SBIR Phase I: Hypervelocity Gradient Field Fusion

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是一条更快速、更低成本的发展道路，通往商业上有吸引力的高度模块化聚变发电厂。虽然尚处于概念开发的早期阶段，但该技术有潜力超越现有的燃料循环模型，提供更便宜、更先进的无中子燃料系统，减少或消除中子反应产物，也可能消除对氚的需求。从海水中提取的大量聚变燃料可以逐步消除对敌对的外国化石燃料供应商的需求，从而为美国及其盟国提供战略能源安全和经济安全。该项目的商业影响包括基于电网的清洁聚变能源，如果扩大规模以满足全球电力需求，在对清洁、丰富、廉价能源的需求推动下，可以扩展到1万亿美元以上的市场。这项技术将支持广泛的科学和工程工作，以及能源和航空航天工业的制造业工作。该项目将执行计算建模和分析计算，以在重点后续实验开发计划之前展示科学和工程可行性。SBIR第一阶段项目建议研究和开发一种新的、更简单、更便宜的方法，用于基于电网的电力的聚变能源。在这种方法中，一个小的聚变燃料胶囊被加速到10公里/秒，并注入一个强磁场线圈的喉部，在那里它被对称地粉碎，点燃并燃烧里面的气体聚变燃料。虽然概念上很吸引人，也很简单，但一些关键组件部分未经证实，需要进行广泛的研究才能证明其可行性。首先，燃料舱内爆和由此产生的聚变燃烧尚未得到足够详细的研究，以了解潜在的等离子体物理问题，包括等离子体壁相互作用、末端损失、预热和总能量产出和增益。其次，新型轨道炮设计需要开发等离子电枢，并使用批量生产的中压电容器和固态开关进行分布式电源输入，以达到诱导聚变和长寿命组件所需的估计10 km/s的速度。将进行广泛的计算建模和分析计算和设计，以降低概念的风险，并为概念的第二阶段实验验证建立一个点设计。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is a more rapid lower-cost development path to a commercially attractive highly modular fusion power plant. Although early stage in its conceptual development, this technology has the potential to leapfrog past current fuel cycle models to provide cheaper, advanced aneutronic fuel systems that reduce or eliminate neutron reaction products and may also eliminate the need for tritium. The abundance of fusion fuel from seawater could provide strategic energy security and economic security to the U.S. and allied nations by phasing out need for hostile foreign fossil fuel suppliers. The commercial impact of this project includes grid based clean fusion energy is literally could extend to a $T+ market if expanded to meet global power demand, with a market pull driven by the need for clean abundant inexpensive energy. This technology will support a wide range of science and engineering jobs, and manufacturing jobs in both the energy and aerospace industries. This project will perform computational modeling and analytical calculations to show scientific and engineering feasibility prior to a focused follow-on experimental development program.This SBIR Phase 1 project proposes to research and develop a new, simpler, and cheaper approach to fusion energy for grid based electric power. In this approach, a small fusion fuel capsule is accelerated to 10 km/s and injected into the throat of a strong magnetic field coil where it is symmetrically crushed to ignite and burn the gaseous fusion fuel contained within. While conceptually appealing and straightforward, some key components are partially unproven and require extensive research to show feasibility. First, the fuel capsule implosion and resulting fusion burn are not yet studied in sufficient detail to understand the potential plasma physics problems, including plasma-wall interactions, end losses, preheat, and overall energy yield and gain. Second, the novel railgun design needs development with a plasma armature and distributed power input using mass-produced moderate voltage capacitors and solid-state switches in order to achieve the estimated 10 km/s required to induce fusion and long life-time components. Extensive computational modeling and analytical calculations and design will be performed to de-risk the concept and establish a point design for a Phase 2 experimental validation of the concept.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.