APPARATUS FOR GENERATING MUONS WITH INTENDED USE IN A FUSION REACTOR

Abstract

An apparatus for generating muons, comprising: a hydrogen accumulator including an inlet; an outlet separated from the inlet by a flow path; a hydrogen transfer catalyst arranged along the flow path; and an accumulating member for receiving hydrogen in ultra-dense state from the outlet at a receiving portion of the accumulating member and accumulating the hydrogen in the ultra-dense state at an accumulation portion of the accumulating member. The accumulating member has a downward sloping surface from the receiving portion to the accumulation portion. The apparatus further includes a field source, such as a laser, arranged to provide, to the accumulation portion of the accumulating member, a field adapted to stimulate emission of negative muons from hydrogen in the ultra-dense state. The apparatus further includes a specially designed barrier and a shield to retain the super-fluid ultra-dense hydrogen from creeping away from the accumulation portion of the generator.

Claims

1. An apparatus for generating muons, comprising: an ultra-dense hydrogen accumulator including: an inlet for receiving hydrogen in a gaseous state; an outlet separated from said inlet by a flow path; a hydrogen transfer catalyst arranged along the flow path between said inlet and said outlet, said hydrogen transfer catalyst having a material composition being selected to cause a transition of hydrogen from the gaseous state to an ultra-dense state; and an accumulating member for receiving hydrogen in the ultra-dense state from said outlet at a receiving portion of the accumulating member and accumulating said hydrogen in the ultra-dense state at an accumulation portion of the accumulating member, the accumulating member being configured to provide a downward sloping surface from said receiving portion to said accumulation portion; and a field source arranged to provide, to the accumulation portion of said accumulating member, a field adapted to stimulate or induce emission of negative muons from hydrogen in the ultra-dense state.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said hydrogen accumulator further comprises: a barrier surrounding said receiving portion, said accumulation portion and said downward sloping surface for reducing escape of hydrogen in the ultra-dense state.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said barrier has at least an outer surface made of a material selected from the group consisting of a polymer, and a base metal oxide.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said hydrogen accumulator further comprises: a shielding member arranged between said accumulating member and said field source and shielding said outlet and said receiving portion.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said shielding member is arranged to expose said accumulation portion to the field provided by said field source.

6. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein at least a surface of said shielding member facing said accumulating member is made of a material selected from the group consisting of a polymer, a base metal oxide, and a metal.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said hydrogen accumulator further comprises: a metallic absorbing member for absorbing hydrogen in the ultra-dense state, arranged in said accumulation portion of the hydrogen accumulating member.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said metallic absorbing member is made of at least one material selected from the group consisting of a metal in a liquid state at an operating temperature for said apparatus and a catalytically active metal in a solid state at the operating temperature for said apparatus.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a heating arrangement for increasing a temperature of the accumulating member comprised in said hydrogen accumulator.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said outlet is arranged at the receiving portion of said accumulating member.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said outlet is an integral portion of said accumulating member.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said field source is a laser arranged to irradiate the accumulation portion of said accumulating member of the hydrogen accumulator.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said field source is a laser arranged to irradiate hydrogen in the ultra-dense state accumulated in the accumulation portion of said accumulating member; wherein the accumulating member comprised in said hydrogen accumulator has an lower face and a concave upper face with a plurality of holes extending from said lower face to said concave upper face, each hole in said plurality of holes defining a flow path having an inlet on said lower face and an outlet on said upper face, a lowest portion of said upper concave face being said accumulation portion; wherein each of said holes accommodates a hydrogen transfer catalyst having said material composition being selected to cause transition of hydrogen from the gaseous state to the ultra-dense state; wherein a barrier surrounds said upper face; and wherein a shielding member having a shielding member opening is arranged to, together with said barrier and said upper face form a partly enclosed space for preventing escape of hydrogen in the ultra-dense state, while allowing said laser to irradiate said accumulation portion through said shielding member opening.

14. A fusion reactor comprising: a hydrogen vessel; and an apparatus according to claim 1, arranged to generate negative muons impinging on said hydrogen vessel, to catalyze fusion in said hydrogen vessel.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] These and other aspects of the present invention will now be described in more detail, with reference to the appended drawings showing example embodiments of the invention, wherein:

[0041] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a fusion reactor including a muon generator according to embodiments of the present invention;

[0042] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an example embodiment of the apparatus for generating muons, according to the present invention;

[0043] FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary measurement setup for detecting generation of negative muons;

[0044] FIG. 4 is a diagram of measurements obtained using a similar setup as that shown in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

[0045] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram functionally illustrating a fusion reactor for muon catalyzed fusion using muon generator according to embodiments of the present invention.

[0046] The fusion reactor 1 comprises a muon generator 10, a vessel 3 containing hydrogen gas (which may, for example, be a suitable mix of protium, deuterium, and tritium), a vaporizer 5, and an electrical generator 7.

[0047] As is schematically shown in FIG. 1, muons generated by the muon generator 10 are used for catalyzing fusion according to, per se, known fusion reactions in the vessel 3. Heat resulting from the fusion reactions in the vessel 3 is used for vaporizing a process fluid, such as water, in the vaporizer. The resulting vapor-phase process fluid, such as steam, is used to drive the electrical generator 7, resulting in output of electrical energy. If only heat is needed, the electrical generator is not needed.

[0048] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of an example embodiment of the apparatus for generating muons according to the present invention. In the following, the apparatus will generally be referred to as muon generator.

[0049] With reference to FIG. 2, the muon generator 10 comprises a hydrogen accumulator 13, and a field source, here in the form of a laser (not shown in FIG. 2, but represented by a block arrow illustrating a laser beam 15). As is schematically indicated in FIG. 2, the hydrogen accumulator 13 comprises a hydrogen gas intake member 17, an accumulating member 19, a barrier 21, here in the form of a gasket and a shielding member 23.

[0050] As is shown in FIG. 2, the accumulating member 19 has a lower face 25 and a concave upper face 27. In the particular example shown in FIG. 2, the concave upper face 27 is generally conical, with a rounded apex. A plurality of holes 29 (only one of the holes is indicated by a reference numeral to avoid cluttering the drawings) extend through the accumulating member 19 from the lower face 25 to the upper face 27, and a corresponding plurality of hydrogen transfer catalyst plugs 31 (only one of the catalyst plugs is indicated by a reference numeral to avoid cluttering the drawings) are accommodated by the holes 29.

[0051] In the example embodiment of FIG. 2, the lower face 25 of the accumulating member 19 forms the lid of an inlet chamber 33 for hydrogen gas, further defined by the hydrogen gas intake member 17. Each of the holes 29 formed through the accumulating member 19 has an inlet 35 for receiving hydrogen gas from the inlet chamber 23, and an outlet 37 for providing ultra-dense hydrogen to receiving portions 39 on the upper face 27 of the accumulating member 19.

[0052] Due to the conical shape of the upper face 27 of the accumulating member 19, the ultra-dense hydrogen provided to the receiving portions 39 tends to mainly flow towards the accumulation portion 41 at the bottom of the bowl formed by the upper face 27 of the accumulating member 19.

[0053] Due to the super-fluid behavior of ultra-dense hydrogen (below a transition temperature between the super-fluid state and the normal-fluid state of ultra-dense hydrogen), some of the ultra-dense hydrogen provided to the receiving portions 39 may flow upwards, away from the accumulation portion 41. This flow is hindered by the barrier 21, and also by the shielding member 23.

[0054] To even further increase the amount of ultra-dense hydrogen in the accumulation portion 41, the hydrogen accumulating member 13 additionally comprises an ultra-dense hydrogen retaining member 43 arranged in the accumulation portion 41. The ultra-dense hydrogen retaining member 43 may, as was explained further above in the Summary section, be made of a liquid metal or a solid metal capable of absorbing ultra-dense hydrogen.

[0055] It should be noted that many different shapes of the concave upper face 27 are possible. For instance, the concave upper face 27 need not be rotationally symmetrical, as long as there is a sloping surface portion from the receiving portion(s) 29 towards the accumulation portion 41.

[0056] The ultra-dense hydrogen accumulated in the accumulation portion 41 is subjected to a perturbing field using the field source (indicated by the laser beam 15). In the example embodiment of FIG. 2, the field source is a laser and the perturbing field is thus provided in the form of laser radiation.

[0057] The person skilled in the art realizes that the present invention by no means is limited to the preferred embodiments described above. On the contrary, many modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the appended claims.

[0058] In the claims, the word comprising does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article a or an does not exclude a plurality. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measured cannot be used to advantage.

[0059] Theoretical Discussion

[0060] Ultra-Dense Hydrogen and Muon Generation

[0061] Ultra-dense hydrogen H(0) is a quantum material at room temperature. It is described in several scientific publications, with detailed studies of the structure of D(0) and also of its protium analog p(0). It is shown to be both superfluid and superconductive at room temperature. Due to the normally measured very short p-p and D-D distances of 2.3 pm and below, the density of H(0) is very high.

[0062] While ordinary (orbital angular momentum l) based Rydberg matter has l>0 for its binding electrons, this ultra-dense matter has l=0 and s>0 (1, 2, 3, 4 . . . ) which is the spin quantum number for the binding electrons. Thus, the electrons which give the ultra-dense matter structure have no orbital motion, but only a spin motion. This electron spin motion may be interpreted as a motion of the charge with orbit radius r.sub.q=/2m.sub.ec=0.192 pm and with the velocity of light c (Zitterbewegung). This spin motion is centered on the H atoms and may give a planar structure for the HH pairs as in the case of the planar clusters for ordinary Rydberg matter. This means that the interatomic distance in ordinary Rydberg matter which is d=2.9 l.sup.2 a.sub.0 is replaced with d=2.9 s.sup.2 r.sub.q for the ultra-dense matter, as verified by direct measurements. Here, 2.9 is a constant determined numerically for ordinary Rydberg matter and confirmed experimentally by radio frequency spectroscopy. It is also confirmed for ultra-dense hydrogen by visible emission spectroscopy. The Bohr radius is indicated as a.sub.0. The spin-circling electronic charges provide the necessary shielding of the nuclei which keeps the material strongly bound, similar to ordinary Rydberg matter but with much larger binding energies.

[0063] The mechanism of formation of ultra-dense matter starts with the formation of higher normal Rydberg matter levels (l=1-3), which are formed spontaneously at the catalyst surface. It implies that the ultra-dense hydrogen is formed from ordinary Rydberg matter levels l=1-3 falling down to the lower energy ultra-dense states. The nuclear processes taking place in H(0) spontaneously and under laser impact or other field induction processes are still not completely known. However, several different steps have been studied separately. For example, the laser induces the transition from s=2 to s=1 in H(0). The total process giving the negative muons required for the muon-catalyzed fusion starts with the ultra-dense hydrogen particles H.sub.N(0) and is proposed to be:

H.sub.N(0)(s=1).fwdarw..fwdarw.(pe)(pe).fwdarw.nn.fwdarw.K.sup.+K.sup.0+.sup..fwdarw.decay.fwdarw..sup.,

[0064] where n is an anti-neutron, formed from the quasi-neutrons (pe) (proton+electron). The mesons formed are all types of kaons and pions, and it is likely that three kaons are formed from each H.sub.N(0) particle since this conserves the number of quarks. Over all, the number of quarks is largely unchanged in the meson formation step, but further pair production of pions is also possible which does not conserve the number of quarks. The process shown is highly exoergic and gives much more than 100 MeV to the particles ejected from each pair of protons. This should be compared to ordinary D+D fusion, which has an output per pair of deuterons of 4-14 MeV depending on the conditions like temperature.

[0065] Catalytic Conversion

[0066] The catalytic process for converting hydrogen gas to ultra-dense hydrogen may employ commercial so called styrene catalysts, i.e. a type of solid catalyst used in the chemical industry for producing styrene (for plastic production) from ethylene benzene. This type of catalyst is made from porous FeO material with several different additives, especially potassium (K) as so called promoter. The function of this catalyst has been studied in detail by several different groups.

[0067] The catalyst is designed to split off hydrogen atoms from ethyl benzene so that a carbon-carbon double bond is formed, and then to combine the hydrogen atoms so released to hydrogen molecules which easily desorb thermally from the catalyst surface. This reaction is reversible: if hydrogen molecules are added to the catalyst they are dissociated to hydrogen atoms which are adsorbed on the surface. This is a general process in hydrogen transfer catalysts. We utilize this mechanism to produce ultra-dense hydrogen, which requires that covalent bonds in hydrogen molecules are not allowed to form after the adsorption of hydrogen in the catalyst.

[0068] The potassium promoter in the catalyst provides for a more efficient formation of ultra-dense hydrogen. Potassium (and for example other alkali metals) easily forms so called circular Rydberg atoms K*. In such atoms, the valence electron is in a nearly circular orbit around the ion core, in an orbit very similar to a Bohr orbit. At a few hundred C. not only Rydberg states are formed at the surface, but also small clusters of Rydberg states K.sub.N*, in a form called Rydberg Matter (RM).

[0069] The clusters K.sub.N* transfer part of their excitation energy to the hydrogen atoms at the catalyst surface. This process takes place during thermal collisions in the surface phase. This gives formation of clusters H.sub.N* (where H indicates proton, deuteron, or triton) in the ordinary process also giving the K.sub.N* formation, namely cluster assembly during the desorption process. If the hydrogen atoms could form covalent bonds, molecules H.sub.2 would instead leave the catalyst surface and no ultra-dense material could be formed. In the RM material, the electrons are not in so-called s orbitals since they always have an orbital angular momentum greater than zero. This implies that covalent bonds cannot be formed since the electrons on the atoms must be in s orbitals to form the normal covalent sigma () bonds in H.sub.2. The lowest energy level for hydrogen in the form of RM is metallic (dense) hydrogen called H(1), with a bond length of 150 picometer (pm). The hydrogen material falls down to this level by emission of mainly infrared radiation. Dense hydrogen is then spontaneously converted to ultra-dense hydrogen called H(0) with a bond distance of 0.5-5 pm depending on the spin level. This material is a quantum material (quantum fluid) which may involve both electron pairs (Cooper pairs) and nuclear pairs (proton, deuteron or triton pairs, or mixed pairs). These materials are both superfluid and superconductive at room temperature, as confirmed in several experiments.

[0070] Experimental Results

[0071] Results are here given which characterize a muon generator like the apparatus 10 schematically shown in FIG. 2, with reference to FIG. 3 illustrating an experimental setup, and FIG. 4 showing results of measurements carried out using a similar experimental setup.

[0072] Referring to FIG. 3, the experimental setup comprises a vacuum chamber 51, the muon generator 10 described above with reference to FIG. 2, a toroidal coil 53, and a collector 55. There is a first distance d.sub.1 between the accumulation portion 41 and the coil, and a second distance d.sub.2 between the accumulation portion 41 and the collector 55. As is schematically indicated in FIG. 3, the vacuum chamber 51 has a window 54 for allowing passage of a laser beam 15. A lens 56 is provided inside the vacuum chamber 51 for focusing the laser beam 15 at the accumulation portion 41 of the muon generator 10.

[0073] The D.sub.2 gas pressure in the vacuum chamber 51 is around 1 mbar with constant pumping.

[0074] In the present experimental setup, the field source comprised in the muon generator is a pulsed laser with pulse length in the few nanosecond range. Both visible and infrared laser light give similar behavior. The pulse energy used for the typical experiments is of the order of 200-400 mJ. With a pulse repetition rate of 10 Hz typical, this means only 2-4 W of laser power outside the vacuum chamber. The effective laser power at the muon generator is somewhat lower, due to losses by reflection in beam steering mirrors, in the glass window 54 in the vacuum chamber wall and in the focusing lens 56.

[0075] The laser beam is normally focused on the accumulation portion 41 of the muon generator using a lens 56 of 40-50 mm focal length, but the focusing is not critical.

[0076] Experiments have been performed with a current transformer which directly measures the current from the laser-induced nuclear processes using the toroidal coil 53. A wire is there wound around a ferrite toroidal core, with around 20 turns of wire on a toroid of a few cm diameter. The pulse of charges from the laser-induced nuclear processes on the generator is observed as an induced current in the coil. This is a standard method of measuring the pulse current for example in electron accelerators with the particles moving at relativistic velocities. In the present experiments, the beam passing through the coil is additionally observed the foil collector 55. This means that absolute calibration is possible.

[0077] For a somewhat simplified measurement case using similar equipment as that schematically illustrated in FIG. 3, FIG. 4 shows a first signal 57 obtained from a coil, such as the coil 53 in FIG. 3, and a second signal 59 obtained from a collector, such as the collector in FIG. 3. The known distance between the coil 53 and the collector 55 of about 1 m, and the measured delay of about 3 ns indicates charged particles traveling close to the speed of light. Since the coil only gives a signal due to charged particles, photons are excluded as the particles giving the signals.

[0078] The curve shape of the signal in FIG. 4 agrees well with that calculated for a meson in a decay chain, with a time constant for the decay of 12 ns. This is the characteristic decay time for charged kaons K.sup.. In several published studies also characteristic decay times of 26 and 52 ns have been measured, indicating decay of charged pions .sup. and neutral long-lived kaons K.sub.L.sup.0. It is well-known that all these particles decay to the much more long-lived muons .sup., which are the particles mainly observed in the coil and at the collector in FIG. 4. Relevant publications include:

[0079] L. Holmlid, Int. J. Modern Phys. E 24 (2015) 1550026.

[0080] L. Holmlid, Int. J. Modern Phys. E 24 (2015) 1550080.

[0081] L. Holmlid, Int. J. Modern Phys. E 25 (2016) 1650085.

[0082] To ascertain that muons are formed, also several published studies have directly measured the decay of the muons and their interaction with matter including electron-positron pair production. The direct decay time of free muons at 2.2 s has also been measured, and slightly shorter decay times due to muon interaction with other particles like nuclei. Relevant publications include:

[0083] L. Holmlid and S. Olafsson, Int. J. Hydr. Energy 40 (2015) 10559-10567

[0084] L. Holmlid and S. Olafsson, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 86, 083306 (2015).

[0085] L. Holmlid and S. Olafsson, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 41 (2016) 1080-1088.

[0086] S. Olafsson and L. Holmlid, Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 2016/4/16. BAPS.2016.APR.E9.9.