The physics of the high density Z-pinch

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6758690

Glasser, A H; Hammel, J E; Lewis, H R; Lindemuth, I R; McCall, G H; Nebel, R A; Scudder, D W; Schlachter, J S; Lovberg, R H; Rosenau, P; Sheehey, P T

The fiber-initiated High-Density Z-Pinch (HDZP) is a novel concept in which fusion plasma could be produced by applying 2 MV along a thin filament of frozen deuterium, 20-30 ..mu..m in diameter, 5-10 cm long. The megamp-range currents that result would ohmically heat the fiber to fusion temperatures in 100 ns while maintaining nearly constant radius. The plasma pressure would be held stably by the self-magnetic field for many radial sound transit times during the current-rise phase while, in the case of D-T, a significant fraction of the fiber undergoes thermonuclear fusion. This paper presents results of Los Alamos HDZP studies. Existing and new experiments are described. A succession of theoretical studies, including 1D self-similar and numerical studies of the hot plasma phase, 1D and 2D numerical studies of the cold startup phase, and 3D numerical studies of stability in the hot regime, are then presented. 9 refs., 4 figs.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA); California Univ., San Diego, La Jolla (USA); Technion-Israel Inst. of Tech., Haifa; California Univ., Los Angeles (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 6758690
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-88-2840; CONF-881015-5; IAEA-CN-50/C-4-4-1; ON: DE88016147
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700200* -- Fusion Energy-- Fusion Power Plant Technology
DESIGN
LINEAR PINCH DEVICES
LINEAR Z PINCH DEVICES
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
OPEN PLASMA DEVICES
PINCH DEVICES
PLASMA PRESSURE
PLASMA SIMULATION
SIMULATION
STABILITY
THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES