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Defense Intelligence Reference Document Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion

Defense Intelligence Agency · 72 pages · text from the file's own layer

This Defense Intelligence Agency reference document, dated 10 March 2010, covers inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) fusion. It was produced in FY 2009 under the DIA's Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications (AAWSA) program. The report focuses on work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and reviews IEC basics, experiments, theory and applications such as neutron sources, explosives detection and space propulsion. It concludes by proposing a breakeven experiment for p-11B fusion that uses a hydrogen plasma simulation.

  • p. 5 …Photo of Center Spot Formation ......................................................... 12 Figure 2.1. The "Historic" Early IEC Ion Injection Experiment…
  • p. 9 …The ideal, however, is the elimination of the grid altogether which can be done via formation…
  • p. 12 …This result was quite negative for electron formation of potential wells, but left the route possibly…
  • p. 14 …most critical factors which inhibit deep well formation are inadequate spherical focusing and charge neutralization. The…
  • p. 18 …The ion formation is done in the high pressure gun discharge region outside of the chamber…
  • p. 19 …Photo of Center Spot Formation. The main beam observed is a direct path along the injector…
  • p. 20 …Klevans, "Theory of Potential-Well Formation in an Electrostatic Confinement Device", J. of Appl. Phys., Vol…
  • p. 22 …As shown in the paper, he found structure for both consistent with well formation. One possible…
  • p. 30 …However, to date, formation of the jet has only been studied under steady-state operation. 23…
  • p. 31 …The result is the formation of the intense space charge neutralized ion beam (or "plasma jet…
  • p. 32 …This type of ion formation in the IEC has been studied extensively by workers at Nambe…
  • p. 35 …The approach being pursued at UIUC is the formation of deep potential wells with angular ion…
  • p. 45 …considered well formation with emphasis on angular momentum effects (Reference 4.4). Earlier studies had assumed…
  • p. 48 …is very encouraging for formation of deep wells in IEC devices designed for reactors using beam…
  • p. 49 …Krylov algorithm that does not require actual formation and storage of the Jacobian matrix to minimize…
  • p. 69 …While very demanding, plasma simulations show that carefully controlled injection can provide the potential well formation…
  • p. 70 …This eliminates the need for a grid by formation of a deep potential well (ion trap…
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Figures
Figure 1.1. An UIUC Spherical IEC .......................................................................... 1
Figure 1.2. Idealized Potential Structure Calculated by Hirsch for Monoenergetic
Ions With No Angular Momentum ......................................................... 6
Figure 1.3. Discharge Modes in Gridded Devices Identified by Miley ...................... 9
Figure 1.4. Photo of Star Mode Seen Through a Reaction Vessel Port Window ....... 9
Figure 1.5. Schematic of the UIUC RF Gun Injector for IEC Experiments .............. 11
Figure 1.6. RF Gun Attached to an IEC Chamber in the UIUC Laboratory .............. 12
Figure 1.7. Photo of Center Spot Formation ......................................................... 12
Figure 2.1. The "Historic" Early IEC Ion Injection Experiment ............................. 14
Figure 2.2. Neutron Rates Measured With the IEC Neutron Rates Measured With
the IEC of Figure 2.1 Exceeded 10 9 DT n/s at 150 kV ......................... 14
Figure 2.3. Photograph of a STAR Mode Discharge ............................................... 16
Figure 2.4. IEC Landmine Detection Project at Kyoto University .......................... 17
Figure 2.5. Scheme for Landmine Detection Using a Hybrid Magnetron Type
IEC Neutron Source ............................................................................ 18
Figure 2.6. 3He Ion Source for Use in 3He • 3 He Fusion Rate Studies at the u Of
Wisconsin ........................................................................................... 19
Figure 3.1. Two Types of Cylindrical IECs ............................................................. 22
Figure 3.2. Jet Operational Mode in Experimental IEC Device and Jet Set-Up ...... 24
Figure 3.3. Illustration of the IEC Jet Thruster Experiment Showing Central
Grid and Two Jet Grids ....................................................................... 27
Figure 3.4. Dipole Reactor Propulsion Scheme ..................................................... 29
Figure 3.5. Dipole Magnetic Field and Layout of Devices ...................................... 30
Figure 3.6. Electron Density Vs. Dipole Magnet Field Strength at 25mtorr, 20mA 31
Figure 4.1. Cross Section of the Experimental Layout of the PFX-I Experiment .... 34
Figure 4.2. Detail of the Anode and the Ion Injection Port in PFX-I ..................... 35
Figure 4.3. Plot of the Q-Value ............................................................................. 37
Figure 4.4. Sketch of Two Opposite Limits of the Beam·Maxwellian Equilibrium .. 38
Figure 4.5. The Definition of the Double Well Depth ............................................. 39
Figure 4.6. The Definition of the Parallel and Perpendicular Velocities at the IEC
Cathode Grid ...................................................................................... 39
Figure 4.7. The Double Well Potential Calculated With IXL Code .......................... 40
Figure 4.8. Ion Density Profile for Potential Well ................................................. 40
Figure 4.9. The D-D Fusion Reaction Rate Versus Cathode Current ...................... 40
Figure 4.10. Plot of Growth Rate of Spherically Converging/Diverging Ion•Beam
Instability ......................................................................................... 42
Figure 4.11. Diagram Showing Equipotential Surfaces of the IEC Cathode Grid .. 45
Figure 4.12. Results for Calculations for Ion Energy Distributions pt Pass .......... 45
Figure 5.1. Block Diagram of the IEC Pulsed Power System ................................. 49
Figure 5.2. Schematic (View From Top) of a Broad Coverage IEC Inspection
System for Luggage Inspection .......................................................... 51
Figure 5.3. Further Illustration of the Integrated System for Airport Luggage
Inspection .......................................................................................... 53
Figure 5.4. Further Illustration of the Integrated System for Ship Container
Inspection .......................................................................................... 53
Figure S.S. Image of a Fusion II Spaceship, a 750·MWe IEC Fusion·Powered
Manned Spacecraft With Ion Thruster Propulsion .............................. 54
Figure 5.6. Scale Schematic of Fusion Ship II, a 750·MWe IEC Fusion
Spacecraft .......................................................................................... 55
Figure 5.7. Illustration of a Three-Unit MCSA Device ............................................ 57
Figure S.S. Diagram of Belt-Cusp Fields and Particle Recirculation ...................... 57
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Report, from the dia collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 72 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.