SBIR Phase II: A Plasma Heat Engine for Efficient Production of Fusion Energy

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是在一个小，简单和廉价的系统中生产基于聚变的发动机。最终的系统将产生与可再生能源一样清洁的电力。 由于该系统体积小，辐射低，因此也可用于载人航天飞行。 这种新的发动机可以实现更直接和更短的飞行到其他行星，这将最大限度地减少宇航员暴露在外太空中遇到的辐射。SBIR第二阶段项目建议继续研究公司使用谐波井通过粒子动能而不是一般热能产生聚变。所提出的概念利用了一种新的热机技术，始终保持在热力学平衡的等离子体分布函数。在所提出的聚变系统中，等离子体在一个特别设计的谐波阱中产生，然后被诱导形成两个反向振荡的自旋环。当两个环在阱的中心碰撞时，粒子的速度高到足以引起聚变。 该项目的这一阶段将增加设备的能量。该项目将转向氘，这种燃料的重量是氢（目前的燃料）的两倍，并且具有更大的聚变截面。所提出的方法预计将使谐波井足够的能量，以产生氘对氘聚变，通过增加自然振荡频率的井，使离子碰撞速度约为每秒一百万米。该项目预计能够探测到聚变产生的中子，证明非中子聚变。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to produce a fusion-based engine in a system that is small, simple and inexpensive. The ultimate system will produce power that is as clean as renewable energy. Since the system is small and has low radiation, it also has applications for manned space flight. This new engine could enable more direct and shorter flights to other planets, which minimizes the exposure of astronauts to the radiation encountered in outer space.This SBIR Phase II project proposes to continue the companies research on using a harmonic well to produce fusion by particle kinetic energy, rather than general thermal energy. The proposed concept utilizes a new heat engine technique that always maintains the plasma distribution function in thermodynamic equilibrium. In the proposed fusion system, a plasma is created in a specially designed harmonic well and then induced to form into two counter-oscillating spinning rings. When the two rings collide at the center of the well, the particle velocities are high enough to cause fusion. This phase of the project will increase the energetics of the device. The project will move up to deuterium, a fuel which is twice as heavy as hydrogen (the current fuel) and has a much larger cross-section for fusion. The proposed approach is expected to make the harmonic well sufficiently energetic to produce deuterium-on-deuterium fusion by increasing the natural oscillation frequency of the well to give ion collision speeds of about one million meters per second. The project expects to be able to detect the neutrons produced by the fusion, demonstrating aneutronic fusion.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.