HACKING THE UNIVERSE

Deepak Soman. Dinoop P.Malayil, Achu B

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING ADOOR Deepak.at21@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: Today, energy crisis has hit most of the developing countries, oil and gas prices rise every month. In a century our oil resources will be over, are we prepared? Will we progress into our future? Is it true that mans reach exceeds his grasp? The answer to all our problems is Nuclear Fusion, the ultimate power source. Fusion gives birth to all other energy sources such as hydroelectricity, solar energy, wind energy etc. With an unlimited supply of deuterium fuel available from the oceans, fusion could supply the worlds future energy needs in a clean, sustainable way. This paper highlights an apparatus named FERA, which uses electrostatic confinement to produce fusion. Before you read further, we would like to state that F.E.R.A is indeed capable of nuclear fusion and has reached a temperature of 124 million Kelvin. Replacing gravitational forces with electrostatic forces, we have constructed a radial particle accelerator-collider, which obeys Boltzmanns law and exploits the principles of Quantum Tunneling to create confined plasma having a core temperature in the range of 87 million Kelvin to 120 million Kelvin. All the above has been done in a vacuum chamber, reaching pressures of 0.00001bar. The biggest challenge of attaining Fusion is to confine plasma; this is difficult because no material withstands temperatures of plasma. The apparatus uses electrostatic forces in ultra high vacuum to create confined plasma. Once confined, a Deuterium-Deuterium fusion reaction is employed. A high voltage system of 10,600 volts sustains the electrostatic field. Neutron count is done to prove we have fusion.

It is found that the control difficulties reported with this type of reactor are due to operation in the asymptotic region of the operational curve. The aim of this project is to highlight the importance of nuclear fusion, and to imbibe in students n interest in this field who view it as something impossible. KEYWORD: NUCLEAR FUSION CONFINED PLASMA

INTRODUCTION WHAT IS NUCLEAR FUSION? Fusion is the process by which two light nuclei fuses together to form a heavier atom. A tiny fraction of mass is converted to energy (Einsteins equation: E=mc^2). In nuclear reactions it is the sub-atomic particles in the atomic nucleus, the protons and neutrons, which rearrange themselves to form new elements or isotopes with more stable nuclei. In this case the energy released by the reaction in the form of kinetic energy (e.g. heat) and electromagnetic energy (e.g.: gamma radiation) is millions of times greater. The great attractions of nuclear fusion as an energy source are that the fuel, mostly isotopes of hydrogen, is plentiful and easy to obtain, and the elements produced as a result of the fusion are usually light and stable atoms rather than the heavy radioactive products which result from nuclear fission. The potential release of energy per unit mass of the fuel is much higher in the case of fusion than in fission or any other

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methods, since reactions allowing greater increases in binding energy are possible with fusion reactions. The main principle behind a fusion reaction is that, all molecules tend to be stable, ie, they want to attain the middle position in a periodic table. Fission is the process used by heavier atoms to become stable. Fusion is the process for lighter atoms for attaining stability, which is accompanied by a mass different which accounts for the high energy release in accordance with Einsteins mass energy relations. ADVANTAGES OF FUSION REACTION Fusion has potential advantages as a safe, sustainable and environmentally attractive source of energy for electricity generation. The deuterium fuel extracted from water is a universally available and essentially inexhaustible fuel supply. Tritium has to be manufactured from lithium inside the reactor. Lithium is distributed in the earth's crust and the known reserves would ast for more than a thousand years if the entire world's electricity were to be generated by fusion. With the development of advanced fusion reactors, operating at temperatures above 109 K, pure deuterium mixtures may be used in the future, and earth's fuel supply would last for billions of years. No runaway reactions or large uncontrolled releases of energy are possible. In the case of a malfunction the plasma strikes the walls of the reactor and cools immediately. There is no chemical combustion products in a fusion reaction, and therefore no contribution to atmospheric or water pollution. No long lived radioactive materials are produced. Radioactivity is produced by neutrons interacting with the reactor structure, but decays rapidly with the proper selection of low-activation materials. Fusion is appropriate for generating base-load electricity and producing hydrogen in a sustainable, CO2-free energy mix.

While it seems simple, nuclear fusion tends to be extremely hard due to the following reasons: Nuclei make repelling each due to their charged nature is the most important difficulty in bringing about a nuclear reaction. It takes a lot of effort to push nuclei close enough together to get nuclear reactions to happen. The easy way to overcome that repulsion is to accelerate particles towards each other so that they have enough energy to overcome that barrier of repulsion, similar to what happens in particle accelerators(a typical accelerator might accelerate protons to 2 MeV1 and smash them into a target) Along with space and money requirements, electrostatic particle accelerators are typically limited to small bunches of particles and require extremely high voltages to perform. The electrostatic force repels two nuclei because theyre positively charged (due to like charges repel mechanism). This force is normally very strong on the scales were talking about its strong enough to prevent things from fusing together when collisions happen.

DISADVANTAGES Scientists have not yet been able to contain a fusion reaction long enough for there to be a net energy gain. Many countries are phasing out fusion research because of the failure to reach a breakthrough The disadvantages of nuclear fusion over fission are that Fission is easier to do and requires less energy. Fusion has not yet developed into a completely usable form of energy and is still in experimental stage. Under controlled conditions, scientists have not been able to sustain nuclear fusion long enough. WHY IS FUSION SO HARD TO DO?

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the center and they will collide at the center of the negative electrode to bring about the fusin reaction and such king of a reactor is called as an inertial electrostatic confinemnt reactor.

METHODS OF FUSION
1 Tokamak /Stellerator (Magnetic Confinement) Nuclear scientists initially started with high temperature gases, and then wanted to squeeze the gas together so that the atoms would be more likely to bump into each other with the necessary speed. To restrain the incredibly hot gas, theres only one method they can use: magnets. Magnets exert a force on electrically charged particles, and in a plasma (usually a very energetic state of matter, at around 30-100 million Kelvin), the electrons have already been literally ripped off of the hydrogen atomstheyre all charged and running around, loose and fast. Therefore they can use magnets to restrict and bind this charged body. However, the magnetic force needs to be incredibly strongtheyre essentially keeping particles together like theyd be found at the center of the sun, and theres no gravity or other mechanism to help them along.Such kind of a mechanism or setup used to bring about a fusin reaction is called as a Tokamak or magnetic confinement reactor 2 The National Ignition Facility (Lasers/Inertial Confinement) Another method of fusion is to get a small pellet of solid hydrogen, coat it with plastic or something else that will melt at high temperatures, and then fire lots of really big lasers on the surface. The lasers make the plastic hot enough that it literally explodes, forcing the solid hydrogen inward and inducing conditions with enough pressure and temperature to induce fusion. 3 Cold Fusion There are whole subsets of techniques that call themselves cold fusion, and most of them dont work. If they do work, they havent been able to reproduce it or get antitative evidence. Well ignore them for the moment. 4 The Nuclear Fusor (Inertial Electrostatic Confinement) In a very low density gas, lighter particles can travel about a meter without colliding into one another, hence atoms can be accelerated into a central point. The fusor exploits the natural enemy of nuclear fusion physiciststhe electrostatic force that repels the atoms from getting together. The fusor accelerates ions by placing them in a very high voltage differential situation; the ions will naturally accelerate to an area of negative charge due to the electrostatic force. With a spherical, grid-like negative electrode, hydrogen ions accelerate toward it, and toward the center of the system. However, since the grid actually has space for them to pass in between, the hydrogen ions will go through that route All the hydrogen ions in the system are heading for

HOW TO PRODUCE 123 MILLION KELVIN ?

Since temperature is just a reading of atoms average kinetic energy, if youre given an amount of energy, you can calculate a particles temperature as well (if you know its mass). One electron volt = 1.60217653 1019 J.

One electron volt = 11605 Kelvin. One electron volt= energy gathered by an electron when accelerated by 1 volt potential Therefore, 10600V= 10600 electron volts =1060011605= approx 123 million Kelvin. The constant governing temperature-energy equivalence is known as the Boltzmann constant For the testing of the demo fusor, we apply a dc current with a peak voltage of 10606.60 volts which is approximately 123 million Kelvin

NUCLEAR REACTIONS
The two equations that youre most likely to encounter as an amateur are deuterium-deuterium reactions:

With the excess tritium created by these reactions, there is a chance to get a deuterium-tritium reaction. The amount of reactions is highly related to the nuclear cross section, which is the amount of apparent area that an atom will present to be reacted with.

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PLASMA PHYSICS

a Neutron of 2.45 Mev kinetic energy. 50% of the time, d-d can also form a reaction that yields a tritium atom, (radioactive), with a kinetic energy of 1 Mev and a proton of 3 Mev kinetic energy. WORKING PRINCIPLE This section deals with the basics of a dual grid, spherical focus, inertial confinement, electrostatic, reticulating reactor sometimes called the Farnsworth/Hirsch fusor in honour of the original developers of this class of device. Basically, the system being discussed involves two concentric spherical grids made up of fine wire in a chamber which can be evacuated and backfilled with gas. One grid is smaller than the other by a factor of about 1:5. The smaller spherical grid is contained within the larger spherical grid and biased negative with respect to the outer grid. Ions are initially created in the vicinity of the outer grid and accelerated towards the inner grid. Gas-ion collisions and ionizations occur throughout the volume of the chamber. Virtually all of the ions created in the area between the outer and inner grids are singly ionized: O2 +, N2 +, Ar+ and H2O+ dominate in an air ambient. As the ions accelerate and enter the inner grid structure, most of the ions miss colliding with the inner grid wires and proceed into the central portion of the chamber. Reaching the centre, the ion density increases and, therefore, the collision rate. Near the centre of the inner grid, the ions collide with each other. In the process they form a glowing ball of dense, hot plasma. As this plasma is fed with more current at correspondingly higher grid potentials, the density and temperature of the gas rises as more ions impact at higher velocities. In this volume it is reasonable to assume that most impacts result in additional multiple ionizations adding many pluses to the ions contained in the small volume of the plasmoid. The excess electrons now find themselves in a negative potential well and are ejected violently back into the region between the grids. Ions also flow out with the electrons in a mixed stream, many recombining and colliding with gas atoms outside the inner grid forming neutrals in a kinetic stream and ionizing anew. At lower operating pressures, the ionized gas atoms are thinned out and some actually never interact. The fusor can work in several modes based on the materials used, the gas included in the device, and the pressure of the gas. Experimental possibilities are endless and the device itself is interesting to watch. At its low end of operational performance (above 1000 microns) it is working as a conventional glow discharge device but is still more interesting than a plasma globe. Near the top end of its operational performance curve it can produce neutrons through the D-D reaction. This performance curve is still not well defined. The large number of variables makes for a great research opportunity. Nothing is particularly critical in the fusers physical construction regardless of mode of operation OPERATION

Plasma and Fusion

Plasma is the so-called fourth state of matter, a cloud of ionized gas possessing many unique properties. Within this cloud of ionized gasses the process of fusion can be initiated under the correct circumstances. The process of fusion is far superior to that of fission because it leaves less nuclear waste that only remains for a short period of time rather than hundreds of thousands if not millions of years. At a certain temperature plasma begins to maintain itself allowing for the harvesting of energy released by the fusion of tritium and deuterium; to maintain this temperature the plasma cannot touch the walls of the containing chamber because much heat would be lost causing a failure in the selfsustainment of the plasma burn .Thus, plasma was the most difficult problem encountered in the subject of fusion energy to this point. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF I.E.C REACTORS As explained before, an electrostatic confinement reactor utilizes high negative voltages so as to bring about high particle (positively charged nucleus) acceleration and nuclear collisions, resulting at a very high temperature of the order of several million Kelvin. So as to facilitate this process, we evacuate the chamber which decreases the particle population in the chamber considerably and thereby increasing the mean free path to a large extent. A reactor working of this kind is called as a fusor. The fusor can be defined as an electro statically focused, and accelerated, deuteron collider type of fusion device" relying on "inertial electrostatic confinement" to allow fusion to take place in "velocity space". It is one of the cheapest methods to bring about a fusion reaction. The unit consists of an electrically conductive, vacuum tight, metallic outer shell. Within the outer spherical shell casing is found a single, centrally located, electrically conductive spherical grid that is more or less transparent in that it is made up of a hollow, wire ball. This "central" or "inner" grid is supported by and electrically connected to the outside world, by an insulated, electrically conductive stalk or post which is run through a "feed through" insulator that is also vacuum tight. There are other add-ons that facilitate operational control and observation, such as view ports, vacuum gauge ports and the mandatory vacuum system connection which allows the air inside to be removed. There is also a mandatory gas line which allows the introduction of a fusionable gas. This gas is always deuterium in a simple amateur fusor. The fusor, as a form of accelerator, is a closed electrical system, voltage gradient device. It demands input energy to achieve fusion. It will not self sustain or achieve "ignition" as is classically sought in an energy producing fusion reactor. Stated verbally, d-d can make a reaction occur that yields a Helium 3 atom, (stable), with a kinetic energy of .82 Mev and

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As the voltage is brought up, a light blue spherical plasmid forms in the centre of the central grid system. Farnsworth labelled this multipacting region of dense plasma a poissor (pronounced - poy-sor). It is inertially confined plasma. Based on the geometry and alignment of your system, you may see one or more bugle jets blasting out of the poissor into the main chamber area. These are trumpet-shaped ion jets. If the power is reduced, a pencil thin electron beam is often seen issuing from the core of the bugle jet. In clean systems which are carefully built and aligned, at full power the discharge can enter a star mode with brilliant rays issuing from each aperture of the inner grid. This requires a system more carefully constructed and robust than my demo fusor. But, the principle is the same. The thin blue electron beam is easily deflected by a magnet and at high exhaustions the beam can prove fatal to a plastic chambers walls. The basic system will work well with only an air atmosphere down around 100 microns. In this mode the ion recirculation is low, but the particle density in the poissor and multipacting is high. Needless to say, there is no fusion going on in the air atmosphere exhaustion. Different pressures bring about entire new regimes of operation. Different fill gases open up even more vistas. At higher exhaustions, the density of particles in the poissor is lower. Furthermore, due to the increased mean free path, the recirculation of ions through the grid system is higher. Voltage and current in this region are also interesting to examine. At 100 microns the chamber may only allow 500-1000 volts across it while drawing over 100 mA of current. At 10 microns, much more voltage at moderate currents are the normal. For neutrons and fusion, a much more robust system is demanded. To fully clean the system of residual gases, an initial base pressure of around 10-6 Torr is necessary. A leak valve is then used to backfill the chamber with deuterium to a pressure in the range of 1 to 10 microns. With tolerable equipment and a will to do, fusion is an easy thing to achieve. CONSTRUCTION For an IEC reactor, the environmental conditions are high voltage, ultra high vacuum, and a fuel supply system along with a pressure sensing gauge. As we are constructing a demo fusion reactor, which can simulate the actual fusion reaction using atmospheric air create the look and feel of operation as found in a real Farnsworth fusor fusion device, we can avoid the fuel system from the setup.

SUBSYSTEMS INVOLVED Following are the subsystems required for a typical fusor vacuum chamber vacuum pumping system high voltage dc supply safety system Along with these, an actual fusor working on deuterium fuel requires two additional subsystems Fuel supply system Neutron detection system

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1.

Amount of fusion intende d

The fusion rate we seek to achieve and conform in our

2.

operati ng voltage

The operating voltage and current should be able to exert enough force so as to enable fusion to happen Theoretically we need to provide more force than the coulombs force that repels two deuterium nuclei.

3.

Vacuu m pump

4.

DETAILED SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM

Vacuu m chambe r

Pump should capable of reaching the range 1-10 microns (1*10-3 torr) And should not contaminate the chamber.It should have vacuum tight connections with propper valving

Vacuum chamber should withstand the external pressure , and the temperature. All seals should be high vacuum compatible and resist the rated temperatures. ( x- rays absorbtion shold be noted)

DETAILED DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS DETAILED DESIGN CRITERIA

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FUSION RATE Fusion phenomenon cannot be directly measured directly, the only way to measure this phenomenon is to measure its outputs

out gassing as the chamber heats up, or if the plasma increases out gassing/ sputtering. A diffusion pump which pumps much faster in this region (below ~100 Microns) only needs a small portion of its capacity to keep up, and even the small ones may have to be almost valved off to prevent too rapid pump out of the valuable deuterium gas. Usually such pumps are used for the construction of an actual fusor, but not necessary for a demo fusor. VACUUM MEASURING INSTRUMENTS The different types

As we see from the above reactions, the products coming from the reaction would be having either neutrons or protons with a probability of 0.5 for each, also along with these particles there are electron radiated outwards (beta radiation) for an actual fusor which requires safety precations like radiation shields etc. VOLTAGE CURRENT REQUIREMENTS The most important factor regarding voltage current requirements is the amount of fusion we need. According to sources, fusion has been achieved at voltages starting at 20KV @ 30 ma, from this point on as we increase the voltage the number reactions taking place per second increases (also the heating as well as the x ray radiation increases) A common neon transformer comes in the range of 10-15 kv@ 30 ma, using a voltage multiplier we can multiply the voltage to a factor of one or two, at the same time the magnitude of current decreases by a factor of one or two. CONCLUSION-Keeping all factors in mind the best alternative for a demo fusor seems to be a 15 KV neon sign transformer which could supply a continuous AC voltage output.

of gauges are:

VACUUM REQUIRED
Vacuum is important for the working of the apparatus for: 1. Increasing THE mean free path of deuterium ions and electrons 2. increasing the probability of deuterium ions colliding toward the centre 3. Preventing high voltage arching inside our chamber THEORETICALLY, FOR I.E.C TYPE FUSORS anything below ~ 3-5 microns is useless as the glow discharge will not occur As the pressure increases the percentage of the gas that is ionized and participates in fusion goes up. But neutrals (other atoms in chamber) start messing things up. Also, it is more difficult to get high concentrations (%) of deuterium gas without several purges, and/or high feed rates- that consumes the valuable deuterium gas quickly generally the ranges of ~ 5-30 Microns as the target range has been suggested by most of the fusioners Good mechanical vane pumps can often reach these levels (at least 20-30 Microns). The problem is that they pump very slowly in this region, so they cannot keep up if there is much

Considering the Indian vacuum market only two kinds of gauges are commoly available are: 1. Analog/ digital PIRANI gauge 2. Analog /Digital PENNING gauge Specifications of these are PIRANI GAUGE (analog) PENNING GAUGE Type: cold cathode ionization Gauge Thermocouple gauge Pressure measurement range:0.5 m. bar to 1x10-3 m. bar 10-2 to 10-6 m.bar. Since the cheaper pirani gauge satisfies our requirements we, select the pirani gauge.

Fuel supply (Required for an actual fusor) As our project revolves around achieving fusion using the simplest resources the fuels that can be considered are

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Of all the above reactions the one having highest nuclear cross section is (1) but this involves tritium which is very expensive The second highest cross section is for deuterium-deuterium reaction which is considerably cheaper, hence fuel chosen is deuterium. Now, deuterium is available for sale in purity of 98% (nuclear moderator grade).And 99.8% lab experiment grade, also it is available as a special welding gas. A second method to produce deuterium is to electrolyze heavy water (deuterium oxide) using Hoffmans apparatus. Either method would require a reservoir and a needle valve for minute throttling of fuel into the chamber, in case we use a lecture bottle we would need a pressure reducing valve and pressure measuring instruments. VACUUM CHAMBER DESIGN This section deals with the construction of vacuum chamber This has been deivided into the following sections 1) Material selection 2) X ray attenuation factor 3) Chamber wall temperature In this we have assumed 95% of power goes to heat loss And input power 30kv at 30ma 4) Velocity of air We had assumed hi = 50w/m2k, hence we prove what velocity of air would satisfy this 5) Chamber wall thickness In this we have assumed the shape of chamber to be spherical and the size to be d=8, and hence we calculate the require thickness 6) Calculation of pipe thickness 7) 8) 9) 10) Calculation of pipe thickness from graphs Design of flanges Design of welded joints Design of vacuum seals

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EXPERIMENT: CONSTRUCTION OF MY REACTOR There is no standard design for an IEC reactor, so I improvised. I constructed my fusion chamber from an 8 inch diameter metal sphere, cut ports with an hss drill, made my own flanges using steel disks with Oring grooves, welded all my parts using a Tig welder and sealed with nitrile O-rings coated with vacuum grease. In my case the anode is the outer chamber wall, deigned to withstand the hot electron beams and the X-rays generated. I wound the cathode grid with a single piece of nicrome wire so I wouldnt have to do any spot welding of pieces. I used auto sparkplugs for chamber feedthroughs. I made an adjustable high voltage DC power supply, 0-10600 volts, 450 watts I found a high performance 2 stage Welch Duoseal vacuum pump, <3 micron I used a pirani vacuum gauge to monitor the chamber pressure. I used standard voltmeters and current meters to regulate the input to the auto transformer, and to monitor the input current, and the current going through the cathode.

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Fe2O3 + Fe + 6 HCl 3 FeCl2 + 3 H2O HCl acid is the most commonly used acid, and is always used for the cleaning of steel in a very dilute form. The aggressive chloride (or sometimes fluoride) anion associated with the hydrogen ion is the key to the efficiency of an acid for scale dissolution. However, hydrochloric acid is too aggressive for some applications in its concentrated form. For this reason, HNO3 (an acid of similar ionization) is used widely for stainless steel pickling and cleaning. It is an oxidizing acid and actually increases the protective Cr2O3 layer thickness of stainless steels. However, while this oxidizing capability is useful with stainless steels, dilute nitric will rapidly corrode copper bearing alloys and mild steels.

EXPERIMENTS PERFORMED A) CLEANING WITH NITRIC ACID HYDROCHLORIC ACID AND

AIM To clean the chamber by using nitric acid and hydrochloric acid solution REQUIREMENTS Container, water, safety gloves, glasses, heater, Sodium hydroxide flakes, water, bucket, safety gloves. THEORY Sodium hydroxide is frequently used as an industrial cleaning agent. It is added to water, heated, and then used to clean the process equipment, storage tanks, etc. It can dissolve grease, oils, fats and protein based deposits. A sodium hydroxide soak solution is used as a powerful degreaser on stainless steel and glass bake ware. Sodium hydroxide saponifies the triglycerides found in fat into water soluble fatty acid salts and hydrolyzes the amide bonds in protein, such as those found in hair. These reactions are stimulated by the heat generated when sodium hydroxide dissolve in water. One of the most important applications of hydrochloric acid is in the pickling of steel, to remove rust or iron oxide scale from iron or steel before subsequent processing, such as extrusion, rolling, welding, and other techniques by the following reaction.

PROCEDURE In this process, solution of nitric acid as well as hydrochloric acid was made out of their concentrated ones. For this process clean water was taken in a vessel. Into it, first nitric acid was poured by constant stirring. Into the solution, concentrated hydrochloric acid was added slowly by taking at most care. The solution was then heated slightly to increase its reactivity. Then the scrubber was dipped in this solution, and then the joints and welds of the chamber were scrubbed effectively without any skin contact. This process is repeated several times so as to remove all the dirt, oxides, scaling etc over the surface. For cleaning operation, sodium hydroxide solution was prepared initially. For this, safety gloves and safety glasses was first put, which prevent any kind of direct contact with skin or eyes. Then water was filled in the container (Metal containers are avoided so as to avoid any kind of metal hydroxide reactions). Into it sodium hydroxide flakes was dropped with constant stirring. After dissolving the flakes, the chamber was dipped into the vessel. Then the joints and the surfaces was rubbed firmly with the help of a scrubber to remove any kind of Greece or oil present which may possibly hinder the action of epoxy for avoiding any leaks in the joints. After cleaning with sodium hydroxide solution, and the camber was then cleaned with soap and then with water which removes every particle of grease or oil present in the chamber RESULT The chamber was cleaned using nitric acid and hydrochloric acid to remove all the oxides and impurities. The chamber was tested for leaks in different phases of the process.

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B)

LEAK TESTING

GRAPHS PLOTTED

AIM To test for ultimate vacuum of the chamber and to determine the leakage areas REQUIREMENTS Vacuum grease, Spanner, screw driver, Vacuum pump, Pirani gauge, stop watch. THEORY Leak testing was performed in different phase of the project. Different methods of the leak testing are as follows Sound testing: This is one of the simplest methods of leak testing. It involves, manually listening for hissing sounds at leakage areas, while pumping is performed Fume testing: This involves placing some fuming agents near the surface of the chamber without much disturbances. Fumes go like whirls into the chamber in leakage areas. Acetone testing: This is one of the most effective among the simple methods of leak testing. In this process acetone is sprayed over the metal surface. For this purpose, a gauge is also connected along with the pump to the chamber. After attaining sufficient vacuum, acetone is sprayed over the surface. In case of smaller leaks, the pressure gauge shows a rapid rise for very short times, due to covering of pits in the surface. Similarly, when it is sprayed over relatively bigger pores in the surface, the pressure gauge shows a rapid dip up to some level, due to suction through the pores and vaporizing of acetone inside the chamber PROCEDURE Leak testing process was performed in different stages while assembling of the parts. Firstly, a simple pressure decay test over time was performed to get a rough idea of the leaks present over welds, joints, o-rings etc..and a graph was plotted between pressure decrease and time. All the joints are rebolted for sealing all the leaks present over it After this, leak testing was performed after acid cleaning as mentioned in the first experiment. After acid cleaning, the pressure testing was performed again and a curve was plotted on the readings obtained. After leak testing acetone testing was performed by spraying acetone liquid using a sprayer by closely watching the pressure gauge. This gives indication of faulty joints and welds in the chamber. After this, epoxy was applied on all the welds found leaking. Along with this, thread lockers was applied in all the threaded joints for the sake of sealing all the leaks. After this process, pressure testing was again done, with and without application of voltage.

RESULT The chamber was tested in different phases of the fabrication and the graph was plotted with the data obtained.

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RESEARCH AIM: In a inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) type of fusion reactor, the main operating parameters are field voltage current pressure How are they related? Are there mathematical models of this behavior? Can they be improved? Variables Independent variables: chamber absolute vacuum pressure in millitorr (microns), electrical current in milliamps Dependent variable: electric field voltage in kilovolts Control variables: anode diameter, cathode grid size, distance between anode and cathode spacing

VIEWPORT OF FERA AT FULL CAPACITY, AT 10600 VOLTS AND 10 MICRONS

COST ESTIMATION

The approximate costs of various components for fabricating the system are i. Vacuum pump -5000

ii. iii. iv. v. vi.

Vacuum gauge Neon sign transformers Auto transformers Rectifying diodes -500

-6000 -3000 -2500

Switches, wires and other electrical connections -500 vii. Stand fabrication -1000 MATLAB WAS USED TO INTERPLOATED THE DATA ON A 3-D COLOR SURFACE

viii. Wood ix. Blank flanges x. Metal bowl xi. Cylinders xii. Spark plug xiii. Machining costs xiv. Polishing cost xv. Welding costs xvi. Chemicals for cleaning etc -2000 xvii.Transportation, accommodation etc -6000 xviii.Epoxy, thread locker etc xix. Nuts, botls etc xx. Voltmeter, ammeter etc.. -500

-450 -3500 -2500 -1000 -1000 -4000 -1800 -1000

-1000 -800

THE ABOVE GRAPH SHOWS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VOLTAGE CURRENT AND PRESSURE

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CONCLUSION

The subsystems were successfully connected with each other and the system was taken for a test run. And the following results was obtained i. The chamber was tested for its ultimate vacuum and the required pressure up to 0.000004 torr was obtained. ii. The input voltage of 220v was stepped up to (-7500)0-(+7500) volts and was rectified using a full wave rectifier, by taking sufficient safety measures iii. The voltage was applied to the chamber and plasma state was obtained, indicated by a bluish discharge in the inner grid. Also some secondary results imperative to F.E.R.A were obtained. I have proved that a table top IEC REACTOR can be made using commonly available materials. My design of a cheap nicrome anode worked well, in sense, it withstood the entire heat flux. I achieved a single digit micron using common leak testing methods, ex: smoke testing, sound testing, acetone testing, etc The myth that nuclear fusion is uncontrollable is a lie, we have been doing fusion since that past 50 yrs I hope that this presentation has inspired people to think beyond their horizon, and try studies in nuclear science. Nuclear fusion can be easily done in school as well as colleges. Sustainable fusion can be achieved only if we all work together.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

FIrving Langmuir and Katherine Blodgett, Currents Limited by Space Charge Between Concentric Spheres, Physics Review, 23, pps 49-59, 1924. P.T. Farnsworth, U.S. Patent 3,258,402, issued 28 June1966. Robert Hirsch, U.S. Patent 5,160,695, issued 03 November, 1992. Robert Hirsch, Inertial-Electrostatic confinement of Ionized Gases, Journal of Applied Physics, 38, October 1967.

R.W. Bussard and L.W. Jameson, InertialElectrostatic- Fusion Propulsion Spectrum, Air Breathing for Interstellar Flight, Journal of Propulsion and Power, 11, pps 365-372. G.H. Miley, J. Javedani, Y. Yamamoto, R. Nebel, J. Nadler, Y. Gu, A. Satsangi and R. Heck, Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Neutron/Proton Source, AIP Conference Proceedings 299, Dense Z-Pinches, AIP, New York, 1994. David B. Hoisington, Nucleonics Fundamentals, McGraw-Hill, 1959. www.fusor.net

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