GB2292632A - A generator - Google Patents

Abstract

Apparatus for generating a voltage from charge carrying ions within a chamber including a source of ions disposed within the chamber, at least one electrode surrounding the source of ions for collecting the charge from the ions, means for applying an alternating magnetic field to the chamber whereby the ions are carried towards the at least one electrode by MHD effect, and at least one capacitor plate disposed outside of and electrically connected to the at least one electrode on which the charges are gathered and from which the charges are used to generate the voltage. Inertial fusion reactors F produce ionised neutrons. The neutrons are amplified in fission elements D1 and D2 and interact with a water spray to produce further ions. <IMAGE>

Description

A GENERATOR The present invention relates to generation of electricity from a source of energetic ions in a fluid.

More specifically, an electromagnetic field is applied to the fluid in order to confine the ions against electrodes which collect charge from the ions.

It has hitherto been known that energy can be removed from a high energy neutron by use of a moderator material.

The energy from the neutron causes the moderator material to be heated. This heat is then used to generate electricity.

It has also been thought possible to create a plasma from which charges may be collected in order to generate electricity. However, generation of plasmas has always involved enormous temperatures which has made charge collection very difficult. The plasma must normally be magnetically confined in a vacuum.

The present invention overcomes or at least reduces the above problem and many other problems experienced in the prior art.

The present invention is an apparatus for generating a voltage from charge carrying ions within a chamber including a source of ions disposed within the chamber, at least one electrode surrounding the source of ions for collecting the charge from the ions, means for applying an alternating magnetic field to the chamber whereby the ions are carried towards the at least one electrode by M H Deffect, and at least one capacitor plate disposed outside of and electrically connected to the at least one electrode on which the charges are gathered and from which the charges are used to generate the voltage.

Embodiments of this invention are described below by way of example only and with reference to the following drawings.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the present invention showing production of ions and conversion of the ions into electricity.

Figure 2 is a sectional front elevation of the generator.

Figure 3 is a sectional plan view of the generator shown in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic sectional view of the generator.

Figure 5 is a sectional view through an energy conversion module.

Figures 6, 7 and 8 are sectional views of the generator.

Referring to Figure 1, the generator is shown schematically including an ion source disposed within a chamber. The ions are urged towards a wall of the chamber where they are converted into electricity.

The source of ions in this embodiment is a laser fusion device and a fission device. The fusion device may use tiny pellets of hydrogen, deuterium, tritium or a combination of these as a fuel. It is also possible to use other substances as a fuel. The preferred fuel pellets are deuterium - tritium (d-t) pellets.

Fusion of the fuel pellets is carried out by aiming a number of pulsed lasers at the pellets which causes them to be compressed and ignited. This fusion of fuel pellets occurs at high temperatures and causes ions and neutrons to be emitted. The ions in this instance are hydrogen ions.

The fission device acts as a neutron multiplier. It is relatively conventional and naturally emits neutrons. The fission device is initially driven by the fusion device.

The laser energy is used to ignite the fusion device which emits neutrons to stimulate the fission fuel to fission.

The fission fuel then emits more neutrons which carry a large proportion of the energy of the fission. The fission reaction results in a multiplication of neutrons emitted.

The energy of the fission reaction is carried by the neutrons in the form of kinetic energy.

It has traditionally been difficult and dangerous to collect the energy carried by the neutrons. In this invention the energy carried by the neutrons from the fusion reaction and the neutrons from the fission reaction is collected by causing the neutrons to collide with molecules or compounds in a substance so that those molecules or compounds are ionised by the collisions. Each neutron may collide with a number of compounds or molecules causing each to be ionised.

In this embodiment, the compounds or molecules to be ionised by the neutrons are in the form of a gas or spray.

The type of gas or spray is relatively unimportant, but water has been proposed. The water is sprayed into the chamber around the fusion and fission devices by spray nozzles in order to generate a mist. It is an advantage to make this mist as dense as possible in order to increase the probability that the neutrons collide with the atoms. The substance to be ionised could alternatively be any fluid.

A proportion of the energy of the neutrons is transferred to a water molecule with which it has collided in that ionisation of that molecule has required energy.

That energy has been taken from the kinetic energy of the neutron.

This ionisation of water produces hydrogen (H+) ions forming a conductive gas which may be acted on by a magnetic field. The magnetic field is applied to the gas to urge the hydrogen ions towards the inner surface of the chamber by magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). This magnetic field is generated by a reactor starter unit A including a Leyda bottle-type apparatus with four electrodes A. A microprocessor computer is located inside which maintains the program of the electric field (E) and magnetic field (B) necessary for MHD. The MHD effect acts in alternate frequency. The starter unit includes control sensors for temperature, neutrons and radiolytic fuel quota. The inner surface of the chamber includes a set of electrodes which collect the charge from the ions and carry the charge to a capacitor on which the charge is collected.This is a charge extraction device formed in the wall of the chamber. This wall also acts as a blanket for absorbing any high energy particles from the fusion or fission devices.

Figures 2 and 3 show the generator device as a whole.

The chamber is formed by three interlinked cells (H1,H2,H3) lying along the same axis. D-T pellets are injected into a number of fusion units F disposed within a central cell (H2). In the preferred embodiment there are ten such fusion units F disposed annularly around the fission device. Each fusion unit F includes thirty six target channels in which forty nine laser beams or other high energy particle beams are focused. These beams compress and ignite the D-T pellets so that fusion takes place. The fusion reaction generates both ions and neutrons in the form of a plasma which is confined for a very short time. The neutrons carry a considerable energy from the fusion reaction, generally of the order of eighty per cent of the reaction energy. The neutrons must therefore be captured and their energies extracted. The reaction is typically of the following form: 6D

2(4He + H + n) Energy released = 43.2 MeV ion neutron Two fission devices (D1,D2) are disposed within the generator. A first fission device (D1) containing twenty five fuel rods is mounted in a first cell (H1) and a second fission device (D2) containing sixteen fuel rods is mounted in the central cell (H2). Some of the fusion units (F) are disposed adjacent the second fission device (D2) so that some of the neutrons from the fusion reaction stimulate fission in the fission device (D2). The fission devices act as neutron multipliers and generate many high energy neutrons. In this embodiment, the fusion reaction is necessary for driving the fission reaction.

The upper cell H3 represents a very specific form of reactor and is useful for propulsion and aeronautical purposes. The upper cell H3 is not essential.

Each cell (H1,H2,H3) includes fluid nozzles which spray a fine mist of fluid into the chamber. As the energetic neutrons from the fusion and fission devices pass through the chamber, they collide with the molecules or compounds that form the mist. The collisions result in ionisation of the molecules or compounds as energy is transferred from the neutrons to the molecules or compounds. This ionisation thus causes the mist or gas to become conductive.

Electromagnets 2 are formed in the walls of the chamber which are used to urge the positive charged ions to the inner surface of the chamber wall. The charge is then extracted from the chamber. The layers 1 - 5 of the wall of the chamber will be described in detail in relation to Figure 5.

Each of the cells may be isolated from the others by gate valves G disposed between the cells. Isolation of cells is useful since repairs may be made to a cell without shutting the generator down. This is a particularly important feature of the present invention since the generator is constructed in modular form with each module being easily replaceable.

Figures 2 and 3 show a generator of square section. It is also possible to construct the generator so that it is of other sectional shapes. Figure 4 shows a generator of circular section.

It is important to realise that the fusion and fission devices operate at relatively low temperatures.

Furthermore, these devices could be replaced by other sources of ions. However fusion or fission devices are preferred since they are capable of generating large amounts of energy. Furthermore, whilst a combination of fusion and fission devices are preferred, one or other of these devices may be omitted.

Referring to Figure 4, the Magnetohydrodynamic effect is illustrated. A radial magnetic field is applied to the contents of the chamber. This causes ions, in this instance positive ions of H+, to be drawn towards the inner surface of the chamber wall where the ions collect. Once the ions come into contact with the electrodes on the inner surface of the chamber wall, the charge is carried away to a series of capacitor plates from which the charge is taken. The ions are generated both directly by fusion, and indirectly by fusion and fission as described above. Charges tend to move in circles around a magnetic field. Since the magnetic field is radial, the charges tend to gather where the magnetic field density is least, i.e. against the inner surface of the wall.

The substance which is ionised by the neutrons must be a fluid so that the ions are free to drift towards the electrodes. The ion mobility should be as great as possible so that the ions reach the electrodes as quickly as possible without recombining. For this reason a gas or sprayed liquid is preferred. A fine spray of water is favoured for its low cost.

Referring to Figure 5, a module of the generator is shown. Modules are stacked one above another and side by side to form a wall with the electrodes 7 at the inner surface of the wall. The electrodes 7 are pointed in order to assist in the collection of charge from the ions.

Each module is elongate and has a protection blanket 1 at one end. This protection blanket 1 includes four electrodes 7 extending from it. These electrodes 7 are electrically connected to a metal shield 6. The electrical connection includes a set of electro-magnetic coils 2 constructed from a superconductor material.

The charges naturally pass out to the metal shield 6 since, when the generator is assembled, the metal shield surrounds the electrodes 7. The principles of Gauss' law lead to the effect of Faraday's cage where all charge accumulates on the outermost surface of a conducting object.

The outer metal shield 6 passes the charge onto a capacitor plate from which the electricity is taken.

A further possibility is also illustrated in Figure 5.

The electricity generated can be used to electrolyse water in order to generate hydrogen ions at the cathode for use as fusion reactor fuel.

The module shown also includes some cooling pipes since some of the energy from the neutrons is dispersed in the form of heat. Liquid hydrogen is typically used for cooling.

Figures 6, 7 and 8 show the modular construction of the present invention very clearly with each module having four electrodes 7 and being removable from the generator. The outer layer of the generator is a safety biological shield 5.

The height of the generator is between fifty centimetres and seventy metres in height.

The ions confined within the reactor wall last for only fractions of a second, so the MHD effect does not significantly treat the walls or the ions. Cool confinement is therefore achieved.

Claims (17)

1. Apparatus for generating a voltage from charge carrying ions within a chamber including a source of ions disposed within the chamber, at least one electrode surrounding the source of ions for collecting the charge from the ions, means for applying an alternating magnetic field to the chamber whereby the ions are carried towards the at least one electrode by MHD effect, and at least one capacitor plate disposed outside of and electrically connected to the at least one electrode on which the charges are gathered and from which the charges are used to generate the voltage.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the source of ions includes a source of atomic particles for ionising a fluid.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the source of ions includes an atomiser for discharging the fluid in the form of a mist.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2 or 3 wherein the source of ions includes a gas outlet for discharging the fluid in the form of a gas.

5. Apparatus according to claims 2 - 4 wherein the source of atomic particles includes a nuclear fission device.

6. Apparatus according to claims 2 - 5 wherein the source of atomic particles includes a nuclear fusion device.

7. Apparatus according to claims 2 - 6 wherein the source of atomic particles emits neutrons.

8. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the nuclear fusion device includes a plurality of lasers directed at a fuel whereby the fuel is caused to undergo nuclear fusion.

9. Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein each of the at least one electrode is pointed for enhanced charge collection.

10. Apparatus according to any preceding claim which includes walls within which charge collection occurs.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10 wherein the walls are of a modular structure whereby sections of wall may be removed and replaced.

12. Apparatus according to claim 10 or 11 wherein the wall includes electric coils for creating the magnetic field.

13. Apparatus according to any of claims 10 to 12 wherein the wall includes the at least one electrode on an inner surface of the wall.

14. Apparatus according to any of claims 10 to 13 wherein the wall includes the at least one capacitor plate.

15. Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the chamber is divided into three interconnected cells.

16. Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the means for applying a magnetic field to the chamber applies a radial magnetic field.

17. Apparatus for generating a voltage from charge carrying ions constructed and arranged substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.