Montgomery Childs: SAFIRE Project Update | EU2015

Building on the past year of experimentation and analysis, the SAFIRE Project is moving into Phase 2, which takes the lessons from the Phase 1 Proof of Concept Prototype into a much larger chamber. Phase 1 ended on a cliff-hanger with indications of fusion and transient million-fold CME-like eruptions. Monty will present some aspects of the new chamber design, and also explain some of the equally challenging tasks of building SAFIRE Phase 2.

Montgomery Childs is the author of three college engineering text books and holds eight international technical patents. He was lead design engineer of the Canadian National Research Council for Rocket Design to measure for oxygen in the upper atmosphere. He is now the Lead Scientist and Program Manager for the SAFIRE Project.

• W. Lowell Morgan and M. ~W. Childs, “Study of striations in a spherically symmetric hydrogen discharge,” Plasma Sources Science and Technology, vol. 24, iss. 5, p. 055022, 2015.
  [Bibtex]

  @Article{0963-0252-24-5-055022,
    Title                    = {Study of striations in a spherically symmetric hydrogen discharge},
    Author                   = {{Lowell Morgan}, W. and {Childs}, Montgomery ~W.},
    Journal                  = {Plasma Sources Science and Technology},
    Year                     = {2015},
    Number                   = {5},
    Pages                    = {055022},
    Volume                   = {24},
  
    Abstract                 = {Experiments on a high power spherically symmetric positive corona discharge in molecular hydrogen are reported upon. These are collisional plasmas in the H 2 pressure range of about 0.75 Torr to 3 Torr. Applied voltages ranged up to 600 V on the anode with currents ranging up to 3 A. As others have observed in prior published experiments going back to 1997, we have observed spherically symmetric striations or double layers. Others have observed such striations in O 2 , CO 2 , and in mixtures of N 2 and acetone or methanol, or benzene. Like H 2 all these gases, except N 2 itself, readily dissociate and form negative ions by dissociative attachment with electrons. We propose that the striations are instabilities arising from copious formation of negative ions that modify the radial space charge and electric field distributions in such high aspect ratio spherical discharges.},
    File                     = {0963-0252-24-5-055022.pdf:0963-0252-24-5-055022.pdf:PDF},
    Owner                    = {trismegisto},
    Timestamp                = {2015.12.28},
    Url                      = {http://stacks.iop.org/0963-0252/24/i=5/a=055022}
  }