Magnetized Plasma Target for Plasma-Jet-Driven Magneto-Inertial Fusion

Hsu, S. C.; Langendorf, Samuel

doi:10.1007/s10894-018-0168-z

Cited by 14 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 56 publications

(111 reference statements)

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“…Plasma liners and the corresponding compression of plasma or gas targets have been studied by a number of analytic models and 1D hydrodynamic codes 2,3,[5][6][7][8][9]11 . These works focused on the study of averaged properties of idealized plasma liners, their ram pressures, Mach numbers, and hydrodynamic efficiencies, the dependence of these quantities on material parameters, atomic pro-cesses and radiation, and the compression and fusion gains of plasma targets.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation study of the influence of experimental variations on the structure and quality of plasma liners

et al. 2019

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Simulation studies of a section of a spherically imploding plasma liner, formed by the merger of six hypersonic plasma jets, have been performed at conditions relevant to the Plasma Liner Experiment (PLX) [S. C. Hsu et al., IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 46, 1951(2018]. The main aim of simulations was the sensitivity study of the detailed structure of plasma liners and their global properties to experimental mass variations and timing jitter across the six plasma jets. Experimentally observable synthetic quantities have been computed using simulation data and compared with the available experimental data. Simulations predicted that the primary oblique shock wave structure is preserved at small experimental variations. At later phases of the liner implosion, primary shocks and, especially, secondary shocks are more sensitive to experimental variations. These conclusions follow from the simulation data as well as comparisons between synthetic and experimental interferometry and visible images. Small displacements of the shock wave structures may cause significant changes in the synthetic interferometer data at early time. Our studies also showed that the global properties of the plasma liners (averaged Mach number and averaged ram pressure along leading edges of plasma liners) are not very sensitive to experimental variations. Simulation data of the liner structure were largely confirmed by the PLX experimental data.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation study of the influence of experimental variations on the structure and quality of plasma liners

et al. 2019

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“…For the driver to implode the FRC in the axial direction, compact toroids (CTs) or plasma liner are suggested instead of the traditional drivers. The CTs can be accelerated to hyper velocity [29,30], while the plasma liner [31,32] can be formed by hypersonic plasma jet merging, which has shown a high energy conversion efficiency from electrical energy into plasma kinetic energy [33]. Thus, one of the compressing scenarios could be several CTs compressing a target CT.…”

Section: Proposed Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

A numerical survey of parameters to reach ignition condition for axial compression of a large-sized field reversed configuration

LI 李,

LIAO 廖,

ZHOU 周

et al. 2024

Plasma Sci. Technol.

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Field Reversed Configuration (FRC) is widely considered as an ideal target plasma for magneto-inertial fusion. However, its confinement and stability, both proportional to the radius, will deteriorate inevitably during radial compression. Hence, we propose a new fusion approach based on axial compression of a large-sized FRC. The axial compression can be made by plasma jets or plasmoids converging onto the axial ends of the FRC. The parameter space that can reach the ignition condition while preserve the FRC’s overall quality is studied by using a numerical model based on different FRC confinement scaling. It is found that ignition is possible for large FRC that can be achieved with the current FRC formation techniques if compression ratio is larger than 50. A more realistic compression is to combine axial with moderate radial compression, which is also presented and calculated in this work.

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“…Beyond that, the next priorities would be to (i) control and optimize the liner uniformity, (ii) initiate a program of PJMIF-compatible target formation, and (iii) compress the target using a plasma liner to show heating. An assessment of (ii) and (iii) are provided in [54]. In addition to the experimental work, the team has pursued modeling with team members University of Alabama in Huntsville and Brookhaven National Laboratory on the PLX experiments, and with Tech-X on plasma-liner compression of a magnetized target, with the objective on setting bounds on the minimum performance/uniformity of a liner and of target temperature and magnetization [55].…”

Section: Los Alamos National Laboratory/hyperv Technologies: Plasma Lmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retrospective of the ARPA-E ALPHA Fusion Program

et al. 2019

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This paper provides a retrospective of the ALPHA (Accelerating Low-cost Plasma Heating and Assembly) fusion program of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) of the U.S. Department of Energy. ALPHA's objective was to catalyze research and development efforts to enable substantially lower-cost pathways to economical fusion power. To do this in a targeted, focused program, ALPHA focused on advancing the science and technology of pulsed, intermediate-density fusion approaches, including magneto-inertial fusion and Z-pinch variants, that have the potential to scale to commercially viable fusion power plants. The paper includes a discussion of the origins and framing of the ALPHA program, a summary of project status and outcomes, a description of associated technology-transition activities, and thoughts on a potential follow-on ARPA-E fusion program. Introduction:In 2014 the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched a new research program on low-cost approaches to fusion-energy development [1]. The "Accelerating Low-Cost Plasma Heating and Assembly" (ALPHA) program set out to enable more rapid progress towards fusion energy by establishing a wider range of technological options that could be pursued with smaller, lower-cost experiments, short development and construction times, and high experimental throughput. Mainstream fusion research generally refers to magnetically or inertially confined fusion, both of which require expensive facilities for reasons briefly described below and explored in more detail in several books[2] [3]. ALPHA focused on magneto-inertial fusion (MIF), a class of pulsed fusion approaches with fuel densities in between those of magnetic and inertial fusion[4], [5] [6]. This paper presents a brief background on the origins of the ALPHA program, the results achieved by ALPHA-funded teams, and a look ahead to potential next steps for low-cost fusion development. OriginsARPA-E's mission is to develop transformational new energy technologies [7]. While DOE has pursued fusion energy as a potentially transformational opportunity for decades, ARPA-E had not supported any work in fusion prior to the ALPHA program. This was in part due to a perception that fusion was inherently the realm of "big science" and that ARPA-E, which runs relatively small, targeted, short-term programs across a wide spectrum of energy technologies-did not have a role to play in that development. In launching ALPHA, ARPA-E sought to change this dynamic and bring new players into the field -both in terms of the kinds of teams doing fusion development (e.g., smaller groups and private startups), and in terms of the sources of funding (e.g., private investors). The ALPHA program

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Magnetized Plasma Target for Plasma-Jet-Driven Magneto-Inertial Fusion

Cited by 14 publications

References 56 publications

Simulation study of the influence of experimental variations on the structure and quality of plasma liners

Simulation study of the influence of experimental variations on the structure and quality of plasma liners

A numerical survey of parameters to reach ignition condition for axial compression of a large-sized field reversed configuration

Retrospective of the ARPA-E ALPHA Fusion Program

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