Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “MAGNETIC FUSION ENERGY”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 793 records · Page 44
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Design and Modeling of Vacuum Pumping for Steady-State Pellet Fueling Systems

We report that future long-pulse magnetic confinement fusion reactors will require density and isotopic mixture control using steady-state repeating pellet injectors. For high-energy density burning plasmas, pellet velocities of 1 km/s and above will be required for sufficient plasma penetration to achieve high fueling efficiency. Currently, steady-state repeating injection systems utilize cryogenic extruder systems to produce an extrusion of solid deuterium or deuterium-tritium. In repeating light gas gun injectors, the solid extrusion is cut and simultaneously loaded into a barrel. Once loaded, a fast operating gas valve delivers a high pressure burst of gas to accelerate the pellet down the barrel and into the machine. This process takes ~10 ms to achieve. Adequate gas pumping of the extruder exhaust and injection line propellant gas collection chambers is necessary for optimal operation of the pellet fueling system. Excess solid from the extruder sublimates in an exhaust chamber. The gas pressure in the extruder exhaust chamber must remain low to maintain low heating loads on the cooling mechanism (cryorefrigerators or liquid helium flow) and to reduce thermal conduction to the extrusion. Pumping the injection line chambers is necessary to limit propellant gas flow into the machine. A numerical simulation code was created to predict temporal pumping performance for these repeating pellet injection systems. Lastly, this paper outlines the methods and assumptions used to create this model and compares results to the pellet injection system currently employed on DIII-D, the steady-state pellet injection system planned for the Wendelstein 7-X, and a brief analysis of the ITER conceptual pellet fueling system.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Degradation of performance in Z-pinch implosions due to shell and magnetic-drive asymmetries

Achieving maximum performance in a Z-pinch Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) implosion requires high levels of symmetry to reach high pressures, high areal densities, and high efficiency energy coupling between the compressed fuel and the imploding shell. In this work, we present the development of a nonlinear model to describe an asymmetric MagLIF liner undergoing magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor (MRT) instabilities in the z = 0 plane. We investigate and present results from our model that show the degradation of the pressure at stagnation under various kinds of asymmetries that can arise during MagLIF experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Alfvén wave coupled with flow-driven fluid instability in interpenetrating plasmas

The Alfvén wave is analyzed in case of one quasineutral plasma propagating with some constant speed v{sub 0} through another static quasineutral plasma. A dispersion equation is derived describing the Alfvén wave coupled with the flow driven mode ω=kv{sub 0} and solutions are discussed analytically and numerically. The usual solutions for two oppositely propagating Alfvén waves are substantially modified due to the flowing plasma. More profound is modification of the solution propagating in the negative direction with respect to the magnetic field and the plasma flow. For a large enough flow speed (exceeding the Alfvén speed in the static plasma), this negative solution may become non-propagating, with frequency equal to zero. In this case, it represents a spatial variation of the electromagnetic field. For greater flow speed it becomes a forward mode, and it may merge with the positive one. This merging of the two modes represents the starting point for a flow-driven instability, with two complex-conjugate solutions. The Alfvén wave in interpenetrating plasmas is thus modified and coupled with the flow-driven mode and this coupled mode is shown to be growing when the flow speed is large enough. The energy for the instability is macroscopic kinetic energy of the flowing plasma. The dynamics of plasma particles caused by such a coupled wave still remains similar to the ordinary Alfvén wave. This means that well-known stochastic heating by the Alfvén wave may work, and this should additionally support the potential role of the Alfvén wave in the coronal heating.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Magnetic reconnection in high-energy-density laser-produced plasmas

Recently, novel experiments on magnetic reconnection have been conducted in laser-produced plasmas in a high-energy-density regime. Individual plasma bubbles self-generate toroidal, mega-gauss-scale magnetic fields through the Biermann battery effect. When multiple bubbles are created at small separation, they expand into one another, driving reconnection of this field. Reconnection in the experiments was reported to be much faster than allowed by both Sweet-Parker, and even Hall-MHD theories, when normalized to the nominal magnetic fields self-generated by single bubbles. Through particle-in-cell simulations (both with and without a binary collision operator), we model the bubble interaction at parameters and geometry relevant to the experiments. This paper discusses in detail the reconnection regime of the laser-driven experiments and reports the qualitative features of simulations. We find substantial flux-pileup effects, which boost the relevant magnetic field for reconnection in the current sheet. When this is accounted for, the normalized reconnection rates are much more in line with standard two-fluid theory of reconnection. At the largest system sizes, we additionally find that the current sheet is prone to breakup into plasmoids.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Design and modeling of indirectly driven magnetized implosions on the NIF

The use of magnetic fields to improve the performance of hohlraum-driven implosions on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is discussed. The focus is on magnetically insulated inertial confinement fusion, where the primary field effect is to reduce electron-thermal and alpha-particle loss from the compressed hotspot (magnetic pressure is of secondary importance). We summarize the requirements to achieve this state. The design of recent NIF magnetized hohlraum experiments is presented. These are close to earlier shots in the three-shock, high-adiabat (BigFoot) campaign, subject to the constraints that magnetized NIF targets must be fielded at room-temperature, and use ≲1 MJ of laser energy to avoid the risk of optics damage from stimulated Brillouin scattering. We present results from the original magnetized hohlraum platform, as well as a later variant that gives a higher hotspot temperature. In both platforms, imposed fields (at the capsule center) of up to 28 T increase the fusion yield and hotspot temperature. Integrated radiation-magneto-hydrodynamic modeling with the Lasnex code of these shots is shown, where laser power multipliers and a saturation clamp on cross-beam energy transfer are developed to match the time of peak capsule emission and the P2 Legendre moment of the hotspot x-ray image. The resulting fusion yield and ion temperature agree decently with the measured relative effects of the field, although the absolute simulated yields are higher than the data by 2.0−2.7×. The tuned parameters and yield discrepancy are comparable for experiments with and without an imposed field, indicating the model adequately captures the field effects. Self-generated and imposed fields are added sequentially to simulations of one BigFoot NIF shot to understand how they alter target dynamics.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Investigating Laser Preheat and Applied Magnetic Fields Relevant to the MagLIF Fusion Scheme

The MAGnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) scheme has achieved thermonuclear fusion yields on the Z Facility by imploding a cylindrical liner filled with D 2 fuel that is preheated with a multi-kJ laser and pre-magnetized with an axial Bz=10 T magnetic field. Preheating (T e = 100-200 eV) and pre-magnetizing (10-30 T) the fuel serves to reduce the implosion velocity required to achieve multi-keV fusion-relevant temperatures at stagnation with a modest radial convergence. The challenge of fuel preheat in MagLIF is to deposit multiple-kJ of energy into the underdense (n e /n c <0.1) fuel over ~10 mm target length efficiently and without introducing contaminants. Once the fuel is heated the applied axial magnetic field (ω ce τ e ~ 10) needs to suppress electron thermal conduction sufficiently to prevent unacceptable heat losses to the liner walls. In this LDRD we investigated laser energy deposition at two facilities: The OMEGA-EP laser at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics and the Z-beamlet laser at Sandia National Labs utilizing the PECOS chamber. Multiple experiments were carried out investigating laser transmission through LEH foils, laser heating of underdense gasses and the effects of magnetization on laser preheat. The studies find that magneto-hydrodynamic simulations are able to reproduce energy deposition at MagLIF-like conditions but that at the intensities currently used to preheat MagLIF significant laser plasma instabilities (LPI) occur which partly explain the inability of codes to reproduce previous MagLIF preheat studies. The experiments find that reducing the intensity and smoothing the beam dramatically reduces the amount of stimulated Brillouin backscatter and produces deposition profiles more similar to those produced in simulations. The experiments have provided a large and varied dataset that can be compared to simulations. As part of the LDRD new experimental capabilities have also been developed that will be used to design future MagLIF integrated experiments and investigate fuel magnetization.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

Amplification of ion acoustic wave in an inhomogeneous plasma through nonlinear wave-particle interaction with drift wave turbulence

A study on the amplification of ion acoustic wave in an inhomogeneous plasma has been made on the basis of a nonlinear wave-particle interaction process called plasma maser effect. The drift wave instability, which is a universal phenomenon of an inhomogeneous confined plasma system, is found to be strongly in phase relation with thermal particles and may transfer its wave energy nonlinearly through a modulated field to ion acoustic wave. Considering a Maxwellian distribution function model for inhomogeneous plasmas under the standard local approximation, we have estimated the growth rate for ion acoustic wave, which is obtained by using the nonlinear dispersion relation. It has been found that amplification of ion acoustic wave is possible at the expense of drift wave turbulent energy. This result may be particularly important for stability of various drift modes in magnetically confined plasma as well as for transport of momentum and energy in such inhomogeneous systems.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2010

Energy transfer in binary collisions of two gyrating charged particles in a magnetic field

Binary collisions of the gyrating charged particles in an external magnetic field are considered within a classical second-order perturbation theory, i.e., up to contributions that are quadratic in the binary interaction, starting from the unperturbed helical motion of the particles. The calculations are done with the help of a binary collision treatment, which is valid for any strength of the magnetic field and involves all harmonics of the particles' cyclotron motion. The energy transfer is explicitly calculated for a regularized and screened potential, which is both of finite range and nonsingular at the origin. The validity of the perturbation treatment is evaluated by comparing with classical trajectory Monte Carlo (CTMC) calculations which also allow one to investigate the strong collisions with large energy and velocity transfer at low velocities. For large initial velocities, on the other hand, only small velocity transfers occur. There the nonperturbative numerical CTMC results agree excellently with the predictions of the perturbative treatment.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Study of energy conversion and partitioning in the magnetic reconnection layer of a laboratory plasma

While the most important feature of magnetic reconnection is that it energizes plasma particles by converting magnetic energy to particle energy, the exact mechanisms by which this happens are yet to be determined despite a long history of reconnection research. Recently, we have reported our results on the energy conversion and partitioning in a laboratory reconnection layer in a short communication [Yamada et al., Nat. Commun. 5, 4474 (2014)]. The present paper is a detailed elaboration of this report together with an additional dataset with different boundary sizes. Our experimental study of the reconnection layer is carried out in the two-fluid physics regime where ions and electrons move quite differently. We have observed that the conversion of magnetic energy occurs across a region significantly larger than the narrow electron diffusion region. A saddle shaped electrostatic potential profile exists in the reconnection plane, and ions are accelerated by the resulting electric field at the separatrices. These accelerated ions are then thermalized by re-magnetization in the downstream region. A quantitative inventory of the converted energy is presented in a reconnection layer with a well-defined, variable boundary. We have also carried out a systematic study of the effects of boundary conditions on the energy inventory. This study concludes that about 50% of the inflowing magnetic energy is converted to particle energy, 2/3 of which is ultimately transferred to ions and 1/3 to electrons. Assisted by another set of magnetic reconnection experiment data and numerical simulations with different sizes of monitoring box, it is also observed that the observed features of energy conversion and partitioning do not depend on the size of monitoring boundary across the range of sizes tested from 1.5 to 4 ion skin depths.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Review: Turbulence dynamics during the pedestal evolution between edge localized modes in magnetic fusion devices

Fusion performance has been shown to be related to the H-mode pedestal structure. The pedestal is associated with steep gradients that are the source of free energy for microinstabilities. A variety of instabilities have been shown to co-exist in the pedestal. This paper reviews the experimentally observed signatures of instabilities during the pedestal parameters' evolutions, with a focus on turbulence observations, made in between edge localized modes (ELMs), in multiple tokamaks. ELMs are cyclic events associated with bursty relaxations of the pedestal. The multiple machine results point to very similar pedestal localized modes suggesting the existence of a unifying mechanism governing the modes' onset and dynamics. Modeling efforts to identify the generation mechanism of these instabilities are introduced. Several remaining challenges include the study of the instability saturation mechanisms and impact on the pedestal structure formation. Finally, potential future research avenues will require multiscale-non-linear-gyrokinetic analyses to study the non-linear interaction between these instabilities, and which pedestal conditions facilitate such non-linear interactions, as well as the relationship with the formation of the pedestal through transport.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Experiments on the dynamics and scaling of spontaneous-magnetic-field saturation in laser-produced plasmas

We report in laser-produced high-energy-density plasmas, large-scale strong magnetic fields are spontaneously generated by the Biermann battery effects when temperature and density gradients are misaligned. Saturation of the magnetic field takes place when convection and dissipation balance field generation. While theoretical and numerical modeling provide useful insight into the saturation mechanisms, experimental demonstration remains elusive. In this letter, we report an experiment on the saturation dynamics and scaling of Biermann battery magnetic field in the regime where plasma convection dominates. With time-gated charged-particle radiography and time-resolved Thomson scattering, the field structure and evolution as well as corresponding plasma conditions are measured. In these conditions, the spatially resolved magnetic fields are reconstructed, leading to a picture of field saturation with a scaling of $B ~ 1/L_T$ for a convectively dominated plasma, a regime where the temperature gradient scale ($L_T$) exceeds the ion skin depth.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Measurement of Kinetic-Scale Current Filamentation Dynamics and Associated Magnetic Fields in Interpenetrating Plasmas

Here, we present the first local, quantitative measurements of ion current filamentation and magnetic field amplification in interpenetrating plasmas, characterizing the dynamics of the ion Weibel instability. The interaction of a pair of laser-generated, counterpropagating, collisionless, supersonic plasma flows is probed using optical Thomson scattering (TS). Analysis of the TS ion-feature revealed anticorrelated modulations in the density of the two ion streams at the spatial scale of the ion skin depth c/ω pi = 120 μm, and a correlated modulation in the plasma current. The inferred current profile implies a magnetic field amplitude ~30 ± 6 T , corresponding to ~1% of the flow kinetic energy, indicating that magnetic trapping is the dominant saturation mechanism.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Physics of a magnetic filter for negative ion sources. I. Collisional transport across the filter in an ideal, 1D filter

Magnetic filters are used in negative ion sources for neutral beam injection in fusion devices to reduce the electron temperature in the extraction region in order to limit negative ion destruction by fast electrons. The drop in electron temperature through the filter is due to the enhanced residence time and collisional energy losses of electrons trapped in the magnetic field. The mechanisms controlling particle and energy transport through the magnetic filter in negative ion sources of the ITER type are still not clear and the aim of this paper is to clarify and quantify these mechanisms. A particle-in-cell Monte Carlo simulation is used to revisit and analyze the role and operation of the magnetic filter in an 'ideal' one-dimensional configuration and to study the stability of the one-dimensional solution in a two-dimensional configuration with periodic boundary conditions. The roles of collisions and instabilities on electron transport through the filter are discussed. The influence of a more realistic geometry on electron transport through the filter is analyzed in the companion paper [Boeuf et al., Phys. Plasmas 19, 113510 (2012)].

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Challenges and Gaps in the Development of Pulsed Power for Fusion Applications: A Preroadmapping Perspective From Industry, Academia, and National Laboratory Experts

Fusion energy meets the twenty-first century World Grand Challenge of sustainable, ubiquitous, and safer energy sources. However, harnessing the promise of fusion energy has proven elusive. The competing approaches to fusion power plant design include inertial confinement fusion, National Ignition Facility (ICF-NIF, Z machine, etc.,) magnetic confinement fusion (MCF-Tokamak, stellarators, etc.), and other approaches that show promise in small- (flow stabilized Z pinches) or large-scale applications. These approaches are being accelerated with private and public funding and seek to demonstrate the feasibility of different approaches to fusion-based power plants. Yet, how can the necessary pulsed power technologies for these disruptive technology bases be accelerated with no clear “Dominant Design?” Roadmapping holds the promise to identify and develop common critical pulsed power components for laboratory, prototype, and commercial fusion, and can accelerate the commercialization of fusion reactor designs. A preroadmapping Workshop on Pulsed Power for Fusion was held at the IEEE International Pulsed Power Conference in San Antonio, TX, USA, in June 2023. The workshop had 177 attendees. Here, the common elements for many of the ICF technologies vying for dominant design were identified. The advancement of these technologies through roadmapping will enhance commercial expectations that require their rapid and innovative development in the next five years, as well as the next five to ten years. The key technologies identified that underpin and limit the advancement of fusion power include pulsed power technologies such as energy storage, high-voltage switching, additive manufacturing, and modular pulsed power circuit topologies. In conclusion, they are the focus of our effort in the following roadmap scenario, which will delineate potential paths to technology development.

Curry, Randy D. [I-Pulse Group, Albuquerque, NM (U↗
DOE OSTI2012

Halo formation and self-pinching of an electron beam undergoing the Weibel instability

The collisionless Maxwellization of the energy distribution of an electron beam undergoing Weibel filamentation instability in a dense background plasma is demonstrated. While binary collisions between discrete charged particles are usually responsible for establishing the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution (MBD) of non-equilibrium plasmas, we demonstrate that the same effect is achieved through collective collisions between multiple beam filaments. The final state of the filaments' merger is a single pinched beam surrounded by a wide halo. An analytic model for the equilibrated beam is developed and used to estimate spatial profiles of the pinched beam and its halo, the temperature, and the magnetic field. Results of analytical theory agree well with those of particle-in-cell simulations. Deviations from the MBD are explained by incomplete Maxwellization of the electrons with high and low transverse energies.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Amplification due to two-stream instability of self-electric and magnetic fields of an ion beam propagating in background plasma

Propagation of charged particle beams in background plasma as a method of space charge neutralization has been shown to achieve a high degree of charge and current neutralization and therefore enables nearly ballistic propagation and focusing of charged particle beams. Correspondingly, the use of plasmas for propagation of charged particle beams has important applications for transport and focusing of intense particle beams in inertial fusion and high energy density laboratory plasma physics. However, the streaming of beam ions through a background plasma can lead to the development of two-stream instability between the beam ions and the plasma electrons. The beam electric and magnetic fields enhanced by the two-stream instability can lead to defocusing of the ion beam. Using particle-in-cell simulations, we study the scaling of the instability-driven self-electromagnetic fields and consequent defocusing forces with the background plasma density and beam ion mass. In conclusion, we identify plasma parameters where the defocusing forces can be reduced.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

Gyrokinetic Microtearing Turbulence

The nonlinear dynamics of microtearing modes in standard tokamak plasmas are investigated by means of ab initio gyrokinetic simulations. The saturation levels of the magnetic field fluctuations can be understood in the framework of a balance between (small poloidal wave number) linear drive and small-scale dissipation. The resulting heat transport is dominated by the electron magnetic component, and the transport levels are found to be experimentally relevant. Microtearing modes thus constitute another candidate for explaining turbulent transport in such toroidal systems.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Statistical and spectral properties of magnetic islands in reconnecting current sheets during two-ribbon flares

We perform a set of two dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations to study the reconnection process occurring in current sheets that develop during solar eruptions. Reconnection commences gradually and produces small-scale structures inside the current sheet, which has one end anchored to the bottom boundary and the other end open. The main features we study include plasmoids (or plasma blobs) flowing in the sheet, and X-points between pairs of adjacent islands. The statistical properties of the fine structure and the dependence of the spectral energy on these properties are examined. The flux and size distribution functions of plasmoids roughly follow inverse square power laws at large scales. The mass distribution function is steep at large scales and shallow at small scales. The size distribution also shows that plasmoids are highly asymmetric soon after being formed, while older plasmoids tend to be more circular. The spectral profiles of magnetic and kinetic energy inside the current sheet are both consistent with a power law. The corresponding spectral indices γ are found to vary with the magnetic Reynolds number R{sub m} of the system, but tend to approach a constant for large R{sub m} (>10{sup 5}). The motion and growth of blobs change the spectral index. The growth of new islands causes the power spectrum to steepen, but it becomes shallower when old and large plasmoids leave the computational domain.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗