Theory And Experiment In Laser Driven Fusion

Keith A. Brueckner

doi:10.1117/12.953829

1 March 1974 Theory And Experiment In Laser Driven Fusion

Keith A. Brueckner

Proceedings Volume 0041, Developments in Laser Technology II; (1974) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.953829
Event: Annual Technical Symposium, 1973, San Diego, United States

Abstract

The production of fusion energy from a pellet of thermonuclear fuel can be achieved on a level useful for power production only if the pellet is highly compressed with efficient energy transfer from the external , energy source into the pellet. The simple model of a uniformly compressed DT sphere can be used to determine the fusion energy production. Figure (1) gives the ratio of fusion energy out-put to initial thermal energy for a uniform initial temperature of 5 kev. The energy multiplication, for an initial thermal energy of one kilo-joule, is 5 at a density of 300 gm/cm3, 16 at 600, 40 at 1000, and 80 at 2000. For high energy input on high compres-sion, the energy multiplication levels off at about 200 corresponding to about 35% burnup of the DT. The energy multiplication can be increased if thefuel is only centrally heated to the ignition point of 5 kev, with the rest of the fuel ignited by an expanding supersonic burning front propagating outward from the fuel center. Figure (2) shows a typical example of the propagation of a supersonic burning front. Figure (3) shows the energy multiplication with the fuel center heated to 5 kev over a few micron radius and the rest of the fuel at 500 ev. With an initial thermal energy of one kilojoule, the energy multiplication is 130 at p= 600 gm/cm3, 400 at p= 1000 gm/cm3, and 700 at p = 2000 gm/cm3 . The energy multipli-cation reaches a maximum of about 1200 for initial thermal energy of 5-10 kilojoules, independent of initial density, corresponding to about 35% fuel burnup. The effect of the centrally-initiated burning wave increases the energy multiplication by about a factor of ten over the uniformly heated case.

Citation Download Citation

Keith A. Brueckner "Theory And Experiment In Laser Driven Fusion", Proc. SPIE 0041, Developments in Laser Technology II, (1 March 1974); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.953829

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