Documents / Report

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. 7 …Emphasis is placed on work in these areas at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, although…
  • p. 8 …of how inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) fusion works. Gas ~ccd I in~ Spherical Vacuum . Chamber !!1…
  • p. 10 …While Hirsh worked with Farnsworth to demonstrate early experimental success with IEC experiments (Reference 1.2…
  • p. 11 …Such work was soon taken up in several other laboratories, including Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL…
  • p. 12 …electron) injected traps (as does the present author's work). This selection was largely driven by…
  • p. 15 …This work and others on the small gridded systems at that time showed several important problems…
  • p. 17 …Recent work has shown that by properly programming the distribution function of the injected electrons it…
  • p. 18 …Results indicate that although the formalism works well during the early phases of compression, when the…
  • p. 21 …Hirsch Working With Philo Farnsworth I' I'· 0 ,,, 10•u w "',. ~ 40~ CRONS D- -,C •~7…
  • p. 22 …This worked well, but the design was eventually discarded to move to RF guns with much…
  • p. 23 …This work substituted a metallic hybrid getter for the external pumping on the IEC chamber. With…
  • p. 24 …Another important example of the use of a compact IEC neutron source is the work at…
  • p. 25 …2.7) The IEC developed for this work used a magnetron ion generation technique to improve…
  • p. 26 …Still the design worked reasonably well for the initial mine detection experiments. Unfortunately, the project was…
  • p. 27 …as shown by the hybrid magnetron source work in Japan. Another point noted is the advantage…
  • p. 29 …As already noted, the basic physics of this version was originally studied in pioneering work by…
  • p. 30 …Relation to Other Prior Thrusters NASA and other laboratories have worked toward developing advanced Hall Thrusters…
  • p. 31 …Indeed, the thruster concept arose from work on a fusion based IEC (Reference 3.5). To…
  • p. 32 …Khachan's work. It too looks very promising. 25 UNCLASSIFIED/ ,u;oAt OFFIGIPk IP&'i OIIU{
  • p. 35 …at the UIUC and several other laboratories working on IECs. The issue then is how to…
  • p. 39 …In follow-on work, they simplified the modeling of charge exchange with an analytical approach to…
  • p. 40 …Satsangi, "Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Experiments at Low Working Pressure," Prepared under U.S. Army contract DAAK…
  • p. 42 …In Chacon's work, a bounce-averaged Fokker-Planck (BAFP) model was employed to obtain steady…
  • p. 45 …Before discussing this work, some definitions for the potential well structure will be reviewed. POTENTIAL WELL…
  • p. 48 …However, much more work needs to be done along these lines to fully identify the optimal…
  • p. 52 …As pointed out by Khachan his work noted D2+ becomes more significant in lower voltages). In…
  • p. 53 …Nevins, Can inertial electrostatic confinement work beyond the ion-ion collisional time scale?" Phys. Plasmas, Vol…
  • p. 70 …Chacon's work, thermalized ions build up and additional quasi- Maxwellian distriution in the trap). Still…
  • p. 71 …To accomplish this result quickly on a modest budget, we need to simplify the work by…
UNCLASSIFIED//F8A 8FFHil.l1k 'JE'lii &Ilk¥
Detector Array and Analysis System
The final imaging quality is determined by neutron source yield integrated over the area
of coverage by the number of detectors, the detector configuration, the collimated
beam size, the acquisition time, and other scan-related parameters. Scintillators such
as NaI, Csl, and BGO as well as Plastic Nal (Tl) are candidates for gamma and x-ray
detectors. Due to their small size, they can be used in a large array along with TOF
spectrometry to provide detailed special information. Recently, UIUC staff has studied
use of an advanced thick Hgb detector which appears to be particularly advantageous
for this application. Hgb is a room temperature semiconductor material with an
excellent stopping power and a relatively large photo-fraction for detecting high energy
gamma rays. Assuming successful development, Hgb detectors would provide superior
array performance.
With the combined sources, the detector array receives a vast amount of information in
a short scan time. To handle this flow of data most efficiently, a fuzzy logic system is
employed. The development of this advanced fuzzy logic system is patterned after a
methodology developed for the diagnosis of abnormal situations in nuclear reactor
safety analysis. The knowledge box employs a goal tree (and/or decision tree) for
representation. This system will use learning-based rules that evolve from extensive
simulation tests to provide training about the simultaneous occurrence of specific
elements and embedded object shapes. It will also learn to differentiate between
positive and negative data by creating rules from these test runs. Materials listed early
in the simulation study discussion would be employed. The advantage of this system is
twofold. The broad area scan analysis is optimized for fast through-put of objects while
the multiple neutron/x-ray identification reduces the probability of false identification.
The fuzzy logic system will pass the integrated item or sound an alert (suspicious object
in the container) automatically without human involvement. Humans will only be
involved when an alert is sounded. An alert occurs for a range of positive identification
of materials on to suspected identification. The multiple source detector array concept
is designed to minimize items that fall into the category of "in-between" positive
identification and clearance.
The overall concept described here is illustrated for an airplane luggage scan in Figure
5.3. Data from the detection system (TNA, PFNA and x-ray) is processed through fuzzy
logic system. If the item undergoing inspection passes this test, it continues on its way
to baggage claim. If an alert is sounded, the item can either be passed through the
machine for a second scan or be manually inspected, depending on the confidence level
of the alert.
Since the integrated system is modular, the basic components can easily be assembled
in a variety of configurations for use at different facilities. An example is the extension
to inspection of container ships being unloaded in port as illustrated in Figure 5.4.
52
UNCLASSIFIED/ ,'F8"1 8FFU!lit.l! l!l!il! 8111!¥

Not linked to a story yet.

About this file

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.