Production of field-reversed mirror plasma with a coaxial plasma gun

• US 4,314,879 A
• Filed: 03/22/1979
• Issued: 02/09/1982
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/1979
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: United States Department of Energy (Government of the United States of America)
• Original Assignee: United States Department of Energy (Government of the United States of America)
• Inventors: Shearer, James W., Hartman, Charles W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Behrend, Harvey E.
• Application Number:
  US06/022,894
• Time in Patent Office: 1,055 Days
• Field of Search: 176/3-8, 176/2
• US Class Current: 376/128
• CPC Class Codes: G21B 1/052 reversed field configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H05H 1/14 wherein the containment vessel is straight and has magnetic mirrors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 30/10 Nuclear fusion reactors

Abstract

The use of a coaxial plasma gun to produce a plasma ring which is directed into a magnetic field so as to form a field-reversed plasma confined in a magnetic mirror. Plasma thus produced may be used as a target for subsequent neutral beam injection or other similarly produced and projected plasma rings or for direct fusion energy release in a pulsed mode.

Claims

1. A method of producing a field-reversed mirror plasma, comprising the steps of:

producing a minimum B magnetic field of multi-Tesla strength in an evacuated plasma confinement apparatus by means of a magnetic mirror;

generating a plasma ring by means of a coaxial plasma gun, said coaxial plasma gun possessing a solenoidal conductor configuration so as to produce a poloidal magnetic field, the inner component of said poloidal field being in a direction opposite to that of the magnetic field of the mirror so as to form a magnetic field-reversed configuration around the gun;

accelerating the plasma ring by means of said coaxial plasma gun so that the plasma ring drifts out of and away from the coaxial plasma gun in a direction parallel to the coaxial plasma gun'"'"'s longitudinal axis and toward said magnetic mirror, thus forming a field-reversed plasma ring upon reconnection of the magnetic field lines between said plasma ring and said coaxial plasma gun; and

confining the field-reversed plasma ring in the minimum B magnetic well of the magnetic mirror thereby producing a field-reversed mirror plasma.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein deuterium gas is used to produce the field-reversed ring by means of the coaxial plasma gun.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein a deuterium-tritium gas mixture is used to produce the field-reversed ring by means of the coaxial plasma gun.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein confinement of the moving field-reversed plasma ring is accomplished by the rapid gating of the minimum B field of the magnetic mirror.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein an external pulsed magnetic field is superimposed upon and cancels the magnetic field at one end of the magnetic mirror along the axis of the moving plasma ring to permit the penetration and confinement of the plasma ring in the magnetic mirror.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the field-reversed mirror plasma is sustained by introducing an energetic neutral species of particles by means of a neutral beam source so as to maintain a higher density and temperature of the confined field-reversed plasma.

7. An apparatus for the production and confinement of a field-reversed mirror plasma, the apparatus comprising:

an evacuated plasma confinement chamber;

a magnetic mirror capable of producing a minimum B magnetic field of multi-tesla strength in the plasma confinement chamber;

a coaxial plasma gun for generating and accelerating a plasma ring into the minimum B magnetic field of said magnetic mirror, said coaxial plasma gun possessing a solenoidal conductor configuration so as to produce a poloidal magnetic field, the inner component of said poloidal field being in a direction opposite to that of the magnetic field of the mirror so as to form a magnetic field-reversed configuration around the plasma gun; and

means for confining the moving field-reversed plasma ring thus formed in the minimum B magnetic well of the magnetic mirror.

8. An apparatus for producing and confining a field-reversed mirror plasma as in claim 7, wherein the coaxial plasma gun produces a field-reversed plasma ring of deuterium ions.

9. An apparatus for producing and confining a field-reversed mirror plasma as in claim 7, wherein the coaxial plasma gun produces a field-reversed plasma ring of deuterium and tritium ions.

10. An apparatus for producing and confining a field-reversed mirror plasma as in claim 7, wherein the means for confining the moving field-reversed plasma ring in the magnetic mirror is by superimposing an external pulsed magnetic field upon the magnetic field at one end of the magnetic mirror along the axis of motion of the moving plasma ring, resulting in the cancellation of the mirror'"'"'s magnetic field, and permitting the penetration and confinement of the plasma ring in the magnetic mirror.

11. An apparatus for producing and confining a field-reversed mirror plasma as in claim 7, further including means for generating and introducing an energetic neutral species of particles into the confined plasma so as to maintain a higher density and temperature of the confined field-reversed plasma.