Emerging Solutions for High-Energy-Density,
Description: Emerging Solutions for High-Energy-Density, Years-Capacity, Nuclear-Weak-Force Batteries (NTAC and LENR) and Issues with Space-Based Solar Power Dennis M. Bushnell, Chief Scientist, NASA Langley Research Center Sang Choi, Senior Scientist,
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slide1. Emerging Solutions for High-Energy-Density, Years-Capacity, Nuclear-Weak-Force Batteries (NTAC and LENR) and Issues with Space-Based Solar Power Dennis M. Bushnell, Chief Scientist, NASA Langley Research Center
Sang Choi, Senior Scientist, NASA Langley Research Center NTAC = Nuclear Thermionic Avalanche Cell
LENR = Low Energy Nuclear Reactions<br>
slide2. Why Nuclear Weak Force, NTAC and LENR, Batteries - Last for years
- Superb energy/power density
Much lighter, smaller than reactors
Scale far better than reactors, up to tens of megawatts or down in power and energy to milliwatts
Work off the nuclear weak force, radioactive decay 2<br>
slide3. Issues with respect to State-of-the-Art (SOA) Nuclear Batteries Current best SOA Nuclear battery is a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) device, 6% efficient, converts heat to electricity
RTGs generate some 10 watts/ Kg of isotope
Cannot shut off, must handle the heat 3<br>
slide4. NTAC Bottom lines Up Front NEW, NASA Nuclear Battery
Frees up the inner electrons as well as the valence electrons
Direct electricity production, solid state
Alpha, total weight, Kgs/kilowatt-electric (kWe), is of order one, reactors are 25 to a hundred, advanced RTGs are even greater
Up to 22 kWe/Kg of isotope, from release of intraband electrons
Scales well from powering phones to tens of MWs
Solves nuclear waste, powers ships, undersea sensors, everything space, 200 day round trips to Mars [vice 3 years] using Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR), high thrust, 6,000 sec of ISP
Physics experimentally proven, experiments to determine efficiency being worked
Largely self shielding 4<br>
slide5. Electrons from Intra-bands (IB) Photon-Coupling: Photoelectric (pe) effect, Photonuclear (pn) effect, Compton scattering (Cs), Electron/Positron pair production (pp) (p-n junction: Brillouin limit) 5<br>
slide6. NTAC System Alpha Study 6<br>
slide7. LENR – Low Energy Nuclear Reactions Over three decades, thousands of papers WRT LENR
Experiments worldwide indicate heat release greater than chemical, TRANSMUTATIONS, with no radioactive emissions
Experiments until recently had replication and scaling issues, theoretical efforts not successful
Over the last ten years the Japanese have devoted considerable time and treasure to LENR and apparently determined the key issue wrt replication and scaling – necessity of surface nano asperities/ cracks to concentrate area energy by up to E3, as shown in academic studies 7<br>
slide8. Status of LENR A Japanese company, Clean Planet is developing a commercial 1 kW device, covered by some 62 patents, and a 600kW device for applications requiring greater power, cited device capability is 10,000 times chemical, working with a large number of applications, companies
Early days yet wrt application engineering/ device optimization, experimental devices have run for months
No radioactive emissions, basic device weight expected to be even lighter than NTAC, no shielding necessary. But is a heat battery, therefore energy conversion [ T-E, T-PV, Pyro-E, Sterling etc.] weight, volume probably greater than NTAC due to the energy conversion, not solid state. 8<br>
slide9. A Conjectured LENR Process [Widom-Larsen Theory] Load hydrogen (H2) onto a metal surface, resulting surface plasmon initiates collective effects
Add some energy, several types appear to work, produces high voltage gradients at nano cracks/ asperities due to concentration of surface energy by up to E3
Voltage gradients [ E11/M] excite collective electrons to combine with protons to form ultraweak neutrons
Neutrons readily interact, producing neutron rich isotopes which undergo beta decay and transmutations, heavy electron cloud converts beta to heat, no worrisome radiation, no coulomb barrier
The Weak Force, NOT FUSION 9<br>
slide10. Generic LENR Requirements/ Observations Requires materials that adsorb large amounts of hydrogen [H2 or D2] such as Ni, Palladium, etc., Hydrogen forms a surface Plasmon
Low level energy addition, electrons, electrolysis, plasma discharge, lasers, heat, electro-magnetic (E-M) energy, per Univ. research, amplifies by E3 at nano surface asperities via quantum tunneling. Once operating, internal IR appears to replace the input energy
Process occurs on surfaces, at nano morphology sites 10<br>
slide11. Summary of Evidence in Experiments For Weak Force Interaction/ Nuclear Effects HE4 produced
Transmutations
Energy produced at E4 times chemical
All in the Context Of: Little worrisome radiation, no way to overcome Coulomb barrier for strong force physics… 11<br>
slide12. Why has it taken some 3 decades To Sort Out LENR? Apparently, a non-obvious multistage process involving the weak force
Initial claims of “Cold Fusion” poisoned the well, became the Energetics Third Rail
Lack of validated physics understanding
Low heat levels produced, experimental replication issues
Lack of experiments focused on validating, or not, theory, mostly variations on previous experiments vice the basic physics and efforts to identify such
Considered simply too good to be true…incredulity 12<br>
slide13. Quote From The Edward Storms Book on LENR “The LENR effect has been replicated hundreds of times while using different materials and 5 different methods of energy addition. Each method is found to produce energy well in excess of any plausible chemical source and that is correlated with identified nuclear products.” 13<br>
slide14. Utilization Approaches LENR produces Heat
Can utilize the heat directly or convert it to electricity via such as Sterling Cycles, Thermoelectrics, Pyroelectrics, T-PV, Etc.
Note – We went directly in the 40’s from chemical to strong force nuclear and in the process bought huge energy densities and huge radiation health/ safety issues. We leapt over the weak force, except for radiologics. With LENR we are apparently backtracking. 14<br>
slide15. This appears to be one of those hugely game-changing Techs that appear once a generation or less. We will spend the next 10-20 years understanding, optimizing weak force engineering, of which LENR is an initial manifestation
Becoming Energy/Power RICH via the Weak Force……………..As this Diffuses Worldwide, National Security and Econometrics Change Massively 15<br>
slide16. Prospective Benefits of LENR Technology Global climate/ energy mitigation
A 10 KW and greater device could replace petroleum, power transportation, provide home/ office/ factory distributed energy generation, desalinate water, power agriculture, ETC.
Weak Force Theory and now experiments indicate LENR scales from phones to GW power plants
Remediate radioactive waste 16<br>
slide17. Issues With Space-Based Solar Power - 1 Launching through space debris, large-to-huge number of launches
Overall costs, expensive WRT ground-based renewables, high development costs
Economics - Cost[s] of space access , higher cost [rad hard] PV & electronics/ power conditioning, maintenance costs
Potential energy beam/lobes effect[s] upon biota, requires definitive studies [U.S. vs. Russian exposure limits]
Launch vehicle efflux effects [MANY launches]
Less expensive storage and renewables solutions exist for terrestrial as base load, competition 17<br>
slide18. Issues With Space-Based Solar Power - 2 Concerns WRT beam weaponization
For army utilization, issues with achieving sufficiently narrow beams, small antenna size [requires lasers not microwaves, lasers more expensive than microwaves and have atmospheric interference issues]
Latency, many years to decades to design, optimize, build, launch, start operating
Overall efficiency [generation, conversion, transmission, reception]
Waste heat disposal in space
Autonomous robotic In-space assembly of huge arrays
Arrays are superb targets… 18<br>
slide19. Bottom Line WRT Space Solar Power Unaffordable, Not Competitive in cost or time, with Army operational issues 19<br>
Sang Choi, Senior Scientist, NASA Langley Research Center NTAC = Nuclear Thermionic Avalanche Cell
LENR = Low Energy Nuclear Reactions<br>
slide2. Why Nuclear Weak Force, NTAC and LENR, Batteries - Last for years
- Superb energy/power density
Much lighter, smaller than reactors
Scale far better than reactors, up to tens of megawatts or down in power and energy to milliwatts
Work off the nuclear weak force, radioactive decay 2<br>
slide3. Issues with respect to State-of-the-Art (SOA) Nuclear Batteries Current best SOA Nuclear battery is a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) device, 6% efficient, converts heat to electricity
RTGs generate some 10 watts/ Kg of isotope
Cannot shut off, must handle the heat 3<br>
slide4. NTAC Bottom lines Up Front NEW, NASA Nuclear Battery
Frees up the inner electrons as well as the valence electrons
Direct electricity production, solid state
Alpha, total weight, Kgs/kilowatt-electric (kWe), is of order one, reactors are 25 to a hundred, advanced RTGs are even greater
Up to 22 kWe/Kg of isotope, from release of intraband electrons
Scales well from powering phones to tens of MWs
Solves nuclear waste, powers ships, undersea sensors, everything space, 200 day round trips to Mars [vice 3 years] using Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR), high thrust, 6,000 sec of ISP
Physics experimentally proven, experiments to determine efficiency being worked
Largely self shielding 4<br>
slide5. Electrons from Intra-bands (IB) Photon-Coupling: Photoelectric (pe) effect, Photonuclear (pn) effect, Compton scattering (Cs), Electron/Positron pair production (pp) (p-n junction: Brillouin limit) 5<br>
slide6. NTAC System Alpha Study 6<br>
slide7. LENR – Low Energy Nuclear Reactions Over three decades, thousands of papers WRT LENR
Experiments worldwide indicate heat release greater than chemical, TRANSMUTATIONS, with no radioactive emissions
Experiments until recently had replication and scaling issues, theoretical efforts not successful
Over the last ten years the Japanese have devoted considerable time and treasure to LENR and apparently determined the key issue wrt replication and scaling – necessity of surface nano asperities/ cracks to concentrate area energy by up to E3, as shown in academic studies 7<br>
slide8. Status of LENR A Japanese company, Clean Planet is developing a commercial 1 kW device, covered by some 62 patents, and a 600kW device for applications requiring greater power, cited device capability is 10,000 times chemical, working with a large number of applications, companies
Early days yet wrt application engineering/ device optimization, experimental devices have run for months
No radioactive emissions, basic device weight expected to be even lighter than NTAC, no shielding necessary. But is a heat battery, therefore energy conversion [ T-E, T-PV, Pyro-E, Sterling etc.] weight, volume probably greater than NTAC due to the energy conversion, not solid state. 8<br>
slide9. A Conjectured LENR Process [Widom-Larsen Theory] Load hydrogen (H2) onto a metal surface, resulting surface plasmon initiates collective effects
Add some energy, several types appear to work, produces high voltage gradients at nano cracks/ asperities due to concentration of surface energy by up to E3
Voltage gradients [ E11/M] excite collective electrons to combine with protons to form ultraweak neutrons
Neutrons readily interact, producing neutron rich isotopes which undergo beta decay and transmutations, heavy electron cloud converts beta to heat, no worrisome radiation, no coulomb barrier
The Weak Force, NOT FUSION 9<br>
slide10. Generic LENR Requirements/ Observations Requires materials that adsorb large amounts of hydrogen [H2 or D2] such as Ni, Palladium, etc., Hydrogen forms a surface Plasmon
Low level energy addition, electrons, electrolysis, plasma discharge, lasers, heat, electro-magnetic (E-M) energy, per Univ. research, amplifies by E3 at nano surface asperities via quantum tunneling. Once operating, internal IR appears to replace the input energy
Process occurs on surfaces, at nano morphology sites 10<br>
slide11. Summary of Evidence in Experiments For Weak Force Interaction/ Nuclear Effects HE4 produced
Transmutations
Energy produced at E4 times chemical
All in the Context Of: Little worrisome radiation, no way to overcome Coulomb barrier for strong force physics… 11<br>
slide12. Why has it taken some 3 decades To Sort Out LENR? Apparently, a non-obvious multistage process involving the weak force
Initial claims of “Cold Fusion” poisoned the well, became the Energetics Third Rail
Lack of validated physics understanding
Low heat levels produced, experimental replication issues
Lack of experiments focused on validating, or not, theory, mostly variations on previous experiments vice the basic physics and efforts to identify such
Considered simply too good to be true…incredulity 12<br>
slide13. Quote From The Edward Storms Book on LENR “The LENR effect has been replicated hundreds of times while using different materials and 5 different methods of energy addition. Each method is found to produce energy well in excess of any plausible chemical source and that is correlated with identified nuclear products.” 13<br>
slide14. Utilization Approaches LENR produces Heat
Can utilize the heat directly or convert it to electricity via such as Sterling Cycles, Thermoelectrics, Pyroelectrics, T-PV, Etc.
Note – We went directly in the 40’s from chemical to strong force nuclear and in the process bought huge energy densities and huge radiation health/ safety issues. We leapt over the weak force, except for radiologics. With LENR we are apparently backtracking. 14<br>
slide15. This appears to be one of those hugely game-changing Techs that appear once a generation or less. We will spend the next 10-20 years understanding, optimizing weak force engineering, of which LENR is an initial manifestation
Becoming Energy/Power RICH via the Weak Force……………..As this Diffuses Worldwide, National Security and Econometrics Change Massively 15<br>
slide16. Prospective Benefits of LENR Technology Global climate/ energy mitigation
A 10 KW and greater device could replace petroleum, power transportation, provide home/ office/ factory distributed energy generation, desalinate water, power agriculture, ETC.
Weak Force Theory and now experiments indicate LENR scales from phones to GW power plants
Remediate radioactive waste 16<br>
slide17. Issues With Space-Based Solar Power - 1 Launching through space debris, large-to-huge number of launches
Overall costs, expensive WRT ground-based renewables, high development costs
Economics - Cost[s] of space access , higher cost [rad hard] PV & electronics/ power conditioning, maintenance costs
Potential energy beam/lobes effect[s] upon biota, requires definitive studies [U.S. vs. Russian exposure limits]
Launch vehicle efflux effects [MANY launches]
Less expensive storage and renewables solutions exist for terrestrial as base load, competition 17<br>
slide18. Issues With Space-Based Solar Power - 2 Concerns WRT beam weaponization
For army utilization, issues with achieving sufficiently narrow beams, small antenna size [requires lasers not microwaves, lasers more expensive than microwaves and have atmospheric interference issues]
Latency, many years to decades to design, optimize, build, launch, start operating
Overall efficiency [generation, conversion, transmission, reception]
Waste heat disposal in space
Autonomous robotic In-space assembly of huge arrays
Arrays are superb targets… 18<br>
slide19. Bottom Line WRT Space Solar Power Unaffordable, Not Competitive in cost or time, with Army operational issues 19<br>