Meet the WB-8
I've chatted about fusion power generation before in various places, and I'm going to again. :3 For years now I've been following the development of the IEC Polywell reactor, as it goes through its various test phases. A few years back new test models were proved to be working examples of fusion power in the lab, and had reactions that were generating more energy than they were taking in. These models were on such a small scale however, that they really needed to be jacked up in size to be worth anything.
And so we come to the WB-8 reactor, a scaled down version of what will likely become a commercial platform. It was finished in the spring of 2010, and has since been going through a buttload of testing.
Current reports have been indicating that the theorized scaling laws of fusion power have been holding true. So for example, the WB-8 has been generating 1000 times more energy than the WB-7. This isn't saying all that much in terms of actual energy generation, as the WB-8 is still a test model. Still, if the scaling is indeed holding true, that means good things for this particular model.
One of the scientists put forward an example of how the scaling laws work in their favour. The WB-8 has 0.3m coils and 0.8 Tesla magnetic fields, and likely generates about 100 milliwatts. If the same device was scaled up to 3m coils with 10 Tesla fields, then it should be producing 2.5 Megawatts or more. All that combined with a high energy reaction that produces little to no waste and radiation, and you've definitely got a winner!
The plan is to continue running tests, doing various experiments, and generally gathering data for the rest of the year. After that, if all the data continues to look as awesome as it currently does, the Polywell team plans to build a commercial grade test reactor. Their goal is to produce some serious power indeed, and prove that the technology could really work to power homes and industry.
Apparently they're being somewhat hush-hush with actual concrete numbers and even certain test results, but that is likely due to their customer and source of funding. Namely, the US navy. If various statements are to be believed, the idea is to keep it in US hands for now, with US ownership. Not a surprise, considering how much money the tech could make.
Or how much money it could lose the oil industry. ^^()
And so we come to the WB-8 reactor, a scaled down version of what will likely become a commercial platform. It was finished in the spring of 2010, and has since been going through a buttload of testing.
Current reports have been indicating that the theorized scaling laws of fusion power have been holding true. So for example, the WB-8 has been generating 1000 times more energy than the WB-7. This isn't saying all that much in terms of actual energy generation, as the WB-8 is still a test model. Still, if the scaling is indeed holding true, that means good things for this particular model.
One of the scientists put forward an example of how the scaling laws work in their favour. The WB-8 has 0.3m coils and 0.8 Tesla magnetic fields, and likely generates about 100 milliwatts. If the same device was scaled up to 3m coils with 10 Tesla fields, then it should be producing 2.5 Megawatts or more. All that combined with a high energy reaction that produces little to no waste and radiation, and you've definitely got a winner!
The plan is to continue running tests, doing various experiments, and generally gathering data for the rest of the year. After that, if all the data continues to look as awesome as it currently does, the Polywell team plans to build a commercial grade test reactor. Their goal is to produce some serious power indeed, and prove that the technology could really work to power homes and industry.
Apparently they're being somewhat hush-hush with actual concrete numbers and even certain test results, but that is likely due to their customer and source of funding. Namely, the US navy. If various statements are to be believed, the idea is to keep it in US hands for now, with US ownership. Not a surprise, considering how much money the tech could make.
Or how much money it could lose the oil industry. ^^()