4 ms·

IANAP but I imagine this for a worst case: we are forced to find a way to painstakingly harvest it from vast arrays of solar-powered Hirsch-Farnsworth fusors. T

by dbtx 7y ago

IANAP but I imagine this for a worst case: we are forced to find a way to painstakingly harvest it from vast arrays of solar-powered Hirsch-Farnsworth fusors. Then later on the question will be, "Will we run out of deuterium?"

jelliclesfarm 7y ago
An argument for advancing fusion energy tech...maybe? Helium producing reactors can fill the gap. Between space travel and MRIs and everything in between, we might be running out of helium which is non renewable.
- dbtx 7y ago
  It's not the kind of tech which people are largely interested in when they say fusion energy. But fusors are already built and used commercially, consuming energy to produce something else. Helium could just be another derived product, along with fast neutrons, radioactive isotopes, etc. You could "renew" all you needed, if you had no choice... it wouldn't be cheap, or as cheap, just like he says in the video about dwindling supplies. You don't really run out, it just gets really expensive.
Eric_WVGG 7y ago
Speaking of harvesting, I was randomly wondering what kind of minerals could be mined from the moon the other day, apparently it’s packed with helium. (figures it’s dun floating overhead all the time)
- jansan 7y ago
  Are you thinking of a tube made of nanofibers dangling from the moon into the atmosphere, through which helium will be pumped? Sounds intriguing. Jeff Bezos, are you listening?
DagAgren 7y ago
The amounts of helium produced by any nuclear reactions are absolutely miniscule. Filling a balloon with nuclear fusion is a mammoth task.
- willis936 7y ago
  I did some numbers a while ago you may be interested in: If all power generated right now was from D+T fusion, it would generate about 8.2% of the current helium consumption. We consume 153,596 TWh of thermal energy per year [1]. Each D+T reaction releases 17.59 MeV [2]. Multiply by the atomic mass of He4 and divide by Avogadro's number to get the mass of He4 produced per energy produced. Divide by the density of He4 at STP to get volume of He4 produced per second [3]. Divide by the consumption of He4 to get the ratio of He4 produced to He4 consumed [4]. https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(153596+TWh+%2F+year)+%2F+(17.59+MeV)+%2F+(avogadro%27s+number+1%2Fmol)+*+(4.002602+g%2Fmol)+%2F+(0.1786+g+%2F+liter)+%2F+(88+million+m%5E3+%2F+year) https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(153596+TWh+%2F+year)+... 1. https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-en... 2. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/NucEne/fusion.html http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/NucEne/fusion.htm... 3. https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/gas-density-d_158.html https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/gas-density-d_158.html 4. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11053-017-9359-y https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11053-017-9359-y

by dbtx 7y ago

jelliclesfarm 7y ago

An argument for advancing fusion energy tech...maybe? Helium producing reactors can fill the gap. Between space travel and MRIs and everything in between, we might be running out of helium which is non renewable.

dbtx 7y ago
It's not the kind of tech which people are largely interested in when they say fusion energy. But fusors are already built and used commercially, consuming energy to produce something else. Helium could just be another derived product, along with fast neutrons, radioactive isotopes, etc. You could "renew" all you needed, if you had no choice... it wouldn't be cheap, or as cheap, just like he says in the video about dwindling supplies. You don't really run out, it just gets really expensive.

Eric_WVGG 7y ago

Speaking of harvesting, I was randomly wondering what kind of minerals could be mined from the moon the other day, apparently it’s packed with helium. (figures it’s dun floating overhead all the time)

jansan 7y ago
Are you thinking of a tube made of nanofibers dangling from the moon into the atmosphere, through which helium will be pumped? Sounds intriguing. Jeff Bezos, are you listening?

DagAgren 7y ago

The amounts of helium produced by any nuclear reactions are absolutely miniscule. Filling a balloon with nuclear fusion is a mammoth task.

willis936 7y ago
I did some numbers a while ago you may be interested in: If all power generated right now was from D+T fusion, it would generate about 8.2% of the current helium consumption. We consume 153,596 TWh of thermal energy per year [1]. Each D+T reaction releases 17.59 MeV [2]. Multiply by the atomic mass of He4 and divide by Avogadro's number to get the mass of He4 produced per energy produced. Divide by the density of He4 at STP to get volume of He4 produced per second [3]. Divide by the consumption of He4 to get the ratio of He4 produced to He4 consumed [4]. https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(153596+TWh+%2F+year)+%2F+(17.59+MeV)+%2F+(avogadro%27s+number+1%2Fmol)+*+(4.002602+g%2Fmol)+%2F+(0.1786+g+%2F+liter)+%2F+(88+million+m%5E3+%2F+year) https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(153596+TWh+%2F+year)+... 1. https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-energy-sources https://ourworldindata.org/energy-production-and-changing-en... 2. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/NucEne/fusion.html http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/NucEne/fusion.htm... 3. https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/gas-density-d_158.html https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/gas-density-d_158.html 4. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11053-017-9359-y https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11053-017-9359-y