A COMPACT TORUS FUSION REACTOR UTILIZING A CONTINUOUSLY GENERATED STRING OF CT'S. THE CT STRING REACTOR, CTSR.
Author: Charles W. Hartman
Requested Type: Poster Only
Submitted: 2006-12-18 23:27:20
Co-authors: David B. Reisman, Harry S. McLean, and John Thomas
Contact Info:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
PO Box 808
Livermore, CA 94550
USA
Abstract Text:
A fusion reactor is described in which a moving string of mutually repulsive compact toruses (alternating helicity, unidirectional Btheta) is generated by repetitive injection using a radial, magnetized gun driven by continuous current with alternating poloidal field. The CT string moves axially, at low velocity, along a conducting cylinder where the injected CTs relax to a minimum magnetic energy equilibrium and the confined plasma is heated to fusion-producing temperature. The string then passes through a blanketed region where fusion energy is recovered. On emergence from the fusion region, the burn is quenched, possibly by controlled expansion, and the CTs pass into a recovery region with an alternating poloidal field directed so as to open the incoming CT flux surfaces and directly recover, at high efficiency, the magnetic energy as current which is returned to the formation gun.
The CT String Reactor (CTSTR) reactor satisfies all the necessary MHD stability requirements and is based on extrapolation of experimentally achieved formation, stability, and plasma confinement and is supported by extensive 2D, MHD calculations. CTSTR employs minimal external fields which can be supplied by normal conductors, and it can produce high fusion power density with uniform wall loading. The geometric simplicity of CTSTR acts to minimize initial and maintenance costs, including periodic replacement of the reactor first wall.
* Work performed under the auspices of the US DOE by University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract W–7405–ENG–48.
Characterization: D
Comments:
Skunkworks
