Nuclear fusion using high energy charged particle convergence at a target cathode

Abstract

A controlled fusion process is provided that can produce a sustained series of fusion reactions: a process that (i) uses a substantially higher reactant density of the deuterium and tritium gases by converging cationic reactants into the higher reaction density at a target cathode rather than relying on random collisions, the converging producing a substantially higher rate of fusion and energy production; (ii) uses a substantially lower input of energy to initiate the fusion; (iii) can be cycled at a substantially higher cycle frequency; (iv) has a practical heat exchange method; (v) is substantially less costly to manufacture, operate, and maintain; and, (vi) has a substantially improved reaction efficiency as a result of not mixing reactants with products.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 002,922, filed May 26, 2014, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The teachings provided herein are generally directed to systems and methods for obtaining nuclear fusion energy using a high energy charged particle convergence at a target cathode to increase the amount of fusion energy produced in a single fusion cycle.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]Most will agree that our world needs better sources of energy, source that are more efficient and would reduce the threat to the environment created by our current energy sources. In fact, most will agree that an uncompromising new energy architecture / paradigm is required to allow continued societal development and to avoid habitat and species loss. Current energy usage rewards a small minority of the population to the disadvantage ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent is about a new system and method for generating nuclear fusion energy using a high-energy charged particle convergence at a target cathode. The system has several technical advantages: it produces a sustained series of fusion reactions, uses a higher reactant density of the deuterium and tritium gases, requires less energy input, can operate at a higher cycle frequency, has a practical heat exchange method, is less expensive to manufacture, operate, and maintain, and has a higher reaction efficiency as a result of not mixing reactants with products.

Problems solved by technology

In fact, most will agree that an uncompromising new energy architecture / paradigm is required to allow continued societal development and to avoid habitat and species loss.

Current energy usage rewards a small minority of the population to the disadvantage of the majority and environmental quality.

The combustion of carbon based fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) is still used primarily worldwide and still produces deleterious environmental effects in the form of elevated CO2 concentrations that is polluting our world and causing at least atmospheric warming and ocean chemistry changes.

For at least these reasons, the goal of producing fusion power to produce electricity has been pursued for decades and has been met with many problems that have not been solved; for example, there is still no controlled fusion process that can produce a sustained series of fusion reactions.

Unfortunately, this technology has not been successfully scaled to produce a power plant, as the system is limited to use of a low reactant density of the deuterium and tritium gases which produces only random collisions and, thus, a low production of energy.

Moreover, an unreasonably high energy is required to initiate the fusion, the system can only be cycled at a slow cycle frequency due to target loading and laser charging limitations, and there is no practical heat exchange method.

It is a costly and inefficient system that leaves costly reactants unreacted due to the low reaction densities inherent to the design.

The magnetic coils 275 also generate a current in the plasma 270, heating it to 10 million ° C. which, unfortunately, is still not hot enough for fusion to occur.

Unfortunately, this technology has not been successfully scaled to produce a power plant, and the system is also limited to the use of deuterium and tritium gases at a low reactant density which produces a low reaction rate and low production of energy.

In addition, an especially problematic condition is that the reaction products are not removed but, rather, mix with the reactants and slow the reaction rate.

Moreover, cycling of the process is impractical due to the large volume of the system which demands a long pump-out time.

As with the LIFE system 200, there is no practical heat exchange method in the ITER system 250, and the ITER system 250 is costly to manufacture, maintain, and operate due to its complexity and inefficiencies.

Although there are theoretical designs for a reactor that is hoped to deliver ten times more fusion energy than the amount needed to heat up the plasma 270 to the required temperatures for fusion to occur, the ITER facility is still not expected to finish its construction phase until at least 2019 and is not expected to begin full deuterium-tritium fusion until at least 2027.

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