Fusion Simple Kilowatt™ heater now in development
Editors note: Perhaps Prof. Holmlid would like our Atom-Ecology Cold Fusion Simple Kilowatt™ heater now in development. It is no more complex or costly than an ordinary compact flourescent light bulb powered by a similar tiny input of electricity yet intended to heat an entire home.
Holmlid envisions that by the public should be able to buy small cold fusion power that will be the size of a small refrigerator. Such home power plants could produce 15 kilowatts. This is about what you need to keep your home with electricity. The device need not be greater in size such than it can be placed under the hood of an electric car instead of batteries.
The price, according Holmlid get depends on laser technology chosen, but probably will be at some ten thousand crowns (Norwegian currency 1 kr = 10 cents USD). Regardless of this cost this will be quickly recovered your for someone who has a house, which typically have 20,000 kroner in annual energy expenditure.
To cover a small country’s, like Norway, energy consumption for a year, Holmlid estimates that there will be enough energy provided by about 100 kg deuterium. 100 kg of deuterium costs at current rates no more than 700,000 crowns, that’s a mere $70,000! Not good news for a country like Norway that lives off oil. But for the world as a whole wouldn’t something like that be an absolutely insane transformational energy revolution.
Is this too good to be true
The big question then becomes: Is this too good to be true? Holmlid has published the findings publicly, and the basic process he can therefore not take a patent on anymore. He has the right, the world is just in front of a solution to the whole problem of climate change, which many consider to be humanity’s greatest problem. When something sounds to be too good to be true, it is what often.
– Ultra Dense deuterium is not experimentally proven fully and it is so new and there are few scientific groups who have tried to repeat your experiments?
– Unfortunately, the biggest problem in this field lack of interest. I will help anyone who will try to replicate what I’ve done. Unfortunately it is not so very easy. But I hope someone tries. It would make everything much easier for me.
Arguments
The findings of Holmlid and Olafsson, and also earlier findings on cold fusion field, is increasingly seen as credible among mainstream physicists. However not all, Physics Professor Dieter Röhrich at the University of Bergen has seen some of Svein Olafsson and Leif Holmlid latest publications for Aftenposten and also had a two-hour videoconference with them to clear up any confusion. Nevertheless, he is still very critical (verging on being what is characterized as a pathological skeptic, naturally so as his career is based on theories that will be up-ended as the reality of cold fusion emerges.)
Antagonist/skeptic from big money physics Vatican
Editors Note: Antagonist/skeptic Röhrich parrots the view of big money physics Vatican, aka CERN. He and his ilk have the most to lose as Holmlid’s work becomes accepted.
Röhrich acknowledges that any radiation from the experiments would be a sensational discovery, but is far from convinced.
– “Many claim that they have discovered radiation are presented in the articles, but no irrefutable evidence presented. To measure an unknown radiation source is complicated, and I do not see that they have managed to do it”, he says.
– But now that the material is the accepted by the prestigious American Physical Society and was peer-reviewed by them, the picture changes.
– He retorts, “peers are not infallible, and they can not – and should not – check everything. It does not have to be about a scam that I mean either. Most likely, the results caused by wishful thinking. It’s easy to get caught in their own world and not see the mistakes you make. That is why we in CERN has several experiments that largely does the same. A minimum is that experiments must be so nondescript that they can be repeated. But I do not even understand what they want to measure – muons, electrons, gamma radiation or neutrons,” says Röhrich. He acknowledges muon catalyzed cold fusion is possible, but notes that the muon lifetime is so short that the technology is unlikely to make practical application.”
Yet in the end he is not entirely dismissive to further explore the findings.
Svein Olafsson has been watching criticism from Röhrich.
“I understand actually criticism from Röhrich well. We had a good discussion, and I agree that probably 95 percent of everything that has been done within the cold fusion field is experimental error. Most have only using luck managed to produce energy. But the last 5 percent is scientifically published. Röhrich do not know cold fusion literature and have not had time to go through all these experiments. Therefore he shows a healthy skepticism which I respect”, says Olafsson.
Editors note: What Holmlid’s true peers have been saying for some years in published papers as opposed to off the cuff pontificating ‘wise cracks’.
“If as reported the state of ultradense deuterium exists, and if it is sufficiently stable to exist long enough, it could become for the release of nuclear energy as important as was the discovery of nuclear fission by Hahn and Strassmann. It is the purpose of this note that on purely theoretical grounds an ultradense state of deuterium cannot be easily dismissed.” – F. Winterberg 2009!
A New Norwegian Race For Heavy Water?
Svein Holmlid is a chemist and nuclear work is not his specialty. Olafsson, who is a physicist, points out however that Holmlid is at home because his first discovery in 2008 was done with standard experimental methods of physical chemistry, and had nothing to do with the exotic cold fusion/lenr.
“Holmlid experiments are structured so that any minimal sign of radioactivity is a simple, beautiful, strong and irrefutable evidence that reveals immediate consequences in the saga and mystery of cold fusion. Such cold fusion is observed in over 100 published articles since 1989. But experiments where radioactivity can be turn on and off in a controlled manner – like his, is not possible by any known theory,” he says.
He points out that he does not claim to have resolved the matter and found the one answer, the ‘Holy Grail’ of energy physics.
“But we claim that we have found something that requires explanation. In order to progress, we need lots of additional research and help from other groups. We three scientists can not do this job alone,” emphasizes Sveinn Olafsson.
Various groups of course are arguing about this new physics reality for a variety of reasons. Where does oil nation Norway show up in this? It may be worth recalling that the more popular name of ‘deuterium’ is ‘heavy water’. Are we seeing evidence of a secret battle for or against heavy water? This begins to remind one of the famous Norwegian role in producing heavy water during World War II at the ultra-secret Nazi Vermork plant that was destroyed it what historians describe as perhaps the most important military action of World War II by the ‘Hero’s of Telemark’.
Let’s head back to smoke ( the industrial side of town), there’s father Sindre Zeiner-Gundersen watching his son’s PhD degree. M.Sc. Day Zeiner-Gundersen has even two doctorates, is chairman of small Norse AS and sets with the money and the laboratory that makes it possible for his son to carry out research funded by industry. Today has followed the Cold Fusion/LENR field since 2001.
Sindres father Day Zeiner-Gundersen has even two doctorates and has been anxiously engaged in cold fusion for many years already.
“Norse AS have seen enough that we now know that Cold Fusion/LENR gives a real effect. But one should be very careful with quick conclusions since possible sources of error are numerous. There is surprisingly little LENR research in Norway, a discipline that several players around the world are researching. Very much of the research we are doing in this country has a little too much with a “snuggle research.” (That’s Norwegian slang for ‘cozy uncontroversial research.’) Maybe the petroleum crisis will get Norway to wake up? We certainly can not continue as we have done. At 50 years, we have people contaminated (with fossil fuel fumes) as much as throughout human history. Future challenges in energy must be resolved by examining several options, including the controversial,” says Dag Zeiner-Gundersen.
Are you interested in this technology that can save the world further disaster?
A major essay has just appeared in the highly touted AEON Magazine by Huw Price, who is the Bertrand Russell Professor of Philosophy and a fellow of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. He is also Academic Director of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk. His AEON Essay is titled, “The Cold Fusion Horizon, Is cold fusion truly impossible, or is it just that no respectable scientist can risk their reputation working on it?” Prof. Price tells the story of a remarkable demonstration just concluded in Florida where a megawatt of cold fusion power has been used in an industrial plant for more than 1 year!
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090511181356.htm
Ultra-dense Deuterium May Be Nuclear
Fuel Of The Future
A material that is a hundred thousand times heavier than water and more dense than the core of the Sun is being produced at a university. The scientists working with this material are aiming for an energy process that is both more sustainable and less damaging to the environment than the nuclear power used today.
A material that is a hundred thousand times heavier than water and more dense than the core of the Sun is being produced at the University of Gothenburg. The scientists working with this material are aiming for an energy process that is both more sustainable and less damaging to the environment than the nuclear power used today.
Imagine a material so heavy that a cube with sides of length 10 cm weights 130 tonnes, a material whose density is significantly greater than the material in the core of the Sun. Such a material is being produced and studied by scientists in Atmospheric Science at the Department of Chemistry, the University of Gothenburg.
Towards commercial use
So far, only microscopic amounts of the new material have been produced. New measurements that have been published in two scientific journals, however, have shown that the distance between atoms in the material is much smaller than in normal matter. Leif Holmlid, Professor in the Department of Chemistry, believes that this is an important step on the road to commercial use of the material.
The material is produced from heavy hydrogen, also known as deuterium, and is therefore known as “ultra-dense deuterium”. It is believed that ultra-dense deuterium plays a role in the formation of stars, and that it is probably present in giant planets such as Jupiter.
An efficient fuel
So what can this super-heavy material be used for?
“One important justification for our research is that ultra-dense deuterium may be a very efficient fuel in laser driven nuclear fusion. It is possible to achieve nuclear fusion between deuterium nuclei using high-power lasers, releasing vast amounts of energy”, says Leif Holmlid.
The laser technology has long been tested on frozen deuterium, known as “deuterium ice”, but results have been poor. It has proved to be very difficult to compress the deuterium ice sufficiently for it to attain the high temperature required to ignite the fusion.
Energy source of the future
Ultra-dense deuterium is a million times more dense than frozen deuterium, making it relatively easy to create a nuclear fusion reaction using high-power pulses of laser light.
“If we can produce large quantities of ultra-dense deuterium, the fusion process may become the energy source of the future. And it may become available much earlier than we have thought possible”, says Leif Holmlid.
“Further, we believe that we can design the deuterium fusion such that it produces only helium and hydrogen as its products, both of which are completely non-hazardous. It will not be necessary to deal with the highly radioactive tritium that is planned for use in other types of future fusion reactors, and this means that laser-driven nuclear fusion as we envisage it will be both more sustainable and less damaging to the environment than other methods that are being developed.”
Deuterium – brief facts
Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen that is found in large quantities in water, more than one atom per ten thousand hydrogen atoms has a deuterium nucleus. The isotope is denoted “2H” or “D”, and is normally known as “heavy hydrogen”. Deuterium is used in a number of conventional nuclear reactors in the form of heavy water (D2O), and it will probably also be used as fuel in fusion reactors in the future.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150925085550.htm?trendmd-shared=0
Small-scale nuclear fusion may be a
new energy source
Fusion energy may soon be used in small-scale power stations. This means producing environmentally friendly heating and electricity at a low cost from fuel found in water. Both heating generators and generators for electricity could be developed within a few years, according to research that has primarily been conducted at the University of Gothenburg.
Nuclear fusion is a process whereby atomic nuclei melt together and release energy. Because of the low binding energy of the tiny atomic nuclei, energy can be released by combining two small nuclei with a heavier one. A collaboration between researchers at the University of Gothenburg and the University of Iceland has been to study a new type of nuclear fusion process. This produces almost no neutrons but instead fast, heavy electrons (muons), since it is based on nuclear reactions in ultra-dense heavy hydrogen (deuterium).
"This is a considerable advantage compared to other nuclear fusion processes which are under development at other research facilities, since the neutrons produced by such processes can cause dangerous flash burns," says Leif Holmlid, Professor Emeritus at the University of Gothenburg.
No radiation The new fusion process can take place in relatively small laser-fired fusion reactors fueled by heavy hydrogen (deuterium). It has already been shown to produce more energy than that needed to start it. Heavy hydrogen is found in large quantities in ordinary water and is easy to extract. The dangerous handling of radioactive heavy hydrogen (tritium) which would most likely be needed for operating large-scale fusion reactors with a magnetic enclosure in the future is therefore unnecessary.
" A considerable advantage of the fast heavy electrons produced by the new process is that these are charged and can therefore produce electrical energy instantly. The energy in the neutrons which accumulate in large quantities in other types of nuclear fusion is difficult to handle because the neutrons are not charged. These neutrons are high-energy and very damaging to living organisms, whereas the fast, heavy electrons are considerably less dangerous."
Neutrons are difficult to slow down or stop and require reactor enclosures that are several meters thick. Muons -- fast, heavy electrons -- decay very quickly into ordinary electrons and similar particles.
Research shows that far smaller and simpler fusion reactors can be built. The next step is to create a generator that produces instant electrical energy.
The research done in this area has been supported by GU Ventures AB, the holding company linked to the University of Gothenburg. The results have recently been published in three international scientific journals.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360319915016018
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Volume 40, Issue 33, 7 September 2015, Pages 10559–10567
doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2015.06.116
Spontaneous ejection of high-energy
particles from ultra-dense deuterium D(0)
Leif Holmlid, Sveinn Olafsson
Leif Holmlid, Sveinn Olafsson
Abstract
High-energy particles are detected from spontaneous processes in an ultra-dense deuterium D(0) layer. Intense distributions of such penetrating particles are observed using energy spectroscopy and glass converters. Laser-induced emission of neutral particles with time-of-flight energies of 1–30 MeV u−1 was previously reported in the same system. Both spontaneous line-spectra and a spontaneous broad energy distribution similar to a beta-decay distribution are observed. The broad distribution is concluded to be due to nuclear particles, giving straight-line Kurie-like plots. It is observed even at a distance of 3 m in air and has a total rate of 107–1010 s−1. If spontaneous nuclear fusion or other nuclear processes take place in D(0), it may give rise to the high-energy particle signal. Low energy nuclear reactions (LENR) and so called cold fusion may also give rise to such particles.
http://www2.chem.gu.se/~holmlid/
Leif Holmlid
Professor emeritus
Professor emeritus
Atmospheric Science
Department of Chemistry
University of Gothenburg
Phone: +46(0)31-7869076
holmlid@chem.gu.se
My main research interest since some time is dense and ultra-dense hydrogen forms. These materials are the lowest energy states of Rydberg Matter. This is a state of matter of the same status as liquid or solid, since it can be formed by a large number of atoms and small molecules. For a more complete description, see Wikipedia.
The lowest state of Rydberg Matter in excitation state n = 1 can only be formed from hydrogen (protium and deuterium) atoms and is designated H(1) or D(1). This is dense or metallic hydrogen, which we have studied for a few years. The bond distance is 153 pm, or 2.9 times the Bohr radius. It has a density of approximately 0.6 kg / dm3. See for example Ref. 167 below!
A much denser state exists for deuterium, named D(-1) or d(-1). We call it ultra-dense deuterium. This is the inverse of D(1), and the bond distance is very small, equal to 2.3 pm. Its density is extremely large, >130 kg / cm3. Due to the short bond distance, D-D fusion is expected to take place easily in this material. See Wikipedia! See also a press release and listen to a radio interview in Swedish (10.50 min into the program). A similar but not identical material formed from protium is called p(-1) or ultra-dense protium.
A theoretical description of ultra-dense deuterium D(-1) has been published by Friedwardt Winterberg. See these links to Journal of Fusion Energy, and Physics Letters A. The first experiments showing nuclear fusion in D(-1) can be found as Refs. 191 and 201 below.
Ultra-dense deuterium was recently shown to be the first room-temperature superfluid, see Ref. 196 below. It also shows a Meissner effect at room temperature (Ref. 204) and is thus probably also superconductive at room temperature.
Some recent publications:
210. P.U. Andersson and L. Holmlid, "Fast atoms and negative chain cluster fragments from laser-induced Coulomb explosions in a super-fluid film of ultra-dense deuterium D(-1)". Phys. Scripta, accepted.
209. L. Holmlid, "Method and apparatus for generating energy through inertial confinement fusion".
Patentansökan.
208. F. Olofson and L. Holmlid, "Superfluid ultra-dense deuterium D(-1) on polymer surfaces: structure and density changes at a polymer-metal boundary".
J. Appl. Phys. 111, 123502 (2012);DOI: 10.1063/1.4729078
207. F. Olofson, A. Ehn, J. Bood, L. Holmlid, "Large intensities of MeV particles and strong charge ejections from laser-induced fusion in ultra-dense deuterium".
39th EPS Conference & 16th Int. Congress on Plasma Physics, Stockholm, 2012; 12-02-20, P1.105.
206. F. Olofson and L. Holmlid, "Detection of MeV particles from ultra-dense protium p(-1): laser-initiated self-compression from p(1)".
Nucl. Intr. Meth. B 278 (2012) 34-41. DOI: 10.1016/j.nimb.2012.01.036.
205 L. Holmlid, "MeV particles from laser-initiated processes in ultra-dense deuterium D(-1)".
Eup. Phys. J. A 48 (2012) 11. DOI: 10.1140/epja/i2012-12011-0.
204. P.U. Andersson, L. Holmlid, and S.R. Fuelling, "Search for superconductivity in ultra-dense deuterium D(-1) at room temperature: depletion of D(-1) at field strength > 0.05 T".
J. Supercond. Novel Magn. 25 (2012) 873-882. DOI: 10.1007/s10948-011-1371-6.
203. P.U. Andersson and L. Holmlid, "Cluster ions DN+ ejected from dense and ultra-dense deuterium by Coulomb explosions: fragment rotation and D+ backscattering from ultra-dense clusters in the surface phase".
Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 310 (2012) 32-43. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijms.2011.11.004
202. L. Holmlid, "Experimental studies of clusters of Rydberg matter and its extreme dense forms". Invited review.
J. Cluster Sci. 23 (2012) 5-34. DOI: 10.1007/s10876-011-0417-z.
201. P.U. Andersson and L. Holmlid, "Fusion generated fast particles by laser impact on ultra-dense deuterium: rapid variation with laser intensity".
J. Fusion Energy 31 (2012) 249-256. DOI 10.1007/s10894-011-9468-2.
200. L. Holmlid, "Sub-nanometer distances and cluster shapes in dense hydrogen and in higher levels of hydrogen Rydberg Matter by phase-delay spectroscopy".
J. Nanopart. Res. 13 (2011) 5535-5546. DOI 10.1007/s11051-011-0543-4..
199. L. Holmlid, "Diffuse interstellar bands (DIB) in space: almost all bands calculated from co-planar doubly excited He and metal atoms embedded in Rydberg Matter".
Astrophys. Space Sci. 336 (2011) 391-412. DOI 10.1007/s10509-011-0795-6.
198. L. Holmlid, "Deuterium clusters DN and mixed K-D and D-H clusters of Rydberg Matter: high temperatures and strong coupling to ultra-dense deuterium".
J. Cluster Sci. 23 (2012) 95-114. DOI 10.1007/s10876-011-0387-1.
197. L. Holmlid, "High-charge Coulomb explosions of clusters in ultra-dense deuterium D(-1)".
Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 304 (2011) 51–56. doi: 10.1016/j.ijms.2011.04.001.
196. P.U. Andersson and L. Holmlid, "Superfluid ultra-dense deuterium D(-1) at room temperature".
Phys. Lett. A 375 (2011) 1344–1347. doi:10.1016/j.physleta.2011.01.035.
195. L. Holmlid, "Large ion clusters HN+ of Rydberg Matter: stacks of planar clusters H7".
Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 300 (2011) 50-58. doi:10.1016/j.ijms.2010.12.008.
194. P. U. Andersson, B. Lönn and L. Holmlid, "Efficient source for the production of ultra-dense deuterium D(-1) for laser-induced fusion (ICF)". Rev. Sci. Instrum. 82 (2011) 013503. doi:10.1063/1.3514985.
193. M. Trebala, W. Rozek, L. Holmlid, M. Molenda, and A. Kotarba,"Potassium stabilization in ß-K2Fe22O34 by Cr and Ce doping studied by field reversal method". Solid State Ionics (2011) . doi:10.1016/j.ssi.2010.08.004.
192. L. Holmlid, "Common forms of alkali metals - new Rydberg Matter clusters of potassium and hydrogen". J. Clust. Sci 21 (2010) 637-653. DOI: 10.1007/s10876-010-0291-0.
191. S. Badiei, P. U. Andersson and L. Holmlid, "Laser-driven nuclear fusion D+D in ultra-dense deuterium: MeV particles formed without ignition". Laser Part. Beams 28 (2010) 313-317 doi:10.1017/S0263034610000236.
190. P. U. Andersson and L. Holmlid, "Deuteron energy of 15 MK in a surface phase of ultra-dense deuterium without plasma formation: temperature of the interior of the Sun". Phys. Lett. A 374 (2010) 2856–2860
DOI: 10.1016/j.physleta.2010.03.009
189. S. Badiei, P. U. Andersson and L. Holmlid, "Production of ultra-dense deuterium, a compact future fusion fuel". Appl. Phys. Lett. 96 (2010) 124103. doi:10.1063/1.3371718.
188. F. Olofson, P. U. Andersson and L. Holmlid, "Rydberg Matter clusters of alkali metal atoms: the link between meteoritic matter, polar mesosphere summer echoes (PMSE), sporadic sodium layers, polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs, NLCs), and ion chemistry in the mesosphere". arXiv.org 10-02-08, astro-ph/1002.1570. http://arxiv.org/abs/1002.1570
187. S. Badiei, P.U. Andersson and L. Holmlid, "Laser-induced variable pulse-power TOF-MS and neutral time-of-flight studies of ultra-dense deuterium". Phys. Scripta 81 (2010) 045601. doi: 10.1088/0031-8949/81/04/045601.
186. P. U. Andersson and L. Holmlid, "Ultra-dense deuterium: a possible nuclear fuel for inertial confinement fusion (ICF)". Phys. Letters A 373 (2009) 3067–3070. doi:10.1016/j.physleta.2009.06.046.
185. L. Holmlid, H. Hora, G. Miley and X. Yang, "Ultrahigh-density deuterium of Rydberg matter clusters for inertial confinement fusion targets". Laser and Particle Beams 27 (2009) 529–532.
184. A. Kotarba and L. Holmlid, "Energy-pooling transitions to doubly excited K atoms at a promoted
iron-oxide catalyst surface: more than 30 eV available for reaction". Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 11 (2009) 4351-4359. DOI: 10.1039/b817380j.
183. S. Badiei, P. U. Andersson and L. Holmlid, "High-energy Coulomb explosions in ultra-dense deuterium: time-of-flight mass spectrometry with variable energy and flight length". Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 282 (2009) 70-76. Link to abstract and paper.
182. L. Holmlid, "Nm interatomic distances in Rydberg Matter clusters confirmed by phase-delay spectroscopy". J. Nanopart. Res. 12 (2010) 273-284. DOI 10.1007/s11051-009-9605-2.
181. L. Holmlid, "Light in condensed matter in the upper atmosphere as the origin of homochirality: circularly polarized light from Rydberg Matter". Astrobiol. 9 (2009) 535-542.
180. L. Holmlid, "Nuclear spin transitions in the kHz range in Rydberg Matter clusters give precise values of the internal magnetic field from orbiting Rydberg electrons". Chem. Phys. 358 (2009) 61–67.
179. S. Badiei, P. U. Andersson and L. Holmlid, "Fusion reactions in high-density hydrogen: a fast route to small-scale fusion?" Int. J. Hydr. Energy 34 (2009) 487-495. Link to abstract and paper.
Popular science:
L. Holmlid, "Rydberg Matter - diary from the laboratory" (translation of title in Swedish "Rydbergsmateria - dagbok från labbet". Forskning och Framsteg 38:4 (2003) 14-17.
Pictures:
Laser experiment on ultra-dense deuterium
The initial laser process in ultra-dense deuterium
http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&II=0&ND=3&adjacent=true&locale=en_EP&FT=D&date=20140101&CC=EP&NR=2680271A1&KC=A1
https://data.epo.org/publication-server/rest/v1.0/publication-dates/20140101/patents/EP2680271NWA1/document.pdf
EP2680271
Method and apparatus for generating energy through inertial confinement fusion
Method and apparatus for generating energy through inertial confinement fusion
The present invention relates to a method of generating energy by nuclear fusion. The method comprises the steps of: bringing (100) hydrogen in a gaseous state into contact with a hydrogen transfer catalyst (14) configured to cause a transition of the hydrogen from the gaseous state to an ultra-dense state; collecting (101) the hydrogen in the ultra-dense state on a carrier (3) configured to substantially confine the hydrogen in the ultra-dense state within a fuel collection portion (16) of the carrier; transporting (102) the carrier to an irradiation location (9); and subjecting (103), at the irradiation location, the hydrogen in the ultra-dense state to irradiation having sufficient energy to achieve break-even in energy generation by nuclear fusion.
Field of the invention
[0001] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for generating energy through inertial confinement fusion.
Background of the invention
[0002] Fusion is one of the candidates for future large scale generation of energy without the emission problems associated with burning fossil fuel and the fuel disposal problem of traditional fission nuclear power.
[0003] Research into energy generation using fusion follows a number of parallel tracks. Most effort is currently spent on developing reactors for magnetic confinement fusion and inertial confinement fusion (ICF).
[0004] In inertial confinement fusion, a small pellet (usually referred to as "target") containing, for example, Deuterium (D) ice or Deuterium-Tritium (D-T) ice is irradiated with lasers to compress and heat the target sufficiently to initiate a fusion reaction inside the target. The target may be irradiated directly by UV-lasers. There is also an indirect approach, where a so-called hohlraum is irradiated with lasers so that the target is in turn irradiated with X-ray radiation from the hohlraum.
[0005] In current large scale research systems for ICF, a large number of very high energy laser beams are focused on the target in a gigantic target chamber. Because of various issues including instabilities inside the target, considerably more energy than was previously expected appears to be necessary to achieve so-called ignition, making it difficult to achieve a commercially viable inertial confinement fusion energy power plant.
[0006] In order to address some of the problems associated with ICF, it has been proposed to provide a target made of a denser form of hydrogen, so-called ultra-dense hydrogen. It has been demonstrated that ultra-dense deuterium can be formed by flowing deuterium gas through the pores of a hydrogen transfer catalyst. The formation of ultra-dense protium has also been reported elsewhere. It is expected that a target made of such ultradense hydrogen (protium, deuterium or tritium) should require considerably less irradiated energy for ignition than the currently used deuterium-tritium ice pellets. The formation of ultra-dense deuterium is, for example, reported in the article "Efficient source for the production of ultradense deuterium D(-1) for laser-induced fusion (ICF)" by P. U. Andersson, B. Lönn and L. Holmlid, Review of Scientific Instruments 82, 013503 (2011 ). Although the results in this article provide a useful background, further development is required to achieve laser induced fusion using ultra-dense hydrogen targets.
Summary
[0007] It is an object of the present invention to address the above, and to provide for energy generation using ultra-dense hydrogen as a target for inertial confinement fusion (ICF).
[0008] According to a first aspect of the present invention, it is therefore provided a method of generating energy, comprising the steps of bringing hydrogen in a gaseous state into contact with a hydrogen transfer catalyst configured to cause a transition of the hydrogen from the gaseous state to an ultra-dense state; collecting the hydrogen in the ultra-dense state on a carrier configured to substantially confine the hydrogen in the ultra-dense state within a fuel collection portion of the carrier; transporting the carrier to an irradiation location; and subjecting, at the irradiation location, the hydrogen in the ultradense state to irradiation having sufficient energy to achieve break-even.
[0009] "Hydrogen" should, in the context of the present application, be understood to include any isotope or mix of isotopes where the nucleus has a single proton. In particular, hydrogen includes protium, deuterium, tritium and any combination of these.
[0010] By hydrogen in an "ultra-dense state" should, at least in the context of the present application, be understood hydrogen in the form of a quantum material (quantum fluid) in which adjacent nuclei are within one Bohr radius of each other. In other words, the nucleus-nucleus distance in the ultra-dense state is considerably less than 50 pm. In the following, hydrogen in the ultradense state will be referred to as H(-1) (or D(-1) when deuterium is specifically referred to). The terms "hydrogen in an ultra-dense state" and "ultra-dense hydrogen" are used synomymously throughout this application.
[0011] A "hydrogen transfer catalyst" is any catalyst capable of absorbing hydrogen gas molecules (H2) and dissociating these molecules to atomic hydrogen, that is, catalyze the reaction H2 → 2H. The name hydrogen transfer catalyst implies that the so-formed hydrogen atoms on the catalyst surface can rather easily attach to other molecules on the surface and thus be transferred from one molecule to another. The hydrogen transfer catalyst may further be configured to cause a transition of the hydrogen into the ultradense state if the hydrogen atoms are prevented from re-forming covalent bonds. The mechanisms behind the catalytic transition from the gaseous state to the ultra-dense state are quite well understood, and it has been experimentally shown that this transition can be achieved using various hydrogen transfer catalysts, including, for example, commercially available so-called styrene catalysts, as well as (purely) metallic catalysts, such as Iridium and Palladium. It should be noted that the hydrogen transfer catalyst does not necessarily have to transition the hydrogen in the gaseous state to the ultra-dense state directly upon contact with the hydrogen transfer catalyst. Instead, the hydrogen in the gaseous state may first be caused to transition to a dense state H(1), to later spontaneously transition to the ultra-dense state H(-1). Also in this latter case has the hydrogen transfer catalyst caused the hydrogen to transition from the gaseous state to the ultra-dense state.
[0012] In the dense state H(1), which is a higher-energy state than the ultradense state, the distance between adjacent nuclei is around 150 pm.
[0013] That ultra-dense hydrogen has actually been formed can be determined by irradiating the result of the catalytic reaction with a laser and then measuring the time of flight of emitted particles. An example of such determination will be described in greater detail under the heading "Experimental results" further below.
[0014] That the hydrogen in the ultra-dense state (the H(-1)) is "substantially confined" within the fuel collection portion of the carrier should be understood to mean that the concentration of H(-1) is substantially higher within the fuel collection portion of the carrier than outside that portion. This can readily be determined using the above-mentioned time of flight measurement.
[0015] The properties of ultra-dense hydrogen and methods for causing gaseous hydrogen to transition to ultra-dense hydrogen using different types of hydrogen transfer catalysts, as well as methods for detecting the presence and location of ultra-dense hydrogen, have been studied extensively by the present inventor and others. Results of these studies have, for example, been published in:
S. Badiei, P.U. Andersson, and L. Holmlid, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 34, 487 (2009 );
S. Badiei, P.U. Andersson, and L. Holmlid, Int. J. Mass. Spectrom. 282, 70 (2009 );
L. Holmlid, Eur. Phys. J. A 48 (2012) 11 ; and
P.U. Andersson, B. Lönn, and L. Holmlid, Review of Scientific Instruments 82, 013503 (2011 ).
[0016] Each of these scientific articles is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirity.
[0017] "Break-even" in fusion has been achieved when the particles (ions, neutrons and photons) emitted following irradiation of the ultra-dense hydrogen together exhibit a kinetic energy and photon energy that is at least two times the energy of the irradiation, i.e. when a net energy output is obtained. The requirement for break-even is normally fulfilled when the ion kinetic energy observed in the experiments is higher than the energy of the irradiation, since the summed emitted photon energy and neutron kinetic energy is expected to be larger than the total ion energy.
[0018] The present invention is based on the realization that energy generation above break-even can be achieved if a sufficient amount of ultradense hydrogen can be collected and transported to an irradiation location. Since the ultra-dense hydrogen is superfluid, it is difficult to keep in place and transport. The present inventor has, however, further realized that the carrier can be configured to substantially confine the ultra-dense hydrogen within a portion of the carrier. In this manner, a sufficient amount of the ultra-dense hydrogen, arranged within a limited target area, can be transported to the irradiation location, where it can be irradiated so that fusion occurs and highly energetic particles are emitted with sufficient kinetic energy to achieve break-even. In particular, the ultra-dense hydrogen can hereby be provided in a sufficiently thick layer, such as at least 1 µm, to fulfill predicted requirements for ignition and an energy gain of 1000 or more.
[0019] The fuel collection portion may advantageously be a surface portion of the carrier having different properties than a surrounding surface portion. It should, however, be noted that there may well be other ways in which the carrier may be configured to substantially confine the ultra-dense hydrogen, and that many different material combinations etc can achieve the desired substantial confinement (that is, a substantially higher concentration of ultradense hydrogen within the fuel collection portion than outside the fuel collection portion).
[0020] It should, furthermore, be noted that a substantially higher concentration of ultra-dense hydrogen within the fuel collection portion of the carrier than outside the fuel collection portion can be directly and positively verified using the time-of-flight measurement which was mentioned above and which will be described in detail further below under the heading "Experimental results".
[0021] According to various embodiments of the present invention, the step of collecting may comprise the step of allowing the hydrogen to fall from the hydrogen transfer catalyst to the carrier.
[0022] In these embodiments, the hydrogen in the gaseous state may be brought into contact with the hydrogen transfer catalyst by flowing the hydrogen in the gaseous state through a conduit having the hydrogen transfer catalyst arranged at a catalyst site along the conduit such that the hydrogen in the gaseous state partly flows past the hydrogen transfer catalyst and partly is caused to transition to the ultra-dense state at the catalyst site.
[0023] While falling down to the fuel collection portion of the carrier arranged below the hydrogen transfer catalyst, the hydrogen may temporarily transition to a higher energy state, such as the H(1)-state, but will transition back to the ultra-dense state (H(-1)) on the fuel collection portion of the carrier.
[0024] The hydrogen transfer catalyst may advantageously be porous, so that the hydrogen in the gaseous state can flow through the pores. This will provide for a large contact area between the hydrogen gas and the hydrogen transfer catalyst. At the same time, however, flow through the pores only will limit the attainable flow rate and thus the rate of production of ultra-dense hydrogen.
[0025] The present inventor has now surprisingly found that flow through the pores of the hydrogen transfer catalyst is not necessary for causing the transition of the hydrogen from the gaseous state to the ultra-dense state, but that the hydrogen transfer catalyst is capable of causing this transition at a larger distance and more efficiently than was previously believed. Accordingly, the hydrogen gas can be allowed to flow over a surface of the hydrogen transfer catalyst rather than be forced to flow through the hydrogen transfer catalyst. This has been shown to provide for a greatly increased rate in the production of ultra-dense hydrogen, which may contribute to achieving the layer thickness that is expected to be beneficial for reaching ignition and substantial energy gain.
[0026] Thus, according to various embodiments, a cross-sectional area of the conduit, at the catalyst site, may be greater than a cross-sectional area of the hydrogen transfer catalyst, so that the hydrogen in the gaseous state can flow through the conduit without having to pass through an interior of the hydrogen transfer catalyst. The hydrogen transfer catalyst may, for example, be arranged so that there is a flow gap between the hydrogen transfer catalyst and the inner wall of the conduit. Alternatively or in combination, the hydrogen transfer catalyst may itself be tubular, so that a conduit is formed through the hydrogen transfer catalyst.
[0027] As an alternative or complement to the above-described embodiments where the ultra-dense hydrogen is allowed to fall onto the fuel collection portion of the carrier, the carrier may comprise hydrogen transfer catalyst material arranged at the fuel collection portion, and hydrogen in the gaseous state may be brought into contact with the hydrogen transfer catalyst by flowing the hydrogen in the gaseous state past the fuel collection portion of the carrier.
[0028] This may further increase the conversion rate from hydrogen gas to ultra-dense hydrogen, and/or may facilitate the design of an apparatus for performing various embodiments of the method according to the invention.
[0029] To utilize the energy generated following irradiation, the method may further comprise the step of decelerating particles released following irradiation of the hydrogen in the ultra-dense state, to thereby convert kinetic energy of the particles to thermal energy.
[0030] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for generating energy, comprising: a source of hydrogen in a gaseous state; a hydrogen transfer catalyst arranged to be subjected to a flow of the hydrogen in the gaseous state, the hydrogen transfer catalyst being configured to cause a transition of the hydrogen from the gaseous state to an ultra-dense state; a carrier for collecting the hydrogen in the ultra-dense state, the carrier being configured to substantially confine the hydrogen in the ultra-dense state within a fuel collection portion of the carrier; a transportation arrangement for transporting the carrier from a fuel deposition location to an irradiation location; and an irradiation source arranged and configured to provide irradiation having sufficient energy to achieve break-even at the irradiation location.
[0031] According to various embodiments, the fuel collection portion of the carrier may be a surface portion that is surrounded by a barrier surface portion of a different material than the fuel collection portion.
[0032] It has been found that different materials interact differently with ultradense hydrogen and that some materials promote condensation of ultradense hydrogen, while other materials more or less prevent condensation thereon of ultra-dense hydrogen. The present inventor has realized that this finding can be used to provide a fuel target of ultra-dense hydrogen that has a substantial thickness, such as at least 1 µm, which is expected to fulfill predicted requirements for ignition and an energy gain of 1000 or more.
[0033] The reasons why some materials can support a larger amount of ultradense hydrogen than other materials are not yet fully understood. It has, however, been found that when ultra-dense hydrogen is allowed to fall from the hydrogen transfer catalyst onto a carrier comprising a metal or metal oxide surface portion surrounded by polymer (organic or inorganic) surface portion, the density of ultra-dense hydrogen is substantially higher on the metal (or metal oxide) than on the (organic or inorganic) polymer.
[0034] It is, however, expected that several other material combinations will provide the desired result, and it should again be noted that a substantially higher concentration of ultra-dense hydrogen within the fuel collection portion of the carrier than outside the fuel collection portion can be directly and positively verified using the time of flight measurement which was mentioned above and which will be described in detail further below under the heading "Experimental results".
[0035] According to various embodiments, furthermore, the fuel collection portion may be located in a recess in the carrier, which is expected to further facilitate the formation and subsequent transportation of a sufficiently thick layer of ultra-dense hydrogen.
[0036] Regarding the transportation arrangement in various embodiments of the apparatus according to the present invention, it should be noted that this transportation arrangement may utilize any way of moving the carrier from the fuel deposition location to the irradiation location. For example, the carrier may be transported to the irradiation location using a conveyor, or the fuel deposition location may be situated directly above the irradiation location and the carrier may be allowed to fall down from the deposition location to the irradiation location.
[0037] Further embodiments of, and effects obtained through this second aspect of the present invention are largely analogous to those described above for the first aspect of the invention.
Brief description of the drawings
[0038] These and other aspects of the present invention will now be described in more detail, with reference to the appended drawings showing example embodiments of the invention, wherein:
Fig 1 schematically illustrates an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig 2 is a cross-section of the carrier used in the apparatus in fig 1;
Fig 3 is a flow-chart schematically illustrating an exemplary method of generating energy using the apparatus in fig 1;
Fig 4 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary measurement setup for determining the relative density of ultra-dense hydrogen on a carrier;
Fig 5 shows a sample carrier with a metal surface portion and an organic polymer surface portion adjacent to the metal surface portion;
Fig 6 is a diagram that indicates the presence of hydrogen in different states on the positions schematically indicated in fig 5;
Fig 7 is a schematic illustration of another exemplary measurement setup for determining the effects of subjecting the ultra-dense hydrogen on the carrier to laser irradiation; and
Fig 8 is a diagram that indicates the particle energy distribution resulting from irradiation of the ultra-dense hydrogen using the measurement setup in fig 7.
Detailed description of example embodiments
[0039] In the present detailed description, various embodiments of an apparatus and a method for generating energy through irradiation of ultradense hydrogen are mainly discussed with reference to an apparatus in which hydrogen gas flows past a hydrogen transfer catalyst arranged in a conduit and the ultra-dense hydrogen is allowed to fall onto the carrier. Furthermore, the carrier is described as a plastic plate with a metalized recess, and the carrier is allowed to fall into an irradiation chamber following deposition of the ultra-dense hydrogen fuel. In the irradiation chamber, the ultra-dense hydrogen fuel is irradiated using a laser beam.
[0040] It should be noted that this by no means limits the scope of the present invention which is equally applicable to other configurations of the apparatus and other embodiments of the method. For example, hydrogen transfer catalyst may be arranged on the carrier, the carrier may be configured differently and/or be made of different materials. For instance, the carrier may be made of glass which is partly coated with a metal or a metal oxide. Moreover, the carrier may be transported to the irradiation location using a conveyor and the ultra-dense hydrogen fuel may be irradiated using another kind of beam, such as an ion beam or an X-ray beam.
[0041] Fig 1 is a schematic illustration of an example embodiment of the apparatus for generating energy according to the present invention.
[0042] With reference to fig 1, the energy generating apparatus 1 comprises a source (not shown) of hydrogen in a gaseous state, a fuel source 2, a first carrier 3, a controllable holder 4 for holding the first carrier 3 at a fuel deposition location 5, an irradiation chamber 6 and an irradiation source, here in the form of a laser 7 to irradiate ultra-dense hydrogen fuel deposited on a second carrier 8 at an irradiation location 9.
[0043] Depending on application, the source of hydrogen gas may be a gas container or some other source of hydrogen gas. The fuel source 2 comprises a metal conduit 11 with an inlet 12 connected to the hydrogen gas source and an outlet 13 arranged above the first carrier 3. Between the inlet 12 and the outlet 13, at a catalyst site, at least one hydrogen transfer catalyst 14 is arranged so that the hydrogen gas can flow through and around the hydrogen transfer catalyst 14. The hydrogen transfer catalyst 14 is configured to cause a transition of the hydrogen gas to ultra-dense hydrogen. According to various embodiments of the present invention, the hydrogen transfer catalyst 14 may be a commercially available styrene catalyst.
[0044] In the exemplary embodiment schematically illustrated in fig 1, there is a first carrier 3 at the fuel deposition location 5 and a second carrier 8 at the irradiation location 9. It should be noted that carriers may be present simultaneously at the fuel deposition location 5 and the irradiation location 9 as indicated in fig 1, or only one carrier may be processed (provided with fuel or irradiated) at a time. It would also be feasible to, for example, provide the apparatus 1 with several fuel sources that would sequentially feed the irradiation chamber with fuel-filled carriers.
[0045] As is schematically indicated in fig 1, each of the first carrier 3 and the second carrier 8 comprises a fuel collection portion 16 surrounded by a barrier portion 17. Each of the first carrier 3 and the second carrier 8 is configured to substantially confine the ultra-dense hydrogen within the fuel collection portion 16. An exemplary configuration of the carriers 3 and 8 will be described in more detail below with reference to fig 2.
[0046] As was mentioned above, the first carrier 3 rests on a controllable holder 4 while the first carrier 3 is at the fuel deposition location 5. When a sufficient amount of ultra-dense hydrogen has been deposited on the first carrier 3 (and the irradiation chamber 6 is ready to receive a new carrier), the holder 4 is controlled to allow the carrier 3 to fall down to the irradiation location 9 inside the irradiation chamber 6.
[0047] At the irradiation location 9, the ultra-dense hydrogen is irradiated by the laser 7 and the particles emitted as a result of the irradiation (schematically indicated by the block arrows inside the irradiation chamber 6) are stopped by the chamber walls. The deceleration of the particles generates heat, which can be used to drive a conventional steam cycle generation of electricity. Since the particular method used for converting the kinetic energy of the particles to electrical energy is not central to the present invention and further should be well within the reach of one of ordinary skill in the art, this will not be described in further detail herein.
[0048] Turning now to fig 2, which is a schematic cross-section view of an exemplary carrier 3, the carrier 3 comprises, as was already touched upon above in connection with fig 1, a fuel collection portion 16 and a barrier portion 17 surrounding the fuel collection portion.
[0049] As is schematically illustrated in fig 2, the fuel collection portion 16 is arranged in a recess in the carrier 3. The bottom of the recess is coated with a material that promotes the formation of the ultra-dense state (H(-1 )) to a higher degree than the material at the surface of the barrier portion 17.
[0050] Through this selection of materials in the fuel collection portion 16 and the barrier portion 17, respectively, ultra-dense hydrogen will be substantially confined to the fuel collection portion 16. By providing the fuel collection portion at the bottom of a recess, the formation of a thick layer, such as more than 1 µm thick, is further facilitated.
[0051] The material in the fuel collection portion 16 may, for example, be a metal, such as steel or titanium, and the material at the surface of the barrier portion 17 may be any organic or inorganic polymer, such as, for example, PTFE, PMMA or PE. It should, however, be emphasized that it is expected that many other material combinations can provide the desired substantial confinement of the ultra-dense hydrogen to the fuel collection portion. For instance, it is expected that also many metal oxides will function to retain the ultra-dense hydrogen and that the barrier portion may, for example, be made of glass. One of ordinary skill in the art will be able to determine, without undue burden, if ultra-dense hydrogen is actually substantially confined at the fuel collection portion 16 by performing the time of flight experiment described below under the heading "Experimental results".
[0052] An example embodiment of the method of generating energy according to the present invention will now be described with reference to the flow-chart in fig 3 and to the apparatus in fig 1.
[0053] In a first step 100, hydrogen gas, H2, is made to flow over a hydrogen transfer catalyst 14 configured to cause the hydrogen gas to transition to ultra-dense hydrogen, H(-1). The hydrogen transfer catalyst may, for example, be a commercial so called styrene catalyst, i.e. a type of solid catalyst used in the chemical industry for producing styrene (for plastic production) from ethylene benzene. This type of catalyst is made from porous Fe-O material with several different additives, especially potassium (K) as so called promoter. However, it has been shown that other catalysts, such as Pt-catalysts or lr-catalysts can be used to convert hydrogen gas to ultra-dense hydrogen. A brief account of the current understanding of the mechanism behind the conversion from hydrogen gas to ultra-dense hydrogen will be provided further below under the heading "Theoretical discussion".
[0054] In the subsequent step 101, the ultra-dense hydrogen H(-1) is collected on the carrier 3, which is arranged at the fuel deposition location 5.
[0055] When a sufficient amount of ultra-dense hydrogen H(-1) has been collected on the carrier (it is expected that a layer of at least 1 µm should be formed at the fuel collection portion 16 of the carrier 3), the carrier 3 is transported to the irradiation location 9 inside the irradiation chamber 6 in step 102. As was mentioned above, the carrier 3 may be transported from the fuel deposition location 5 to the irradiation location 9 in various ways. For instance, as was briefly discussed above in connection with fig 1, the carrier 3 may be dropped into the irradiation chamber 6. Alternatively, the carrier 3 may be carried from the fuel deposition location 5 to the irradiation location 9 using a conveyor, such as a conveyor belt. There should be no doubt that one skilled in the art will understand that there are many different ways in which the carrier can be moved from the fuel deposition location 5 to the irradiation location 9.
[0056] When the carrier 3 has reached the irradiation location 9, the ultradense hydrogen H(-1) at the fuel collection portion 16 of the carrier 3 is irradiated in step 103. The ultra-dense hydrogen may be irradiated using, for example, a laser beam provided by the laser 7, but other types of irradiation may be used instead of laser irradiation. For example, the ultra-dense hydrogen may be irradiated using one or several ion beams or X-ray beams. To reach break-even, the irradiation should have sufficient energy. The requirements and experimental results regarding this will be discussed further below under the headings "Theoretical discussion" and "Experimental results".
[0057] The person skilled in the art realizes that the present invention by no means is limited to the preferred embodiments described above. On the contrary, many modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the appended claims, for example pressure pulsing of the hydrogen gas may be used in the source 2 in fig 1 to deposit ultra-dense hydrogen in a more controlled and rapid way on the carrier.
[0058] In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measured cannot be used to advantage.
Theoretical discussion
General and ultra-dense hydrogen
[0059] The main obstacle preventing the widespread use of laser-ignited or high-energy particle-ignited nuclear fusion for energy generation is the difficulty to contain the fusion plasma for a long enough period so that efficient ignition and fuel burning is possible. Various methods have been used to heat and compress a gas target or initially frozen (hydrogen ice) target to high pressures and temperatures. These methods have all so far failed to reach ignition since the pressure in the plasma during heating to the required temperature of 50-100 MK becomes too high for confinement. The plasma becomes unstable which leads to expansion and subsequent cooling. This prevents ignition of nuclear fusion.
[0060] Using the so called Lawson Criterion for D-T fusion (which is the fusion reaction that most effort in the world is directed towards at present), the general condition for the density ρ of the target and its radius R is
[0061] This means that with a density of solid fuel (hydrogen ice) of 0.2 gcm<-3>, the radius of the fuel needed is approximately 1.5 cm. This will require an enormous power in the laser to heat the fuel to 50 MK. The Stefan-Boltzmann law requires a radiation flux of at least 4×10<19> W cm<-2> at this temperature, or a laser power of >3×10<20> W for a fuel target of 1.5 cm radius. Such a power cannot be obtained economically. If the fuel target can be compressed a factor of 1000 to a density of 0.2 kg cm<-3>, the required size of the target will be much smaller with a radius of 15 µm, and the laser power is approximately 3×10<14> W, still very high but possible for a large laser. Ultra-dense hydrogen has a density of 50-200 kg cm<-3> which means that the target radius can be as small as 20 nm, requiring a laser power of 6×10<8> W. With a pulse length of 5 ns as for many standard pulsed lasers, the energy required in the pulse is 2.9 J (if radiative and other losses are neglected). This amount of energy can be delivered by an ordinary table-top laser.
[0062] With a homogeneous material as ultra-dense deuterium, the fusion process possible is D+D which has a smaller cross section and thus a larger energy requirement for reaching ignition. The advantages from an environmental and radioactivity point of view are however very large for this concept, since tritium (which is radioactive and difficult to handle safely) is not used as a fuel. The condition for such a material becomes
which for ultra-dense deuterium means 6×10<11> W with a target size of 700 nm. Using a pulse time of 100 ps means 60 J and pulse time 1 ps (which decreases radiative heat losses) means 0.6 J which is possible rather easily.
[0063] Another approach to the Lawson Criterion is more explicitly related to the so-called confinement time. In the case of the D+D reaction, it is cited to be n T ≥ 10<22> m<-3> s. The bond distance in the ultra-dense deuterium is found by experiments to be 2.3 pm, which gives a maximum density n for a well-ordered material of 8×10<34> m<-3>. This means that the Lawson Criterion is fulfilled for ultra-dense deuterium with a confinement time T as short as 2×10<-13> s. This time corresponds to thermal motion of a free atom over a distance as small as 20 pm and the real confinement time for any reasonable arrangement will be much longer than this.
[0064] It has recently been calculated (see F. Winterberg, "Ultradense Deuterium". J. Fusion Energy. 29, 317 (2010 ) and F. Winterberg, "Ultra-dense deuterium and cold fusion claims". Phys. Lett. A 374, 2766 (2010 )) that for ignition of D+D fusion in ultra-dense deuterium 1.5 kJ in the laser pulse is required for ignition due to the higher ignition temperature for pure deuterium fusion. This would ignite 400 ng of deuterium. It was also calculated that a gain of 1000 or an energy output of 1 MJ requires a deuterium mass of 3 µg. It was further suggested that a suitable shape of the fuel would be a flat disc pellet with a thickness of >1 µm. This fuel pellet will have a very small size, of the order of a few µm due to the extreme density of the material.
[0065] The initial laser process in ultra-dense deuterium has been demonstrated to release fast deuterons in the material, with a temperature of 15 MK. Thus, a large amount of energy is selectively released in the laser impact by so called Coulomb explosions. We have also observed a process called laser-induced self-compression which releases a large number of MeV particles (e.g. deuterons) under suitable conditions of the laser pulse rate and material properties. Both these effects will decrease the energy required for ignition. We have made several studies of the number of fast particles released in the ultra-dense deuterium and studied also the increase in the number of particles formed during an increase of laser power. It is shown that the number of fast particles increases rapidly with laser power, as the sixth power of the laser power (pulse energy). Computational studies of the laser pulse energy required for break-even exist (see S.A. Slutz and R.A. Vesey, "Fast ignition hot spot break-even scaling". Phys. Plasmas 12 (2005) 062702 ). These studies yield a pulse energy around 1 J at break-even. In our experiments, break-even is indeed observed at 1 J pulse energy. From break-even to an energy gain of 1000, a further factor of at least 4 in laser pulse energy is required. We conclude that the available information agrees that useful power output from nuclear fusion in ultra-dense hydrogen will be found at laser pulse energy of 4 J - 1 kJ. Such a pulse energy is feasible.
[0066] At a rate of one carrier foil per second carrying 3 µg ultra-dense deuterium giving fusion ignition, the energy output of a power station using this method is approximately 1 MW. This would use 95 g of deuterium per year to produce 9 GWh, or one 5 liter gas bottle at 100 bar standard pressure. By using several lines of target carrier production, several laser lines or a higher repetition rate laser, the output of the power station can be scaled relatively easily.
Catalytic conversion
[0067] The catalytic process may employ commercial so called styrene catalysts, i.e. a type of solid catalyst used in the chemical industry for producing styrene (for plastic production) from ethylene benzene. This type of catalyst is made from porous Fe-O material with several different additives, especially potassium (K) as so called promoter. The function of this catalyst has been studied in detail.
[0068] The catalyst is designed to split off hydrogen atoms from ethyl benzene so that a carbon-carbon double bond is formed, and then to combine the hydrogen atoms so released to hydrogen molecules which easily desorb thermally from the catalyst surface. This reaction is reversible: if hydrogen molecules are added to the catalyst they are dissociated to hydrogen atoms which are adsorbed on the surface. This is a general process in hydrogen transfer catalysts. We utilize this mechanism to produce ultra-dense hydrogen, which requires that covalent bonds in hydrogen molecules are not allowed to form after the adsorption of hydrogen in the catalyst.
[0069] The potassium promoter in the catalyst provides for a more efficient formation of ultra-dense hydrogen. Potassium (and for example other alkali metals) easily forms so called circular Rydberg atoms K*. In such atoms, the valence electron is in a nearly circular orbit around the ion core, in an orbit very similar to a Bohr orbit. At a few hundred °C not only Rydberg states are formed at the surface, but also small clusters of Rydberg states KN*, in a form called Rydberg Matter (RM). This type of cluster is probably the active form of the potassium promoter in normal industrial use of the catalyst.
[0070] The clusters KN* transfer part of their excitation energy to the hydrogen atoms at the catalyst surface. This process takes place during thermal collisions in the surface phase. This gives formation of clusters HN* (where H indicates proton, deuteron, or triton) in the ordinary process also giving the KN* formation, namely cluster assembly during the desorption process. If the hydrogen atoms could form covalent bonds, molecules H2 would instead leave the catalyst surface and no ultra-dense material could be formed. In the RM material, the electrons are not in s orbitals since they always have an orbital angular momentum greater than zero. This implies that covalent bonds cannot be formed since the electrons on the atoms must be in s orbitals to form the normal covalent sigma (σ) bonds in H2. The lowest energy level for hydrogen in the form of RM is metallic (dense) hydrogen called H(1), with a bond length of 150 picometer (pm). The hydrogen material falls down to this level by emission of infrared radiation. Dense hydrogen is then spontaneously converted to ultra-dense hydrogen called H(-1) with a bond distance of 2-4 pm depending on which particles (protons, deuterons, tritons) are bound. This material is a quantum material (quantum fluid) which probably involves both electron pairs (Cooper pairs) and nuclear pairs (proton, deuteron or triton pairs, or mixed pairs). These materials are probably both superfluid and superconductive at room temperature, as predicted for ultra-dense deuterium and confirmed in recent experiments.
Experimental results
Fuel confinement
[0071] In the following, an exemplary experimental setup and method for determining the density distribution of ultra-dense hydrogen across a surface will be described. The experimental setup and method can be used to determine, without undue burden, if a carrier is configured to substantially confine ultra-dense hydrogen in a fuel collection portion or not.
[0072] The experimental setup 30 in fig 4 has been partly described in several publications, for example in P.U. Andersson and L. Holmlid, Phys. Lett. A 375, 1344 (2011 ) (not complete figure) and P. U. Andersson, B Lönn and L. Holmlid, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 82, 013503 (2011 ) (not sloping target). The experimental setup 30 comprises a fuel source 31, a carrier sample 32, a laser arrangement 33 and a detector 34. The fuel source 31 is arranged above the carrier sample 32 so that ultra-dense hydrogen can fall down onto the carrier sample 32. The laser arrangement 33, which comprises a laser 36, a lens 37 and a beam deflector 38 is arranged to allow irradiation of different locations on the carrier sample 32, so that the surface of the carrier sample 32 can be scanned by the laser beam. The detector 34 is arranged to detect neutral particles emitted from the carrier sample 32 when the carrier sample 32 is irradiated by the laser beam.
[0073] The base pressure in the experimental setup 30 is <1×10<-6> mbar. The fuel source is similar as that described above with reference to fig 1 and comprises a cylindrical (extruded) sample of an industrial iron oxide hydrogen transfer catalyst (not shown in fig 4) doped with K (initially at 8 wt %). It is of the styrene catalyst type Shell S-105 which is an efficient hydrogen abstraction and transfer catalyst. The hydrogen transfer catalyst is mounted in a metal tube which is connected to a D2 gas feed. The metal tube is heated by an AC current through its wall up to 400 K. Deuterium gas (> 99.8 % D2) is admitted through the tube at a pressure up to 1×10<-5> mbar in the chamber.
[0074] The D(-1) formed falls down to the carrier sample 32. The D(-1) phase is at a slightly lower energy level than the higher, dense state D(1), which means that it will be formed spontaneously.
[0075] The laser 36 used was a Nd:YAG laser with an energy of <200 mJ per each 5 ns long pulse at 10 Hz. The laser 36 was operated at at 532 nm. The laser beam is focused at the carrier sample 32 with an f = 400 mm spherical lens 37. The intensity in the beam waist of (nominally) 30 µm diameter is relatively low, ≤4×10<12> W cm<-2> as calculated for a Gaussian beam. In front of the focusing lens 37, a glass plate 38 in a precision rotation mount is used to shift the laser beam slightly in the horizontal direction. The total shift possible with this beam shift construction is close to 0.7 mm, and the shift between two consecutive measured points on the surface is close to 50 µm.
[0076] The detector 34 is a dynode-scintillator-photomultiplier setup, which is described in further detail in the paper S. Badiei and L. Holmlid, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 39, 4191 (2006 ). The detector 34 is here located at an angle of 45° from the incoming laser beam and measures the time-of-flight (TOF) spectra of fast neutral or ionized particles from the Coulomb explosion (CE) process since no accelerating voltage is employed. The fast particles (schematically indicated by the block arrow in fig 4) impact on a stainless steel (catcher) foil in the detector 34, and fast ions ejected from there are drawn towards a Cu-Be dynode held at -7.0 kV inside the detector. The total effective flight distance for the ions from the laser focus to the catcher foil is 101 mm by direct measurement and internal calibration. The photomultiplier (PMT) is Electron Tubes 9128B with single electron rise time of 2.5 ns and transit time of 30 ns. Blue glass filters in front of the PMT decrease the observed laser signal. A fast preamplifier (Ortec VT120A, gain 200, bandwidth 10-350 MHz) is used. The signal from the PMT is collected in a multi-channel scaler (EG&G Ortec Turbo-MCS) with dwell time 5 ns per channel. Each MCS spectrum consists of a sum of the signals from 300 consecutive laser shots.
[0077] In fig 5, the carrier sample 32 used in various experiments is shown in more detail. As can be seen in fig 5, the carrier sample comprises a base 41 and at least one overlying material portion 42 arranged on the base. In the experiment described herein, the base 41 was made of PMMA and the overlying material portion 42 was made of stainless steel. To get an indication of the spatial distribution of ultra-dense hydrogen (in this case D(-1)) the glass plate 38 between the lens 37 and the carrier sample 32 was successively rotated to focus the laser beam on different locations on the carrier sample 32. In particular, the laser beam was gradually shifted from the overlying metal portion 42 to the base 41 as is schematically indicated in the enlarged portion of fig 5. The focus points are indicated by letters a to m, and these letters will also be used to label the diagrams in fig 6.
[0078] When a laser pulse passes through a material like D(1) or D(-1), the photons may excite (displace) a few electrons so that two ions become exposed to each other. Coloumb explosion (CE) makes the ions move apart rapidly, in < 1 fs for D(-1). When the CE takes place, the ions fly apart with almost all their repulsion energy as kinetic energy release (KER) in the ionic fragments. It is possible to determine the initial repulsion energy between the ions by measuring the kinetic energy of the fragments at a large distance from the actual explosion event. Then, the distance between the ions before the CE i.e. the bond length is found directly from the Coulomb formula as
where ε0 is the vacuum permittivity, e the unit charge and Ekín the sum kinetic energy for the fragments (KER) from the CE. The fraction of the KER that is observed on each fragment depends of course on the mass ratio of the fragments. The kinetic energy is determined most easily by measuring the time-of-flight (TOF) of the particles and converting this quantity to kinetic energy. This requires that the mass of the particle is known or can be inferred, which is simplified when working with only deuterium.
[0079] Accordingly, a time-of-flight spectrum (TOF-spectrum) can be used to determine the relation between D(-1) and D(1) at the particular location where the laser beam is focused on the carrier sample 32. In particular if the TOF-spectrum indicates mainly particles having a TOF corresponding to the bond length associated with D(-1), then the density of D(-1) is relatively high at the location where the laser beam hits the carrier sample 32.
[0080] Fig 6 is a diagram with a sequence of TOF-spectra corresponding, from bottom to top in fig 6, to the focus locations a to m indicated in the enlarged portion of fig 5.
[0081] As can be seen in fig 6, the focus locations a to e on the metal surface portion 42 indicate substantially more D(-1) than the focus locations g to m on the PMMA surface portion 41. It is also clear that the proportion of D(1) is substantially higher on the PMMA surface portion 41 than on the metal surface portion 42. Fig 6 thus clearly indicates that the carrier sample 32 is configurec to substantially confine ultra-dense hydrogen (D(-1)) on the metal surface portion 42.
Break-even
[0082] The layout of the experiment is shown in Fig. 7. A Nd:YAG laser 50 with pulse energy of <0.9 J was used, with 7 ns long pulses at 1064 nm and 10 Hz repetition rate. The laser beam was focused with an f = 50 mm lens 51 on the D(-1) target 52 in a small vacuum chamber 53. The D2 gas pressure in the chamber 53 is around 1 mbar with constant pumping. Ultra-dense hydrogen (D(-1)) is formed using a source 57 such as that described above.
[0083] A plane 3 mm thick Al collector 54 is mounted at a distance of 44 cm from the target 52, above an internal wire loop 55 for observing the current ejected. It has a diameter of 80 mm and is connected directly to a 300 MHz oscilloscope (not shown) via a short 50 Ω coaxial cable. The impedance of the oscilloscope input is 50 Ω. Thus 1 V signal corresponds to 20 mA of current.
[0084] Typical signals at the collector are shown in Fig. 8. The first negative peak 60 is due to electrons ejected from the chamber walls by ionizing photons. To be able to reach the collector 54 from the surrounding walls in a few ns, the electrons need to be ejected with somewhat more than 10 eV energy. If they instead were ejected from the target 52, they would need 10 keV energy to reach the collector in a few ns. However, in such a case a negative peak at the collector would be observed even with the collector at - 24 V which is not found. It is concluded that the negative signal peak at the collector is due to electrons released from the structure of the vacuum chamber by ionizing photons.
[0085] The positive signal in fig 8 is caused by fast particles which eject electrons with a few eV from the collector. This is concluded from experiments with +24 or -24 V at the collector. The peaks 61, 62 in the collector signal in Fig. 8 are at 12 and 24 ns after the electron peak 60, corresponding to approximately 7 and 2 MeV u<-1>. The secondary emission coefficients in Al for such energetic protons are somewhat smaller than unity. The true positive signal to the collector thus appears to be a factor of approximately two larger than shown. The large peak 63 at 80-100 ns (at a few hundred keV energy) is due to scattered and backscattered particles (protons) from the D(-1) layer. The slowly varying negative signal after the peaks 61, 62 and 63 is due to electrons which drift to the collector 54 from the target 52 with relatively low energy.
[0086] The collector signal shows clearly that MeV particles are ejected from the laser target 52. The process for this is D+D fusion and the particles ejected are protons and deuterons (from collisions with protons). It is not expected that neutrons will be observed in the collector signal due to the weak interaction with the Al material. Both channels in D+D fusion are expected to contribute to the signal thus giving both 3.02 MeV and 14.7 MeV protons. Deuterons can obtain energies up to 1.3 MeV u<-1> and 6.5 MeV u<-1> from linear collisions with fusion generated protons. The MeV peaks normally observed are at 1.8 MeV u<-1> and 9 MeV u<-1>, but they are not very sharp and particles exist with higher energies. Thus, they correspond to the expected initial protons energies from D+D fusion. These peaks are removed at high deuterium pressure due to gas collisions.
[0087] From the size of the peak induced voltage in the internal current loop 55 in Fig. 7, the number of particles ejected can be estimated. Using the dimensions provided above, a voltage of 15 V as observed is found if 7×10<15> particles (1.6×10<-4> As) fly past the loop in 5 ns, which is the approximate laser pulse time. This signal is due to electrons released by the initial photon pulse. Assuming that these electrons have 5 eV energy, the total energy observed in the electrons ejected from the target by ionizing photons is 6 mJ per laser shot. Assuming isotropic emission from the target gives a total energy to electrons of 0.6 J per laser shot.
[0088] An energy consideration for the positive MeV particles is more accurate. Since the true signal is of the order of 5 V in 50 Ω during 100 ns, the charge observed is 1×10<-8> As or 6×10<10> ions per laser shot. With a average energy of 3 MeV, this corresponds to 30 mJ energy. Assuming isotropic initial emission and using the collector geometric viewing factor of 2.1×10<-3> gives 14.5 J per laser shot or 3×10<13> particles per laser shot. This is considerably larger than the laser pulse energy of 0.9 J and means that fusion is above break-even.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282129784_Heat_generation_above_break-even_from_laser-induced_fusion_in_ultra-dense_deuterium
Heat generation above break-even from
laser-induced fusion in ultra-dense deuterium
Leif Holmlid
AbstractLeif Holmlid
Previous results from laser-induced processes in ultra-dense deuterium D(0) give conclusive evidence for ejection of neutral massive particles with energy >10 MeV u−1. Such particles can only be formed from nuclear processes like nuclear fusion at the low laser intensity used. Heat generation is of interest for future fusion energy applications and has now been measured by a small copper (Cu) cylinder surrounding the laser target. The temperature rise of the Cu cylinder is measured with an NTC resistor during around 5000 laser shots per measured point. No heating in the apparatus or the gas feed is normally used. The fusion process is suboptimal relative to previously published studies by a factor of around 10. The small neutral particles H N (0) of ultra-dense hydrogen (size of a few pm) escape with a substantial fraction of the energy. Heat loss to the D2 gas (at <1 mbar pressure) is measured and compensated for under various conditions. Heat release of a few W is observed, at up to 50% higher energy than the total laser input thus a gain of 1.5. This is uniquely high for the use of deuterium as fusion fuel. With a slightly different setup, a thermal gain of 2 is reached, thus clearly above break-even for all neutronicity values possible. Also including the large kinetic energy which is directly measured for MeV particles leaving through a small opening gives a gain of 2.3. Taking into account the lower efficiency now due to the suboptimal fusion process, previous studies indicate a gain of at least 20 during long periods...
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140%2Fepja%2Fi2012-12011-0
The European Physical Journal A, February 2012, 48:11
DOI: 10.1140/epja/i2012-12011-0
MeV particles
from laser-initiated processes in ultra-dense
deuterium D(−1)
Leif Holmlid
AbstractLeif Holmlid
Fast particles from laser-induced processes in ultra-dense deuterium D(−1) are studied. The time of flight shows very fast particles, with energy above MeV. Such particles can be delayed or prevented from reaching the detector by inserting thin or thick metal foils in the beam to the detector. This distinguishes them from energetic photons which pass through the foils without delays. Due to the ultra-high density in D(−1) of 1029cm−3, the range for 3 MeV protons in this material is only 700 pm. The fast particles ejected and detected are thus mainly deuterons and protons from the surface of the material. MeV particles are expected to signify fusion processes D+D in the material. The number of fast particles released is determined using the known gain of the photomultiplier. The total number of fast particles formed, assuming isotropic emission, is less than 109 per laser pulse at < 200 mJ pulse energy and intensity 1012W cm−2. A fast shockwave with 30keV u−1 kinetic energy is observed.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010LPB....28..313B
Laser and Particle Beams, Vol. 28, Issue 02, pp. 313-317
DOI:10.1017/S0263034610000236
Laser-driven nuclear fusion D+D in
ultra-dense deuterium: MeV particles formed without ignition
Badiei, Shahriar; Andersson, Patrik U. ; Holmlid, Leif
Badiei, Shahriar; Andersson, Patrik U. ; Holmlid, Leif
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10894-011-9468-2
Journal of Fusion Energy, June 2012, Volume 31, Issue 3, pp 249-256
DOI:10.1017/S0263034610000236
Fusion Generated Fast Particles by
Laser Impact on Ultra-Dense Deuterium: Rapid Variation with
Laser Intensity
Patrik U. Andersson, Leif Holmlid
Patrik U. Andersson, Leif Holmlid
Abstract
Nuclear fusion D+D processes are studied by nanosecond pulsed laser interaction with ultra-dense deuterium. This material has a density of 1029 cm−3 as shown in several previous publications. Laser power is <2 W (0.2 J pulses) and laser intensity is <1014 W cm−2 in the 5–10 μm wide beam waist. Particle detection by time-of-flight energy analysis with plastic scintillators is used. Metal foils in the particle flux to the detector remove slow ions, and make it possible to convert and count particles with energy well above 1 MeV. The variation of the signal of MeV particles from D+D fusion is measured as a function of laser power. At relatively weak laser-emitter interaction, the particle signal from the laser focus varies as the square of the laser power. This indicates collisions in the ultra-dense deuterium of two fast deuterons released by Coulomb explosions. During experiments with stronger laser-emitter interaction, the signal varies approximately as the sixth power of the laser power, indicating a plasma process. At least 2 × 106 particles are created by each laser pulse at the maximum intensity used. Our results indicate break-even in fusion at a laser pulse energy of 1 J with the same focusing, in approximate agreement with theoretical results for ignition conditions in ultra-dense deuterium. Radiation loss at high temperature will however require higher laser energy at break-even.
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009IJMSp.282...70B=
International Journal of Mass Spectrometry, vol. 282, no. 1-2, pp. 70-76 ( 04/2009 )
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijms.2009.02.014
High-energy Coulomb explosions in
ultra-dense deuterium: Time-of-flight-mass spectrometry with
variable energy and flight length
Badiei, Shahriar; Andersson, Patrik U.; Holmlid, Leif
Badiei, Shahriar; Andersson, Patrik U.; Holmlid, Leif
Abstract
High-density hydrogen is of great interest both as a fuel with the highest energy content of any combustion fuel, and as a target material for laser initiated inertial confinement fusion (ICF) [S. Badiei, L. Holmlid, J. Fusion Energ. 27 (2008) 296]. A much denser deuterium material named D(-1) can be observed by pulsed laser induced Coulomb explosions giving a well-defined, high kinetic energy release (KER). Neutral time-of-flight of the fragments from the material shows that the Coulomb explosions have a KER of 630 eV [S. Badiei, P.U. Andersson, L. Holmlid, Int. J. Hydrogen Energ. 34 (2009) 487]. By using ion time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) with variable acceleration voltages and a few different values of laser pulse power, we now prove the mass and charge of the particles as well as the KER. In fact, the ions are so fast that they must be H+, D+ or T+. By using two different flight lengths, we prove with certainty that the spectra are due to D+ ions and not to photons or electromagnetic effects. The results also establish the fragmentation patterns of the ultra-dense D(-1) material in the electric field. The energy release of 630 +/- 30 eV corresponds to an interatomic distance D-D of 2.3 +/- 0.1 pm. This material is probably an inverted metal with the deuterons moving in the field from the stationary electrons, which gives a predicted interatomic distance of 2.5 pm, close to the measured value. Thus, we prove that an ultra-dense deuterium material exists.
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=6056192&fileId=S0263034609990267
Laser and Particle Beams / Volume 27 / Issue 03 / September 2009, pp 529-532
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0263034609990267
Ultrahigh-density deuterium of Rydberg
matter clusters for inertial confinement fusion targets
L. Holmlida, H. Horaa, G. Mileya and X. Yanga
L. Holmlida, H. Horaa, G. Mileya and X. Yanga
Abstract
Clusters of condensed deuterium of densities up to 1029 cm−3 in pores in solid oxide crystals were confirmed from time-of-flight mass spectrometry measurements. Based on these facts, a schematic outline and possible conclusions of expectable generalizations are presented, which may lead to a simplification of laser driven fusion energy including new techniques for preparation of targets for application in experiments of the NIF type, but also for modified fast igniter experiments using proton or electron beams or side-on ignition of low compressed solid fusion fuel.
http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0031-8949/81/04/045601/meta;jsessionid=B6BBE3422E0DF447F603AE49DD986570.c4.iopscience.cld.iop.org
Physica Scripta, Volume 81, Number 4
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0031-8949/81/04/045601
Laser-induced variable pulse-power
TOF-MS and neutral time-of-flight studies of ultradense
deuterium
Shahriar Badiei, Patrik U Andersson and Leif Holmlid
Shahriar Badiei, Patrik U Andersson and Leif Holmlid
The ultradense atomic deuterium material named D(−1) is conveniently studied by laser-induced Coulomb explosion methods. A well-defined high kinetic energy release (KER) from this material was first reported in Badiei et al (2009 Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 34 487) and a two-detector setup was used to prove the high KER and the complex fragmentation patterns in Badiei et al (2009 Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 282 70). The common KER is 630 ±30 eV, which corresponds to an interatomic distance D–D of 2.3 ±0.1 pm. In both ion and neutral time-of-flight (TOF) measurement, two similar detectors at widely different flight distances prove that atomic particles are observed. New results on neutral TOF spectra are now reported for the material D(−1). It is shown that density changes of D(−1) are coupled to similar changes in ordinary dense D(1), and it is proposed that these two forms of dense deuterium are rapidly transformed into each other. The TOF-MS signal dependence on the intensity of the laser is studied in detail. The fast deuteron intensity is independent of the laser power over a large range, which suggests that D(−1) is a superfluid with long-range efficient transport of excitation energy or particles.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0375960110002690
Physics Letters A, Volume 374, Issue 28, 21 June 2010, Pages 2856–2860
oi:10.1016/j.physleta.2010.03.009
Deuteron energy of 15 MK in
ultra-dense deuterium without plasma formation: Temperature
of the interior of the Sun
Patrik U. Andersson, Leif Holmlid
Patrik U. Andersson, Leif Holmlid
Abstract
Deuterons are released with kinetic energy up to 630 eV from ultra-dense deuterium as shown previously, by Coulomb explosions initiated by ns laser pulses at View the MathML source⩽1011 Wcm−2. With higher laser intensity at View the MathML source<1014 Wcm−2, the initial kinetic energy now observed by TOF-MS with variable acceleration energy is up to 1100 eV per deuteron. This indicates ejection of one deuteron by Coulomb repulsion from two stationary charges in the material. It proves a full kinetic energy release of 1260 eV or a deuteron temperature of 15 MK, similar to the temperature in the interior of the Sun. Plasma processes are excluded by the sharp TOF peaks observed and by the slow signal variation with laser intensity. Deuterons with even higher energy from multiple charge repulsion are probably detected. D + D fusion processes are expected to exist in the ultra-dense phase without plasma formation.
http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/apl/96/12/10.1063/1.3371718
Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 124103 (2010)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.337171
Production of ultradense deuterium: A
compact future fusion fuel
Shahriar Badiei, Patrik U. Andersson and Leif Holmlid
Shahriar Badiei, Patrik U. Andersson and Leif Holmlid
Ultradense deuterium as a nuclear fuel in laser-ignited inertial confinement fusion appears to have many advantages. The density of ultradense deuterium D(−1) is as high as 140kgcm−3 or 1029cm−3. This means that D(−1) will be very useful as a target fuel, circumventing the complex and unstable laser compression stage. We show that the material is stable apart from the oscillation between two forms, and can exist for days in the laboratory environment. We also demonstrate that an amount of D(−1) corresponding to tens of kilojoules is produced in each experiment. This may be sufficient for break-even.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037596011100082X
Physics Letters A, Volume 375, Issue 10, 7 March 2011, Pages 1344–1347
doi:10.1016/j.physleta.2011.01.035
Superfluid ultra-dense deuterium
D(−1)D(−1) at room temperature
Patrik U. Andersson, Leif Holmlid
Patrik U. Andersson, Leif Holmlid
Abstract
Ultra-dense deuterium D(−1)D(−1) is expected to be both superfluid and superconductive. It is deposited on surfaces below a novel source producing a stream of D(−1)D(−1) clusters. It is studied by laser probing and Coulomb explosions giving cluster fragments which are observed by time-of-flight measurements. It is observed on surfaces at a few cm height above the container below the source, and on the outside of the container. D(−1)D(−1) is detected above a 1 cm long vertical capillary in vacuum (fountain effect). This suggests the existence of superfluid D(−1)D(−1) which is the only material that may be superfluid at room temperature.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10894-010-9280-4
Journal of Fusion Energy, August 2010, Volume 29, Issue 4, pp 317-321
Ultradense Deuterium
F. Winterberg
F. Winterberg
Abstract
An attempt is made to explain the recently reported occurrence of ultradense deuterium as an isothermal transition of Rydberg matter into a high density phase by quantum mechanical exchange forces. It is conjectured that the transition is made possible by the formation of vortices in a Cooper pair electron fluid, separating the electrons from the deuterons, with the deuterons undergoing Bose–Einstein condensation in the core of the vortices. If such a state of deuterium should exist at the reported density of about 130,000 g/cm3, it would greatly facility the ignition of a thermonuclear detonation wave in pure deuterium, by placing the deuterium in a thin disc, to be ignited by a pulsed ultrafast laser or particle beam of modest energy.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0375960110004949
Physics Letters A, Volume 374, Issue 27, 14 June 2010, Pages 2766–2771
doi:10.1016/j.physleta.2010.04.055
Ultra-dense deuterium and cold fusion
claims
F. Winterberg
F. Winterberg
Abstract
An attempt is made to explain the recently reported occurrence of 14 MeV neutron induced nuclear reactions in deuterium metal hydrides as the manifestation of a slightly radioactive ultra-dense form of deuterium, with a density of 130,000 g/cm3 observed by a Swedish research group through the collapse of deuterium Rydberg matter. In accordance with this observation it is proposed that a large number of deuterons form a “linear-atom” supermolecule. By the Madelung transformation of the Schrödinger equation, the linear deuterium supermolecule can be described by a quantized line vortex. A vortex lattice made up of many such supermolecules is possible only with deuterium, because deuterons are bosons, and the same is true for the electrons, which by the electron–phonon interaction in a vortex lattice form Cooper pairs. It is conjectured that the latent heat released by the collapse into the ultra-dense state has been misinterpreted as cold fusion. Hot fusion though, is here possible through the fast ignition of a thermonuclear detonation wave from a hot spot made with a 1 kJ 10 petawatt laser in a thin slice of the ultra-dense deuterium.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1387380611001412
International Journal of Mass Spectrometry, Volume 304, Issue 1, 15 June 2011, Pages 51–56doi:10.1016/j.ijms.2011.04.001
High-charge Coulomb explosions of
clusters in ultra-dense deuterium D(−1)
Leif Holmlid
Leif Holmlid
Abstract
Laser-induced Coulomb explosions of clusters DN in ultra-dense deuterium D(−1) show a broad spectrum of fragmentation processes. For small clusters D3 and D4 symmetric fragmentation processes are often observed. Experiments now show that these clusters fragment by maximum-charge processes, like D44+ → 4D+, each fragment leaving with 945 eV kinetic energy. This is the case even at low laser pulse intensities of <1012 W cm−2. The facile laser field ionization of these clusters is probably caused by their small size. Such high-charge processes seem to be most common in the superfluid condensed phase. A centrifugal stretching in the clusters is observed, giving 5–8% longer D–D bonds at higher average laser intensity, probably at J ≤ 3. Rotational excitation of D2+ fragments is often apparent at similar J values. This requires strong bonding between the two deuterons, predicted to be close to 700 eV due to strong exchange interaction.
http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/pop/9/7/10.1063/1.1487382
Phys. Plasmas 9, 3108 (2002)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1487382
Detailed study of nuclear fusion from
femtosecond laser-driven explosions of deuterium clusters
J. Zweiback, T. E. Cowan, J. H. Hartley, R. Howell, K. B. Wharton, J. K. Crane, V. P. Yanovsky, G. Hays, R. A. Smith and T. Ditmire
J. Zweiback, T. E. Cowan, J. H. Hartley, R. Howell, K. B. Wharton, J. K. Crane, V. P. Yanovsky, G. Hays, R. A. Smith and T. Ditmire
Recent experiments on the interaction of intense, ultrafast pulses with large van der Waals bonded clusters have shown that these clusters can explode with sufficient kinetic energy to drive nuclear fusion.Irradiating deuterium clusters with a 35 fs laser pulse, it is found that the fusionneutron yield is strongly dependent on such factors as cluster size, laser focal geometry, and deuterium gas jet parameters. Neutron yield is shown to be limited by laser propagation effects as the pulse traverses the gas plume. From the experiments it is possible to get a detailed understanding of how the laser deposits its energy and heats the deuterium cluster plasma. The experiments are compared with simulations.
http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.2634
Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2634 ( 20 March 2000 )
http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.2634
Nuclear Fusion Driven by Coulomb
Explosions of Large Deuterium Clusters
J. Zweiback, R. A. Smith, T. E. Cowan, G. Hays, K. B. Wharton, V. P. Yanovsky, and T. Ditmire
J. Zweiback, R. A. Smith, T. E. Cowan, G. Hays, K. B. Wharton, V. P. Yanovsky, and T. Ditmire
Abstract
Recent experiments on the interaction of intense, ultrafast laser pulses with large van der Waals bonded clusters have shown that these clusters can explode with substantial kinetic energy. By driving explosions in deuterium clusters with a 35 fs laser pulse, we have accelerated ions to sufficient kinetic energy to produce DD nuclear fusion. By diagnosing the fusion yield through measurements of 2.45 MeV fusion neutrons, we have found that the fusion yield from these exploding clusters varies strongly with the cluster size, consistent with acceleration of deuterons via Coulomb explosion forces.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10948-011-1371-6
Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism, May 2012, Volume 25, Issue 4, pp 873-882
Search for Superconductivity in
Ultra-dense Deuterium D(−1) at Room Temperature: Depletion
of D(−1) at Field Strength >0.05 T
Patrik U. Andersson, Leif Holmlid, Stephan Fuelling
Patrik U. Andersson, Leif Holmlid, Stephan Fuelling
Ultra-dense deuterium D(−1) is expected to be both a superfluid and a superconductor as shown by recent theoretical research. Condensed D(−1) can be deposited on surfaces by a source which produces a stream of clusters. A magnetic field strongly influences the type of material formed. Very little of D(−1) and of the form D(1), which is strongly coupled to D(−1), exists on the magnet surface or within several mm from the magnet surface. Even the formation of D(−1) on the source emitter is strongly influenced by a magnetic field, with a critical field strength in the range 0.03–0.07 T. Higher excitation levels D(2) and D(3) dominate in a magnetic field. The excitation level D(2) is now observed for the first time. The removal of D(−1) and D(1) in strong magnetic fields is proposed to be due to a Meissner effect in long D(−1) clusters by large-orbit electron motion. The lifting of long D(−1) clusters above the magnet surface is slightly larger than expected, possibly due to the coupling to D(1). The previously reported oscillation between D(−1) and D(1) in an electric field is proposed to be due to destruction of D(−1).