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Inertial electrostatic confinement

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Afusor,exhibiting nuclear fusion instarmode

Inertial electrostatic confinement,orIEC,is a class offusion powerdevices that useelectric fieldsto confine theplasmarather than the more common approach usingmagnetic fieldsfound inmagnetic confinement fusion(MCF) designs. Most IEC devices directly accelerate their fuel to fusion conditions, thereby avoiding energy losses seen during the longer heating stages of MCF devices. In theory, this makes them more suitable for using alternativeaneutronic fusionfuels, which offer a number of major practical benefits and makes IEC devices one of the more widely studied approaches to fusion.

As the negatively chargedelectronsand positively chargedionsin the plasma move in different directions in an electric field, the field has to be arranged in some fashion so that the two particles remain close together. Most IEC designs achieve this by pulling the electrons or ions across a potential well, beyond which the potential drops and the particles continue to move due to theirinertia.Fusion occurs in this lower-potential area when ions moving in different directions collide. Because the motion provided by the field creates the energy levels needed for fusion, not random collisions with the rest of the fuel, the bulk of the plasma does not have to be hot and the systems as a whole work at much lower temperatures and energy levels than MCF devices.

One of the simpler IEC devices is thefusor,which consists of two concentric metal wire spherical grids. When the grids are charged to a highvoltage,the fuel gas ionizes. The field between the two then accelerates the fuel inward, and when it passes the inner grid the field drops and the ions continue inward toward the center. If they impact with another ion they may undergo fusion. If they do not, they travel out of the reaction area into the charged area again, where they are re-accelerated inward. Overall the physical process is similar to thecolliding beam fusion,although beam devices are linear instead of spherical. Other IEC designs, like thepolywell,differ largely in the arrangement of the fields used to create the potential well.

A number of detailed theoretical studies have pointed out that the IEC approach is subject to a number of energy loss mechanisms that are not present if the fuel is evenly heated, or"Maxwellian".These loss mechanisms appear to be greater than the rate of fusion in such devices, meaning they can never reachfusion breakevenand thus be used for power production. These mechanisms are more powerful when theatomic massof the fuel increases, which suggests IEC also does not have any advantage with aneutronic fuels. Whether these critiques apply to specific IEC devices remains highly contentious.

Mechanism[edit]

For everyvoltthat an ion is accelerated across, its kinetic energy gain corresponds to an increase of temperature of 11,604kelvins(K). For example, a typicalmagnetic confinement fusionplasma is 15 keV, which corresponds to 170 megakelvin (MK). An ion with a charge of one can reach this temperature by being accelerated across a 15,000 V drop. This sort of voltage is easily achieved in common electrical devices; a typicalcathode-ray tubeoperates in this range.

In fusors, the voltage drop is made with a wire cage. However highconductionlosses occur in fusors because most ions fall into the cage before fusion can occur. This prevents current fusors from ever producing net power.

This is an illustration of the basic mechanism of fusion in fusors. (1) The fusor contains two concentric wire cages. The cathode is inside the anode. (2) Positive ions are attracted to the inner cathode. They fall down the voltage drop. The electric field does work on the ions heating them to fusion conditions. (3) The ions miss the inner cage. (4) The ions collide in the center and may fuse.[1][2]

History[edit]

1930s[edit]

Mark OliphantadaptsCockcroftandWalton's particle accelerator at theCavendish Laboratoryto createtritiumandhelium-3by nuclear fusion.[3]

1950s[edit]

This picture shows the anode/cathode design for different IEC concepts and experiments.

Three researchers atLANLincludingJim Tuckfirst explored the idea, theoretically, in a 1959 paper.[4]The idea had been proposed by a colleague.[5]The concept was to capture electrons inside a positive cage. The electrons would accelerate the ions to fusion conditions.

Other concepts were being developed which would later merge into the IEC field. These include the publication of theLawson criterionbyJohn D. Lawsonin 1957 in England.[6]This puts on minimum criteria on power plant designs which do fusion using hotMaxwellianplasma clouds. Also, work exploring how electrons behave inside thebiconic cusp,done byHarold Gradgroup at theCourant Institutein 1957.[7][8]A biconic cusp is a device with two alike magnetic poles facing one another (i.e. north-north). Electrons and ions can be trapped between these.

1960s[edit]

U.S. patent 3,386,883- Schematic from Philo Farnsworth 1968 patent. This device has an inner cage to make the field, and four ion guns on the outside.

In his work with vacuum tubes,Philo Farnsworthobserved that electric charge would accumulate in regions of the tube. Today, this effect is known as themultipactor effect.[9]Farnsworth reasoned that if ions were concentrated high enough they could collide, and fuse. In 1962, he filed a patent on a design using a positive inner cage to concentrate plasma, in order to achieve nuclear fusion.[10]During this time,Robert L. Hirschjoined theFarnsworth Television labsand began work on what became thefusor.Hirsch patented the design in 1966[11]and published the design in 1967.[12]TheHirschmachine was a 17.8 cm diameter machine with 150 kV voltage drop across it and used ion beams to help inject material.

Simultaneously, a key plasma physics text was published byLyman SpitzeratPrincetonin 1963.[13]Spitzer took the ideal gas laws and adapted them to an ionized plasma, developing many of the fundamental equations used to model a plasma. Meanwhile,magnetic mirrortheory anddirect energy conversionwere developed byRichard F. Post's group atLLNL.[14][15]A magnetic mirror or magnetic bottle is similar to a biconic cusp except that the poles are reversed.

1980s[edit]

In 1980Robert W. Bussarddeveloped a cross between a fusor andmagnetic mirror,thepolywell.The idea was to confine a non-neutral plasma using magnetic fields. This would, in turn, attract ions. This idea had been published previously, notably byOleg Lavrentievin Russia.[16][17][18]Bussard patented[19]the design and received funding fromDefense Threat Reduction Agency,DARPAand the USNavyto develop the idea.[20]

1990s[edit]

Bussard andNicholas Krallpublished theory and experimental results in the early nineties.[21][22]In response, Todd Rider atMIT,underLawrence Lidskydeveloped general models of the device.[23]Rider argued that the device was fundamentally limited. That same year, 1995, William Nevins atLLNLpublished a criticism of the polywell.[24]Nevins argued that the particles would build upangular momentum,causing the dense core to degrade.

In the mid-nineties, Bussard publications prompted the development of fusors at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madisonand at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.Madison's machine was first built in 1995.[25]George H. Miley's team at Illinois built a 25 cm fusor which has produced 107neutrons using deuterium gas[26]and discovered the "star mode" of fusor operation in 1994.[27]The following year, the first "US-Japan Workshop on IEC Fusion" was conducted. This is now the premier conference for IEC researchers. At this time in Europe, an IEC device was developed as a commercial neutron source byDaimler-Chrysler Aerospaceunder the name FusionStar.[28]In the late nineties, hobbyist Richard Hull began building amateur fusors in his home.[29]In March 1999, he achieved a neutron rate of 105neutrons per second.[30]Hull and Paul Schatzkin started fusor.net in 1998.[31]Through this open forum, a community of amateur fusioneers have done nuclear fusion using homemade fusors.

2000s[edit]

Despite demonstration in 2000 of 7200 hours of operation without degradation at high input power as a sealed reaction chamber with automated control the FusionStar project was canceled and the company NSD Ltd was founded. The spherical FusionStar technology was then further developed as a linear geometry system with improved efficiency and higher neutron output by NSD Ltd. which becameNSD-FusionGmbH in 2005.

In early 2000, Alex Klein developed a cross between a polywell and ion beams.[32]UsingGabor lensing,Dr. Klein attempted to focus plasma into non-neutral clouds for fusion. He founded FP generation, which in April 2009 raised $3 million in financing from two venture funds.[33][34]The company developed the MIX and Marble machine, but ran into technical challenges and closed.

In response to Riders' criticisms, researchers atLANLreasoned that a plasma oscillating could be at local thermodynamic equilibrium; this prompted the POPS and Penning trap machines.[35][36]At this time,MITresearchers became interested in fusors for space propulsion[37]and powering space vehicles.[38]Specifically, researchers developedfusorswith multiple inner cages. In 2005, Greg Piefer foundedPhoenix Nuclear Labsto develop the fusor into a neutron source for the mass production of medical isotopes.[39]

Robert Bussardbegan speaking openly about the Polywell in 2006.[40]He attempted to generate interest[41]in the research, before passing away from multiple myeloma in 2007.[42]His company was able to raise over ten million in funding from the US Navy in 2008[43][44]and 2009.[45]

2010s[edit]

Bussard's publications prompted theUniversity of Sydneyto start research into electron trapping in polywells in 2010.[46]The group has explored theory,[47]modeled devices,[48]built devices, measured trapping[49]and simulated trapping. These machines were all low power and cost and all had a smallbetaratio. In 2010, Carl Greninger founded the northwest nuclear consortium, an organization which teaches nuclear engineering principles to high school students, using a 60 kvolt fusor.[50][51]In 2012, Mark Suppes received attention,[52][53]for a fusor. Suppes also measured electron trapping inside a polywell.[54]In 2013, the first IEC textbook was published byGeorge H. Miley.[55]

2020s[edit]

Avalanche Energy is a start-up with about $51 million in venture/DOD funding that is working on small (tens of centimetres), modular, fusion batteries producing 5kWe. They are targeting 600 kV for their device to achieve certain design goals. Their Orbitron concept electrostatically (magnetron-augmented) confines ions orbiting around a high voltage (100s of kVs) cathode in a high vacuum environment (p< 10 −8 Torr) surrounded by one or two anode shells separated by a dielectric. Concerns include breakdown of the vacuum/dielectric and insulator surface flashover.Permanent magnet/electromagnet magnetic field generators are arranged coaxially around the anode. The magnetic field strength is targeted to exceed aHull cut-off condition,ranging from 50-4,000 kV. Candidate ions include protons (m/z=1), deuterium (m/z=2), tritium (m/z=3), lithium-6 (m/z=6), and boron-11 (m/z=11). Recent progress includes successful testing of a 300 kVbushing.[56]

Designs with cage[edit]

Fusor[edit]

The best known IEC device is the fusor.[12]This device typically consists of two wire cages inside a vacuum chamber. These cages are referred to as grids. The inner cage is held at a negative voltage against the outer cage. A small amount offusion fuelis introduced (deuteriumgas being the most common). The voltage between the grids causes the fuel to ionize. The positive ions fall down the voltage drop toward the negative inner cage. As they accelerate, theelectric fielddoesworkon the ions, accelerating them to fusion conditions. If these ions collide, they can fuse. Fusors can also useion gunsrather than electric grids. Fusors are popular with amateurs,[57]because they can easily be constructed, can regularly produce fusion and are a practical way to studynuclear physics.Fusors have also been used as a commercialneutron generatorfor industrial applications.[58]

No fusor has come close to producing a significant amount offusion power.They can be dangerous if proper care is not taken because they require high voltages and can produce harmful radiation (neutronsandX-rays). Often, ions collide with the cages or wall. Thisconductsenergy away from the device limiting its performance. In addition, collisions heat the grids, which limits high-power devices. Collisions also spray high-mass ions into the reaction chamber, pollute the plasma, and cool the fuel.

POPS[edit]

In examiningnonthermal plasma,workers atLANLrealized that scattering was more likely than fusion. This was due to thecoulomb scatteringcross section being larger than the fusion cross section.[59]In response they built POPS,[60][61]a machine with a wire cage, where ions are moving at steady-state, or oscillating around. Such plasma can be at local thermodynamic equilibrium.[62]The ion oscillation is predicted to maintain the equilibrium distribution of the ions at all times, which would eliminate any power loss due to Coulomb scattering, resulting in anet energy gain.Working off this design, researchers in Russia simulated the POPS design usingparticle-in-cellcode in 2009.[63]This reactor concept becomes increasingly efficient as the size of the device shrinks. However, very high transparencies (>99.999%) are required for successful operation of the POPS concept. To this end S. Krupakar Murali et al., suggested thatcarbon nanotubescan be used to construct the cathode grids.[64]This is also the first (suggested) application of carbon nanotubes directly in any fusion reactor.

Designs with fields[edit]

Several schemes attempt to combinemagnetic confinementandelectrostaticfields with IEC. The goal is to eliminate the inner wire cage of the fusor, and the resulting problems.

Polywell[edit]

The polywell uses a magnetic field to trap electrons. When electrons or ions move into a dense field, they can be reflected by the magnetic mirror effect.[15]A polywell is designed to trap electrons in the center, with a dense magnetic field surrounding them.[49][65][66]This is typically done using six electromagnets in a box. Each magnet is positioned so their poles face inward, creating anull pointin the center. The electrons trapped in the center form a "virtual electrode"[67]Ideally, this electron cloud accelerates ions to fusion conditions.[19]

Penning trap[edit]

Penning trap cross-section. Axis is vertical. Electrons orbit the center under DC electrostatic (blue) and DC magnetic (red) confinement. In this diagram the confined particles are positive; to confine electrons, the electrodes' polarities must be swapped.

APenning trapuses both an electric and a magnetic field to trap particles, a magnetic field to confine particles radially and a quadrupole electric field to confine the particles axially.[68]

In a Penning trap fusion reactor, first the magnetic and electric fields are turned on. Then, electrons are emitted into the trap, caught and measured. The electrons form a virtual electrode similar to that in a polywell, described above. These electrons are intended to then attract ions, accelerating them to fusion conditions.[69]

In the 1990s, researchers atLANLbuilt a Penning trap to do fusion experiments. Their device (PFX) was a small (millimeters) and low power (one fifth of atesla,less than ten thousand volts) machine.[36]

Marble[edit]

MARBLE (multipleambipolarrecirculating beam line experiment) was a device which moved electrons and ions back and forth in a line.[34]Particle beams were reflected usingelectrostatic optics.[70]These optics made static voltage surfaces in free space.[citation needed]Such surfaces reflect only particles with a specific kinetic energy, while higher-energy particles can traverse these surfaces unimpeded, although not unaffected. Electron trapping and plasma behavior was measured byLangmuir probe.[34]Marble kept ions on orbits that do not intersect grid wires—the latter also improves the space charge limitations by multiple nesting of ion beams at several energies.[71]Researchers encountered problems with ion losses at the reflection points. Ions slowed down when turning, spending much time there, leading to highconductionlosses.[72]

MIX[edit]

The multipole ion-beam experiment (MIX) accelerated ions and electrons into a negatively charged electromagnet.[32]Ions were focused usingGaborlensing. Researcher had problems with a very thin ion-turning region very close to a solid surface[32]where ions could be conducted away.

Magnetically insulated[edit]

Devices have been proposed where the negative cage is magnetically insulated from the incoming plasmas.[73]

General criticism[edit]

In 1995, Todd Rider critiqued all fusion power schemes using plasma systems not at thermodynamic equilibrium.[23]Rider assumed that plasma clouds at equilibrium had the following properties:

  • They werequasineutral,where the positives and negatives are equally mixed together.[23]
  • They had evenly mixed fuel.[23]
  • They wereisotropic,meaning that its behavior was the same in any given direction.[23]
  • The plasma had a uniform energy and temperature throughout the cloud.[23]
  • The plasma was an unstructuredGaussian sphere.

Rider argued that if such system was sufficiently heated, it could not be expected to produce net power, due to highX-raylosses.

Other fusion researchers such asNicholas Krall,[74]Robert W. Bussard,[67]Norman Rostoker, and Monkhorst disagreed with this assessment. They argue that the plasma conditions inside IEC machines are not quasineutral and havenon-thermalenergy distributions.[75]Because the electron has a mass and diameter much smaller than the ion, theelectron temperaturecan be several orders of magnitude different than the ions. This may allow the plasma to be optimized, whereby cold electrons would reduceradiationlosses and hot ions would raisefusionrates.[41]

Thermalization[edit]

This is an energy distribution comparison of thermalized and non-thermalized ions

The primary problem that Rider has raised is the thermalization of ions. Rider argued that, in a quasineutral plasma where all the positives and negatives are distributed equally, the ions will interact. As they do, they exchange energy, causing their energy to spread out (in aWiener process) heading to a bell curve (orGaussian function) of energy. Rider focused his arguments within the ion population and did not address electron-to-ion energy exchange ornon-thermalplasmas.

This spreading of energy causes several problems. One problem is making more and more cold ions, which are too cold to fuse. This would lower output power. Another problem is higher energy ions which have so much energy that they can escape the machine. This lowers fusion rates while raising conduction losses, because as the ions leave, energy is carried away with them.

Radiation[edit]

Rider estimated that once the plasma is thermalized theradiationlosses would outpace any amount offusionenergy generated. He focused on a specific type of radiation:X-rayradiation. A particle in a plasma will radiate light anytime it speeds up or slows down. This can be estimated using theLarmor formula.Rider estimated this for D–T (deuterium–tritium fusion), D–D (deuterium fusion), and D–He3 (deuterium–helium 3 fusion), and that breakeven operation with any fuel except D–T is difficult.[23]

Core focus[edit]

In 1995, Nevins argued that such machines would need to expend a great deal of energy maintaining ion focus in the center. The ions need to be focused so that they can find one another, collide, and fuse. Over time the positive ions and negative electrons would naturally intermix because ofelectrostaticattraction. This causes the focus to be lost. This is core degradation. Nevins argued mathematically, that the fusion gain (ratio of fusion power produced to the power required to maintain the non-equilibrium ion distribution function) is limited to 0.1 assuming that the device is fueled with a mixture ofdeuteriumandtritium.[24]

The core focus problem was also identified in fusors by Tim Thorson at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madisonduring his 1996 doctoral work.[1]Charged ions would have some motion before they started accelerating in the center. This motion could be a twisting motion, where the ion hadangular momentum,or simply a tangential velocity. This initial motion causes the cloud in the center of the fusor to be unfocused.

Brillouin limit[edit]

In 1945, Columbia University professor Léon Brillouin, suggested that there was a limit to how many electrons one could pack into a given volume.[76]This limit is commonly referred to as the Brillouin limit or Brillouin density,[77]this is shown below.[36]

Where B is the magnetic field,the permeability of free space, m the mass of confined particles, and c the speed of light. This may limit the charge density inside IEC devices.

Commercial applications[edit]

Since fusion reactions generates neutrons, thefusorhas been developed into a family of compact sealed reaction chamber neutron generators[78]for a wide range of applications that need moderate neutron output rates at a moderate price. Very high output neutron sources may be used to make products such asmolybdenum-99[39]andnitrogen-13,medical isotopes used forPETscans.[79]

Devices[edit]

Government and commercial[edit]

  • Los Alamos National LaboratoryResearchers developed[80]POPS and Penning trap[35]
  • Turkish Atomic Energy AuthorityIn 2013 this team built a30 cmfusor at the Saraykoy Nuclear Research and Training center in Turkey. This fusor can reach85 kVand do deuterium fusion, producing2.4×104neutrons per second.[81]
  • ITT CorporationHirschsoriginal machine was a 17.8 cmdiameter machine with150 kVvoltage drop across it.[12]This machine used ion beams.
  • Phoenix Nuclear Labshas developed a commercial neutron source based on a fusor, achieving3×1011neutrons per second with the deuterium-deuterium fusion reaction for 132 hours of continuous operation.[39]
  • Energy Matter Conversion Inc Is a company in Santa Fe which has developed large high powered polywell devices for the US Navy.
  • NSD-Gradel-Fusion sealed IEC neutron generators for DD (2.5 MeV) or DT (14 MeV) with a range of maximum outputs are manufactured by Gradel sárl in Luxembourg.[78]
  • Atomic Energy Organization of IranResearchers at Shahid Beheshti University in Iran have built a60 cmdiameter fusor which can produce2×107neutrons per second at 80 kilovolts using deuterium gas.[82]
  • Avalanche Energy has received $5 million in venture capital to build their prototype.[83]
  • CPP-IPR in India, has achieved a significant milestone by pioneering the development of India's first Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion (IECF) neutron source. The device is capable of reaching an energy potential of -92kV. It can generate an neutron yield of up to 107neutrons per second by deuterium fusion. The primary objective of this program is to propel the advancement of portable and handheld neutron sources, characterized by both linear and spherical geometries.[84]

Universities[edit]

See also[edit]

Patents[edit]

  • P.T. Farnsworth,U.S. patent 3,258,402,June 1966 (Electric discharge — Nuclear interaction)
  • P.T. Farnsworth,U.S. patent 3,386,883.June 1968 (Method and apparatus)
  • Hirsch, Robert,U.S. patent 3,530,036.September 1970 (Apparatus)
  • Hirsch, Robert,U.S. patent 3,530,497.September 1970 (Generating apparatus — Hirsch/Meeks)
  • Hirsch, Robert,U.S. patent 3,533,910.October 1970 (Lithium-Ion source)
  • Hirsch, Robert,U.S. patent 3,655,508.April 1972 (Reduce plasma leakage)
  • Hirsch, Robert,U.S. patent 3,664,920.May 1972 (Electrostatic containment)
  • R.W. Bussard, "Method and apparatus for controlling charged particles",U.S. patent 4,826,646,May 1989 (Method and apparatus — Magnetic grid fields)
  • R.W. Bussard, "Method and apparatus for creating and controlling nuclear fusion reactions",U.S. patent 5,160,695,November 1992 (Method and apparatus — Ion acoustic waves)
  • S.T. Brookes, "Nuclear fusion reactor", UK patent GB2461267, May 2012
  • T.V. Stanko, "Nuclear fusion device", UK patent GB2545882, July 2017

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External links[edit]

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