Space Propulsion Based on Dipole Assisted IEC System
- Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801 (United States)
- NPL Associates Inc. 912 W. Armory, Champaign, IL, 61821 (United States)
A potential opportunity to enhance Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) fusion propulsion exists by introducing a magnetic dipole into the IEC chamber. The dipole fields should increase the plasma density, hence fusion rate, in the center region of the IEC and the combined IEC and dipole confinement properties will reduce plasma losses. To demonstrate that a hybrid Dipole-IEC (DaIEC) configuration can provide improved confinement vs. a stand alone IEC, a first model DaIEC experiment has been benchmarked against a reference IEC. A triple Langmuir probe was used to measure the electron temperature and density. It was confirmed that the magnetic field increases the electron density by an order of magnitude and the addition of a controlled electrical potential to the dipole structure allows control of space charge buildup in the dense core region. This paper describes the dipole assisted IEC concept, its advantages, and soon missions it is well suited for. Here the present status of DaIEC experiments are described, the issues for scale up are discussed, and a conceptual plan for a power unit development is presented.
- OSTI ID:
- 20797974
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 813, Issue 1; Conference: 10. conference on thermophysics applications in microgravity; 23. symposium on space nuclear power and propulsion; 4. conference on human/robotic technology and the national vision for space exploration; 4. symposium on space colonization; 3. symposium on new frontiers and future concepts, Albuquerque, NM (United States), 12-16 Feb 2006; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2169307; (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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