SBIR-STTR Award

Steady state magnetic fusion concepts suffer the following problems: maintaining stability and current sustainment in steady state; continuous heat flux on the first wall; and heating the plasma to thermonuclear conditions. The Inductive Plasmoid Accelerator (IPA), funded by the DOE and currently under construction, seeks to address each of these issues: the steady-state problem is mitigated by pulsing, the wall problem by an imploding plasma liner, and the heating problem by converting directional energy to thermal energy. This project will support the physics basis of the IPA through analytic and computational modeling, and by the design of a diagnostic set. Phase I will examine the physics and determine how the dominant issues can be addressed in the IPA. Three particular areas will be studied: the physics of high energy reconnection (high energy particle production); the physics of a plasma liner implosion; and the conversion of directional motion to thermal energy. In Phase II, the diagnostic set will be constructed, commensurate with the completion of the construction of the IPA.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
The technology should help realize the promise of economic fusion energy, which has remained elusive, despite much progress over the last 50 years

In fusion research, several critical issues stand in the development path from a spheromak to a reactor. An important one is the production of strong magnetic fields by use of a low current source. This project will develop a new means for generating strong magnetic fields from a low current source, namely, the repetitive injection of helicity-bearing plasma that also undergoes an acceleration and compression. In Phase I, advanced computations were benchmarked against analytic theory and run to determine the best means for the acceleration and compression of a compact torus plasma. The study included detailed simulations of magnetic reconnection. In Phase II, an experiment will be designed and implemented to produce strong magnetic fields in a spheromak by the repetitive injection of magnetic helicity from a low current coaxial plasma source. The plasma will be accelerated and compressed by means of a traveling wave adiabatic compression scheme that was previously applied to a mirror plasma.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
The technology should further the development of fusion energy, which has the potential of ending the nation’s dependence on foreign energy sources (oil, coal, gas)