Plasmoid ( ball
lightning ) generation with a microwave resonator
by Jean-Louis
Naudin
Cliquez
ici pour la version Française
created on
February 27, 2003 - JLN Labs -
Last update February 27, 2003
Toutes les informations et schémas sont publiés
gratuitement ( freeware ) et sont destinés à un usage personnel
et non commercial
All informations and
diagrams are published freely (freeware) and are intended for a private use and a non commercial
use.
The purpose of this test is to build a plasmoid ( a ball lightning ) with a microwave resonator placed in a microwave oven. A microwave oven uses a magnetron as microwave source, its working frequency is 2.45 GHz. A magnetron is compact, has a light weight ( compared to a HV transformer with the same output power ) and it is a high power device. It is able to produce a great amount of power in a small volume most particularly in a plasmoid. A plasmoid is a great source of ions and can be very useful for EHD, MHD and Electrokinetic devices such as the Lifter....
This experiment uses a microwave resonator composed with a small quater wave antenna mounted on an artificial ground surface. The frequency of the magnetron is 2.45 GHz, its wave length is l = 12.2 cm, this gives the height of the 1/4 wave microwave antenna : l/4 = 3 cm and the ground base diameter : l/2 = 6 cm.
You will find below a very simple experiment that anyone can perform with a simple kitchen microwave oven.
Materiel requirement :
Microwave resonator construction :
1) Cut a 60 mm diameter disk in
the aluminum sheet,
2) Cut a small rectangle 5x40 mm in the aluminum sheet,
3) To make the antenna, shape to a point one side of this
rectangle, then bend at right angle the other side so as the
antenna height is 30 mm ( see the photo below ).
4) Fit together the two pieces of aluminum with a piece of adhesive aluminum or cyanoacrylate glue as shown in the photo below.
Your microwave resonator is finished and now, your plasmoid generation experiment is ready to begin...
| Warning : Don't forget that the Plasmoid generates ozone (O3) and nitrogen oxydes ( NO and NO2), so you need to do this experiment in an open and well ventiled area. If you do it the risk of any results is just yours. I take no responsibility of anything that might happen. |
Plasmoid launching sequence :
Open the windows so as to get a well ventiled area.
Put your microwave resonator in the middle of the microwave oven.
Put a small glass of water ( optional ) as shown in the photo above. The glass of water is used to protect the magnetron, it will avoid that an eventual excess of power overheat its anode. In the photo above, you may notice that the rotating plate and its axis has been removed, this can be done easily.
Close the microwave door.
Set the microwave power to max power.
Set the countdown timer to 10 seconds.
Push the ON Button... Then....Watch and hear the plasmoid in action...
It is recommended
to wait some minutes between each test. This will avoid that the
magnetron overheat too much.
Notes
: If the plasmoid
is not generated few seconds after the switch on, don't wait and
stop the microwave oven. Put a plastic box ( 30 mm height ) under
the aluminum disk. So, the quater wave antenna will be placed at l/4
= 3 cm above the ground
surface of your microwave oven, you will notice that the plasmoid
will start quickly...
See the videos of Plasmoid in action
To see the video, the free
downloadable RealPlayer is required 
You may download free the RealPlayer 8 Basic at : http://proforma.real.com/real/player/blackjack.html
Click on the picture above to
see the video ( 816 Kb )
Click on the picture above to
see the video ( 769 Kb )
I shall be very glad to publish all successful plasmoid replications in my web site so, don't hesitate to send me some photos of your experiments.
See also :
How
to build yourself a stable Plasmoid, an
artificial plasma ball
Email : JNaudin509@aol.com
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