Dense plasma focus dpf fusion systems for space propulsion. The dense plasma focus dpf is one of the most efficient sources of fusion reactions for a given energy input. A question in search of answer, a technology in search of applications 14603153 poseidon plasma focus21 at a radial distance 80 mm from the axis and 8 mm above the anode surface. Simultaneous ultrafast imaging and neutron emission from. The objective of this study was to perform a parametric evaluation of the performance and interface characteristics of a dense plasma focus dpf fusion system in support of a usaf advanced. Pdf fusion reaction scaling in a megaamp dense plasma focus. This applies to both thermonuclear fusion research based on magnetic and inertial. From these calculations, the wall temperature and ablation rate can be calculated. The dense plasma focus dpf device named dpfu is operated at the institute of plasma physics and laser microfusion ipplm. Plasma jet drivers for magnetoinertial fusion pjmif. The dense plasma focus fusion thruster for space propulsion.
Pulsed current discharges through gas 100 ma deuterium gas is injected hypersonically into chamber. Dense plasma focus devices usually has a center electrode, surrounded by out eight to ten outer electrodes. Innovation on the shoulders of giants rich body of dpf scientific literature since invention in 60s dozens of research groups worldwide xrayneutron applications us teams at ksu, nstec 2009. Pdf the dense plasma focus dpf, a coaxial plasma gun, utilizes pulsed high current electrical discharge to heat and compress the plasma. The zpinch dense plasma focus method is an mif concept in which a column of gas is converted to plasma and then compressed to. Keywords protonboron reaction dense plasma focus aneutronic fusion introduction the deuteriumtritium fusion reaction is foreseen as the main reaction in future controlled thermonuclear reactors in order to harvest energy. Related content effects of gas chamber geometry and gas flow on the neutron production in a fast. Magnetized target fusion see previous presentation. High energetic ions are considered to play an important role in the production of the intense neutron flux in the plasma focus device when using deuterium gas 4. Dense plasma focus from alternative fusion source to. Dense plasma focus from alternative fusion source to versatile high energy density plasma source for plasma nanotechnology march 2015 journal of physics conference series 5911.
The plasma focus a variant of zpinch generates plasmas from fast highvoltage electrical discharges on coaxial electrodes suitable for very different studies. Mar 24, 2015 the dense plasma focus dpf, a coaxial plasma gun, utilizes pulsed high current electrical discharge to heat and compress the plasma to very high density and temperature with energy densities in the range of 110. Dense plasma in zpinches and the plasma focus jstor. Applications of the dense plasma focus to nuclear fusion. The dense plasma focus device enables fusion reactions. Ieee transactions on plasma science 1 filaments in the sheath. A coaxial electrode system known as the dense plasma. A dense plasma focus dpf is a machine that produces, by electromagnetic acceleration and compression, a shortlived plasma that is hot and dense enough to cause nuclear fusion and the emission of xrays and neutrons. Then, the study of ion and electron beams generated in the plasma focus contributes to the basic plasma physics knowledge and also to foreseeable applications. The electromagnetic compression of the plasma is called a pinch. The dense plasma focus dpf, a coaxial plasma gun, utilizes pulsed high current electrical discharge to heat and compress the plasma to very high density and temperature with energy densities in the range of 110. An investigation of bremsstrahlung reflection in a dense plasma focus propulsion device g. To attempt to overcome this saturation, experiments. On the possibility of initiating the protonboron nuclear.
Neutron emission characterisation at the fnii dense plasma focus. Magnetoinertial fusion mif is an approach which has been shown to potentially lead to a low cost, small reactor for fusion break even1. Neutron anisotropy and xray production of the fnii dense plasma. Mar 26, 2010 there were a studies published in 2006 and 2008 that looked at making a fusion rocket using dense plasma focus and airbreathing mhd propulsion. Pdf dense plasma focus from alternative fusion source to. Instead of trying to stabilize and confine the plasma as in an ordinary fusion reactor, the dense plasma focus takes advantage of the plasma natural instability to release a large amount of energy in a very short time. A space propulsion system has been proposed which may use the dense plasma focus dpf as its source of power. Design of z pinch and dense plasma focus powered vehicles, 2010 aiaa. Focus fusion 1 ff1 dense plasma focus at lawrenceville plasma physics laboratory in middlesex, nj. The application of selected radionuclides for monitoring. Nuclear fusion is the process that powers the sun and all the stars. Design of z pinch and dense plasma focus powered vehicles, 2010 aiaa aerospace sciences meeting 24. This paper investigates the dense plasma focus dpf for applications to nuclear fusion processes in reactors and in astrophysical plasmas.
Instead of constantly having to fight the plasma s natural instability, they are able to use it to their advantage. Fusion reaction scaling in a megaamp dense plasma focus. Requires plasma performance 2000x better than deuteriumtritium. Plasma foci are efficient plasma based neutron sources, when deuterium is used as the filling gas. It also produces dense concentrations of hot plasma, or plasmoids. The dpf device has always been in the company of several alternative magnetic fusion devices as it produces intense fusion neutrons. Jun 17, 2020 specimens of materials for prospective use in chambers of nuclear fusion reactors with inertial plasma confinement, namely, w, ods steels, eurofer 97 steel, a number of ceramics, etc. Zpinchdense plasma focus thermonuclear propulsion system. Prospects for p11b fusion with the dense plasma focus. This cheap and unlimited energy source is based on aneutronic fuels and the dense plasma focus device, a combination we call focus fusion. Fusion based propulsion can enable fast interplanetary transportation.
The scaling derived from experiments suggests a dpf of. Progress over the last 2 years roadmap to breakeven. An important issue still to be resolved in the research for fusion energy. The system demonstrated scaling laws that suggested it would not be useful in the commercial power role, and since the 1980s it has been used primarily as a fusion teaching system, and as a source of neutrons and xrays. How to build a small plasma focus recipes and tricks indico ictp. Experimental studies of dense plasma focus dpf facilities proved the occurrence of highenergy ion beams, generated within the plasma focus pinch column or its vicinity. Scaling laws for plasma focus machines from numerical experiments. Pulse widths and yields achieved from deuteriumtritium fusion at 2 ma are 61. Dense plasma focus from alternative fusion source to versatile. Dense plasma focus as a novel high energy density pulsed. Aneutronic fusion devices dense plasma focus device dpf what is focus fusion.
The dense plasma focus devices core consists of two cylindrical metal electrodes nested inside each other. Theory of the dense plasma focus as fusion device and. These system proposals would work even if lawrenceville plasma physics does not succeed with dense plasma focus fusion and does not include the weight improvements of better ultracapacitors that. Dense plasma focus dpf device is a type of plasma accelerator that produces. The outer electrode is generally no more than 15 cm in diameter and 30 cm long.
The dense plasma focus device offers a very different and possibly much shorter route to practical fusion energy than the tokamak. An overview of bremsstrahlung radiation, which is prevalent in hightemperature fusion plasmas, is given, as well as estimates for the power and energy flux to a reflector wall from a dense plasma focus device burning p11b. Creation of a dense plasma focus device and its application in. Dense plasma focus 4 dense plasma focus circuit pulse circuit pulsed xray generation instrumentation. But two major challenges must be overcome to achieve this goal. Samples of materials counted as perspective ones for use in the. Amrollahi, amirkabir university of technology, tehran, iran in journal of fusion energy the experimental program that lpp plans to carry out has great potential to show how the plasma focus can be used to generate fusion energy and. Abstractthis paper investigates the dense plasma focus dpf for applications in space plasma physics. Lppfusions focus fusion approach builds upon 40 years of international scientific research on the dense plasma focus device which lppfs physics team has made very significant improvements upon. Nathan majernik, seth pree, yusuke sakai, brian naranjo, seth putterman and. Application of dense plasma focus devices and lasers in the.
The dense plasma focus dpf, a coaxial plasma gun, utilizes pulsed high current electrical. The energy produced will be environmentally safe for all life on our planet. Research on dense plasma focus hard xray emission with. The gas in a plasma focus may reach densities of 119 to120 3 10 to 10 cm and temperatures of a few kev during the several hundred nanosecond long pinch. Dense plasma focus dpf is a machine that produces, by electromagnetic acceleration and compression, a shortlived sheath of plasma that is hot and dense enough to cause nuclear fusion and the emission of xrays and neutrons, which you may know as radiation. Lawrenceville plasma physics in new jersey focus fusion 1 dpf ff1. Dense plasma focus from alternative fusion source to versatile high energy density plasma source for plasma nanotechnology to cite this article. Dense plasma focus laser produced plasmas lowtemperature plasmas 10 hz miniature pf portable neutron source 20 kj pf neutron source for material irradiation shortlived radioisotopes production coded aperture imaging of fusion neutron source xray emission studies for sxr microlithography magnetic nanopartilces and hardcoatings using plasma focus. The dense plasma focus, or dpf, is a gnat among leviathans in fusion research. Lppfusion is developing a new energy source, modeled on fusion energy that powers our sun.
The dense plasma focus dpf device has long been known to be an ef. Dense plasma focus abstract this paper will deal with. Support for other dpf aneutronic fusion investigations came from the air force research laboratory. Fusion power, also called fusion energy, is the use of nuclear fusion reactions to provide controlled energy production. Induced fields interact with current to dynamically compress gas to thermonuclear temperatures. Its functioning relies on utilizing natural plasma instabilities rather than attempting to suppress them. The dense plasma focus is a formof electromagnetic shock tube that causes rapid compression and heating of the plasma during a fast coaxial pinch called a focus.
The purpose of the present work is to evaluate the intensity of hard xrays from a plasma focus measured as a function of position, time and energy of emission. Detection of energetic particles from plasma focus using. For a fusion device to be practical, according to lawsons criteria, n. However, energy output in highcurrent machines saturates at 1012 reactions with deuterium as fill gas. The selfmagnetic force of the current then pushes the current sheet, accelerating it supersonically down the tube. Lawrenceville plasma physics has published initial results and outlined a theory and experimental program for aneutronic fusion with the dense plasma focus dpf the private effort was initially funded by nasas jet propulsion laboratory. This is very similar to the mechanism of a linear motor. School and training course on dense magnetized plasma as a source of. Other alternative concepts iec devices, polywells, magnetic mirrors, multipoles, other variants. Integrated approach to dense magnetized plasmas applications in. Dense plasma focus lethal intercept of missiles various modes of operation identi.
Dense plasma focus, quantum magnetic field effect, nuclear fusion, aneutronic fusion 1. Npre, university of illinois, urbana, illinois, 61821 presented at. Pdf propulsion and power generation capabilities of a. Fusion reactions from 100kev ions in a dense plasma focus. Pdf dense plasma focus from alternative fusion source. Pdf current and perspective applications of dense plasma. Design of zpinch and dense plasma focus powered vehicles.
Mead presented at staif 2006 and on use of dhe3 in fusion space propulsion g. The dense plasma focus dpf, first invented in 1954, is far more compact and. A large potential difference between the electrodes ionizes the gaseous fusion fuel and forms an annular plasma sheath. Ieee transactions on plasma science 1 filaments in. Runaway electrons as a source of impurity and reduced. The dense plasma focus dpf device has long been known to be an efficient source of neutrons from fusion reactions and of mevenergy ion and electron beams. Competitive assessment hydrogenboron is extremely hard. Jan 25, 2004 fusion with p11b has many advantages, including the almost complete lack of radioactivity and the possibility of direct conversion of charged particle energy to electricity, without expensive steam turbines and generators. Fusion reactivity scales with n 2 magnetic field suppresses thermal conduction losses, reducing driver power reactor volume much smaller than mfe. This sheath then propagates down the length of the anode entraining additional fuel along the way. Fusion reactivity scales with n 2 magnetic field suppresses.
A dense plasma focus dpf is a type of plasma generating system originally developed as a fusion power device starting in the early 1960s. Plasma focus high pressure arcs magnetic fusion plasmas discharge plasmas t s o l a r i n t e r i o r s o l a r c e n t e r 0. It generates a dense and hightemperature plasma which is a powerful source of neutrons. Hundreds of joule plasma focus device as a potential source. Alternative fusion reactor concepts general fusion. Fusion reactions from 150kev ions in a dense plasma focus. The most exciting prospect is for scaling the plasma focus. Experimental results on the irradiation of nuclear fusion. Institute of plasma physics and laser microfusion, warsaw.
Introduction controlled nuclear fusion using hydrogenboron. For smaller dpfs, fusion output scales as i4 or faster, where i is peak current. Walter rowntree affiliate faculty idaho state university blog. The cathode has a radius of 5 cm, and the anode has a radius of 2. Relativistic electron beams detection in a dense plasma focus. Dense plasma focus devices pf400j low highenergy xrays and neutron emission dose measurement cancer cell irradiation important results 542017 23rd iaea technical meeting on research using small fusion devices, jalaj jain et al 2. Dense plasma focus device dpf the dpf device has been in existence since 1964, and many experimental groups around the world have worked with it. Simulationguided design of a megajoule dense plasma focus. Essentially this approach can be summarized as follows. Effect of preionization on soft xray emission and plasma dynamics in a small plasma focus system j.
Optimization of a dense plasma focus device as a light source. Advances towards pb11 fusion with the dense plasma focus. Introduction plasma focus machines of various energies are increasingly being studied as sources of neutrons and soft xrays. Theory and experimental program for pb 11 fusion with the. One of the reasons why the dense plasma focus dpf 1 continues to attract growing interest 2 from plasma physicists is the stillunresolved issue of its muchhigherthanthermal fusion.
Construction and physics of the dense plasma focus. Dense plasma focus project gutenberg selfpublishing. Dense plasma focus abstract this paper will deal with the. Neutron emission characterisation at the fnii dense. Lpp focus fusion 1 lab begins experiments testing our key innovations to demonstrate scientific feasibility of focus fusion accurate dpf model optimal angular momentum qmf to reduce xrays efficient xray capture efficient beam capture. Pdf dense plasma focusfrom alternative fusion source to. The dpf device has always been in the company of several alternative magnetic fusion devices as it produces intense. Plasma rapidly expands against magnetic nozzle, generating thrust. The dense plasma focus dpf device, produces intense hard, soft xray and neutron bursts from a magnetically heated dense plasma. For smaller dpfs, fusion output scales as i 4 or faster, where i is peak current. Using a dense plasma focus device with a 50 kj capacitor charge, we have observed fusion reactions from deuterium ions with record energies of 150 kev that are confined for durations of 730 ns in the cores of plasmoids with typical radii of 300500 m and densities 3 x 1019 cm 3. For smaller dpfs, fusion output scales as i4 or faster.
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