Brian H - 13 November 2009 04:38 AM
Phil’s Dad - 13 November 2009 03:14 AM
Brian H - 12 November 2009 09:37 PM
As I understand it, the ability of the pulsed FF system to recharge its own capacitors and refire indefinitely means it has infinite Q, the ideal. Perhaps I’m wrong about that, but that’s how I understand it so far.
That’s a good way of putting it. Even if it is only outputting say 1.5 times its input, it recycles the original charge. The rest is coming at you 300 times a second. That’s why it doesn’t need anything like Q=30-50 per cycle to be viable, as some commentators have suggested.
In the end though it comes down to bang for buck. How much net electricity per dollar (including capital payback, fuel sourcing and processing, decommissioning costs, waste disposal, security costs, tea, coffee and so on over the expected lifetime of the machine). Let’s call it $Q.
Yeah; here’s another definition I found: “Q-factor: Ratio of power produced by fusion to power put into the reactor to heat the plasma and drive the magnetic fields. “
By that measure, the Q for pulse 1 is 1.5. For pulse 2 et seq. it is ∞.
But $Q is the overhead costs allocated on a per-pulse basis; lessee:
330 p/s x 60 sec. x 60 min x 24 hr. x 180 days-between-servicings = ~5 billion pulses. Each pulse is worth (¼¢x(5,000kw/pulse)/(330x60x60) = $0.00001. 5bn pulses are worth $50,000. Estimated overheads&amortization per half year are ~ $25,000. $Q is ~2.0. But the “background” power price is around 9¢/kwh (what FF would be replacing), so that 2.0 can be multiplied by ((9 / ¼)=36) = 72. So until “costly” power is entirely supplanted, that would be the payoff ratio ($Q) for putting up new FF generators.
That number $0.09/Kwh is, I think, a retail number. Which includes billing, transmission and distribution services. I think they call that “at the light switch price”.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epav1/wholesale.html#tab10 Gives a better idea of wholesale prices.
Well, here’s a second source which indicates that Wholesale prices did get that high for 2008. At least for New York. Though they have since fallen: http://www.nyiso.com/public/webdocs/newsroom/press_releases/2010/New_York_Wholesale_Power_Prices_Historic_Low_031110.pdf
I didn’t do any math, but it looks to me like the average of the first tables is close to $30.00/MW. Which translates into 3 cents/Kwh.
So that would be about a 3 month payback period. Still spectacular. And hopefully neighborhood generation will decrease the distribution costs to homes. And large commercial users could install their own units. Avoiding billing, transmission and distribution costs altogether. But all that has been discussed elsewhere in these forums.
Man, do we need this technology, or what?
Focus Fusion Society 
