Temperature effects on the behavior of liquid hydrogen isotopes inside a spherical-shell inertial confinement fusion target

Thesis/Dissertation · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:5901045

Mok, L S.W.

An important task in the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research is to fabricate targets which will result in high fusion yield. A spherical shell containing a uniform liquid (or solid) deuterium-tritium (D-T) layer on the inner surface represents one of the most popular high-gain ICF target configurations. The uniformity of the D-T layer is a must to achieve the desired high gain. This work studies the temperature effects on the formation of a uniform liquid hydrogen layer inside a spherical glass shell (SGS). The profile of the liquid layer is first investigated for an isothermal case. An equation suitable for describing the profile is derived by including the London-van der Waals attractive forces between the liquid and substrate molecules. Two theoretical models are then established to explain the changes in the liquid layer profile under the influence of a vertically applied temperature gradient. It is found that a uniform liquid layer of single-component hydrogen can be created and maintained by an appropriate negative temperature gradient, namely, a temperature gradient which will keep the top of the SGS cooler than the bottom.

• Research Organization: Illinois Univ., Urbana (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5901045
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
TARGETS
DEUTERIUM
LAYERS
SHELLS
SPHERICAL CONFIGURATION
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
TRITIUM
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CONFIGURATION
CONFINEMENT
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
PLASMA CONFINEMENT
RADIOISOTOPES
STABLE ISOTOPES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
700208* - Fusion Power Plant Technology- Inertial Confinement Technology