Discussion of Hydrogen - Boron 11 fusion

University of New South Wales researchers led by Emeritus Professor Heinrich Hora have made important breakthroughs recently in developing clean nuclear energy technology.

When a proton (a Hydrogen nucleus) fuses with a Boron-11 nucleus it produces 3 alpha particles (Helium nuclei).

That's it. No radioactive fuels. No radioactive waste.

See "Pioneering technology promises unlimited, clean and safe energy" for a recent University of New South Wales report.

Hydrogen Boron-11 fusion

The Hydrogen - Boron 11 "fusion reaction" fuses the two nuclei to briefly form a Carbon 12 nucleus.
The Carbon nucleus then breaks into 3 Helium nuclei.
1.008 grams of Hydrogen + 11.009 grams of Boron 11
=> 12.008 grams of Helium + 232 MWh (or 837 gigajoules).

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) May 15, 2020

The energy comes from mass deficit. It is a two-stage reaction. The fuels undergo fusion. The intermediate product splits apart.
The energy from the mass deficit, fortuitously, exits as kinetic energy of fast helium ions.
Kinetic energy may be converted directly to electricity.

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) May 15, 2020

The Hydrogen has one proton and the Boron 11 has 5 protons and 6 neutrons.
Combined, these create Carbon 12 which has 6 protons and 6 neutrons.
BUT the molar masses of the hydrogen and boron 11 are 12.017 grams. Stable Carbon 12 has a molar mass of exactly 12.0 grams.

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) May 16, 2020

The excess of 0.017 grams ends up divided between the mass of 3 Helium nuclei AND the kinetic energy (speed) of those Helium nuclei - that fly apart as the Carbon 12 breaks apart.
The molar mass of the three Helium nuclei is 12.008 grams, leaving 0.009 grams => energy.

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) May 16, 2020

In some alternate physics, the Carbon 12 atoms with the excess molar mass of 12.017 grams might conceivably get rid of that excess mass by emitting high energy gamma radiation. This would be a greater amount of energy, but we have no technology for converting it to electricity🙁.

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) May 16, 2020

Wait, isn't that 12g/mol, not 12g per nucleus?

Also, the breakup should be asymmetric with a 4He cluster followed by a systematic 2x4He split. The mass difference is probably due to QCBE not be stable, perhaps the reason for the breakup.

— ☢Anti-Protons☢🏳️‍🌈📎⚧🐱🇺🇸🌈🌊 - Call me Ishtar (@Antiproton_com) May 16, 2020

Yes. Molar masses... 12g/mol for Carbon12.
Carbon 12 is the international standard for atomic mass units.
It is defined as having a molar mass of exactly 12.0 grams per mole which is 12.0 atomic mass units per (amu) atom. https://t.co/X8YuJF1PgF

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) May 17, 2020

The excess mass of 0.01713 grams per mole has to go somewhere....
=>Each Carbon 12 nucleus may be thought of as being in an energy excitation state of 15.96 MeV. In that excited state each nucleus breaks into 3 x Helium 4 nuclei and the new mass deficit shows up as kinetic energy

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) May 17, 2020

Yes. Reaction mechanism details are a research topic.
In 2011: "Weller and his colleagues took a fresh look at the hydrogen-boron reaction at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory...The team found the collision yields two high-energy alphas" https://t.co/Ye79jWh6KQ

— Askgerbil Now (@Askgerbil) May 17, 2020

That might be it.

The end result is (basically) the same from the purposes of resulting energy for power.

It seems promising to me, as far into it as I have read. I wonder if there is gamma emission and what the flux density is. That (and neutrons) are issues with D+T fusion

— ☢Anti-Protons☢🏳️‍🌈📎⚧🐱🇺🇸🌈🌊 - Call me Ishtar (@Antiproton_com) May 17, 2020

April 4, 2011: Overturned scientific explanation may be good news for nuclear fusion

"Researchers have been developing reactors to slam hydrogen at high speeds into boron-11, a collision that yields high-energy helium nuclei, or alpha particles. Those alphas then spiral through a tunnel of electromagnetic coils, transforming them into a flow of electrons, or electricity."

June 12, 2020: Ultra-Fast High-Precision Metallic Nanoparticle Synthesis using Laser-Accelerated Protons

The technique of using high-energy lasers to accelerate hydrogen (aka protons) is finding wide application beyond fusion with Boron11.

Ultra-Fast High-Precision Metallic Nanoparticle Synthesis using Laser-Accelerated Protons https://t.co/wVV3DfiKzf pic.twitter.com/CGQr1cQkq9

— BlackPhysicists (@BlackPhysicists) June 16, 2020