Talk:Pyroelectric fusion

Pyroelectric fusion

Good article - but are you sure that the following sentence is correct: "the process does not appear to be able to generate net power" ?

The Economist article on this experiment (http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3909490) states that the team were unwilling to speculate whether their apparatus could produce net energy if it were scaled up.--New Thought 12:43, 6 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Don't bother. I worked the calculations for research, and it's impossible. Only a small fraction of the energy input into the crystal to heat it up goes into charge (much less than 1%), and fusion yields being what they are, it's not going to produce more than a tiny fraction of the input. 74.167.234.252 22:05, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Farnsworth Fusor

Anyone know how this differs from a Farnsworth Fusor? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.22.154.164 (talk • contribs)

Deuterium is accelerated from a charged tip into a solid object? - Omegatron July 1, 2005 00:34 (UTC)

yes, deuterium ions (deuterons) are accelerated into a deuterium-containing target, where the Where most conventional fusion research revolves around confining a ball of high-energy plasma in which fusion can occur, this is much more similar to a particle accerator. 74.167.234.252 22:05, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I do (I'm working in the field now). A Farnsworth fusor uses an electrical high-voltage source and a wire mesh to accelerate and trap ions; this setup uses crystals to generate the high electrical potential, and produces a beam (as with a particle accelerator) rather than a fusing plasma. 74.167.234.252 22:05, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]