SBIR Phase I: Hypervelocity Gradient Field Fusion

SBIR 第一阶段：超高速梯度场融合

• 批准号: 2304408
• 负责人: Franklin Witherspoon
• 金额: $ 26.6万
• 依托单位: NEARSTAR FUSION INC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2304408&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Hypervelocity; Gradient; Field

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.

小型企业创新研究(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，通向具有商业吸引力的高度模块化的聚变发电厂。虽然这项技术还处于概念开发的早期阶段，但它有可能超越目前的燃料循环模型，提供更便宜、先进的非中子燃料系统，减少或消除中子反应产物，并可能消除对氚的需求。海水中丰富的聚变燃料可以通过逐步消除对敌对的外国化石燃料供应商的需求，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，如果扩大到满足全球电力需求，市场拉动作用将扩大到T+T以上的市场，市场对清洁充裕的廉价能源的需求。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行业的制造业工作。该项目将进行计算建模和分析计算，以证明科学和工程上的可行性，然后进行重点后续的实验开发计划。这个SBIR第一阶段项目建议研究和开发一种新的、更简单、更便宜的电网电力聚变能源方法。在这种方法中，一个小的聚变燃料胶囊被加速到10公里/S，并被注入到一个强磁场线圈的喉部，在那里它被对称粉碎，点燃并燃烧其中包含的气体聚变燃料。虽然在概念上很吸引人，而且简单明了，但一些关键组件在一定程度上还没有得到证实，需要进行广泛的研究才能证明其可行性。首先，燃料舱内爆和由此引起的聚变燃烧还没有得到足够详细的研究，无法理解潜在的等离子体物理问题，包括等离子体与壁的相互作用、末端损失、预热以及总的能量产生量和增益量。其次，新型轨道炮设计需要开发等离子电枢和分布式电源输入，使用大规模生产的中压电容器和固态开关，以实现诱导聚变和长寿命部件所需的估计10公里/S。将进行广泛的计算建模、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点设计。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。