Nuclear Fusion within a Bubble

SONOFUSION
Srividhya.R.Nandan USN: 1MS09TE061 Technical Seminar
B.E- Telecommunication Engg
Guide : Prof. Parimala. P Asst. Professor MSRIT, Bangalore
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my guide, Prof. Parimala. P for having agreed to provide her profound guidance and support for this technical seminar, the seminar coordinator, Prof. Venu. K. N and the H.O.D, K. Natarajan, for their constant encouragement towards pursuing my interests in the premises of our esteemed institute.

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Outline

Introduction Sonoluminescence Sonofusion Experimental setup Other methods of nuclear fusion Evidence of table top sonofusion device Future developments Advantages of sonofusion Applications of sonofusion Conclusion
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Introduction
With the steady growth of world population and with economic

progress in developing countries, average electricity consumption per person will increase significantly. Therefore, seeking new sources of energy isnt just important; it is necessary. Nuclear fission and fusion are two of these alternative sources of energy which produce enormous amounts of energy. However, these processes leave behind dangerous radioactive wastes, which take decades to decay. Also, they require more energy for their functioning than what they reproduce. i.e., Efficiency is low. Reactors required to carry out these processes are extremely expensive. proposed to overcome all the above shortfalls of nuclear energy.
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Sonofusion is a new method for nuclear fusion which has been

Introduction
Sonofusion is derived from a related concept known as Sonoluminescence. When a gas bubble in a liquid is excited by ultrasonic acoustic waves it can emit short flashes of light suggestive of extreme temperatures inside the bubble. These flashes of light are known as sonoluminescence. Since the temperature inside the bubble reaches temperatures as high as that in the sun, the interiors of these bubbles facilitate nuclear fusion reaction. This is known as Sonofusion. This method can be rendered safe as the extreme conditions exist only in small regions of the liquid in the container ,i.e., within the collapsing bubbles.
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Sonoluminescence
Sonoluminescence is the flash of light caused when a gas bubble

in a liquid is subjected to ultrasonic acoustic waves. When the lower pressure portion of the wave interacts with the bubble, it tends to swell up. When the higher pressure portion of the wave interacts with the bubble, it contracts. This phenomenon is called acoustic cavitation. All the energy involved in swelling up of the bubble is confined in a small space inside the bubble leading to extremely high temperatures and hence light. The flashes of light sustain only for about 50 picoseconds. Sonoluminescence makes use of a single bubble and it cannot withstand pressures higher than 17o kPa. Hence, in Sonofusion, clusters of bubbles are used to produce greater pressures suitable for nuclear fission.
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Sonoluminescence

ACOUSTIC CAVITATION IN SONOLUMINESCENCE

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Sonofusion
Sonofusion is derived from the concept of Sonoluminescence. Development of research of Sonofusion is carried out by The Acoustic Fusion Technology Energy Consortium (AFTEC) Sonofusion uses a cluster of bubbles rather than a single bubble. As the bubbles at the boundaries of the cluster implode, the pressure at the center of the cluster gets intensified, creating conditions suitable for thermo nuclear fusion. Temperatures at the core of the cluster are estimated to reach up to 10 million degrees Celsius. Coalescence of some of interior bubbles will lead to the implosion of fairly large interior bubbles which produce more energetic implosions. Sonofusion is carried out in flasks containing radioactive materials such as deuterium, which can fuse to produce neutrons, gamma rays and enormous amounts of energy.
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Experimental setup

SONOFUSION APPARATUS

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Experimental setup
The essential apparatus involved are: Pyrex flask. Deuterated acetone (C3D6O). Vacuum pump. Piezoelectric crystal. Wave generator. Amplifier. Neutron generator. Neutron and gamma ray detector. Photomultiplier. Microphone and speaker.
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Experimental setup
PYREX FLASK WITH PIEZOELECTRIC RING:
Pyrex glass flask: 10 mm height and 65 mm diameter Piezoelectric ring:

lead-zirconate-titanate ceramic piezoelectric crystal in the form of a ring is attached to the flasks outer surface Used to create pressure waves Contracts when positive voltage is applied, Expands when voltage is removed

DEUTERATED ACETONE:
flask is then filled with commercially available deuterated acetone (C3D6O) 99.9 percent of the hydrogen atoms in the acetone molecules are deuterium Deuterium is used because it

Can undergo fusion much more easily Can withstand significant tension (stretching) without forming unwanted bubbles Is also relatively cheap, easy to work with, and not particularly hazardous
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Experimental setup
VACUM PUMP: Naturally occurring air bubbles that cannot withstand the temperature and
pressure are removed using the vacum pump

WAVE GENERATOR:
An oscillating voltage with a frequency of about 20,000 hertz is applied to

the piezoelectric ring to initiate the sonofusion process using the wave generator.

AMPLIFIER:
The amplifier amplifies the signal from the wave generator and feeds it to

the piezoelectric crystal to provide pressure waves

NEUTRON GENERATOR:
The generator emits high-energy neutrons at 14.1 mega electron volts in a

burst that lasts about six microseconds and that goes in all directions.

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Experimental setup
ACTION WITHIN THE FLASK
STAGE 1 (creation of bubble clusters):
Some neutrons from the neutron generator collide with the carbon and

oxygen atoms to knock out the nuclei out of the atoms. The atoms recoil to produce heat and in turn clusters of bubbles. Each cluster consists of around 1000 bubbles, each having a radius of a few 10 nanometers.

STAGE 1 OF SONOFUSION

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Experimental setup
STAGE 2 (cavitation or expansion of bubble cluster):

By firing the neutron generator during the liquids low pressure phase, the bubbles instantly swell -a process known as cavitation In these swelling phases, the bubbles balloon out 100,000 times from their nanometer dimensions to about one millimeter in size

STAGE 2 OF SONOFUSION

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Experimental setup

STAGE 3 (compression of bubble cluster and nuclear fusion):

When the pressure rapidly reverses, the liquid pushes the bubbles walls inward with tremendous force, and they implode with great violence. Hydrodynamic shock-waves create, in a small region at the centre of the collapsing bubble, a peak pressure greater than 10 trillion kPa. These extreme conditions within the bubbles, cause the deuterium nuclei to collide at high speed. These collisions are so violent that the positively charged nuclei overcome their natural electrostatic repulsion and fuse, resulting in nuclear fusion producing neutrons, gamma rays and enormous amount of energy.

STAGE 3 OF SONOFUSION

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Experimental setup
NEUTRON AND GAMMA RAY DETECTOR (SCINTILLATIOR):
The fusion process creates neutrons which we detect using a

scintillator, a device in which the radiation interacts with a liquid that gives off light pulses that can be measured.
PHOTOMULTIPLIER:
The sonoluminescence caused due to the compression of the

bubble cluster is indicated by bursts of photons, which is detected with a photomultiplier. MICROPHONE AND SPEAKER: After about 20 microseconds, a shock wave in the liquid reaches the flasks inner wall, resulting in an audible pop, which can be picked up and amplified by a microphone and a speaker.
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Experimental setup
FUSION REACTIONS TAKING PLACE WITHIN THE FLASK:

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Experimental setup
IF TRITIUM IS PRODUCED:

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Experimental setup

SEQUENCE OF EVENTS DURING SONOFUSION

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Other methods of nuclear fusion

There are mainly two approaches on fusion reactions other than bubble power. They are : LASER BEAM TECHNIQUE:
An extremely energetic laser beams converge on a tiny solid pellet of deuterium-

deuterium fuel. A shock wave that propagates towards the centre of the pellet and creates an enormous increase in temperature and density. Drawback of this approach is the amount of power lasers required.

MAGNETIC CONFINEMENT FUSION:

It uses powerful magnetic fields to create immense heat and pressure in

hydrogen plasma contained in a large, toroidal device known as a tokamak. The heat produced in the blanket is used to generate vapour to drive a turbine and thus generate electricity. It is very difficult to hold the plasma in place while increasing temperature and pressure.

The above methods need some energy input in the form of electricity, high

energy laser, strong magnetic field or such. The efficiency of such reactions is very small.
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Evidence supporting table top sonofusion device

First evidence is the energy level of the neutron

detected by the neutron generator whose power is 2.54MeV, which is the exact energy of a neutron given out after D-D fusion Also, the neutron is detected at the same time when the photomultiplier detects the photons due to sonoluminescence, indicating that fusion has taken place at the same time as sonoluminescence. Second evidence is the concentration of tritium in the liquid which can be present only due to D-D fusion within the flask.
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Future Developments
FULLY SELF-SUSTAINED: Two flasks can be placed next to each other with their pressure waves being
180 degrees out of phase. If at first neutrons are fed into flask one at low pressure, after fusion in it, neutrons are produced which can be fed to the second flask when it is at low pressure to cause fusion in it. The process goes on and hence the system becomes self-sustained.

COMPLETE ELECTRICITY-PRODUCING NUCLEAR FUSION

REACTOR:
Water blankets can be used around the reactors to absorb the heat

produced by them. This converts the water to steam which can be used to drive turbines to generate electricity.

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Advantages of sonofusion
The process is self sustainable.
It is easily controllable. It consistently produces more energy than it

consumes. The process is economically viable. Raw materials for the process are easily available. The entire process is environmental friendly.

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Applications of sonofusion
Thermonuclear fusion gives a new, safe, environmental friendly

way to produce electrical energy. This technology could also result in a new class of low cost, compact detectors for security applications that use neutrons to probe the contents of suitcases. It can lead to the development of devices for research that use neutrons to analyze the molecular structure of materials. It can provide machines that cheaply manufacture new synthetic materials and efficiently produce tritium, which is used for numerous applications ranging from medical imaging to watch dials. It can give rise to a new technique to study various phenomena in cosmology, including the working of neutron star and black holes.
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Conclusion
Nevertheless, the Holy Grail of all fusion research is the development of a new, safe, environmentally friendly way to produce electrical energy. Fusion produces no greenhouse gases and, unlike conventional nuclear fission reactors, it produces no noxious radioactive wastes that last for thousands of years. With the steady growth of world population and with economic progress in developing countries, average electricity consumption per person will increase significantly. Therefore, seeking new sources of energy isnt just important; it is necessary. Much more research is required before it is clear whether sonofusion can become a new energy source.
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References
IEEE SPECTRUM: BUBBLE POWER by Richard T.

Lahey Jr., Rusi P. Taleyarkhan, Robert I. Nigmatulin / May 2005 www.spectrum.iee.org www.null-hypothesis.co.uk www.washington.edu/research/scienceforum www.rpi.edu

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