TITLE:
Achievement of Laser Fusion with High Energy Efficiency Using a Mixture of D and T Ions
AUTHORS:
A. Youssef, M. Haparir
KEYWORDS:
Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF), DT Burning Plasma, DT/DD Neutron Ratio, Fusion Power Ratio
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Energy Efficiency,
Vol.5 No.2,
June
15,
2016
ABSTRACT: A
mixture of deuterium (D) and tritium (T) is the most likely fuel for
laser-driven inertial confinement fusion (ICF) reactors and hence DD and DT
are the fusion reactions that will fire these reactors
in the future. Neutrons produced from the two reactions will escape from the
burning plasma, in the reactor core,
and they are the only products possible to be measured directly. DT/DD
neutron ratio is crucial for evaluation of T/D fuel ratio, burn control,
tritium cycle and alpha particle self-heating power. To measure this ratio
experimentally, the neutron spectra of DD and DT reactions have to be measured
separately and simultaneously under high neutron counting with sufficient
statistics (typically within 10% error) in a very short time and these issues
are mutually contradicted. That is why it is not plausible to measure this high
priority ratio for reactor performance accurately. Precise calculations of the
DT/DD neutron ratio are needed. Here, we introduce such calculations using a
three dimensional (3-D) Monte Carlo code at energies up to 40 MeV (the
predicted maximum ion acceleration energy with the available laser systems). In
addition, the fusion power ratio of DD and DT
reactions is calculated for the same energy range. The study indicates
that for a mixture of 50% deuterium and 50% triton, with taking into account
the reactions D(d,n)3He and T(d,n)4He,
the optimum energy value for achieving the most efficient laser-driven ICF is
0.08 MeV.