Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

EBtwopoint3 t1_j12d356 wrote

Reply to comment by BalderSion in How do X-rays “compress” a nuclear fusion pellet? by i_owe_them13

How do you get the energy out? My understanding is that fission plants are essentially fancy steam boats, heating water to turn a turbine that powers a generator. How does this work in theory for a system like this?

1

BalderSion t1_j12ukvz wrote

A fusion plant would be the same steam generator. The engineering is mature, and it's the most efficient way to turn hot into electricity. The D+T fusion reaction produced puts 80% of its energy into a neuron and 20% into a helium. Both will strike the wall of the chamber and that will heat the chamber. Cooling channels running through the wall carry the heat to a heat exchanger which makes steam for the turbine. Any other mechanism would be less efficient than steam generator.

There are the p+Boron 11 schemes that produce energetic charged particles (no neutrons), which could be, magnetically funneled into collectors to create a very high voltage DC current, however the physics challenges with that fusion reaction are higher.

2