4 ms·

Could Hall effect be used to accelerate ions fast enough to fuse? Could this be another Avenue to achieving break even fusion? Also Could nitrogen be a passab

Could Hall effect be used to accelerate ions fast enough to fuse? Could this be another Avenue to achieving break even fusion? Also Could nitrogen be a passable Hall effect thruster fuel? I envision refilling propellant by the craft dipping into the upper atmosphere and scooping up some air.

archermarks 4y ago
No. Hall thrusters are low temperature plasma devices, and operate in a completely different plasma regime than fusion devices. The ions dont get that fast, only a few tens of thousands of meters/second. The electrons only reach 10-100 eV, a far cry from the hundreds of thousands of eV in fusion devices.