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DOE OSTI2023

Evaluation of the relative importance of preheat from hohlraum x rays and a radiative shock on a low-density foam

Indirectly driven shock-tube experiments were performed on the Omega Laser Facility to evaluate the relative importance of hohlraum x ray and radiative shock preheat sources on a low-density foam. X rays emitted from the hohlraum and a subsequent shock wave are channeled into a low-density foam sample, which contains a plastic preheat-witness disk placed downstream of the foam. Simultaneous radiographic measurements of the shock speed in the foam and the expansion rate of the witness disk due to preheat allow for the observation of effects from the hohlraum's low-energy and high-energy x-ray spectrum. Here we showed, from simulations, that low-energy x rays from the hohlraum are preferentially absorbed near the ablator surface (where the hohlraum and the shock tube meet), while higher-energy x rays largely pass through the ablator and foam and are volumetrically absorbed by the witness disk. Reproducing the experimentally measured shock speed and expansion of the witness disk simultaneously, we extracted the temperature evolution of preheated foam from the simulation and evaluated the relative importance of preheat sources on a low-density foam from hohlraum x-ray radiation and radiative shock. We found that radiation from the shock front was more effective at preheating the low-density foam than the high-energy x rays from the hohlraum. This shock-tube preheat experiment is important for understanding the results of the MARBLE experiments at the National Ignition Facility because initial conditions of foam-filled MARBLE capsules are sensitive to preheat.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2026

Influence of preheating on tungsten damage under pulsed hydrogen plasma exposure

Preheated tungsten plate behavior under multiple pulsed hydrogen plasma irradiations in the PW-7 plasma accelerator was investigated. The preheating temperature was 973 K, which is above the ductile to brittle transition temperature (DBTT ≈ 673 K). The plate was exposed to three consecutive series of 13 plasma pulses each. Preheating sufficiently suppressed surface cracking at the early irradiation stage: after 13 pulses, cracks were rare, localized, and did not form extensive fractures. During subsequent irradiation series, the area fraction of fine cracks increased by ∼ 2% due to accumulation of dislocations around the pre-existing defects. However, their width remained nearly constant, averaging 0.2–0.3 μm, with rare cracks up to 1 μm in size. Repeated plasma exposure resulted in pronounced surface roughening associated with multiple melting cycles, crater formation and blister rupture, with roughness reaching ∼ 204 nm and a recorded sample mass loss of ∼ 2.8 mg. These results indicate that controlling tungsten preheating well above DBTT effectively reduces damage. However, the surface condition during initial irradiation significantly influences its subsequent morphological evolution. Preheating to 773 K, selected regarding the minimum DBTT value, has previously been demonstrated to be an effective approach for limiting crack growth. A further increase in temperature of approximately ∼ 1000 K did not qualitatively improve results: crack still formed and widths did not decrease. At the same time, the absence of further crack coarsening indicates that the limiting effect of preheating has been reached. Considering the increased energy costs, further increasing the preheating temperature seems unjustified.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2022

Effect of laser preheat in magnetized liner inertial fusion at OMEGA

Integrated magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF) experiments on the OMEGA laser system are modeled to investigate the effects of laser preheat on implosion performance. In both simulations and experiments, preheating the fuel with a laser enhances the neutron yield, with the maximum yield occurring at an optimal preheat laser energy. Increasing the preheat energy past the optimal value reduces the neutron yield. In simulations, the rate of the drop in neutron yield depends on the inclusion of the Nernst effect. The Nernst effect advects the magnetic field away from the center of the fuel region during the preheat stage of MagLIF on OMEGA and weakens magnetic-flux compression. If the Nernst effect is not included, the simulated drop in yield past the optimal preheat laser energy is more gradual as opposed to the sharper drop seen in experiments. Simulations are able to model trend in measured ion temperatures seen in experiments. Here, a mix model is used to show that including mix from the wall in the simulated fuel region further degrades the yield and lowers the optimal preheat laser energy. Simulations with mix predict that increasing the initial axial magnetic field may still enhance yield performance in integrated implosions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2020

Elucidating the effect of preheating temperature on melt pool morphology variation in Inconel 718 laser powder bed fusion via simulation and experiment

In laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) additive manufacturing, the mechanical performance, microstructure and defects of fabricated parts are closely associated with the melt pool morphology, e.g., its dimension and shape through the building process. Past studies have largely focused on how the process parameters such as laser power and scan speed affect melt pool characteristics. In this study, the melt pool morphology variation as a function of preheating temperature in the conduction, transition, and keyhole regimes and the underlying mechanisms in each regime are investigated through ex-situ sample characterization and computation thermal fluid dynamics (CtFD) simulation. Single tracks with different combinations of laser power and scan speed are deposited on an Inconel 718 bare plate preheated to a temperature range of 100–500 °C in the experiment. Significant changes are observed in melt pool morphology as a function of preheating temperature from optical measurements of melt track cross sections. The depth of melt pool in the three regimes increases monotonically with preheating temperature, e.g., at 500 °C, the experimental melt pool depth is increased by 49% in conduction regime, 34% in transition regime and 33% in keyhole regime, respectively, while the variation of melt pool width in each regime does not all follow an increasing trend but depends on the melt pool regimes. Melt pool width variation in the conduction and transition regimes is found to depend on the enhanced heat conduction directly related to temperature dependent thermal properties. Through validated CtFD simulations, it is found that in the keyhole regime the evaporation mass, recoil pressure, and laser drilling effect is enhanced with higher preheating temperature, which gives rise to a deeper melt pool. The simulations also reveal that preheating temperature significantly elongates the melt track length due to the increased flow rate and strong recoil pressure that accelerates the backward flow.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2025

Correlating hot-electron preheat from the two-plasmon decay instability to $ρR$ degradation for direct-drive implosions on OMEGA

Focused experiments were performed with the goal of isolating the impact of hot-electron preheat on compression in deuterium–tritium (DT) layered, direct-drive implosions on OMEGA. Preheat from the hot-electrons generated by two-plasmon–decay (TPD) activity was varied through the incident laser intensity, with the total preheat energy deposited into unablated DT fuel being inferred using hard x-ray measurements. Results show a clear correlation between the inferred preheat levels and $ρR$ degradation that is consistent with a derived, 1D preheat model. A fit to the results also provides an estimated range of $ρR$ degradation from non-preheat sources for the adiabat ≈5 implosions used in this study. A follow-up study using targets containing Si-doped (5.5%) CH ablators (CHSi) demonstrated results consistent with mid-Z dopants mitigating TPD activity by showing these targets had almost no $ρR$ degradation as the laser intensity was increased up to levels previously considered damaging.

Doping↗

DOE OSTI2026

Hot electron preheat effects in two-photon polymerization plastic lattice laser-driven shock-tube experiments on the OMEGA laser

We present simulations of Omega shock tube experiments designed to investigate hot electron preheat effects in 3D-printed, two-photon polymerization (2PP) plastic lattices. Preheat is inferred in the experiments from the expansion of a plastic witness disk embedded in the lattice. Using the Eulerian radiation-hydrodynamics code xRAGE, we model shock propagation and preheat from both radiative and hot electron energy sources to evaluate their relative impact. To simulate the transport of laser-generated hot electrons, the nonlocal electron heat transport model proposed by Schurtz, Nicolaï, and Busquet (SNB) is extended with a hot electron source term and an energy cascade algorithm. We explore how variations in ablator, lattice geometry, and laser drive affect the shock velocity and witness disk expansion. Simulations show that the inclusion of a 5 μm gold layer reduces shock pressure by 60% and shock speeds by 30%–40% but does not significantly reduce the hot electron preheat, and that different lattice geometries lead to enhanced shock velocities—up to 40% faster than in homogeneous foams. However, radiative and conductive preheat from classical mechanisms alone fail to match experiment. By including a hot electron source term, we reproduce experimental observables such as disk expansion rates and spatial radiographic features. We find that a hot electron population corresponding to 4%–8% of the incident laser energy with T hot = 50 keV produces expansion which agrees with the experimental data, suggesting hot electron preheat is the most plausible explanation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

NASA NTRS1999

Fuel Preheat Effects on Soot-Field Structure in Laminar Gas Jet Diffusion Flames Burning in 0-g and 1-g

An experimental investigation conducted at the 2.2-s drop tower of the NASA Lewis Research Center is presented to quantify the influence of moderate fuel preheat on soot-field structure within 0-g laminar gas jet diffusion flames. Parallel work in 1-g is also presented to delineate the effect of elevated fuel temperatures on soot-field structure in buoyant flames. The experimental methodology implements jet diffusion flames of nitrogen-diluted acetylene fuel burning in quiescent air at atmospheric pressure. Fuel preheat of approximately 100 K in the 0-g laminar jet diffusion flames is found to reduce soot loadings in the annular region, but causes an increase in soot volume fractions at the centerline. In addition, fuel preheat reduces the radial extent of the soot field in 0-g. In 1-g, the same fuel preheat levels have a more moderated influence on soot loadings in the annular region, but are also seen to enhance soot concentrations near the axis low in the flame. The increased soot loadings near the flame centerline, as caused by fuel preheat, are consistent with the hypothesis that preheat levels of approximately 100 K enhance fuel pyrolysis rates. The results show that the growth stage of particles transported along the soot annulus is shortened both in 1-g and 0-g when elevated fuel temperatures are used.

Konsur, Bogdan↗

NASA NTRS2003

Optimal Substrate Preheating Model for Thermal Spray Deposition of Thermosets onto Polymer Matrix Composites

High velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) sprayed, functionally graded polyimide/WC-Co composite coatings on polymer matrix composites (PMC's) are being investigated for applications in turbine engine technologies. This requires that the polyimide, used as the matrix material, be fully crosslinked during deposition in order to maximize its engineering properties. The rapid heating and cooling nature of the HVOF spray process and the high heat flux through the coating into the substrate typically do not allow sufficient time at temperature for curing of the thermoset. It was hypothesized that external substrate preheating might enhance the deposition behavior and curing reaction during the thermal spraying of polyimide thermosets. A simple analytical process model for the deposition of thermosetting polyimide onto polymer matrix composites by HVOF thermal spray technology has been developed. The model incorporates various heat transfer mechanisms and enables surface temperature profiles of the coating to be simulated, primarily as a function of substrate preheating temperature. Four cases were modeled: (i) no substrate preheating; (ii) substrates electrically preheated from the rear; (iii) substrates preheated by hot air from the front face; and (iv) substrates electrically preheated from the rear and by hot air from the front.

Ivosevic, M.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Mixing of Multiple Jets with a Confined Subsonic Crossflow: Part III--The Effects of Air Preheat and Number of Orifices on Flow and Emissions in an RQL Mixing Section

This study was motivated by a goal to understand the mixing and emissions in the Rich-burn/Quick-mix/Lean-burn (RQL) combustor scheme that has been proposed to minimize the formation of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) in gas turbine combustors. The study reported herein was a reacting jet-in-crossflow experiment at atmospheric pressure. The jets were injected from the perimeter of a cylindrical duct through round-hole orifices into a fuel-rich mainstream flow. The number of orifices investigated in this study gave over- to optimum to underpenetrating jets at a jet-to-mainstream momentum-flux ratio of J = 57. The size of individual orifices was decreased as the number of orifices increased to maintain a constant total area; the jet-to-mainstream mass-flow ratio was constant at MR = 2.5. The experiments focused on the effects of the number of orifices and inlet air preheat and were conducted in a facility that provided the capability for independent variation of jet and main inlet air preheat temperature. The number of orifices was found to have a significant effect on mixing and the distributions of species, but very little effect on overall NOx emissions, suggesting that an aerodynamically optimum mixer might not minimize NOx emissions. Air preheat was found to have very little effect on mixing and the distributions of major species, but preheating both main and jet air did increase NOx emissions significantly. Although the air jets injected in the quick-mix section of an RQL combustor may comprise over 70 percent of the total air flow, the overall NOx emission levels were found to be more sensitive to main stream air preheat than to jet stream air preheat.

Holdemann, James D.↗

NASA NTRS2007

The Effects of Air Preheat and Number of Orifices on Flow and Emissions in an RQL Mixing Section

This study was motivated by a goal to understand the mixing and emissions in the rich-burn/quick-mix/lean-burn (RQL) combustor scheme that has been proposed to minimize the formation of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) in gas turbine combustors. The study reported in this paper was a reacting jet-in-crossflow experiment at atmospheric pressure in a cylindrical duct. The jets were injected from the perimeter of the duct through round-hole orifices into a fuel-rich mainstream flow. The number of orifices investigated in this study gave over- to optimum to underpenetrating jets at a jet-to-mainstream momentum-flux ratio of 57. The size of individual orifices was decreased as their number increased to maintain a constant total area. The jet-to-mainstream mass-flow ratio was held constant at 2.5. The experiments focused on the effects of the number of orifices and inlet air preheat and were conducted in a facility that provided the capability for independent variation of jet and main inlet air preheat temperature. The number of orifices was found to have a significant effect on mixing and the distributions of species, but very little effect on overall NOx emissions, suggesting that an aerodynamically optimum mixer may not minimize NOx emissions. Air preheat was found to have very little effect on mixing and the distributions of major species, but preheat did increase NOx emissions significantly. Although the air jets injected in the quick-mix section of a RQL combustor may comprise over 70% of the total air flow, the overall NOx emission levels were found to be more sensitive to mainstream air preheat than to jet stream air preheat.

Holdeman, James D.↗

DOE OSTI2021

A cosmic microscope for the preheating era

Light fields with spatially varying backgrounds can modulate cosmic preheating, and imprint the nonlinear effects of preheating dynamics at tiny scales on large scale fluctuations. This provides us a unique probe into the preheating era which we dub the “cosmic microscope”. We identify a distinctive effect of preheating on scalar perturbations that turns the Gaussian primordial fluctuations of a light scalar field into square waves, like a diode. The effect manifests itself as local non-Gaussianity. We present a model, “modulated partial preheating”, where this nonlinear effect is consistent with current observations and can be reached by near future cosmic probes.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2026

Preheat effects in laser-driven Rayleigh–Taylor instability experiments at intensities greater than $10^{15}$ $\textrm{W}$ $\textrm{cm}^{-2}$ at OMEGA EP and the NIF

The propagation of high-energy X-rays or hot electrons have the potential to alter the initial conditions in experimental target designs, especially at material interfaces, for laser-driven inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and high-energy density (HED) experimental platforms. Hot-electron preheat can drastically modify the initial conditions of experimental targets used to study the deceleration-stage Rayleigh–Taylor instability (RTI) both with and without applied magnetic fields. Therefore, it is necessary to understand and quantify the impact of hot-electron preheat. The hydrodynamic (HD) capabilities in the Ares code are used to study the effects varying levels of preheat can have on RTI evolution. The experimental and computational studies presented in this work demonstrate that at high laser intensities of around or greater than 10 15 W cm −2 , there is hot-electron generation from laser plasma instabilities which induces substantial preheat and impacts the morphology of RTI evolution and even inhibits the intended RTI growth such that it is not observable experimentally. The necessity of better quantifying hot-electron induced preheat and mitigating its impact on such high-intensity direct-drive laser experiments in the future is discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Scaling laser preheat for MagLIF with the Z-Beamlet laser

Optimizing the performance of the Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) platform on the Z pulsed power facility requires coupling greater than 2 kJ of preheat energy to an underdense fuel in the presence of an applied axial magnetic field ranging from 10 to 30 T. Achieving the suggested optimal preheat energies has not been experimentally achieved so far. In this work, we explore the preheat design space for cryogenically cooled MagLIF targets, which represent a viable candidate for increasing preheat energies. Using 2D and 3D HYDRA MHD simulations, we first discuss the various physical effects that occur during laser preheat, such as laser energy deposition, self-focusing, and filamentation. After identifying the changes that different phase plates, gas-fill densities, and magnetic fields bring to the aforementioned physical effects, we, then, consider higher laser energies that are achievable with modest upgrades to the Z Beamlet laser. Lastly, with a 6.0-kJ upgraded laser, 3D calculations suggest that it is possible to deliver 4.25 kJ into the MagLIF fuel, resulting in an expected deuterium neutron yield of Y DD ≃ 1.5 × 10 14 , or roughly 50 kJ of DT equivalent yield, at 20-MA current drive. This represents a 10-fold increase in the currently achieved yields for MagLIF.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2022

Mechanisms of shape transfer and preheating in indirect-drive double shell collisions

Implosions of Hohlraum-driven double shell targets as an alternative inertial confinement fusion concept are underway at the National Ignition Facility. The double shell system relies on a series of energy transfer processes starting from thermal x-ray absorption by the outer shell, followed by collisional transfer of kinetic energy to a heavy metal inner shell, and finally, conversion to the internal energy of the deuterium-tritium fuel. During each of these energy transfer stages, low-mode asymmetries can act to reduce the ideal transfer efficiency degrading double shell performance. Mechanisms, such as hard x-ray preheat from the Hohlraum, not only decrease the efficiency of kinetic energy transfer but may also be a source of low-mode asymmetry. In this article, we evaluate the shape transfer processes through the time of shell collision using two-dimensional integrated Hohlraum and capsule computations. We find that the dominant mode of the shape transfer is well described using a “radial impulse” model from the shape of the foam pressure reservoir. To evaluate the importance of preheat on inner shell shape, we also report on first measurements of Au L-shell preheat asymmetry in a double shell with a tungsten pusher. These measurements showed a 65% higher preheat velocity at the pole of the capsule relative to the equator. We also found that the experiments provided rigorous constraints by which to test the Hohlraum model settings that impact the amount and symmetry of Au L-shell preheat via the plasma conditions inside the outer cone Au bubble.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2022

Inferences of hot electron preheat and its spatial distribution in OMEGA direct drive implosions

Hot electrons generated from laser plasma instabilities degrade performance of direct drive implosions by preheating the deuterium and tritium (DT) fuel resulting in early decompression and lower areal densities at stagnation. A technique to quantify the hot electron preheat of the dense DT fuel and connect it to the degradation in areal density is described in detail. Hot electrons are measured primarily from the hard x-rays they emit as they slow down in the target. The DT preheat is inferred from a comparison of the hard x-ray signals between a DT-layered implosion and its mass equivalent ablator only implosion. The preheat energy spatial distribution within the imploding shell is inferred from experiments using high Z payloads of varying thicknesses. It is found that the electrons deposit their energy uniformly throughout the shell material. For typical direct-drive OMEGA implosions driven with an overlapped intensity of ∼9·1014 W/cm2, approximately ∼0.02%–0.03% of the laser energy is converted into preheat of the stagnated fuel which corresponds to areal density degradations of 10%–20%. The degradations in areal density explain some of the observed discrepancies between the simulated and measured areal densities.

Christopherson, A. R. (ORCID:000000033578635X)↗

DOE OSTI2024

Development of a high performance MagLIF target platform using high aspect ratio coated liners and low-mix laser preheat

We report on a series of Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) experiments conducted on the Z pulsed power facility that utilized high aspect ratio (ratio of outer radius to wall thickness) liners with dielectric coatings and low-mix laser preheat configurations. The liners consisted of an aspect ratio of 10.6 beryllium tube coated with 75 μm of epoxy on the outside that have been shown to maintain a better implosion stability than uncoated beryllium and have demonstrated consistent stagnation performances in previous experiments [Ampleford et al., Phys. Plasmas 31, 022703 (2024)]. Two-dimensional HYDRA simulations were used to design three different “co-injection” laser configurations, whereby a second laser is used to provide an early prepulse before the main pulse, to reduce LEH foil mix while increasing the fuel density and coupled energy. The laser preheat energy for each configuration was constrained using dedicated laser experiments before being applied to the integrated MagLIF experiments on Z. The DD neutron yield for experiments using co-injection preheat configurations is found to increase with the specific preheat energy in line with simulations. The highest neutron yield achieved in this study of 1.1 × 10 13 matches the highest reported in a MagLIF experiment to date and is a factor 3.5 times higher than similar experiments using preheat with no phase plate smoothing. We attempt to assess the effects of mix and morphology to explain the improved performance; however, neither factor is found to be conclusive within the uncertainty of the measurements.

Harvey-Thompson, A. J.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Ash Fouling Free Regenerative Air Preheater for Deep Cyclic Operation

The University of Kentucky (UKy) project titled “Ash Fouling Free Regenerative Air Preheater for Deep Cyclic Operation”, DE-FE0031757, was conducted from 8/15/2019 to 8/14/2024 in two Budget Periods. Other participants included PPL Corporation and Black Dragon Double Boiler. The overall goal was to investigate the proposed self-cleaning technology to achieve ash fouling free air preheater operation in a coal-fired power plant, especially during deep cycling. All project deliverables, milestones, and success criteria were met. UKy obtained the following scientific findings. • Temporary and periodic high temperature of heating elements (450 ~ 500 °F) can prevent ash accumulation and maintain air preheater free of clogging. • The ash samples analysis and unit operation provide solid evidence of ABS formed during low load with SCR ammonia slip being the major cause of ash accumulation, and air preheater clogging can be prevented by raising the heating element temperature up to 450 °F~ 500 °F at which ABS is decomposed. • In-situ self-cleaning can be controlled by monitoring temperature and/or presetting fixed number of cleanings per day. Both approaches in pilot testing show positive results for maintaining an ash free state for the air preheater. • Temperature criteria (cold end or gas outlet temperature) for entering self-cleaning service is critical to balance the number of cleaning cycles with maintaining the ash level. • Temperature criteria (cold end or gas outlet temperature) for exiting self-cleaning service is critical to balance the duration of the cleaning cycles with maintaining the ash level.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

NASA NTRS2021

A Cosmic Microscope for the Preheating Era

Cosmology of Theories beyond the SM↗