Fundamental Scaling of Adiabatic Compression of Field Reversed Configuration Thermonuclear Fusion Generators with Magnetic Energy Recovery

Field Reversed Configuration (FRC) plasmas are plasma devices that have demonstrated that through magnetic compression they can be heated to thermonuclear fusion conditions in the parameter space of an energy-producing generator[i]. Of particular interest, FRCs are high-beta, in that the plasma particle kinetic energy is in balance with an externally applied magnetic field at all stages of operation. By using the simplified cylindrical model, detailed fusion reaction, radiation, and energy transport equations are now numerically-tractable and can be modelled over a wide parameter space. In the second section of this work, a detailed numerical model will be presented with the key theoretical performance of the compression of high-beta fusion plasmas in both deuterium-tritium (D-T) and deuterium-helium-3 (D-He-3) fuels. As will be shown, a high-beta D-He-3 plasma outperforms a low-beta D-T fuel and can theoretically yield a net-positive fusion generator. Further, this work will include the effects of magnetic energy recovery on overall energy balance, which enables net positive electricity production with significantly lower Lawson criteria than previously reported for fusion generators.

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