System and method for small, clean, steady-state fusion reactors

Patent · 16 February 2021

OSTI ID:1805517

Cohen, Samuel A.; Chu-Chueong, Matthew K.

According to some embodiments, a system for widening and densifying a scrape-off layer (SOL) in a field reversed configuration (FRC) fusion reactor is disclosed. The system includes a gas box at one end of the reactor including a gas inlet system and walls of suitable heat bearing materials. The system further includes an exit orifice adjoining the gas box, wherein the exit orifice has a controllable radius and length to allow plasma to flow out from the gas box to populate the SOL with the plasma. The system may also include fusion products, which decrease in speed in the plasma in the SOL, allowing energy to be extracted and converted into thrust or electrical power and further allowing ash to be extracted to reduce neutron emissions and maintain high, steady-state fusion power.

• Research Organization: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-09CH11466
• Assignee: The Trustees of Princeton University (Princeton, NJ)
• Patent Number(s): 10,923,236
• Application Number: 17/011,400
• OSTI ID: 1805517
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English