The use of D–D reactions to diagnose the lifetime of spin polarized fuel

Garcia, A.; Heidbrink, W. W.; Sandorfi, A. M.

doi:10.1088/1741-4326/adb59b

The use of D–D reactions to diagnose the lifetime of spin polarized fuel

Journal Article · Tue Mar 04 00:00:00 EST 2025 · Nuclear Fusion

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/adb59b· OSTI ID:2526664

^[1]; ^[2]; ^[3]

Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Princeton University, NJ (United States)
University of California, Irvine, CA (United States)
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (United States)

If the nuclei remain polarized, spin polarized fuel can increase the fusion power produced in a reactor while using less fuel. This study assesses whether reactions between an unpolarized deuterium (D) beam and polarized deuterium nuclei can in principle experimentally ascertain the persistence of nuclear polarization in a magnetic fusion experiment. The differential cross section for D–D reactions between unpolarized and polarized nuclei depends upon polarization, so the polarization state can be inferred from measurements of the D–D fusion products. An evaluation is performed for 3 MeV proton detection in the DIII-D tokamak using 81 keV neutral beams and polarized target fuel injected as a pellet. Measurement of the escaping proton pitch v₃_∥v₃ is insensitive to the degree of polarization but energy-resolved measurements are sensitive. The sensitivity is comparable for different angles of beam injection. Because the D–D reaction rate is large for this scenario, uncertainties associated with counting statistics are small, making inference of the polarization feasible with current technology.

View Journal Article

Research Organization:: General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)

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

Grant/Contract Number:: FC02-04ER54698; SC0014664; SC0024527; SC0024682; SC0024689

OSTI ID:: 2526664

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2526614

Journal Information:: Nuclear Fusion, Journal Name: Nuclear Fusion Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 65; ISSN 0029-5515

Publisher:: IOP ScienceCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (23)

Measurement of a complete set of analyzing powers of the fusion reactions D( $$\vec d$$ ,p)3He atE d=28 keV Becker, B.; Randermann, R.; Polke, B. Few-Body Systems, Vol. 13, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01080208	journal	January 1992
Techniques for measurement of and spin-1 polarization analyzing tensors Ohlsen, Gerald G.; Keaton, P. W. Nuclear Instruments and Methods, Vol. 109, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/0029-554X(73)90450-3	journal	May 1973
The tokamak Monte Carlo fast ion module NUBEAM in the National Transport Code Collaboration library Pankin, Alexei; McCune, Douglas; Andre, Robert Computer Physics Communications, Vol. 159, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpc.2003.11.002	journal	June 2004
Four‐channel ZnS scintillator measurements of escaping tritons in TFTR Zweben, S. J. Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 60, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1140366	journal	April 1989
Fast-ion Dα measurements of the fast-ion distribution (invited) Heidbrink, W. W. Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 81, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3478739	journal	October 2010
Radially resolved active charge exchange measurements of the hydrogenic isotope fraction on DIII-D Haskey, S. R.; Stagner, L.; Grierson, B. A. Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 92, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0043836	journal	April 2021
Observation of d(d,p)t Reactions in the Princeton Large Torus Chrien, R. E.; Kaita, R.; Strachan, J. D. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 23, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/23/10/014	journal	October 1983
Physics of spin-polarized plasmas Kulsrud, R. M.; Valeo, E. J.; Cowley, S. C. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 26, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/26/11/001	journal	November 1986
Fusion neutron energies and spectra Brysk, H. Plasma Physics, Vol. 15, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1088/0032-1028/15/7/001	journal	July 1973
Progress in modelling fast-ion D-alpha spectra and neutral particle analyzer fluxes using FIDASIM Geiger, B.; Stagner, L.; Heidbrink, W. W. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Vol. 62, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6587/aba8d7	journal	August 2020
Phase-space sensitivity (weight functions) of 3 MeV proton diagnostics Heidbrink, W. W.; Garcia, A.; Boeglin, W. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Vol. 63, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6587/abeda0	journal	March 2021
Development and verification of a novel scintillator-based, imaging neutral particle analyzer in DIII-D tokamak Du, X. D.; Van Zeeland, M. A.; Heidbrink, W. W. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 58, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/aac3a2	journal	June 2018
Conceptual design of DIII-D experiments to diagnose the lifetime of spin polarized fuel Garcia, A. V.; Heidbrink, W. W.; Sandorfi, A. M. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 63, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/acaf0d	journal	January 2023
Polarized fusion and potential in situ tests of fuel polarization survival in a tokamak plasma Baylor, Larry R.; Deur, Alexandre; Eidietis, Nicholas W. Nuclear Fusion https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/acc3ae	journal	March 2023
Tritium burn efficiency in deuterium-tritium magnetic fusion Whyte, Dennis G.; Ferry, Sara; Meschini, Samuele Nuclear Fusion https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/acf3fb	journal	August 2023
Isotope impact on Alfvén eigenmodes and fast ion transport in DIII-D Van Zeeland, M. A.; Bass, E.; Du, X. D. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 64, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ad38cc	journal	April 2024
Simultaneous enhancement of tritium burn efficiency and fusion power with low-tritium spin-polarized fuel Parisi, J. F.; Diallo, A.; Schwartz, J. A. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 64, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ad7da3	journal	October 2024
Differential cross sections at low energies for H 2 ( d , p ) 3 H and H 2 ( d , n ) 3 He Brown, Ronald E.; Jarmie, Nelson Physical Review C, Vol. 41, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.41.1391	journal	April 1990
Analyzing powers forH2(d,p)3H at incident energies of 30, 50, 70, and 90 keV Tagishi, Y.; Nakamoto, N.; Katoh, K. Physical Review C, Vol. 46, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.46.R1155	journal	October 1992
Fusion Reactor Plasmas with Polarized Nuclei Kulsrud, R. M.; Furth, H. P.; Valeo, E. J. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 49, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.49.1248	journal	October 1982
Study of 2H(d, p)3H and 2H(d, n)3He Nuclear Reactions with Polarized Deuteron Beams. PolFusion Experiment Andreyanov, A.; Fotyev, V.; Ivshin, K. Physics of Atomic Nuclei, Vol. 84, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063778821100033	journal	December 2021
A research program to measure the lifetime of spin polarized fuel Heidbrink, W. W.; Baylor, L. R.; Büscher, M. Frontiers in Physics, Vol. 12 https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2024.1355212	journal	June 2024
D3DEnergetic/FIDASIM: Version 2.0.0 Stagner, Luke; Garcia, Alvin; Sfiligoi, Igor https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1341369	software	August 2020

Similar Records

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
DIII-D tokamak
D–D reactions
charged fusion product diagnostics
spin polarized fusion

The use of D–D reactions to diagnose the lifetime of spin polarized fuel

Citation Formats

References (23)

Similar Records

Related Subjects