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Some time ago, experimenters noticed that applying intense sound wave to water could create light, under the proper conditions. They investigated and found that the light was created because of the very high temperatures in bubbles created in water by the sound waves. The temperatures were so high that it seemed reasonable to assume that it might be possible to use this method to achieve the temperatures necessary to cause fusion.
But in a July 25, 2002 article in nature, Yuri T. Didenko and Kenneth S. Suslick wrote:
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We therefore expect that the extraordinary conditions necessary to initiate nuclear fusion will be exceedingly difficult to obtain in any liquid with a significant vapor pressure. However, the possibility of such events in very low volatility liquids (for example, some polar organic liquids26, molten salts or liquid metals) cannot be ruled out. |
I am proposing another approach using a foam made of hydrogen, deuterium, or tritium, and a heavy metal with a low melting point, such as lead or ordinary solder. The foam would be surrounded by a chemical explosive and and placed inside a strong casing.
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Detonation would be initiated by a device similar to a Microwave oven. A strong enough pulse of microwave energy might liquefy the core before the explosion got underway. That could be facilitated by using an explosive that only detonated at as high a temperature as could be managed. The sudden increase in temperature of the core would increase the pressure in the gas bubbles in the core.
The core size should be tuned to the frequency of the microwaves, so that it is an efficient antenna. The core should be as small as possible so as to take advantage of the square cube law. It seems that a small core would heat faster since there would be less thermal inertia. The microwave energy output should ramp up as rapidly as possible. The gas bubbles in the core should be formed at as high a temperate as possible. It would seem to be possible to make a core about the size of a BB with current technology.
Upon application of RF energy and detonation of the explosive, a lot of things would happen very rapidly, and I don't think there is any method of analysis that predict the sequence of events exactly. Considering the possible payoffs of a working device, it might be worth the cost just to build one and try it.
The metal part of the foam would melt, and the bubbles would collapse under the compression waves that would be generated. They might also expand and collapse several times during the first few nanoseconds after the "little bang". Extremely high temperatures would be generated, and possibly they might be high enough to generate fusion.
The hydrogen bubbles in the foam could be composed of protium, deuterium, or tritium, or a mixture thereof. Tritium is know to fuse at lower temperatures, so it might be the best choice. But the temperatures achieved when the bubbles collapse may be a function of the difference in density between the liquid and the gas, in which case good results might be achieve with the lower density protium form of hydrogen.
The explosive should be energetic, fast, and stable.
It might be possible to tune the compression waves caused by the explosion by the shape and size of the casing. Protrusions or cavities might be introduced to control frequency and resonance.
The casing should be strong and heat resistant, but non-metallic. Possibly, it should be made of some high temperature ceramic. Putting the whole thing together safely would require overcoming a number of challenges.