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High yield fusion in a staged Z-pinch

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2009

H. U. RAHMAN ,
F. J. WESSEL ,
N. ROSTOKER  and
P. H. NEY
H. U. RAHMAN
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
F. J. WESSEL
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
N. ROSTOKER
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
P. H. NEY
Affiliation:
Mount San Jacinto College, Menifee, CA 92584, USA (pney@msjc.edu)
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Abstract

We simulate fusion in a Z-pinch, where the load is a xenon-plasma liner imploding onto a deuterium–tritium (DT) plasma target and the driver is a 2 MJ, 17 MA, 95 ns risetime pulser. The implosion system is modeled using the dynamic, 2D, radiation-magnetohydrodynamic code, MACH2. During implosion a shock forms in the Xe liner, transporting current and energy radially inward. After collision with the DT, a secondary shock forms pre-heating the DT to several hundred electronvolts. Adiabatic compression leads subsequently to a fusion burn, as the target is surrounded by a flux-compressed, intense, azimuthal-magnetic field. The intense-magnetic field confines fusion α-particles, providing an additional source of ion heating that leads to target ignition. The target remains stable up to the time of ignition. Predictions are for a neutron yield of 3.0 × 1019 and a thermonuclear energy of 84 MJ, that is, 42 times greater than the initial, capacitor-stored energy.

Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 75 , Issue 6 , December 2009 , pp. 749 - 768
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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