Treknology Library Entry: FRA-5 Fusion Reactor
Jun 12, 2011 0:44:09 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2011 0:44:09 GMT
The following is the design for a planet-based fusion reactor, the FRA-5 Fusion Reactor. Due to the energy-intensive nature of a fusion reaction, and the delicate balance needed to maintain such a reaction, a fusion reactor cannot have a runaway reaction and go critical, as is the case with Matter-Antimatter Reactors found in warp systems aboard starships. Due to the fact that a warp core overload would be highly dangerous to the surface of a planet, this safer form of power generation was devised.
Part I - Fusion Reaction
Fusion is the process of joining together two or more atomic particles into a heavier one. This process, if involving atoms lighter than iron, will result in the release of energy. Note that the fusion of atoms heavier than iron requires the absorption of energy into the reaction. The lighter the atoms involved, the greater amount of energy is released. Hydrogen, being the lightest of all atoms, produces the greatest amount of energy of any fusion reaction, fusing to form helium and releasing a great amount of energy.
The fuel involved in the FRA-5 fusion reactor is deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen. When deuterium fuses, two different reactions result, with equal likelihood:
D + D --> T + p
D + D --> He + n
Where D is deuterium, He is helium, p is a proton, n is a neutron, and T is tritium, a second isotope of hydrogen. Through these two sets of reactions, the deuterium is utilized to its maximum energy potential.
For these reactions to occur on their own requires extremely high temperatures, to break down the bond between the nucleus of each atom and its electrons, as the electrons of the individual atoms would repel each other and keep the nuclei from getting close enough to fuse. The required temperatures for this stand-alone reaction would be over 800 million Kelvin, which is over 14 billion degrees Fahrenheit. But to avoid such extreme temperatures, the FRA-5 catalyzes the reaction with muons.
A muon is an elementary particle, which a charge of -1. In that respect, it behaves much like an electron, except its mass is 206 times greater than an electron. Therefore, since their interactions are very similar to those of the electron, a muon can be thought of as a much heavier version of the electron. When a cosmic ray strikes a planetary atmosphere, its interaction forms another elementary particle, a pion. Pions very quickly decay into neutrinos and muons. A muon, due to its nature, is essentially a very heavy electron, and is capable of attracting and bringing together the positively-charged nuclei of deuterium and tritium, allowing a fusion reaction to occur at a much lower temperature, even at room temperature or below.
Part II – Fusion Reactor
The FRA-5 Fusion Reactor has 5 main components
A. Reaction chamber
B. Deuterium Injector assembly
C. Muon collector/injector apparatus
D. Coolant tank
E. Waste filtration chamber
A. Reaction Chamber
The reaction chamber of a FRA-5 is a roughly spherical vessel, roughly two meters in diameter. The lining of the chamber a 1-meter thick casing composed of a vanadium-iron composite, able to absorb the nuclear emissions created by fusion reaction. The deuterium injector provides a vertical stream of deuterium into the reaction chamber from the bottom of the chamber, while the muon injector inserts a stream of the muon catalyst from the top of the chamber. The mix ratio of deuterium to muon is 10:1, creating an excess of deuterium. The energy released by the fusion reaction converts this excess deuterium into plasma, which becomes infused with the energy released to form electro-plasma, which is sent throughout the conduits of the Base to power its various systems.
B. Deuterium injector assembly
The deuterium injector assembly is fueled by a deuterium supply tank. The deuterium is channeled from the tank into the deuterium injector, and from there fed into the tank. The deuterium injector is equipped with a safety valve, in the event that the reaction chamber becomes too hot. The injector port is lined with a ring that is dimensioned so that, in the event of a reactor overload, the ring will expand due to the higher temperature, closing off the injector port.
C. Muon collector/injector apparatus
Due to their atmospheric source, muons are readily available. The muon collector is located on the roof of the Command Building, just above the remainder of the fusion reactor assembly. The muon collector creates a positively-charged energy field that attracts the muons in the atmosphere. From there, the muons are fed into a transuranic polymer lattice, which transfers the muons down along its length, whose other end opens into the reaction chamber, feeding the stream of muons into the chamber to react with the deuterium.
D. Coolant tank
Due to the high temperatures created by the reaction, a coolant is necessary to keep the excess heat from escaping into the rest of the Base. This is accomplished by a plasma coolant tank which surrounds the reaction chamber and absorbs the heat.
E. Waste filtration chamber
Before the electro-plasma created by the reaction process can be feed into the power grid of the Base, the helium byproduct must be filtered out, as it reduces the energy output of the electro-plasma. Therefore, after leaving the reaction chamber, the electro-plasma next passes through a waste filtration chamber. The filtration chamber sends a stream of fullerene through the plasma. Fullerenes are molecules entirely composed of carbon. In this case, it is a spherical molecule that, as it passes through the electro-plasma, traps the helium inside of it, but allows the small plasma ions to pass through freely. On the opposite side of the chamber, an electrified duranium mesh attracts and captures the fullerenes that have encapsulated the helium, bonding the fullerene to the duranium, and trapping the helium with the fullerene
Part III – Maintenance
Due to their non-renewable nature, the deuterium and fullerene supplies, as well as the duranium mesh in the filtration chamber, must be regularly replaced. Therefore, a supply shuttle is dispatched to the Reactor’s facility each month, to replenish the deuterium and fullerene, and to swap out the fullerene-coated duranium mesh with a fresh one. The duranium mesh is taken to a separate facility, so that it can be recycled, cleaned, and used again.
Part IV – Author Disclaimer
In the design of this reactor, certain assumptions have been made. As fusion reactors are well beyond our present level of technology here in the 21st Century, I don’t know whether this would actually work or not. This is partially due to the fact that I have employed certain ideas that may or may not hold true in the real world. They are:
A) That the muons collected by the collector apparatus would exist long enough to be of use as a catalyst in the reaction. According to current science, muons only have an average lifetime of 1/500,000ths of a second, and therefore, under normal circumstances, would not be in existence long enough to make it from the collector to the reaction chamber to act as a catalyst for the reaction
B) That the fullerene used in the filtration would still be a solid once streamed through the plasma. Due to the extremely high temperature of the plasma, there are few compounds would likely remain as a solid when subjected to such temperatures, and therefore I am uncertain that the fullerene would still be in the useful solid state. As I have been unable to find any information as to the melting point of buckminsterfullerene, I figured I could get away with assuming it would still be a solid.
C) That a transuranic polymer lattice would transfer muons along its length. I have no idea, it just sounded good.
D) That an electrified duranium mesh would cause fullerene to bond to it. I needed something to capture the fullerene, and since not much is known about the chemical and physical properties of duranium, I figured I could get away with it.
Part I - Fusion Reaction
Fusion is the process of joining together two or more atomic particles into a heavier one. This process, if involving atoms lighter than iron, will result in the release of energy. Note that the fusion of atoms heavier than iron requires the absorption of energy into the reaction. The lighter the atoms involved, the greater amount of energy is released. Hydrogen, being the lightest of all atoms, produces the greatest amount of energy of any fusion reaction, fusing to form helium and releasing a great amount of energy.
The fuel involved in the FRA-5 fusion reactor is deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen. When deuterium fuses, two different reactions result, with equal likelihood:
D + D --> T + p
D + D --> He + n
Where D is deuterium, He is helium, p is a proton, n is a neutron, and T is tritium, a second isotope of hydrogen. Through these two sets of reactions, the deuterium is utilized to its maximum energy potential.
For these reactions to occur on their own requires extremely high temperatures, to break down the bond between the nucleus of each atom and its electrons, as the electrons of the individual atoms would repel each other and keep the nuclei from getting close enough to fuse. The required temperatures for this stand-alone reaction would be over 800 million Kelvin, which is over 14 billion degrees Fahrenheit. But to avoid such extreme temperatures, the FRA-5 catalyzes the reaction with muons.
A muon is an elementary particle, which a charge of -1. In that respect, it behaves much like an electron, except its mass is 206 times greater than an electron. Therefore, since their interactions are very similar to those of the electron, a muon can be thought of as a much heavier version of the electron. When a cosmic ray strikes a planetary atmosphere, its interaction forms another elementary particle, a pion. Pions very quickly decay into neutrinos and muons. A muon, due to its nature, is essentially a very heavy electron, and is capable of attracting and bringing together the positively-charged nuclei of deuterium and tritium, allowing a fusion reaction to occur at a much lower temperature, even at room temperature or below.
Part II – Fusion Reactor
The FRA-5 Fusion Reactor has 5 main components
A. Reaction chamber
B. Deuterium Injector assembly
C. Muon collector/injector apparatus
D. Coolant tank
E. Waste filtration chamber
A. Reaction Chamber
The reaction chamber of a FRA-5 is a roughly spherical vessel, roughly two meters in diameter. The lining of the chamber a 1-meter thick casing composed of a vanadium-iron composite, able to absorb the nuclear emissions created by fusion reaction. The deuterium injector provides a vertical stream of deuterium into the reaction chamber from the bottom of the chamber, while the muon injector inserts a stream of the muon catalyst from the top of the chamber. The mix ratio of deuterium to muon is 10:1, creating an excess of deuterium. The energy released by the fusion reaction converts this excess deuterium into plasma, which becomes infused with the energy released to form electro-plasma, which is sent throughout the conduits of the Base to power its various systems.
B. Deuterium injector assembly
The deuterium injector assembly is fueled by a deuterium supply tank. The deuterium is channeled from the tank into the deuterium injector, and from there fed into the tank. The deuterium injector is equipped with a safety valve, in the event that the reaction chamber becomes too hot. The injector port is lined with a ring that is dimensioned so that, in the event of a reactor overload, the ring will expand due to the higher temperature, closing off the injector port.
C. Muon collector/injector apparatus
Due to their atmospheric source, muons are readily available. The muon collector is located on the roof of the Command Building, just above the remainder of the fusion reactor assembly. The muon collector creates a positively-charged energy field that attracts the muons in the atmosphere. From there, the muons are fed into a transuranic polymer lattice, which transfers the muons down along its length, whose other end opens into the reaction chamber, feeding the stream of muons into the chamber to react with the deuterium.
D. Coolant tank
Due to the high temperatures created by the reaction, a coolant is necessary to keep the excess heat from escaping into the rest of the Base. This is accomplished by a plasma coolant tank which surrounds the reaction chamber and absorbs the heat.
E. Waste filtration chamber
Before the electro-plasma created by the reaction process can be feed into the power grid of the Base, the helium byproduct must be filtered out, as it reduces the energy output of the electro-plasma. Therefore, after leaving the reaction chamber, the electro-plasma next passes through a waste filtration chamber. The filtration chamber sends a stream of fullerene through the plasma. Fullerenes are molecules entirely composed of carbon. In this case, it is a spherical molecule that, as it passes through the electro-plasma, traps the helium inside of it, but allows the small plasma ions to pass through freely. On the opposite side of the chamber, an electrified duranium mesh attracts and captures the fullerenes that have encapsulated the helium, bonding the fullerene to the duranium, and trapping the helium with the fullerene
Part III – Maintenance
Due to their non-renewable nature, the deuterium and fullerene supplies, as well as the duranium mesh in the filtration chamber, must be regularly replaced. Therefore, a supply shuttle is dispatched to the Reactor’s facility each month, to replenish the deuterium and fullerene, and to swap out the fullerene-coated duranium mesh with a fresh one. The duranium mesh is taken to a separate facility, so that it can be recycled, cleaned, and used again.
Part IV – Author Disclaimer
In the design of this reactor, certain assumptions have been made. As fusion reactors are well beyond our present level of technology here in the 21st Century, I don’t know whether this would actually work or not. This is partially due to the fact that I have employed certain ideas that may or may not hold true in the real world. They are:
A) That the muons collected by the collector apparatus would exist long enough to be of use as a catalyst in the reaction. According to current science, muons only have an average lifetime of 1/500,000ths of a second, and therefore, under normal circumstances, would not be in existence long enough to make it from the collector to the reaction chamber to act as a catalyst for the reaction
B) That the fullerene used in the filtration would still be a solid once streamed through the plasma. Due to the extremely high temperature of the plasma, there are few compounds would likely remain as a solid when subjected to such temperatures, and therefore I am uncertain that the fullerene would still be in the useful solid state. As I have been unable to find any information as to the melting point of buckminsterfullerene, I figured I could get away with assuming it would still be a solid.
C) That a transuranic polymer lattice would transfer muons along its length. I have no idea, it just sounded good.
D) That an electrified duranium mesh would cause fullerene to bond to it. I needed something to capture the fullerene, and since not much is known about the chemical and physical properties of duranium, I figured I could get away with it.
