Application of railgun principle to high-velocity hydrogen pellet injection for magnetic fusion reactor refueling: Technical progress report
A detailed experimental study successfully demonstrates the acceleration of frozen hydrogen pellets by means of a fuseless two-stage electromagnetic railgun system. This system consists of a pneumatic hydrogen pellet injector, which freezes and pneumatically pre-accelerates (with high-pressure helium as the propellant gas) cylindrical 1.6-mm-dia by 2.15-mm-long hydrogen pellets, and a 60-cm-long, 1.6-mm-dia circular-bore electromagnetic railgun. The pellet is introduced into the railgun by means of a coupling piece, and a plasma-arc armature is created from the propellant gas by means of a very unique, fuseless, arc-initiation scheme. Railgun-accelerated hydrogen pellet velocities in excess of 1.6 km/s are achieved from pneumatically accelerated injection velocities of 800 m/s. Streak-camera and current-probe data show that the plasma-arc armature moves at a velocity proportional to the railgun current, I. Insight to this I-dependence is gained through the use of streak photography and current probes for varying bore geometries and gas pressures.
- Research Organization:
- Illinois Univ., Urbana (USA). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG02-84ER52111
- OSTI ID:
- 6891878
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ER/52111-1-10/86; ON: DE87003417
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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