15 research outputs found
High yield fusion in a Staged Z-pinch
We simulate fusion in a Z-pinch; where the load is a xenon-plasma liner
imploding onto a deuterium-tritium plasma target and the driver is a 2 MJ, 17
MA, 95 ns risetime pulser. The implosion system is modeled using the dynamic,
2-1/2 D, radiation-MHD code, MACH2. During implosion a shock forms in the Xe
liner, transporting current and energy radially inward. After collision with
the DT, a secondary shock forms pre-heating the DT to several hundred eV.
Adiabatic compression leads subsequently to a fusion burn, as the target is
surrounded by a flux-compressed, intense, azimuthal-magnetic field. The
intense-magnetic field confines fusion -particles, providing an
additional source of ion heating that leads to target ignition. The target
remains stable up to the time of ignition. Predictions are for a neutron yield
of and a thermonuclear energy of 84 MJ, that is, 42 times
greater than the initial, capacitor-stored energy