Physical processes of volume ignition and thermonuclear burn for high-gain inertial confinement fusion

1994 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. T. He ◽  
Y. S. Li
Keyword(s):  
Inertial Confinement Fusion ◽  
High Gain ◽  
Inertial Confinement ◽  
Physical Processes ◽  
Confinement Fusion ◽  
Volume Ignition

Single-event high-compression inertial confinement fusion at low temperatures compared with two-step fast ignitor

2003 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 413-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. HORA ◽  
G. H. MILEY ◽  
F. OSMAN ◽  
P. EVANS ◽  
P. TOUPS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solid State ◽  
Inertial Confinement Fusion ◽  
Laser Pulses ◽  
High Gain ◽  
State Density ◽  
Inertial Confinement ◽  
Single Event ◽  
Fast Ignitor ◽  
Confinement Fusion ◽  
Volume Ignition

Compression of plasmas with laser pulses in the 10-kJ range produced densities in the range of 1000 times that of the solid state, where however the temperatures within a few hundred eV were rather low. This induced the fast ignitor scheme for central or peripheral deposition of some 10-kJ ps laser pulses on conventional $n_{\rm s}$-precompressed DT plasma of 3000 times solid-state density. We present results where the ps ignition is avoided and only a single-event conventional compression is used. Following our computations of volume ignition and the excellent agreement with measured highest fusion gains of volume compression, we found conditions where compression to 5000 times that of the solid state and by using laser pulses of 10 MJ produce volume ignition with temperatures between 400 and 800 eV only for high-gain volume ignition.

scholarly journals Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy: an introduction to the first special edition

2020 ◽  
Vol 378 (2184) ◽  
pp. 20200006 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Norreys ◽  
C. Ridgers ◽  
K. Lancaster ◽  
M. Koepke ◽  
G. Tynan
Keyword(s):  
Inertial Confinement Fusion ◽  
Fusion Energy ◽  
High Gain ◽  
Inertial Fusion ◽  
Inertial Fusion Energy ◽  
Inertial Confinement ◽  
Energy Part ◽  
Confinement Fusion ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Basic Studies

A European consortium of 15 laboratories across nine nations have worked together under the EUROFusion Enabling Research grants for the past decade with three principle objectives. These are: (a) investigating obstacles to ignition on megaJoule-class laser facilities; (b) investigating novel alternative approaches to ignition, including basic studies for fast ignition (both electron and ion-driven), auxiliary heating, shock ignition etc.; and (c) developing technologies that will be required in the future for a fusion reactor. The Hooke discussion meeting in March 2020 provided an opportunity to reflect on the progress made in inertial confinement fusion research world-wide to date. This first edition of two special issues seeks to identify paths forward to achieve high fusion energy gain. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy (part 1)’.

Volume ignition for inertial confinement fusion tested by different stopping power models

1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Hora ◽  
S. Eliezer ◽  
J. J. Honrubia ◽  
R. Höpfl ◽  
J. M. Martinez-Val ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inertial Confinement Fusion ◽  
Stopping Power ◽  
Inertial Confinement ◽  
Confinement Fusion ◽  
Power Models ◽  
Volume Ignition

scholarly journals Volume ignition of laser driven fusion pellets and double layer effects

1988 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Cicchitelli ◽  
S. Eliezer ◽  
M. P. Goldsworthy ◽  
F. Green ◽  
H. Hora ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electric Fields ◽  
Inertial Confinement Fusion ◽  
Laser Pulses ◽  
Spark Ignition ◽  
State Density ◽  
Double Layers ◽  
Inertial Confinement ◽  
Confinement Fusion ◽  
Volume Compression ◽  
Volume Ignition

The realization of an ideal volume compression of laser-irradiated fusion pellets (by C. Yamanaka) opens the possibility for an alternative to spark ignition proposed for many years for inertial confinement fusion. A re-evaluation of the difficulties of the central spark ignition of laser driven pellets is given. The alternative volume compression theory, together with volume burn and volume ignition (discovered in 1977), have received less attention and are re-evaluated in view of the experimental verification by Yamanaka, generalized fusion gain formulas, and the variation of optimum temperatures derived at self-ignition. Reactor-level DT fusion with MJ-laser pulses and volume compression to 50 times the solid-state density are estimated. Dynamic electric fields and double layers at the surface and in the interior of plasmas result in new phenomena for the acceleration of thermal electrons to suprathermal electrons. Double layers also cause a surface tension which stabilizes against surface wave effects and Rayleigh–Taylor instabilities.

scholarly journals Modelling burning thermonuclear plasma

2020 ◽  
Vol 378 (2184) ◽  
pp. 20200014 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Rose ◽  
P. W. Hatfield ◽  
R. H. H. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Electrodynamics ◽  
Inertial Confinement Fusion ◽  
Fusion Energy ◽  
High Gain ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
Inertial Confinement ◽  
Energy Part ◽  
Confinement Fusion ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Big Bang

Considerable progress towards the achievement of thermonuclear burn using inertial confinement fusion has been achieved at the National Ignition Facility in the USA in the last few years. Other drivers, such as the Z-machine at Sandia, are also making progress towards this goal. A burning thermonuclear plasma would provide a unique and extreme plasma environment; in this paper we discuss (a) different theoretical challenges involved in modelling burning plasmas not currently considered, (b) the use of novel machine learning-based methods that might help large facilities reach ignition, and (c) the connections that a burning plasma might have to fundamental physics, including quantum electrodynamics studies, and the replication and exploration of conditions that last occurred in the first few minutes after the Big Bang. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy (part 1)’.

scholarly journals Double-cone ignition scheme for inertial confinement fusion

2020 ◽  
Vol 378 (2184) ◽  
pp. 20200015 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Zhang ◽  
W. M. Wang ◽  
X. H. Yang ◽  
D. Wu ◽  
Y. Y. Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inertial Confinement Fusion ◽  
Energy Requirement ◽  
Fusion Energy ◽  
Laser Pulses ◽  
High Gain ◽  
Double Cone ◽  
Inertial Confinement ◽  
Fast Heating ◽  
Isentropic Compression ◽  
Confinement Fusion

While major progress has been made in the research of inertial confinement fusion, significant challenges remain in the pursuit of ignition. To tackle the challenges, we propose a double-cone ignition (DCI) scheme, in which two head-on gold cones are used to confine deuterium–tritium (DT) shells imploded by high-power laser pulses. The scheme is composed of four progressive controllable processes: quasi-isentropic compression, acceleration, head-on collision and fast heating of the compressed fuel. The quasi-isentropic compression is performed inside two head-on cones. At the later stage of the compression, the DT shells in the cones are accelerated to forward velocities of hundreds of km s –1 . The head-on collision of the compressed and accelerated fuels from the cone tips transfer the forward kinetic energy to the thermal energy of the colliding fuel with an increased density. The preheated high-density fuel can keep its status for a period of approximately 200 ps. Within this period, MeV electrons generated by ps heating laser pulses, guided by a ns laser-produced strong magnetic field further heat the fuel efficiently. Our simulations show that the implosion inside the head-on cones can greatly mitigate the energy requirement for compression; the collision can preheat the compressed fuel of approximately 300 g cm −3 to a temperature above keV. The fuel can then reach an ignition temperature of greater than 5 keV with magnetically assisted heating of MeV electrons generated by the heating laser pulses. Experimental campaigns to demonstrate the scheme have already begun. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy (part 1)’.

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