Blanket design for imploding liner systems

• US 4,217,171 A
• Filed: 08/15/1977
• Issued: 08/12/1980
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/1977
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: General Atomics, Inc.
• Original Assignee: General Atomics, Inc.
• Inventors: Schaffer, Michael J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Behrend, Harvey E.
• Application Number:
  US05/824,558
• Time in Patent Office: 1,093 Days
• Field of Search: 176/1, 176/3, 176/7, 176/9, 313/231.3, 313/231.4, 315/111.4, 315/111.5, 315/111.7, 310/10, 310/166, 310/11, 310/261
• US Class Current: 376/125
• CPC Class Codes: G21B 1/00 Thermonuclear fusion reactors
• CPC Class Codes: H05H 1/52 using exploding wires or spark gaps H05H1/26 takes precedence; spark gaps in general H01T
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 30/10 Nuclear fusion reactors

Abstract

Blanket designs comprising hot, molten, rotating liquid vortex systems suitable for rapidly compressing confined plasmas, in which stratified immiscible liquid layers having successively greater mass densities outwardly of the axis of rotation are provided, such that each may be optimized for specific functions.

Claims

1. In a method for compressing an axial magnetic field by rapidly imploding a conductive liner radially surrounding the magnetic field, the improvement comprising the steps of

rotating a thick, liquid liner to provide a cylindrical vortex zone for said axial magnetic field along the axis of the liner, said liner having an inner, conductive, flux-trapping liquid metal layer adjacent the vortex zone, an intermediate molten salt layer radially outward from said flux-trapping layer, and an outer layer of a denser electrically conductive liquid metal, each of said layers being substantially immiscible with each of said layers adjacent thereto,

rapidly imploding said stratified liquid liner by compressing said dense liquid metal outer layer and transmitting said compression forces to said flux trapping layer through said molten salt layer to compress said axial magnetic field.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein a fusible plasma is confined in said axial vortex zone, and wherein said plasma is compressed to nuclear reaction temperature.

3. A method in accordance with claim 2 wherein said liquid fused salt intermediate layer contains radioactive waste materials wherein the compressed plasma produces a high density neutron flux and wherein said waste materials are transmuted to less radioactive materials by the action of the neutron flux.

4. A method in accordance with claim 3 wherein said plasma is a deuterium-tritium plasma, wherein the compressed plasma radius is at least about 3 cm.

5. A method in accordance with claim 3 wherein said flux trapping layer has an imploded thickness of at least about 0.5 cm, and wherein said intermediate salt layer has an imploded thickness of at least about 20 cm.

6. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the ratio of the diameter of the vortex zone before implosion to the diameter of the vortex zone at maximum implosion is at least about 10.

7. In an apparatus for compressing an axial magnetic field comprising a liquid liner and means for containing said liquid liner within an elongated bore, means for providing a magnetic field along the axis of said bore, means for rotating said liquid liner within said containment means to provide a vortex zone within said liner along the axis of rotation, and means for rapidly imploding said liner to compress the magnetic field,

the improvement comprising said liquid liner being a stratified liquid liner being provided as a plurality of immiscible layers for optimizing liner performance including an inner liquid metal flux-trapping layer, an intermediate, nonconducting molten salt layer having a density greater than the density of the flux-trapping layer, and an outer heavy, liquid metal layer having a density greater than that of the molten salt layer.