Efficiency of Energy Transfer in a Small Plasma Focus Device

Abstract

A study of energy transfer in a small plasma focus device has been carried out during its axial phase. The snow-plough model has been used in the simulation as a basic model for the calculation of plasma dynamics. The energy transferred to the plasma is calculated by considering the work done by the electromagnetic piston during the axial phase. It was found that the plasma energy calculated by this model agrees well with the experimental data within the pressure range of 1 mbar to 4 mbar if the mass shedding effect is included in the model. According to the present computation, the energy transferred into the plasma, in the case of a plasma focus with 2.3 kJ initial energy operated with nitrogen gas within the pressure range of 1 to 4 mbar, is between 224 J to 250 J. This corresponds to energy transfer efficiency of 9.6% to 10.7%. The mass shedding factor decreases from 0.23 to 0.069 with increasing pressure. Correspondingly, the energy transfer efficiency changes slightly at a higher pressure.

Plasma Current Sheath Dynamics and Energy Dissipation in a Low-Energy Plasma Focus Device

“…The energy stored (E) on a condenser bank of C 0 capacitance that is charged to the desired voltage (V) is given by ½C 0 V 2 . The energy is dissipated into PF discharge in three ways: magnetic energy, mechanical energy and heat dissipation [11, [28][29]. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the PF action, electrical parameters of PF discharge and circuit, the dynamical plasma distribution during the axial phase and the energy dissipation in the PF discharge.…”