The scoping, design, and plasma physics optimization of the Eos neutron source stellarator
On the path to a fusion pilot plant, Thea Energy plans to build Eos, a sub-breakeven, deuterium-deuterium, beam-target fusion, stellarator neutron source facility for producing tritium and other valuable radioisotopes. In this paper, a set of 1D plasma physics models are coupled and used to design t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Nuclear Fusion |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ada56a |
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| author | C.P.S. Swanson D.A. Gates S.T.A. Kumar M.F. Martin T.G. Kruger D.W. Dudt P.J. Bonofiglo the Thea Energy team |
| author_facet | C.P.S. Swanson D.A. Gates S.T.A. Kumar M.F. Martin T.G. Kruger D.W. Dudt P.J. Bonofiglo the Thea Energy team |
| author_sort | C.P.S. Swanson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | On the path to a fusion pilot plant, Thea Energy plans to build Eos, a sub-breakeven, deuterium-deuterium, beam-target fusion, stellarator neutron source facility for producing tritium and other valuable radioisotopes. In this paper, a set of 1D plasma physics models are coupled and used to design the operating point of the facility and predict performance. At this foundational stage of the design, analytic and approximate models are sufficient to capture the leading-order effects, and fast enough to run in the inner loop of an optimizer. Higher-fidelity analyses will follow. Models of 1D profile-dependent neutral beam stopping, ion beam slowing down, beam-target fusion, electron-ion classical heat transfer, energy confinement (ISS04), beam pressure, beam heating of ions and electrons, beam-beam fusion fraction, and neutral beam injection and gyrotron heating electrical efficiencies are included. A numerical optimizer is used to determine the minimum required facility electric power to generate tritium at a given rate. A potentially advantageous regime is described in which modern precisely-quasisymmetric stellarators, new high-temperature superconductors, ITER-derived neutral beam injection, and new high-frequency gyrotrons enable a suitible target plasma with hot electrons, cold ions, peaked density and temperature profiles, and high beam-injected ion density. It appears possible at this time for a facility with a medium-scale and medium-strength stellarator whose required facility electric power is less than 40 MW to produce $2.5\times 10^{17}$ neutrons s ^−1 for the production of radioisotopes. With the addition of a tritium breeding blanket, such a facility could produce 0.2 grams d ^−1 or 70 grams yr ^−1 of tritium. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6a1af764ba1c44a693fb4aa098c32473 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0029-5515 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nuclear Fusion |
| spelling | doaj-art-6a1af764ba1c44a693fb4aa098c324732025-01-28T12:17:39ZengIOP PublishingNuclear Fusion0029-55152025-01-0165202605310.1088/1741-4326/ada56aThe scoping, design, and plasma physics optimization of the Eos neutron source stellaratorC.P.S. Swanson0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0231-8525D.A. Gates1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5679-3124S.T.A. Kumar2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6444-5178M.F. Martin3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2032-2894T.G. Kruger4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1462-3033D.W. Dudt5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4557-3529P.J. Bonofiglo6https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5057-7383the Thea Energy team7Thea Energy, Inc. , Kearny, NJ, United States of AmericaThea Energy, Inc. , Kearny, NJ, United States of AmericaThea Energy, Inc. , Kearny, NJ, United States of AmericaThea Energy, Inc. , Kearny, NJ, United States of AmericaThea Energy, Inc. , Kearny, NJ, United States of AmericaThea Energy, Inc. , Kearny, NJ, United States of AmericaPrinceton Plasma Physics Laboratory , Princeton, NJ, United States of AmericaThea Energy, Inc. , Kearny, NJ, United States of AmericaOn the path to a fusion pilot plant, Thea Energy plans to build Eos, a sub-breakeven, deuterium-deuterium, beam-target fusion, stellarator neutron source facility for producing tritium and other valuable radioisotopes. In this paper, a set of 1D plasma physics models are coupled and used to design the operating point of the facility and predict performance. At this foundational stage of the design, analytic and approximate models are sufficient to capture the leading-order effects, and fast enough to run in the inner loop of an optimizer. Higher-fidelity analyses will follow. Models of 1D profile-dependent neutral beam stopping, ion beam slowing down, beam-target fusion, electron-ion classical heat transfer, energy confinement (ISS04), beam pressure, beam heating of ions and electrons, beam-beam fusion fraction, and neutral beam injection and gyrotron heating electrical efficiencies are included. A numerical optimizer is used to determine the minimum required facility electric power to generate tritium at a given rate. A potentially advantageous regime is described in which modern precisely-quasisymmetric stellarators, new high-temperature superconductors, ITER-derived neutral beam injection, and new high-frequency gyrotrons enable a suitible target plasma with hot electrons, cold ions, peaked density and temperature profiles, and high beam-injected ion density. It appears possible at this time for a facility with a medium-scale and medium-strength stellarator whose required facility electric power is less than 40 MW to produce $2.5\times 10^{17}$ neutrons s ^−1 for the production of radioisotopes. With the addition of a tritium breeding blanket, such a facility could produce 0.2 grams d ^−1 or 70 grams yr ^−1 of tritium.https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ada56anuclear fusionstellaratorbeam-target fusionfusion neutron sourcefusion system studiesneutral beam injection |
| spellingShingle | C.P.S. Swanson D.A. Gates S.T.A. Kumar M.F. Martin T.G. Kruger D.W. Dudt P.J. Bonofiglo the Thea Energy team The scoping, design, and plasma physics optimization of the Eos neutron source stellarator Nuclear Fusion nuclear fusion stellarator beam-target fusion fusion neutron source fusion system studies neutral beam injection |
| title | The scoping, design, and plasma physics optimization of the Eos neutron source stellarator |
| title_full | The scoping, design, and plasma physics optimization of the Eos neutron source stellarator |
| title_fullStr | The scoping, design, and plasma physics optimization of the Eos neutron source stellarator |
| title_full_unstemmed | The scoping, design, and plasma physics optimization of the Eos neutron source stellarator |
| title_short | The scoping, design, and plasma physics optimization of the Eos neutron source stellarator |
| title_sort | scoping design and plasma physics optimization of the eos neutron source stellarator |
| topic | nuclear fusion stellarator beam-target fusion fusion neutron source fusion system studies neutral beam injection |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ada56a |
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