Collisional considerations in axial-collection plasma mass filters

Ochs, I. E.; Gueroult, R.; Fisch, N. J.; Zweben, S. J.

doi:10.1063/1.4978949

Title: Collisional considerations in axial-collection plasma mass filters

Journal Article · Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4978949· OSTI ID:1358660

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Princeton Univ., NJ (United States); Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
CNRS, Toulouse (France)
Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

The chemical inhomogeneity of nuclear waste makes chemical separations difficult, while the correlation between radioactivity and nuclear mass makes mass-based separation, and in particular plasma-based separation, an attractive alternative. Here, we examine a particular class of plasma mass filters, namely filters in which (a) species of different masses are collected along magnetic field lines at opposite ends of an open-field-line plasma device and (b) gyro-drift effects are important for the separation process. Using an idealized cylindrical model, we derive a set of dimensionless parameters which provide minimum necessary conditions for an effective mass filter function in the presence of ion-ion and ion-neutral collisions. Through simulations of the constant-density profile, turbulence-free devices, we find that these parameters accurately describe the mass filter performance in more general magnetic geometries. We then use these parameters to study the design and upgrade of current experiments, as well as to derive general scalings for the throughput of production mass filters. Most importantly, we find that ion temperatures above 3 eV and magnetic fields above 104 G are critical to ensure a feasible mass filter function when operating at an ion density of 10¹³ cm^–3.

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Research Organization:: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)

Contributing Organization:: Laboratoire Plasma et Conversion d'Energie, CNRS, INPT, UPS, 31062 Toulouse, France

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-09CH11466

OSTI ID:: 1358660

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1373962

Journal Information:: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 24, Issue 4; ISSN 1070-664X

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 14 works

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Strategies for advantageous differential transport of ions in magnetic fusion devices Kolmes, E. J.; Ochs, I. E.; Fisch, N. J. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 25, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5023931	journal	March 2018
Plasma mass separation Zweben, S. J.; Gueroult, R.; Fisch, N. J. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 25, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5042845	journal	September 2018
E × B configurations for high-throughput plasma mass separation: An outlook on possibilities and challenges Gueroult, Renaud; Zweben, Stewart J.; Fisch, Nathaniel J. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 26, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5083229	journal	April 2019
Radial current and rotation profile tailoring in highly ionized linear plasma devices Kolmes, E. J.; Ochs, I. E.; Mlodik, M. E. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 26, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5115788	journal	August 2019
Strategies for Advantageous Differential Transport of Ions in Magnetic Fusion Devices Kolmes, E. J.; Ochs, I. E.; Fisch, N. J. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1801.06591	text	January 2018
Radial Current and Rotation Profile Tailoring in Highly Ionized Linear Plasma Devices Kolmes, E. J.; Ochs, I. E.; Mlodik, M. E. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1906.08391	text	January 2019

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