Power flow in magnetically insulated transmission lines with ion backscatter effects

Tummel, K.; Link, A. J.; Welch, D. R.; Rose, D. V.; Stygar, W. A.; Hutsel, B. T.; LeChien, K. R.

doi:10.1063/5.0159544

Power flow in magnetically insulated transmission lines with ion backscatter effects

Journal Article · Tue Sep 26 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0159544· OSTI ID:2205291

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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Voss Scientific, Inc., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Ion backscattering off of surfaces in magnetically insulated transmission lines (MITLs) is often ignored in kinetic simulations of MITL power flow. Backscattering reduces ion current losses and the surface impact heating, which dictates the rate at which surface-adsorbed contaminants are liberated into the anode–cathode gap. Backscatter probabilities are difficult to implement in a kinetic code because there are limited data for incident ion energies less than a few keV. This paper presents an analytic model based on the Rutherford scattering formula that reproduces the measured backscatter probabilities at high incident energies and transitions to the highly reflective behavior expected at low incident energies. The backscatter model is implemented in power flow simulations, which are validated with current loss experiments conducted on the 0.4 TW Mykonos accelerator at Sandia National Laboratories. This simulation setup is then used in a high-current Z-machine shot. In conclusion, backscatter effects are found to be unimportant in the low-current Mykonos regime but significantly reduce current losses at the Z-machine scale.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344

OSTI ID:: 2205291

Report Number(s):: LLNL--JRNL-839593; 1059829

Journal Information:: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 30; ISSN 1070-664X

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

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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