How to make a small tokamak?

Question

$\require{mhchem}$I made a fusor once, like the easy science project: deuterium-deuterium ones, but they're really inefficient. I was wondering if it would be possible to make a small tokamak; not one that will make a ton of power, but I just want to make one for the sake of making one, like a tokamak the size of a pizza box. What materials would I need and how would I go about assembling it? Assume it is deuterium-deuterium or $\ce{p-^11B}$ fusion, maybe $\ce{^3He-^3He}$.

Before You start to write an anwer here, have a look at exosuits record of questions! — Georg, Jul 31 '11 at 11:38
Related: https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/141714/fusion-reactors-why-does-size-matter — Cees Timmerman, Jul 04 '17 at 14:00

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 31 '11 at 03:42

High Magnetic Fields. Not the answer you were looking for, but probably the true answer to the question "How dio you make a small(er) (working) tokamak?" It might even be the right approach in the long run. Google "ignitor fusion reactor" or "Bruno Coppi" for more information. The MIT Alcator is an example. Of course high field magnets have their own costs, problems and dangers, as do high magnetic field tokamaks. You should probably not try this on your kitchen table at home and expect a good result unless your resources are roughly equivalent to MIT, ITER or maybe even Florida State.

For a fusion related experiment (even vaguely tokamak related) that might be doable at home, look up "induction plasma technology" in Wikipedia. You might even find references under "Q-tube plasma" if you search hard enough. (Q-tubes were used in very early fusion research.) For more excitement and more danger, but a less tokamak like approach, look up "theta pinch"

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 29 '11 at 22:26

A small tokamak is inefficient.

The following quote from here http://www.jet.efda.org/faq/about-tokamaks:

Creating smaller reactors would be very good, but the confinement of plasma particles gets worse as the plasma gets smaller (and good confinement is required for effective fusion).

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 12 '16 at 20:04

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The smaller it is the harder it is to contain without an extremely high magnetic field which requires a lot of power. However, with new superconductors that have a higher per critical temp it may become possible to have a tokamak based of a magnetic field that will last indefinitely due to the superconduct creating the field.

edited Dec 12 '16 at 20:04

AccidentalFourierTransform

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answered Dec 12 '16 at 19:16

Henry Lima

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Harder to contain the plasma, that it. – Henry Lima Dec 12 '16 at 20:37

score -2 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 20 '13 at 17:10

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Tokamak requires the use of super conducting coils for creating a strong magnetic field to confine the plasma. But, remember that confinement is the second step how you'll cross coulomb barrier at your home. I think you could use a negative catalyst which can increase tunneling effect.

edited Apr 20 '13 at 17:10

Waffle's Crazy Peanut

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answered Apr 20 '13 at 15:51

saurav

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I am pretty sure that both tokamaks and stellarators can and have been built with normal copper coils, and this saves some of the pains associated with superconductors beyond just the high cost. – ikrase Feb 23 '19 at 11:16

How to make a small tokamak?

4 Answers4

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