Apparatus for magnetic and electrostatic confinement of plasma
First Claim
1. A plasma containment device comprisinga containment vessel having a vessel wall and a principal axis,a flux coil located within the vessel concentric with the principle axis, the flux coil comprising a plurality of coils wound in parallel and creating an azimuthal electric field within the vessel when current directed through the coil is increased,a plurality of field coils coupled to the vessel and creating an azimuthally symmetrical magnetic field with a flux substantially parallel with the principle axis when current is directed through the plurality of field coils, wherein the plurality of field coils includes first and second sets of mirror coils increasing the strength of the magnetic field created by the plurality of field coils and defining a containment region within the vessel there between, anda plasma source coupled to the vessel.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for containing plasma and forming a Field Reversed Configuration (FRC) magnetic topology are described in which plasma ions are contained magnetically in stable, non-adiabatic orbits in the FRC. Further, the electrons are contained electrostatically in a deep energy well, created by tuning an externally applied magnetic field. The simultaneous electrostatic confinement of electrons and magnetic confinement of ions avoids anomalous transport and facilitates classical containment of both electrons and ions. In this configuration, ions and electrons may have adequate density and temperature so that upon collisions they are fused together by nuclear force, thus releasing fusion energy. Moreover, the fusion fuel plasmas that can be used with the present confinement system and method are not limited to neutronic fuels only, but also advantageously include advanced fuels.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A plasma containment device comprising
a containment vessel having a vessel wall and a principal axis, a flux coil located within the vessel concentric with the principle axis, the flux coil comprising a plurality of coils wound in parallel and creating an azimuthal electric field within the vessel when current directed through the coil is increased, a plurality of field coils coupled to the vessel and creating an azimuthally symmetrical magnetic field with a flux substantially parallel with the principle axis when current is directed through the plurality of field coils, wherein the plurality of field coils includes first and second sets of mirror coils increasing the strength of the magnetic field created by the plurality of field coils and defining a containment region within the vessel there between, and a plasma source coupled to the vessel.
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18. A plasma containment device comprising
a chamber, a magnetic field generator creating an azimuthally symmetric magnetic field within the chamber with a flux substantially parallel to a principle axis of the chamber, a current coil concentric with the principle axis of the chamber and creating an azimuthal electric field within the chamber, and a plasma source coupled to the chamber to inject a plasma containing electrons and ions into the chamber.
Specification