Ignition of deuterium-trtium fuel targets

Patent · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:867951

Musinski, Donald L ^[1]; Mruzek, Michael T ^[2]

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1. Saline, MI
2. Britton, MI

A method of igniting a deuterium-tritium ICF fuel target to obtain fuel burn in which the fuel target initially includes a hollow spherical shell having a frozen layer of DT material at substantially uniform thickness and cryogenic temperature around the interior surface of the shell. The target is permitted to free-fall through a target chamber having walls heated by successive target ignitions, so that the target is uniformly heated during free-fall to at least partially melt the frozen fuel layer and form a liquid single-phase layer or a mixed liquid/solid bi-phase layer of substantially uniform thickness around the interior shell surface. The falling target is then illuminated from exteriorly of the chamber while the fuel layer is at substantially uniformly single or bi-phase so as to ignite the fuel layer and release energy therefrom.

• Research Organization: KMS Fusion Inc
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-87DP10560
• Assignee: KMS Fusion, Inc. (Ann Arbor, MI)
• Patent Number(s): US 5043131
• OSTI ID: 867951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

/376/439/976/
bi-phase
burn
chamber
cryogenic
cryogenic temperature
deuterium-tritium
deuterium-trtium
dt
energy
energy therefrom
exteriorly
falling
form
free-fall
frozen
frozen fuel
frozen layer
fuel
fuel target
fuel targets
heated
hollow
hollow spherical
icf
ignite
igniting
ignition
ignitions
illuminated
initially
interior
interior surface
layer
liquid
material
melt
method
mixed
mixed liquid
obtain
partially
permitted
release
shell
shell surface
single
single-phase
solid
spherical
spherical shell
substantially
substantially uniform
substantially uniformly
successive
surface
target
target chamber
targets
temperature
therefrom
thickness
uniform
uniform thickness
uniformly
uniformly heat
walls