In 2015 LPP Fusion will test Tungsten cathode, beryllium electrode and Proton Boron Aneutronic Nuclear Fusion

The long-awaited tungsten cathode is finally nearing completion with delivery to LPPFusion should occur by mid February, 2015.

Tungsten has extreme resistance to heat. It is the lowest risk material for the next step of our experiment. They need to eliminate evaporation of the electrode and the resulting impurities to get a jump in the density of our plasmoid, and in the resulting fusion energy output or yield. They have firm experimental evidence that tungsten does not erode under the condition FF-1 is currently running.

They will confirm or refine the theories and technique, paving the way for the beryllium extrudes. Beryllium electrode are expected to be ordered in January, with delivery in the first half of 2015.

LPP Fusion is also preparing for the switch from using deuterium as a fuel to their final aneutronic fuel, hydrogen-boron or pB11. They have checked their 250-gm supply of decaborane—the compound of hydrogen and boron they intend to use. Chief Research Officer Dr. Hamid R. Yousefi has selected the safety equipment they need, such as glove boxes to handle the material, whose vapor is somewhat noxious. They are in the process of designing and purchasing the equipment needed to heat the device to approximately 120 C, needed to create the vapor pressure to fill the vacuum chamber. While it is still months before they are ready to run with decaborane, we will be ready to make the transition with as few delays as possible.

The new Tungsten anode and cathodes are expected to solve an arcing and contamination problem. Solving those problems should boost the power from the boost the power produced by the LPP fusion device by fifty times.

Then they need to up the current to get a further ten times gain and then 20 times gain by going to heavier proton-boron fuel.

Summary of Lawrenceville Plasma Physics

LPP needed to get their Tungsten electrode and then later switch to a berrylium electrode.

If successful with their research and then commercialization they will achieve commercial nuclear fusion at the cost of $400,000-1 million for a 5 megawatt generator that would produce power for about 0.3 cents per kwh instead of 6 cents per kwh for coal and natural gas.

LPP’s mission is the development of a new environmentally safe, clean, cheap and unlimited energy source based on hydrogen-boron fusion and the dense plasma focus device, a combination we call Focus Fusion.

This work was initially funded by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and is now backed by over forty private investors including the Abell Foundation of Baltimore. LPP’s patented technology and peer-reviewed science are guiding the design of this technology for this virtually unlimited source of clean energy that can be significantly cheaper than any other energy sources currently in use. Non-exclusive licenses to government agencies and manufacturing partners will aim to ensure rapid adoption of Focus Fusion generators as the primary source of electrical power worldwide.