Conceptual engineering of plasma-focus thermonuclear pulsors

Author

Moreno, César ; Bruzzone, Horacio ; Martínez, Javier ; Clausse, Alejandro

Author_Institution

Interinst. Prog. of Dense Magnetized Plasmas, Nat. Res. Network PLADEMA, Tandil, Argentina

Volume

28

Issue

5

fYear

2000

fDate

10/1/2000 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1735

Lastpage

1741

Abstract

The basic engineering criteria for conceptual design of plasma focus devices is derived from a thermonuclear model, and applied successfully to the operation of small neutron pulsors. The theory is able to explain the variation of the neutron yield with the gas pressure in deuterium-filled chambers, the current evolution, and the electrode geometrical parameters. The performance of a prototype designed to optimize the flux/fluence ratio is presented, contrasting the experimental outcomes with the model. A set of effective design parameters is deduced, which ensure a band confidence of 20%

Keywords

fusion reactor design; fusion reactor theory; plasma devices; plasma focus; Z pinch; band confidence; conceptual engineering; current evolution; current sheet; design parameters; deuterium-filled chambers; electrode geometrical parameters; engineering criteria; flux/fluence ratio optimisation; gas pressure; neutron yield; plasma focus devices; plasma focus thermonuclear pulsors; plasma pinch; small neutron pulsors; thermonuclear model; Deuterium; Electrodes; Neutrons; Plasma accelerators; Plasma density; Plasma devices; Plasma x-ray sources; Production; Radioactive decay; Switches;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/27.901261

Filename

901261