Development of a two-stage light gas gun to accelerate hydrogen pellets to high speeds for plasma fueling applications
The development of a two-stage light gas gun to accelerate hydrogen isotope pellets to high speeds is under way at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. High velocities (>2 km/s) are desirable for plasma fueling applications, since the faster pellets can penetrate more deeply into large, hot plasmas and deposit atoms of fuel directly in a larger fraction of the plasma volume. In the initial configuration of the two-stage device, a 2.2-l volume (/<=/55-bar) provides the gas to accelerate a 25.4-mm-diam piston in a 1-m-long pump tube; a burst disk or a fast valve initiates the acceleration process in the first stage. As the piston travels the length of the pump tube, the downstream gas (initially at <1 bar) is compressed (to pressures up to 2600 bar) and thus is driven to high temperature (approx.5000 K). This provides the driving force for acceleration of a 4-mm pellet in a 1-m-long gun barrel. In preliminary tests using helium as the driver in both stages, 35-mg plastic pellets have been accelerated to speeds as high as 3.8 km/s. Projectiles composed of hydrogen ice will have a mass in the range from 5 to 20 mg (/rho/ approx. 0.087, 0.20, and 0.32 g/cm/sup 3/ for frozen hydrogen isotopes). However, the use of sabots to encase and protect the cryogenic pellets from the high peak pressures will probably be required to realize speeds of approx.3 km/s or greater. The experimental plan includes acceleration of hydrogen isotopes as soon as the gun geometry and operating parameters are optimized; theoretical models are being used to aid in this process. The hardware is being designed to accommodate repetitive operation, which is the objective of this research and is required for future applications. 25 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 6793147
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-881002-8; ON: DE89000427
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 35. national vacuum symposium and 4th international laser science conference, Atlanta, GA, USA, 2 Oct 1988; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Acceleration of small, light projectiles (including hydrogen isotopes) to high speeds using a two-stage light gas gun
Acceleration of small, light projectiles (including hydrogen isotopes) to high speeds using a two-stage light gas gun
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