2 ms·

So… she’s correct in the industrial regime that matters, but technically incorrect in the experimental regime where the energy is not recovered?

• Retric 3y ago
  If she was talking about very high Q then it wouldn’t be a major issue, but she was specifically referring to the regimes where it was important. Aka energy breakeven and minimum economic viability. It also explains why Q is formulated in terms of energy added to the plasma vs energy gained from fusion which she didn’t understand. This formula for Q ends up being a term in the equation for economic viability, but she attacked it as if such a formulation was misleading. Basically the total energy spent on the facility including cryogenic cooling, pumps, etc matters + Q as defined by fusion experts + fusion output energy + conversion energy lets you find the total net energy gain which you then compare with the cost of the facility to find economic viability. Roughly, [ (Fusion energy) * (1 + 1/Q) * (conversion efficiency) - (Total energy use by facility) ] / (cost per hour of operation) = energy per dollar. There are other ways you can calculate that same number, but they require a lot more details.