A high vacuum hydrogen-boron nuclear fusion reactor device

Abstract

The present invention proposes a high vacuum nuclear fusion reactor device, which is a system that uses the inertial electrostatic confinement effect of a spherical electrostatic field under ultra-high vacuum conditions to ionize and fuse a working fluid gas mainly composed of hydrogen-boron ions, and collects fusion energy for self-sustaining and energy output of the fusion reaction. It is mainly based on the inertial electrostatic confinement technology of the existing double-layer shell electrode, including pulsed high-voltage generator technology and high vacuum technology, while the energy recovery and fusion maintenance technology are based on the existing mature DC high-voltage series DC decompression technology and radio frequency gas ionization technology. The easy-to-trigger and maintain characteristics of inertial electrostatic confinement fusion are utilized to complete the nuclear fusion reaction and energy output based on the hydrogen-boron fusion reaction. The inertial electrostatic confinement is used to control the reaction, and mature technology is fully utilized to improve the system reliability and reduce the cost. High-energy particles are confined by inertial electrostatic fields, avoiding the first wall and radiation protection problems of magnetic confinement nuclear fusion, making it easier to select reactor materials.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of nuclear fusion principles, and relates to an inertial electrostatic confinement system, hydrogen-boron nuclear fusion, and fusion energy collection and conversion, and specifically relates to a hydrogen-boron fusion reactor system based on inertial electrostatic confinement and a deceleration collection and energy conversion system based on high-energy alpha particles. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of society and the improvement of people's living standards, the demand for energy in modern society is also growing. Nuclear fusion, as a clean energy, has great potential as the energy source for the next industrial revolution. We proposed an electrostatic confinement reactor configuration with Li-H nuclear fusion as the main energy source, and carried out theoretical calculations to demonstrate the possibility of further development of this reactor configuration.

[0003] Compared with the conventional tokamak configuration, the electrostatic confinement nuclear fusion reactor has the advantages of small size, light weight, and long-term operation. And because it uses electrostatic confinement, it does not require high-temperature resistant surface materials. Therefore, this reactor configuration is currently the only device that can use existing materials to achieve long-term stable nuclear fusion. However, since the existing electrostatic confinement fusion reactors are generally used in nuclear fusion reactions at lower ion energy levels, such as DT fusion reactions used as civilian neutron sources, this stable fusion reactor has not entered the public eye.

[0004] After theoretical analysis, it was found that this special fusion reactor configuration can sustain long-term operation in a vacuum environment. After verification of vacuum insulation and self-sustaining ability, it was found that the reactor can maintain electrostatic confinement capability through charge emission and output excess fusion energy in the form of high-voltage electricity.

[0005] References:

[0006] [1] Miley GH, Javedani J, Yamamoto Y, et al. Inertial-Electrostatic Confinement Neutron / Proton Source [C]; proceedings of the Dense Z-pinches: International Conference, F, 1994. (This article introduces the experimental results of inertial electrostatic confinement under DD fusion and the use of this device in future space exploration)

[0007] [2] Herdrich G, Syring C, Pfeiffer M, et al. Kinetic modeling of the jet extraction mechanism in spherical IEC devices[J]. 2013. (This paper summarizes the dynamic simulation system used by ESA for spherical IEC, mainly including PIC code and solver)

[0008] [3] Becnel MD, Polzin K A. Development and Testing of the Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Diffusion Thruster[J]. 2013. (This paper mainly introduces NASA’s main development and experimental results on the inertial electrostatic confinement thruster)

[0009] [4] Yu Z. Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) Device as Plasma Injection Source [J]. 2015. (This paper mainly discusses the feasibility of using an inertial electrostatic confinement device as an ion injection source, including the relationship between plasma density and anode / cathode, etc.)

[0010] [5] Farnsworth P T. Electrical Discharge Vessel For The Production Of Nuclear Reactions [J]. 1964. (This patent is the earliest patent on inertial electrostatic confinement by the inventor of inertial electrostatic confinement, and is a German patent)

[0011] [8] Miley GH, Gu Y, Demora JM, et al. Discharge Characteristics of the Spherical Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) Device [J]. Plasma Science IEEE Transactions on, 1997, 25 (4): 733-9. (This paper introduces the experimental results of deuterium nuclear fusion at 10 kV using a spherical inertial electrostatic confinement device. 7 nuclear fusion per second)

[0012] [9] Miley G, Bromley B, Jurczyk B, et al. Scaling of the Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) for Near-term Thrusters and Future Fusion Propulsion [C], F, 1998. (A review paper that mainly introduces the research background and current status of inertial electrostatic confinement for nuclear fusion and space propulsion)

[0013]

[10] Krishnamurthy A. Development and characterization of an inertialelectrostatic confinement thruster [J]. 2012. (This paper introduces the jet-based IEC thruster and its discharge characteristics, which can be referred to the directional jet working state of the inertial electrostatic confinement device)

[0014]

[11] Ulmen B. Formation and Extraction of a Dense Plasma Jet From a Helicon-plasma-injected Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Device [J]. Dissertations & Theses-Gradworks, 2013. (This paper introduces the relationship between the jet capacity and the two-stage grid voltage generated by inertial electrostatic confinement in the jet mode. In the absence of fusion, the jet energy is about half of the two-stage voltage.) Summary of the invention

[0015] The present invention is a system that utilizes the inertial electrostatic confinement effect of a spherical electrostatic field under ultra-high vacuum conditions to ionize and fuse a working gas mainly composed of hydrogen-boron ions, and collects fusion energy for self-sustaining and energy output of fusion reactions. It is mainly based on the existing inertial electrostatic confinement technology of double-layer shell electrodes, including pulsed high-voltage generator technology and high-vacuum technology, while the energy recovery and fusion maintenance technology is based on the existing mature DC high-voltage series DC decompression technology and radio frequency gas ionization technology.

[0016] A double-layer mesh spherical shell is used as an accelerating electric field similar to the traditional IEC device, and then an outer shell with an exhaust outlet is added. The mesh outer shell reduces the absorption of high-energy alpha particles and other high-energy plasma from the reaction core by the inner anode spherical shell, and the outer spherical shell at a high potential absorbs high-energy alpha particles, thereby absorbing the energy generated by fusion, mainly contained in high-energy alpha particles, and converting it into the electric potential energy of the outer shell. A part of the high-voltage direct current generated here is converted from the high-voltage direct current from the spherical shell into low-voltage direct current with lower voltage but stronger current load capacity by using a series-connected IGBT step-down module, as the energy output of the fusion reactor, while the other part is transferred back to the inner mesh spherical shell after a smaller number of layers of step-down as the electric field energy source for the reactor to maintain its own inertial electrostatic confinement. The above method is used to achieve the maintenance and energy output of the reactor.

[0017] To this end, the present invention proposes a high vacuum nuclear fusion reactor device, which specifically includes an inertial electrostatic confinement module, an outer shell, a power system module and a control software system.

[0018] The inertial electrostatic confinement module is mainly responsible for inertial electrostatic confinement of high-energy plasma in a high vacuum environment, confining the plasma inside and accelerating it to a faster speed / energy level, so as to achieve controllable inertial electrostatic confinement nuclear fusion at its center. The inertial electrostatic confinement module is composed of two mesh spherical shells and a magnetic suspension bracket for high-voltage insulation. The three-dimensional schematic diagram of its composition is shown in Figure 1. The mesh spherical shell includes an inner cathode spherical shell and an outer anode spherical shell. There is a 350kV high voltage suspended between the two poles, which can accelerate the particles under inertial electrostatic confinement to extremely high speeds, thereby achieving an average particle energy of more than 300keV at the center of the confinement sphere. The specific simulation results are shown in Figure 2 As shown. In this way, high-efficiency stable nuclear fusion can be achieved at the center of the sphere. When hydrogen-boron is used as the fusion working fluid, a high-energy alpha particle flow with an energy exceeding 1MeV can be generated, which scatters in all directions and eventually hits the outer shell to generate high-voltage static electricity. The mesh shell only blocks a very small amount of scattered high-energy alpha particles due to its small equivalent impact cross-sectional area. Therefore, the heat generated by the mesh shell itself is low and is not easily damaged by high temperature. In addition, due to the characteristics of the alpha particles themselves, they are easily blocked by materials and are not prone to nuclear reactions in the materials. On the mesh spherical shell made of carbon-carbon composite materials, the alpha particles absorb electrons and convert them into helium to escape, which can greatly avoid the material deterioration problem caused by high-energy neutron bombardment in traditional nuclear fusion reactors.

[0019] The outer shell is mainly responsible for absorbing high-energy alpha particles generated by nuclear fusion in the inertial electrostatic confinement module. Since high-energy alpha particles carry extremely high kinetic energy, the kinetic energy needs to be completely converted into the electric potential energy of the shell, and the shell needs to have an extremely high electric potential relative to the internal inertial electrostatic confinement module. Depending on the energy contained in the high-energy alpha particles, this potential needs to be between 100kV and 1MV. For hydrogen-boron fusion reactions, the energy of the high-energy alpha particles produced exceeds 2MeV. Using a 1MV electric field to slow them down can achieve partial recovery of particle energy.

[0020] Under the conditions of hydrogen-boron fusion, according to the hydrogen-boron fusion equation:

[0021]

[0022] The reaction can produce more than 8.7MeV of energy at most, and each alpha particle has 2.9MeV of energy, which is stored in the form of alpha particle kinetic energy in the high-energy alpha particle flow from the fusion reaction core. Therefore, using an outer shell at a high potential can partially convert the kinetic energy of the alpha particles into the electric potential energy of the shell. In the process of moving from the inertial electrostatic confinement module to the shell, the alpha particles will be decelerated by the electric field in it. The decelerated alpha particles carry their charge and collide with the shell, absorbing the electrons on the shell, realizing the increase of the shell potential, and then realizing the conversion of fusion energy from particle kinetic energy to shell potential energy.

[0023] In addition, in order to achieve high-potential insulation between the shell and the ground, the general insulation method cannot achieve insulation maintenance at such a high potential. Taking conventional ceramic insulation columns as an example, at 50kV, a ceramic insulation column of nearly 500mm is required to achieve high-voltage stable insulation. At a high voltage of 1MeV, an insulation column of nearly 10 meters is required to achieve reliable insulation. This size is unacceptable. Therefore, we adopt the method of magnetic levitation + vacuum insulation to achieve high-voltage insulation. According to the Paschen curve, at 10 -3 In a high vacuum environment of 1000 Pa, a vacuum gap of 150 mm can isolate high voltage electricity exceeding 500 kV. From this calculation, it can be known that in a high-voltage environment of 1 MeV, a vacuum gap of 400 mm can achieve high-voltage vacuum insulation, thereby ensuring the stable operation of the fusion reactor. The housing module and the supporting magnetic suspension vacuum insulation system are as follows Figure 1a and Figure 1b shown. Figure 1b The six columns in the middle and outer periphery are insulated wire columns used for power supply. It can be seen that the wires at the top are connected to the corresponding mesh electrodes. There are mainly two groups of mesh electrodes here, namely the internal mesh cathode and the external mesh anode. The shell with the highest voltage to the ground is installed on the flat cylindrical base below, and uses magnetic levitation to achieve ground insulation. The magnetic levitation module and its external high-voltage terminal can be seen in detail. Figure 3a and Figure 3b .

[0024] The power system module is mainly responsible for generating the high-voltage direct current required for inertial electrostatic confinement fusion reaction and energy recovery, and recovering the ultra-high voltage direct current generated by fusion and converting it into high-voltage direct current to maintain the fusion reaction. Therefore, the power system mainly includes three main modules, namely the high-voltage generation module, the ultra-high voltage generation module and the high-efficiency direct current step-down module. Among them, the high-voltage generation module mainly converts the external input 380V alternating current into 300kV direct current high voltage electricity, which is input to the inertial electrostatic confinement module to maintain the initial inertial electrostatic confinement voltage required for the fusion reaction. This module only performs high-voltage conversion when the fusion reactor is started. After the reactor is stable, the high-efficiency direct current step-down module outputs the high-voltage static electricity required to maintain the fusion reaction.

[0025] The control system mainly controls the modules of the power system module and the input of fusion raw materials to achieve stable maintenance of fusion reaction and stable output of fusion energy. The program flowchart of the control system is as follows Figure 4 As shown, in order to achieve stable maintenance of inertial electrostatic confinement fusion, it is mainly necessary to balance the power used for output and the inertial electrostatic confinement power used to maintain nuclear fusion. For the control system, its main input signal quantity is the voltage of the two electrodes of the inertial electrostatic confinement module and the voltage of the outer shell. By measuring the voltage of the inertial electrostatic confinement module and the voltage to the ground, the control system can know the working state of the fusion reactor and the speed of the fusion reaction, and then maintain the voltage level of the inertial electrostatic confinement module by reducing / increasing the voltage input from the power module, thereby maintaining the normal progress of the fusion reaction. At the same time, when the fusion reaction is proceeding normally, the energy output of the outer shell module is increased as much as possible to improve the utilization efficiency of the fusion energy.

[0026] The method "hydrogen-boron fusion reactor based on inertial electrostatic confinement" is divided into the following steps:

[0027] Step 1: The power module provides 300 kV DC high voltage power to the inertial electrostatic confinement module and detects the leakage current level of the inertial electrostatic confinement module to ensure the normal operation of the inertial electrostatic confinement module.

[0028] Step 2: Ionized hydrogen and boron ions are input through a pre-ionization device and accelerated by an electrostatic field to cause a fusion reaction in the center of the reactor.

[0029] Step 3: The high-speed alpha particle flow generated by the fusion reaction hits the outer shell. The alpha particles neutralize with the secondary electrons generated by the impact on the outer shell to form a quasi-neutral plasma, which then diffuses naturally and escapes from the air gap of the outer shell and is sucked away by the vacuum pump.

[0030] Step 4: By accumulating charges from alpha particles, the outer shell potential continues to increase and eventually exceeds the threshold voltage for external power supply. The power supply module replaces the power source to achieve self-sustaining fusion reaction and external energy output.

[0031] In step 3, by accurately matching the positions of the internal grid and the air gap space of the shell of the fusion reactor, it is possible to achieve the maximum plasma discharge rate while maximizing the alpha particle collection rate, minimize the plasma density between the cathode and anode of the fusion reactor, and reduce leakage current.

[0032] The invention has a strong feasibility advantage in that: by utilizing the characteristics of inertial electrostatic confinement fusion that is easy to trigger and maintain, the nuclear fusion reaction and energy output based on hydrogen-boron fusion reaction can be completed at a lower reaction power and system complexity, making up for the system complexity problem of the current traditional fusion technology. At the same time, the reaction is controlled by inertial electrostatic confinement, and mature technology is fully utilized to improve the system reliability, while improving the reliability and reducing the overall cost of the system. At the same time, the high-energy particles in the reaction are confined by the inertial electrostatic field, and no high-energy neutrons are generated, avoiding the first wall and radiation protection problems of magnetic confinement nuclear fusion, making the selection of reactor materials easier.

[0033] (1) Creation point 1, through the method of combining inertial electrostatic confinement with hydrogen-boron fusion, while maintaining the advantages of low radiation and easy utilization of hydrogen-boron fusion, it overcomes its disadvantages of difficult to trigger fusion reaction and high fusion temperature.

[0034] (2) Creation point 2, through the method of electric field deceleration and inner wall secondary electron neutralization, directly utilizes the energy from the fusion reaction to ensure the self-sustaining and output of the fusion reaction, without the need for other energy conversion devices for energy conversion, greatly improving the energy utilization efficiency of the fusion reaction.

[0035] (3) Creative point 3: By using a direct high voltage DC step-down device for power output, efficient DC voltage conversion can be achieved, and various voltages can be directly output for reactor operation and external use without unnecessary voltage transformation devices, further improving the reactor efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] Figure 1a Schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the inertial electrostatic confinement module.

[0037] Figure 1b This is a cross-sectional view of the three-dimensional structure of the inertial electrostatic confinement module, which shows the pulling wires used for conducting and fixing the two internal mesh grids.

[0038] Figure 2This is the simulation result diagram of the average particle energy at the center of the inertial electrostatic confinement sphere. It can be seen that the voltage difference between the central reaction area and the external injection area is far greater than the ignition energy of hydrogen-boron fusion (80keV).

[0039] Figure 3a Schematic diagram of the shell module and the supporting magnetic levitation vacuum insulation system. The shell system with the highest voltage to the ground is installed on the magnetic levitation module.

[0040] Figure 3b This is a schematic diagram of the high-voltage wiring terminals of the magnetic levitation module.

[0041] Figure 4 This is the flow chart of the control system.

[0042] Figure 5 The invention is a specific implementation method of a high vacuum hydrogen-boron nuclear fusion reactor device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] Figure 5 The present invention is further described in detail in the following specific embodiments of the high vacuum hydrogen-boron nuclear fusion reactor device. Figure 5 This is just one of the specific implementations, and the present invention has other specific implementations.

[0044] exist Figure 5 In the initial stage of reactor startup, high voltage generation module is used to achieve Figure 2 The starting voltage required for the reactor to start, and the external ultra-high voltage generation module for power generation has a starting voltage of more than 1MV at the initial start of the reactor. After the reactor is started, it is switched to the high-efficiency DC step-down module to reduce the high voltage of the reactor shell 1MV to the mains level before outputting it, so as to achieve the energy output of the reactor. The start and stop control of each module is constructed using the corresponding peripheral control system according to the needs. The basic composition of the control system can be seen Figure 4 .

[0045] exist Figure 5 In the reactor, after the reactor is started, the high voltage generation module supplies power to the internal mesh anode through the insulating bracket and grounds the mesh cathode. When the mesh anode establishes 300kV high voltage to the ground, the hydrogen-boron ion implantation device is controlled by the signal to inject hydrogen ions and boron ions into the mesh grid, so that both cations enter the space between the mesh anode and cathode. The ions are accelerated by the electric field between the two grids and fly toward the center of the reactor, eventually reaching the maximum speed and maximum ion number density at the geometric center of the two grids of the reactor. According to the triple product relationship of nuclear fusion reaction:

[0046] (n*T*τE)>10 22

[0047] Here, it is assumed that the injection rate of the ion implantation device is 1 mg / s, and the hydrogen-boron ratio is 10:1, then the injection ion rate is

[0048] The process when other capacitors in the series capacitor branch discharge to the low voltage circuit is the same as the above process.

[0049] exist Figure 5 In the present invention, the switch group can be composed of discrete components, or the corresponding switches can be packaged in a chip in an integrated manner to achieve miniaturization of the switch group.

Claims

1. A high vacuum hydrogen-boron nuclear fusion reactor device, Features: It includes an inertial electrostatic confinement module, an outer shell, a power system module and a control software system; wherein the inertial electrostatic confinement module is responsible for inertial electrostatic confinement of high-energy plasma in a high vacuum environment, confines the plasma inside and accelerates it, so as to realize controllable inertial electrostatic confinement nuclear fusion at its center; the outer shell is responsible for absorbing high-energy alpha particles generated by nuclear fusion from the inertial electrostatic confinement module; the power system module is responsible for generating high-voltage direct current required for inertial electrostatic confinement fusion reaction and energy recovery, and recovering the ultra-high voltage direct current generated by fusion and converting it into high-voltage direct current to maintain fusion reaction; the control system realizes stable maintenance of fusion reaction and stable output of fusion energy by controlling each module of the power system module and the input of fusion raw materials; Among them, alpha particles are easily blocked by materials and are not easy to undergo nuclear reactions in the materials. In the outer shell made of carbon-carbon composite materials, alpha particles absorb electrons and convert into helium to escape, thus preventing material deterioration. Among them, an outer shell at a high electric potential is used to convert the kinetic energy of the alpha particles into the electric potential energy of the outer shell. In the process of moving from the inertial electrostatic confinement module to the outer shell, the alpha particles will be decelerated by the electric field therein. The decelerated alpha particles carry their electric charge and collide with the outer shell, absorbing electrons on the outer shell, thereby increasing the electric potential of the outer shell, and further realizing the conversion of fusion energy from the kinetic energy of the particles to the electric potential energy of the outer shell.

2. A high vacuum hydrogen-boron nuclear fusion reactor device according to claim 1, Features: The inertial electrostatic confinement module consists of two mesh spherical shells and a magnetic levitation bracket for high-voltage insulation; the mesh spherical shells include an inner cathode spherical shell and an outer anode spherical shell, with 350kV high voltage electricity suspended from the ground between the two poles, which accelerates the particles constrained by inertial electrostatics to extremely high energy levels, with an equivalent particle temperature of 3.4 billion degrees Celsius, thereby achieving an average particle energy of more than 300keV at the center of the confinement sphere.

3. A high vacuum hydrogen-boron nuclear fusion reactor device according to claim 2, Features: When hydrogen-boron is used as the fusion working fluid, a high-energy alpha particle flow with an energy exceeding 1MeV is generated, which scatters in all directions and eventually hits the outer shell to generate high-voltage static electricity. Since the equivalent impact cross-sectional area of ​​the mesh spherical shell is small, only a very small amount of scattered high-energy alpha particles is blocked. Therefore, the heat generated by the mesh spherical shell itself is low and is not easily damaged by high temperature.

4. A high vacuum hydrogen-boron nuclear fusion reactor device according to claim 1, Features: The energy contained in high-energy alpha particles is different, and the potential energy is 100kV-1MV; for hydrogen-boron fusion reactions, the energy of the high-energy alpha particles produced exceeds 2MeV, and a 1MV electric field is used to slow them down to achieve partial recovery of the particle energy.

5. A high vacuum hydrogen-boron nuclear fusion reactor device according to claim 4, Features: High voltage insulation is achieved by magnetic levitation and vacuum insulation. According to the Paschen curve, -3 In a high vacuum environment of 1000 Pa, a vacuum gap of 150mm is used to isolate high voltage electricity exceeding 500kV. In a high voltage environment of 1MeV, a vacuum gap of 400mm is used to achieve high voltage vacuum insulation, thereby ensuring the stable operation of the fusion reactor.

6. A high vacuum hydrogen-boron nuclear fusion reactor device according to claim 1, Features: In the outer shell and the matching magnetic levitation vacuum insulation system, the six outer columns are insulated wire columns used for power supply. The wires at the top are connected to the corresponding mesh electrodes, which are divided into two groups of mesh electrodes, namely the internal mesh cathode and the external mesh anode. The outer shell with the highest voltage to the ground is installed on the flat cylindrical base below, and magnetic levitation is used to achieve insulation from the ground.

7. A high vacuum hydrogen-boron nuclear fusion reactor device according to claim 1, Features: The power supply system consists of three modules: a high-voltage generation module, an ultra-high-voltage generation module and a high-efficiency DC step-down module; the high-voltage generation module converts the external input 380V AC power into 300kV DC high-voltage power, which is input to the inertial electrostatic confinement module to maintain the initial inertial electrostatic confinement voltage required for the fusion reaction; the ultra-high-voltage generation module generates ultra-high voltage electricity exceeding 1MeV, which is used to decelerate the high-speed alpha particle flow generated by fusion and output energy to the outside; after the reactor is stabilized, the high-efficiency DC step-down module outputs the high-voltage static electricity required to maintain the fusion reaction.

8. A high vacuum hydrogen-boron nuclear fusion reactor device according to claim 1, Features: The input signal quantities of the control system are the voltages of the two electrodes of the inertial electrostatic confinement module and the voltage of the outer shell; by measuring the voltage of the inertial electrostatic confinement module and the voltage to the ground, the control system learns the working status of the fusion reactor and the speed of the fusion reaction, and maintains the voltage level of the inertial electrostatic confinement module by reducing / increasing the voltage input from the power module, thereby maintaining the normal progress of the fusion reaction.

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