SBIR Phase I: CHARACTERIZATION OF FUSION GAIN FACTOR Q FOR ORBITRON MICRO FUSION REACTOR

第一阶段小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种称为轨道加速器的小型等离子体约束装置，该装置可用于实现低成本、高度移动的聚变源。 Markets with the largest opportunity to benefit from small, carbon-free, micro-fusion reactors are the “hard-to-decarbonize” industries like long haul trucking, maritime shipping, aviation, distributed energy, and also space power and propulsion. 小型清洁能源聚变反应堆的开发将是社会的一项变革性技术。 The proposed micro-fusion device may enable continuous clean energy production from readily available elements, without the use of long-term radioactive elements. 这种微聚变装置预计比更大规模的聚变反应堆便宜几个数量级，并且将允许迭代设计和优化测试。这个SBIR第一阶段项目将能够实现对基于轨道电子的微聚变反应堆的聚变增益因子（Q）的预测。 Orbitron 科学将静电离子陷阱（如 Orbitrap）的各个方面与高压微波型电子限制在“交叉场”（如磁控管）中结合起来。 由此产生的等离子体状态是新颖的，并表现出非常高的离子和电子能量、中等密度和长的粒子限制时间。 优化的融合增益因子建模将通过实验测量对细胞内粒子（PIC）代码进行系统锚定和验证来实现。 小型轨道聚变反应堆的离散实验将用于评估各种等离子体损失机制。 These mechanisms include ionization between fuel ions and neutral background atoms, particle scattering collisions to the device walls and Bremsstrahlung X-ray radiation losses.一旦这些机制与 PIC 代码相关联，将对模拟聚变等离子体进行详细评估，以确定未来小型聚变反应堆用于能源生产的潜在 Q 值。 这种理解的进步将有助于开发解决方案，以减轻未来原型中的损失机制，从而最大限度地提高小型净能量聚变设备的 Q。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to develop a small plasma confinement device called an orbitron, which could have applications to allow low cost, highly mobile fusion sources. Markets with the largest opportunity to benefit from small, carbon-free, micro-fusion reactors are the “hard-to-decarbonize” industries like long haul trucking, maritime shipping, aviation, distributed energy, and also space power and propulsion. The development of a small clean energy fusion reactor would be a transformative technology for society. The proposed micro-fusion device may enable continuous clean energy production from readily available elements, without the use of long-term radioactive elements. This microfusion device is also expected to be orders of magnitude cheaper than larger scale fusion reactors, and will allow for iterative design and testing for optimization.This SBIR Phase I project will result in the ability to achieve predictions of the fusion gain factor (Q) for orbitron-based micro-fusion reactors. Orbitron science combines aspects of electrostatic ion traps, like an Orbitrap, with high voltage microwave-type electron confinement in “crossed-fields” like a Magnetron. The resulting plasma regime is novel and exhibits very high ion and electron energies, moderate densities, and long particle confinement times. Optimized fusion gain factor modelling will be achieved via systematic anchoring and validation of Particle-in-Cell (PIC) code via experimental measurements. Discrete experiments with small orbitron fusion reactors will be used to assess the various plasma loss mechanisms. These mechanisms include ionization between fuel ions and neutral background atoms, particle scattering collisions to the device walls and Bremsstrahlung X-ray radiation losses. Once these mechanisms are correlated with the PIC code, detailed assessments of the simulated fusion plasma will be made to determine the potential Q of a future small-scale fusion reactor for energy production. This gain in understanding will enable development of solutions to mitigate loss mechanisms in future prototypes to maximize Q for small net energy fusion devices.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.