Numerical investigations on a compact magnetic fusion device for studying the effect of external applied magnetic field oscillations on the nuclear burning efficiency of D-T and p-11B fuels

Abstract

The burning process of high density (about 10¹⁸cm^-3), high temperature (tens to hundreds of keV) plasma trapped by a high mirror-like magnetic field in a Compact Magnetic Fusion (CMF) device is numerically investigated.. The initial high density and high temperature plasma in the CMF device is produced by ultrashort high intensity laser beam interaction with clusters or thin foils, and two fuels, D-T and p-¹¹B are studied. The spatio-temporal evolution of D-T and p-¹¹B plasmas, the production of alphas, the generated electric fields and the high external applied magnetic field are described by a 1-D multifluid code. The initial values for the plasma densities, temperatures and external applied magnetic field (about 100 T) correspond to high β plasmas. The main objectives of the numerical simulations are: to study the plasma trapping, the neutron and alpha production for both fuels, and compare the effect of the external applied magnetic field on the nuclear burning efficiency for the two fuels.. The comparisons and the advantages for each fuel will be presented. The proposed CMF device and the potential operation of the device within the ELI-NP pillar will be discussed.