Progress has been slow for the last 8 months since Christmas, due to personal circumstances the laboratory has been closed and all experiments have been temporarily suspended. I hope to relocate the laboratory some time in 2010, and resume work where I left it. Be patient, the world can wait for fusion a bit longer...Steven
Initial publication of the Starfire Ion implantation device by WIPO. The starfire ion source was designed together with John Hendron, in responce to the need for a powerful ion source. The air cooled ion source operates by first heating then passing a gas through a planar cathode ray. very simple construction and capable of high ion current.
As the large hadron collider (LHC) in Cern is switched on for the first time, my THC (Tiny Hadron Collider), is still out of action. Yet, a lot of work has been done since my last report. During the last three months, the S.T.A.R. reactor has undergone a total rebuild, and a number of improvements have been made, in order to make the apparatus more reliable.
All the elements, vacuum pumps, HV power supply, gas system and the reactor have all been built onto a solid steel bench, with all variable controls brought back to the remote control panel. An electronic gas pressure regulator has also been added, making the gas control easier to operate.
The glass to metal seals, have also been improved, using pure indium wire and custom made nylon clamps to join the glass to the steel flanges. Some further servicing of the ion source is required before further testing can commence. We expect testing to begin in October.
When designing a fusion reactor, we can only predict it's behaviour within our knowledge. With new inventions and cutting edge technology there will be problems that could not easily have been predicted, so after every experiment, we have to identify what happened and then understand why it happened as it did.
Sometimes we discover a problem that requires a major rebuild of the apparatus.
Our first reactor, S.T.A.R. MK1 never produced any measurable fusion, this was mainly due to a leak problem between the ceramic accellerator tubes and the reactor core or carthode, so we desided that a major redesign was required to solve the problem. S.T.A.R. MK2 was designed with glass accellerator tubes and QF-10 seal and clamp fittings against the cathode. The solid stainless steel anode sphere, was also replaced with a wire cage style anode contained within an acrylic tank. A Starfire ion gun was also added, to increase the rate of ionized gas. S.T.A.R. MK2 solved the leak problem, and demonstrated that the S.T.A.R. principle was capable of fusion. The fusion rates were lower than predicted by theory and careful analyses of the recorded experiments reveraled that the ion beam was poorly focused, causing a large proportion of the ions to intercept the glass accellerator tubes instead of entering the reaction chamber.
The focus problem could be fixed, but it would involve building a new anode and new acrylic holding tank. So S.T.A.R. MK3 was designed, having narrow anodic beam focusing tubes and a tight anode sphere surrounding the cathode. The new MK3 design is now being built and will soon be ready for testing. Click here to see a frame by frame animation of how MK3 is expected to work.
We have been working behind the scenes in January, and apart from making a number of improvements to the apparatus, we have spent time thinking and gaining a better understanding of the physics behind the S.T.A.R. reactor principle. A set of equations have been worked out, which we believe can predict the outcome of future experiments.
During the last test run, it was proven beyond doubt, that nuclear fusion between Deuterium ions were taking place, in the processes D+D => He3 + n and D+D => T + p. This was measured and recorded by observing neutrons, using a BTI Bubble detector. The reaction rate was approximated to 340,000 fusions per second. Future experiments will focus on optimisation and will compare the experimental results with the theoretical predictions.
No fusion has taken place during the last month, as the equipment has been down due to various reasons. First it was the turbo pump, then there were issues with the neutron detection equipment, and finally it was discovered that sputtering and vapour deposition of copper had been building up in the dielectric glass tubes. This caused the inside wall of the beamline to become slightly conductive, which in turn upset the plasma beam. The only solution was to replace the glass beamline.
In the mean time, the turbo pump has been repaired, and we are waiting for the replacement glass tubes to be made. Improvements have also been made to the shielding around the reactor, to allow for longer and safer run times.
We have also been working on a new He3 neutron detection system. Starting with a Reuter Stokes He3 tube, we first built a charge sensitive preamp and obtained a high density polyethylene cylinder for the moderator. The signal from the preamp will be read by an HLNCC neutron counter which was a lucky ebay scoop. This equipment will give us valuable data when the reactor is up and running again.
A minor setback happened today, when the high speed turbo vacuum pump ended it's life in a loud .....ScRRReeeeech! Fortunately it was only the bearings and it should be possible to get replacement parts locally. Hopefully this will only delay testing for a couple of weeks.
Turbo pumps are incredibly complicated and delicate machines, which run at 50,000 to 60,000 RPM, one must handle these things with extreme care. The slightest inbalance could cause the rotor to fly apart.
Further testing of the apparatus revealed that the neutron detector was affected by EMF radiation, and that the neutron readings taken in the test last week were most likely higher than the actual count. To remedie this problem, the apparatus has been reconfigured, with improved earth straps from all electrically active components leading back to a central point. Ferrite EMF supressors have also been added to all coaxial cables, including the neutron counter leads. The apparatus is being prepared for a new round of testing.
Final component, the hollow cathode, perfectly machined from Titanium arrived last week. The reactor core was assembled and final shielding was put in place for the first ever live test. It has taken two years to build and has cost thousands of dollars, so today is the moment of truth. Everything was checked and double checked, before powering up the reactor, then finally the big moment, I gently opened the gas valve and let a small amount of deuterium into the reactor, WOW! the neutron meter immediately started to climb....and climb...and climb, until it was off the 1X scale! The first test was a complete success and the reactor worked excactly as predicted.
Building a fusion reactor takes time, as every part required must be ordered or especially made up. During September, while waiting for some of the final parts for the STAR-2 reactor, we have been working on 2D simulations using a Particle In Cell simulation program called Oopic. The results are encouraging, and show that under the right conditions, a continous colliding beam can be maintained indefinitely in a STAR reactor. The program calculates the probabilities of collisions between particles according to the Monte Carlo algorithm and collision events can clearly be seen in this animation. By clicking on this link here you can view a one minute animated gif which represents a 1.5 nano second run.
These days, no scientific project is complete without a good acronym, and thanks to Frank S. at fusor.net we now have an appropriate name for this invention.
Frank proposed "Sesselmann Tube Accellerator Reactor" or STAR for short, and this proposal was seconded by John Hendron today.
Thanks Frank and John.
A radically new design has been drawn up, using a different method of sealing the cathode chamber to the dielectric tubes, and construction of the new MK2 reactor is well and truly on the way. The main components are being machined and the dielectric tubes have been custom made. A new association with fellow researcher John Hendron in Ireland has yielded a brilliant improvement to the system, which at this stage is still confidential. We are hoping to complete MK2 within the next month.
June 2007
Several attempts were made to rectify the leak, Teflon seals, rubber "O" rings, Indium solder, all to no avail. The system still leaked. I eventually realized that there was a design fault in the vacuum system and that the only solution was to redesign the way that the cathode was connected to the dielectric tubes.
May 2007 (next day)
The system had been under vacuum all night, and the next morning I prepared to repeat the tests. Again the power was switched on and the voltage was ramped up, however on this occasion, there was a dielectric breakdown at only 5KV. This happened again and again and I was unable to repeat the result that was achieved on the previous day. I eventually decided to re-pressurise and disassemble the system, in order to find out what the problem was. As soon as I opened the connections to the vacuum chamber, the problem became obvious. A tiny leak between the reactor chamber and the ceramic tubes had allowed a small amount of transformer oil to enter the reactor chamber. This contamination of the vacuum system was causing the early dielectric breakdown at 5Kv.
May 2007
The power supply for the MK1 reactor arrives and it is promptly assembled and prepared for it's first plasma test. The vacuum system is pumped down and the cathode-anode interspace is filled with transformer oil for the first time. With the vacuum pressure between 1 and 5 micron the voltage is slowly ramped up to 5KV....10Kv......15KV......20KV, even at this voltage, the system is hardly drawing any power, and the amps are reading 0.5 milli amps, some of which may be external losses. The voltage was then gradually increased until there eventually was a dielectric breakdown inside the dielectric tubes at around 50KV. I was delighted with the test and the system performed excactly as I predicted. The testing was suspended for the day.
April 2007
The vacuum system has been completed and pumped down for the first time. The system reaches 1 micron and suffers from a minor leak, which is eventually reduced to a leak rate of 1 micron every ten seconds. The excact location of the leak can not found and and we are hoping that the leak is not in critical area.
16 October 2006
International filing date. (PCT/AU2006/001526)
2005-2006
This period was spent studying, scrounging components and working on the reactor design. Many components were sourced through Ebay and others were bought new. Budget restraints often meant long waiting times between each aquisition. Working from Australia also proved to be a disadvantage, as most parts had to come from the US or Europe.
24 October 2005
A provisional patent applied for, in order to buy a bit more time for research and development of the idea. This was not without controversy, as the patent being a nuclear devise, triggered a few concerns with the commissionar of patents. The issues were eventually resolved.
October 2005 One morning in October I woke up thinking about the grid loss problem, when the thought struck me that the cathode grid was superfluous and could be removed altogether. By making the whole fusor chamber into a cathode, and surrounding it with an anode, effectively turning the fusor inside out, and insulating the space between the cathode and the anode with a dielectric, the electron losses could be completely eliminated. I realized that with this system, a deep electrostatic potential energy well could be made, and it would have virtually no energy loss.
September 2005
Three months had gone by and the Farnsworh fusor was occupying my mind more than ever. I kept thinking, that there must be a way to overcome the problems associated with the Farnsworth and the Hirsch-Meeks fusor designs, what was the problem? The problem was perfectly clear to me... The Hirsch-Meeks type fusors have a negatively charged wire grid cathode which during operation heats up. As soon as the grid heats up, electrons boil of the grid and stream to back to the anode, excactly as they do in a cathode ray tube, and this is by far the largest cause of energy loss in this type of fusor design. This loss also grows exponentially as the voltage increases, causing a runaway energy loss.
Sometime in August 2005
Sitting on an plane destined for Toronto, looking out the window, a thought experiment entered my mind.... What if one built a laboratory inside a conductive cage, which itself was inside another conductive cage, which again was inside, etc etc.. and each consecutive cage was charged with a negative voltage stronger than the next. What experiments could one carry out?
Well when I arrived at my destination in Toronto, I quicly Googled the Internet, to see if anyone had done such an experiment.
This is when I discovered www.fusor.net
I recall being facinated with this group of amateurs, which on their own limited budgets were able to create fusion in a kettle.
Having been a bit of a science junkie for many years, it did not take too long before I had read and understood the basics of the Farnsworth fusor, what made it work and more importantly why it did not work.