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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 775 records · Page 43
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

A fission-fusion hybrid reactor in steady-state L-mode tokamak configuration with natural uranium

This work develops a conceptual design for a fusion-fission hybrid reactor operating in steady-state L-mode tokamak configuration with a subcritical natural or depleted uranium pebble bed blanket. A liquid lithium-lead alloy breeds enough tritium to replenish that consumed by the D-T fusion reaction. The fission blanket augments the fusion power such that the fusion core itself need not have a high power gain, thus allowing for fully non-inductive (steady-state) low confinement mode (L-mode) operation at relatively small physical dimensions. A neutron transport Monte Carlo code models the natural uranium fission blanket. Maximizing the fission power gain while breeding sufficient tritium allows for the selection of an optimal set of blanket parameters, which yields a maximum prudent fission power gain of approximately 7. A 0-D tokamak model suffices to analyze approximate tokamak operating conditions. This fission blanket would allow the fusion component of a hybrid reactor with the same dimensions as ITER to operate in steady-state L-mode very comfortably with a fusion power gain of 6.7 and a thermal fusion power of 2.1 GW. Taking this further can determine the approximate minimum scale for a steady-state L-mode tokamak hybrid reactor, which is a major radius of 5.2 m and an aspect ratio of 2.8. This minimum scale device operates barely within the steady-state L-mode realm with a thermal fusion power of 1.7 GW. Basic thermal hydraulic analysis demonstrates that pressurized helium could cool the pebble bed fission blanket with a flow rate below 10 m/s. The Brayton cycle thermal efficiency is 41%. This reactor, dubbed the Steady-state L-mode non-Enriched Uranium Tokamak Hybrid (SLEUTH), with its very fast neutron spectrum, could be superior to pure fission reactors in terms of breeding fissile fuel and transmuting deleterious fission products. It would likely function best as a prolific plutonium breeder, and the plutonium it produces could actually be more proliferation-resistant than that bred by conventional fast reactors. Furthermore, it can maintain constant total hybrid power output as burnup proceeds by varying the neutron source strength.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Tomographic imaging system for measuring impurity line emission in a field-reversed configuration

A 16 chord optical tomography system has been developed and implemented in the flux coil generated-field reversed configuration (FRC). The chords are arranged in two fans of eight, which cover {approx}35% of the vessel area at the midplane. Each illuminate separate photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) which are fitted with narrow band-pass filters. In this case, filters are centered at 434.8 nm to measure emission from singly ionized argon. PMT crosstalk is negligible. Background noise due to electron radiation and H{sub {gamma}} line radiation is <10% of argon emission. The spatial resolution of the reconstruction is 1.5 cm. Argon is introduced using a puff valve and tube designed to impart the gas into the system as the FRC is forming. Reconstruction of experimental data results in time-dependent, 2D emissivity profiles of the impurity ions. Analysis of these data show radial, cross-field diffusion to be in the range of 10-10{sup 3} m{sup 2}/s during FRC equilibrium.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2012

Modulated active charge exchange fast ion diagnostic for the C-2 field-reversed configuration experiment

A diagnostic technique for measuring the fast-ion energy distribution in a field-reversed configuration plasma was developed and tested on the C-2 experiment. A deuterium neutral beam modulated at 22 kHz is injected into the plasma, producing a localized charge-exchange target for the confined fast protons. The escaping fast neutrals are detected by a neutral particle analyzer. The target beam transverse size ({approx}15 cm) defines the spatial resolution of the method. The equivalent current density of the target beam is {<=}0.15 A/cm{sup 2}, which corresponds to a neutral density ({approx}6 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 9} cm{sup -3}) that highly exceeds the background neutral density in the core of C-2. The deuterium fast-ions due to the target beam (E{approx}27 keV), are not confined in C-2 and thus make a negligible contribution to the measured signals.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2012

Electron density and temperature profile diagnostics for C-2 field reversed configuration plasmas

The 9-point Thomson scattering diagnostic system for the C-2 field reversed configuration plasmas is improved and the measured electron temperature profiles are consistent with theoretical expectations. Rayleigh scattering revealed a finite line width of the ruby laser emission, which complicates density calibration. Taking advantage of the plasma wobble motion, density profile reconstruction accuracy from the 6-chord two-color CO{sub 2}/HeNe interferometer data is improved.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

The effect of anisotropic heat transport on magnetic islands in 3-D configurations

An analytic theory of nonlinear pressure-induced magnetic island formation using a boundary layer analysis is presented. This theory extends previous work by including the effects of finite parallel heat transport and is applicable to general three dimensional magnetic configurations. In this work, particular attention is paid to the role of finite parallel heat conduction in the context of pressure-induced island physics. It is found that localized currents that require self-consistent deformation of the pressure profile, such as resistive interchange and bootstrap currents, are attenuated by finite parallel heat conduction when the magnetic islands are sufficiently small. However, these anisotropic effects do not change saturated island widths caused by Pfirsch-Schlueter current effects. Implications for finite pressure-induced island healing are discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Preparation of the spacer for narrow electrode gap configuration in ionization-based gas sensor

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have started to be developed as the sensing element for ionization-based gas sensors due to the demand for improved sensitivity, selectivity, stability and other sensing properties beyond what can be offered by the conventional ones. Although these limitations have been overcome, the problems still remain with the conventional ionization-based gas sensors in that they are bulky and operating with large breakdown voltage and high temperature. Recent studies have shown that the breakdown voltage can be reduced by using nanostructured electrodes and narrow electrode gap. Nanostructured electrode in the form of aligned CNTs array with evenly distributed nanotips can enhance the linear electric field significantly. The later is attributed to the shorter conductivity path through narrow electrode gap. The paper presents the study on the design consideration in order to realize ionization based gas sensor using aligned carbon nanotubes array in an optimum sensor configuration with narrow electrode gap. Several deposition techniques were studied to deposit the spacer, the key component that can control the electrode gap. Plasma spray deposition, electron beam deposition and dry oxidation method were employed to obtain minimum film thickness around 32 {mu}m. For plasma spray method, sand blasting process is required in order to produce rough surface for strong bonding of the deposited film onto the surface. Film thickness, typically about 39 {mu}m can be obtained. For the electron beam deposition and dry oxidation, the film thickness is in the range of nanometers and thus unsuitable to produce the spacer. The deposited multilayer film consisting of copper, alumina and ferum on which CNTs array will be grown was found to be removed during the etching process. This is attributed to the high etching rate on the thin film which can be prevented by reducing the rate and having a thicker conductive copper film.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2013

RFX-mod: A multi-configuration fusion facility for three-dimensional physics studies

RFX-mod [Sonato et al., Fusion Eng. Des. 66, 161 (2003)] exploits its 192 active coils in both reversed-field pinch (RFP) and tokamak configurations with varying degrees of 3D shaping, providing also a test bed for validating stellarator codes and 3D nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic codes. This makes RFX-mod a unique and flexible facility for comparative studies on 3D shaping and control. The paper discusses how 3D fields allow access to RFP and tokamak advanced regimes. 3D fields are used to feedback control Single Helicity (SH) RFP equilibria with 1/7 helicity up to ∼2 MA. They also allow accessing SH regimes with higher density (Greenwald fraction up to 0.5), presently inaccessible in spontaneous SH regimes. Feedback on the 2/1 resistive-wall mode in RFX-mod tokamak plasmas allows for safe operation at q(a)<2, an almost unexplored promising regime. Forcing the 2/1 mode to saturate at finite but small level, a helical tokamak equilibrium with significant n = 1 modulation is produced and a new way to tailor sawteeth is found. The effects of different levels of 3D shaping on momentum transport in both RFP and tokamak helical states are discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Ideal magnetohydrodynamic stability of configurations without nested flux surfaces

Existing numerical tools for calculating the MHD stability of magnetically confined plasmas generally assume the existence of nested flux surfaces. These tools are therefore not immediately applicable to configurations with magnetic islands or regions with an ergodic magnetic field. However, in practice, these islands or ergodic regions are often small, and their effect on MHD stability can then be evaluated using a perturbation theory developed in the present paper. This procedure allows the effect of the broken magnetic topology on the stability of each eigenmode to be calculated without requiring any knowledge about the perturbed eigenfunctions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Interfacial band configuration and electrical properties of LaAlO{sub 3}/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/hydrogenated-diamond metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors

In order to search a gate dielectric with high permittivity on hydrogenated-diamond (H-diamond), LaAlO{sub 3} films with thin Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} buffer layers are fabricated on the H-diamond epilayers by sputtering-deposition (SD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD) techniques, respectively. Interfacial band configuration and electrical properties of the SD-LaAlO{sub 3}/ALD-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/H-diamond metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) with gate lengths of 10, 20, and 30 μm have been investigated. The valence and conduction band offsets of the SD-LaAlO{sub 3}/ALD-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} structure are measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to be 1.1 ± 0.2 and 1.6 ± 0.2 eV, respectively. The valence band discontinuity between H-diamond and LaAlO{sub 3} is evaluated to be 4.0 ± 0.2 eV, showing that the MOS structure acts as the gate which controls a hole carrier density. The leakage current density of the SD-LaAlO{sub 3}/ALD-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/H-diamond MOS diode is smaller than 10{sup −8} A cm{sup −2} at gate bias from −4 to 2 V. The capacitance-voltage curve in the depletion mode shows sharp dependence, small flat band voltage, and small hysteresis shift, which implies low positive and trapped charge densities. The MOSFETs show p-type channel and complete normally off characteristics with threshold voltages changing from −3.6 ± 0.1 to −5.0 ± 0.1 V dependent on the gate length. The drain current maximum and the extrinsic transconductance of the MOSFET with gate length of 10 μm are −7.5 mA mm{sup −1} and 2.3 ± 0.1 mS mm{sup −1}, respectively. The enhancement mode SD-LaAlO{sub 3}/ALD-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/H-diamond MOSFET is concluded to be suitable for the applications of high power and high frequency electrical devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Effects of the resistivity profile on the formation of a reversed configuration and single helicity states in compressible simulations of the reversed-field pinch

Compressible magnetohydrodynamics simulations of the reversed-field pinch (RFP) are presented. Previous simulations of the RFP, including density and pressure evolution, showed that a stationary state with a reversed toroidal magnetic field could not be obtained, contrary to the results produced with numerical codes neglecting density and pressure dynamics. The simulations described in the present paper show that including density and pressure evolution, a stationary RFP configuration can be obtained if the resistivity has a radial profile steeply increasing close to the wall. Such resistivity profile is more realistic than a uniform resistivity, since the temperature at the wall is lower than in the plasma core.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Optimization of beam configuration in laser fusion based on the laser beam pattern

A simple method based on the laser beam pattern is proposed and numerically demonstrated to optimize a beam configuration for direct drive laser fusion. In this method, both the geometrical factor G{sub l} and the single beam factor B{sub l} are considered. By diminishing the product of B{sub l}·G{sub l}, the irradiation nonuniformity can be decreased to the order of 10{sup −5}. This optimization method can be applied on the design of irradiation systems for an arbitrary number of beams and any axially symmetric beam patterns.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Excited electronic states from a variational approach based on symmetry-projected Hartree–Fock configurations

Recent work from our research group has demonstrated that symmetry-projected Hartree–Fock (HF) methods provide a compact representation of molecular ground state wavefunctions based on a superposition of non-orthogonal Slater determinants. The symmetry-projected ansatz can account for static correlations in a computationally efficient way. Here we present a variational extension of this methodology applicable to excited states of the same symmetry as the ground state. Benchmark calculations on the C{sub 2} dimer with a modest basis set, which allows comparison with full configuration interaction results, indicate that this extension provides a high quality description of the low-lying spectrum for the entire dissociation profile. We apply the same methodology to obtain the full low-lying vertical excitation spectrum of formaldehyde, in good agreement with available theoretical and experimental data, as well as to a challenging model C{sub 2v} insertion pathway for BeH{sub 2}. The variational excited state methodology developed in this work has two remarkable traits: it is fully black-box and will be applicable to fairly large systems thanks to its mean-field computational cost.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2013

Plasma radiation dynamics with the upgraded Absolute Extreme Ultraviolet tomographical system in the Tokamak à Configuration Variable

We introduce an upgraded version of a tomographical system which is built up from Absolute Extreme Ultraviolet-type (AXUV) detectors and has been installed on the Tokamak à Configuration Variable (TCV). The system is suitable for the investigation of fast radiative processes usually observed in magnetically confined high-temperature plasmas. The upgrade consists in the detector protection by movable shutters, some modifications to correct original design errors and the improvement in the data evaluation techniques. The short-term sensitivity degradation of the detectors, which is caused by the plasma radiation itself, has been monitored and found to be severe. The results provided by the system are consistent with the measurements obtained with the usual plasma radiation diagnostics installed on TCV. Additionally, the coupling between core plasma radiation and plasma-wall interaction is revealed. This was impossible with other available diagnostics on TCV.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Higher-order electric multipole contributions to retarded non-additive three-body dispersion interaction energies between atoms: Equilateral triangle and collinear configurations

The theory of molecular quantum electrodynamics (QED) is used to calculate higher electric multipole contributions to the dispersion energy shift between three atoms or molecules arranged in a straight line or in an equilateral triangle configuration. As in two-body potentials, three-body dispersion interactions are viewed in the QED formalism to arise from exchange of virtual photons between coupled pairs of particles. By employing an interaction Hamiltonian that is quadratic in the electric displacement field means that third-order perturbation theory can be used to yield the energy shift for a particular combination of electric multipole polarizable species, with only six time-ordered diagrams needing to be summed over. Specific potentials evaluated include dipole-dipole-quadrupole (DDQ), dipole-quadrupole-quadrupole (DQQ), and dipole-dipole-octupole (DDO) terms. For the geometries of interest, near-zone limiting forms are found to exhibit an R{sup −11} dependence on separation distance for the DDQ interaction, and an R{sup −13} behaviour for DQQ and DDO shifts, agreeing with an earlier semi-classical computation. Retardation weakens the potential in each case by R{sup −1} in the far-zone. It is found that by decomposing the octupole moment into its irreducible components of weights-1 and -3 that the former contribution to the DDO potential may be taken to be a higher-order correction to the leading triple dipole energy shift.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Diversity of hydrogen configuration and its roles in SrTiO{sub 3−δ}

As a source of carrier electron, various configurations of hydrogen in SrTiO{sub 3} are searched by using first-principles calculations. The most stable form of hydrogen is found to be H{sup −}, where doubly charged oxygen vacancy V{sub O}{sup 2+} changes into singly charged H{sub O}{sup +}. Most importantly, an additional H{sup −} is found to be weakly trapped by H{sub O}{sup +}, which completely neutralizes carrier electrons by forming (2H){sub O}{sup 0}. These unexpected behaviors of hydrogen, which can explain reported experimental results, expand the role of the hydrogen in carrier-control technology in transition-metal oxides.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Probe measurements of the three-dimensional magnetic field structure in a rotating magnetic field sustained field-reversed configuration

A translatable three-axis probe was constructed and installed on the translation, confinement, and sustainment upgrade (TCSU) experiment. With ninety windings, the probe can simultaneously measure B{sub r}, B{sub θ}, and B{sub z} at 30 radial positions, and can be placed at any desired axial position within the field reversed configuration (FRC) confinement chamber. Positioning the probe at multiple axial positions and taking multiple repeatable shots allows for a full r-z map of the magnetic field. Measurements were made for odd-parity rotating magnetic field (RMF) antennas and even-parity RMF. The steady state data from applying a 10 kHz low pass filter used in conjunction with data at the RMF frequency yields a map of the full 3D rotating field structure. Comparisons will be made to the 3D magnetic structure predicted by NIMROD simulations, with parameters adjusted to match that of the TCSU experiments. The probe provides sufficient data to utilize a Maxwell stress tensor approach to directly measure the torque applied to the FRC's electrons, which combined with a resistive torque model, yields an estimate of the average FRC resistivity.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Comparing thermal wave function methods for multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree simulations

We compare two methods for creating stochastic temperature wave functions that can be used for Multi-Configuration Time-Dependent Hartree (MCTDH) simulations. In the first method, the MCTDH coefficients are chosen randomly, while the other method uses a single Hartree product of random single-particle functions (SPFs). We find that using random SPFs dramatically improves convergence for a model system for surface sticking.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Mitigation of rotational instability of high-beta field-reversed configuration by double-sided magnetized plasmoid injection

Active control of destructive rotational instability in a high-beta field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasma was demonstrated by using double-sided plasmoid injection technique. The elliptical deformation of the FRC's cross section was mitigated as a result of substantial suppression of spontaneous spin-up by the plasmoid injection. It was found that the injected plasmoid provided better stability against the rotational mode, suggesting that the compensation of the FRC's decaying magnetic flux might help to suppress its spin-up.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗