Status of Z-Pinch Fusion

Capsule compression experiments on Z

Z-Pinch Power Plant Chamber

Repetitive Driver LTD Technology

Craig Olson Sandia National Laboratories Albuquerque, NM 87185

Fusion Power Associates Annual Meeting and Symposium Washington, DC November 19-21, 2003

Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

The long-range goal of Z-Pinch IFE is to produce an economically-attractive power plant using high-yield z-pinch-driven targets ( 3 GJ) at low rep-rate ( 0.1 Hz)

Z-Pinch IFE DEMO (ZP-3, the first study) used 12 chambers, each with 3 GJ at 0.1 Hz, to produce 1000 MWe

2038

Z-Pinch IFE Road Map

2024

Z-Pinch IFE DEMO

Z-Pinch ETF (ETF Phase 2) $1B 2018 Z-Pinch High Yield Z-Pinch Ignition Laser indirect-drive Ignition High Yield Facility (ETF Phase 1) Z-Pinch IFE target fab., power plant technologies $5M /year

2012

Z-Pinch IRE $150M (TPC) +op/year

Z-Pinch IFE target design $5M /year

2008 FI ZR Z-Pinch IFE PoP $10M /year Z-Pinch IFE target design $2M /year Z-Pinch IFE target fab., power plant technologies $2M /year

2004 Z Z-Pinch IFE CE $400k /year (SNL LDRD +) Repetitive for IFE, OFES/VOIFE

1999 Year

NIF Single-shot, NNSA/DP

Z-Pinch IFE Matrix of Possibilities

(choose one from each category)

Z-Pinch Driver: Marx generator/ water line technology

magnetic switching (RHEPP technology)

______________ linear transformer driver (LTD technology) _____ immiscible material

RTL (Recyclable Transmission Line): Flibe/electrical coating

(e. g., low activation ferritic steel) Target: double-pinch Chamber: dry-wall wetted-wall thick-liquid wall _ dynamic hohlraum fast ignition ____ solid/voids (e. g., Flibe foam)

Z-Pinch Driver

Pulsed-power provides compact, efficient time compression and power amplification

Z
200

x rays ~1.8 MJ

150 Power (TW)

vacuum
100

Marx
50

water

Electrical to x-ray energy Conversion efficiency > 15%

11.4 MJ
0 0.5 1 1.5

Time ( s)

Z-pinches offer the promise of a cost-effective energy-rich source of x-rays for IFE

10 Energy (MJ/cm)

High Yield Facility

ZR
Z Saturn Proto II

0.1

0.01
Supermite

0.001 1

0 2 Ek = 3Lp I0 4

10 Current (MA) ZR will be within a factor of 2-3 in current (4-9 in energy) of a High Yield driver.

( 90 MA)

( 60 MA)

(10 MA)

(1 MA)

RTL
(Recyclable Transmission Line)

Z-pinch power plant chamber uses an RTL (Recyclable Transmission Line) to provide the standoff between the driver and the target

RTL

INSULATOR STACK (connects to driver)

FLIBE JETS

Z-PINCH TARGET

10-20 Torr Inert Gas

Yield and Rep-Rate: few GJ every 3-10 seconds per chamber (0.1 Hz - 0.3 Hz) Thick liquid wall chamber: only one opening (at top) for driver; nominal pressure (10-20 Torr) RTL entrance hole is only 1% of the chamber surface area (for R = 5 m, r = 1 m) Flibe absorbs neutron energy, breeds tritium, shields structural wall from neutrons Eliminates problems of final optic, pointing and tracking N beams, high speed target injection Requires development of RTL

Length (m) 10 1 0.01

rifle bull 10 4 g et P 1,00 IFE romet 0g heu targ s-L for et i ion s an njectio d la n OSI ser RIS s , Pro met SOMB heu R s-H ERO, 10

L = 0.5 a t2 , or a ~ 1/t2

0.1 1 10
Car (0 - 60 mph

RTL replacement requires only modest acceleration for IFE

(~ 10 Hz)
Time (s)

0g

10 g

1g
in 1 0 s)
IFE 0.1 for RTL re g re p -rat placem ed z pi ent nch es 0.

Acceleration is 104 less than for IFE target injection for ions or lasers

(~ 0.1 Hz)

01 g

Status of RTL Research

RTL electrical turn-on RTL low-mass and electrical conductivity RTL structural RTL manufacturing Saturn experiments at 10 MA (2000) tin, Al, stainless-steel all show negligible losses Saturn experiments at 10 MA (2001) 20 mylar; 50 , 100 , 250 steel RTL mass could be as low as 2 kg RTL mass 50 kg has low resistive losses Calculations (U. Wisconsin) (2002) full-scale RTL ( 50 kg) of 25 mill steel ok for 10-20 Torr Allowed RTL budget is a few $ for 3 GJ Flibe casting ( $0.70/RTL) ferritic steel stamping ( $1.20-3.95/RTL)

Current RTL research structural integrity shrapnel formation RTL manufacturing/cost vacuum connections activation/waste stream analysis shock disruption to fluid walls foam Flibe

RTL Structural
RTL FINITE ELEMENT MODEL constructed in ANSYS to perform structural analysis

R = 50 cm r = 5 cm L = 200 cm 25 mil steel disc 10 cm lip

Fusion Technology Institute University of Wisconsin, Madison

RTL Structural
PRELIMINARY BUCKLING ANALYSIS of steel RTL

78 Torr
RTL buckles at 1.52 psi = 78 Torr as shown

20 Torr no effect (safe operating point)

Fusion Technology Institute University of Wisconsin, Madison

Targets

Z-pinch-driven-hohlraums have similar topology to laser-driven-hohlraums, but larger scale-size

Double ended hohlraum Dynamic hohlraum 6 mm 35 mm

Laser Source Cones

5.5 mm

10 mm

NIF Scale

The baseline DEH capsule yields 380 MJ with an ignition margin similar to a NIF capsule

Capsule Performance Parameters

solid Be solid DT DT gas (0.3 mg/cm3) Peak drive temperature In-flight aspect ratio Implosion velocity Convergence ratio Total RT growth factor Peak density Total rr Driver energy Absorbed energy Yield Burnup fraction 223 eV 37 2.9 x 107 cm/s 36 420 750 g/cm3 3.15 g/cm2 16 MJ 1.12 MJ 380 MJ 31%

0.218 cm radius 0.240 cm radius 0.259 cm radius

J.H. Hammer, et al., Phys Plasmas 6, 2129

Summary Double-ended hohlraum ICF status

Simulation codes and analytic modeling have been validated by measurements of time-dependent z-pinch x-ray production, z-pinch hohlraum temperatures, and capsule hohlraum temperatures A reproducible, single power feed, double z-pinch radiation source with excellent power balance has been developed for ICF capsule implosion studies The Z-Beamlet Laser (ZBL) is routinely used as an x-ray backlighter at x-ray energies up to 6.75 keV Achieved capsule convergence ratios of 14-20 Capsule symmetry (P2 and P4) in double-pinch hohlraums on Z can be systematically controlled with demonstrated time-integrated symmetry of 3% Optimum hohlraums on Z should produce time-integrated radiation symmetry of 1% for 5 mm diameter capsules and absorbed energies of 25 kJ P4 shimming shots are scheduled in collaboration with LLNL and LBL HIF program

Double-Ended Hohlraum Concept Publications

Concept
Hammer, Tabak, Wilks, et. al., Phys. Plasmas, 6, 2129(1999) Cuneo, Vesey, Porter et al., Phys. Plas. 8, 2257 (2001) Cuneo, Vesey, Hammer et al., Laser Particle Beams, 19, 481 (2001)

Hohlraum energetics

Foam ball radiation symmetry

Hanson, Vesey, Cuneo et al., Phys. Plas. 9, 2173 (2002)

Double pinch performance

Cuneo, Vesey, Porter et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 215004 (2002)

Symmetric capsule implosions

Bennett, Cuneo, Vesey et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 245002 (2002) Bennett, Vesey, Cuneo et al., Phys. Plasmas, 10, 3717 (2003)

Symmetry control
Vesey, Cuneo, Bennett et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 035005 (2003) Vesey, Bennett, Cuneo et al., Phys. Plasmas 10, 1854 (2003)

Diagnostics
Radius (mm)
10.0 8.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2

Sinars, Cuneo, Bennett et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum., 74, 2202 (2003) Sinars, Bennett, Wenger, et al., Appl. Opt., 19, 4059, (2003)

Pinch physics
Stygar, Ives, Fehl, Cuneo et al., accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. E Cuneo, Chandler, Lebedev et al., in preparation for Phys. Plasmas Waisman, Cuneo, Stygar et al., in preparation for Phys. Plasmas

The initial dynamic hohlraum high yield integrated target design produces a 527 MJ yield at 54 MA

Capsule Performance Parameters

Peak drive temperature In-flight aspect ratio Be+3% Cu Implosion velocity solid DT Convergence ratio DT gas DT KE @ ignition Peak density (0.5 mg/cm3) Total rr Driver energy 0.225 cm radius Absorbed energy 0.249 cm radius Yield Burnup fraction 0.253 cm radius 0.275 cm radius solid Be 350 eV 48 3.3 x 107 cm/s 27 50% 444 g/cm3 2.14 g/cm2 12 MJ 2.3 MJ 527 MJ 34%

J.S. Lash et al., Inertial Fusion Sciences & Apps 99, p583

Summary Dynamic Hohlraum ICF status

The primary radiation source is a thin radiating shock in the foam converter Shock timing and capsule implosions in good agreement with rad-MHD modeling Demonstrated >200 eV x-ray drive temperatures in dynamic hohlraums on Z Imploded thin shell surrogate capsules absorbing 20-40 kJ of thermal x-rays (NIF-sized capsules) Measured Te~1 keV, ne~1x1023 from Ar K-shell spectra from imploded capsules Measured 2.61.3x1010 thermonuclear D-D neutrons from ICF capsules absorbing >20 kJ Symmetry measurements of capsule core x-rays made through thin walled dynamic hohlraums (a/b~0.6, CR~6) Capsule x-ray emission history (PCDs) in good agreement with simulations Capsule implosion time reproducible to 160 ps

Dynamic Hohlraum Concept Publications

Concept
V.P Smirnoff, et al., Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 33, 1697, (1991) M. K. Matzen, Phys. Plasmas 4, 1519 (1997) J.H. Brownell, et al., Phys Plasmas 5, 2071, (1998) D.L. Peterson, et al., Phys Plasma 6 (1999) J.S. Lash, et al., Proceedings of Inertial Fusion Sci. App. 1999, (Elsevier, Paris 2000), Vol. I, p 583 T. W. L. Sanford, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 5511 (1999) T.J. Nash, et al, Phys Plasmas 6, 2023 (1999) R.J. Leeper, et al., Nucl. Fusion 39, 1283 (1999) J.J. MacFarlane, et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 70, No. 1, p.1, (1999) S. A. Slutz, et al., Phys. Plasmas 8, 1673 (2001) T. W. L. Sanford, et al., Phys. Plasmas 9, No. 8, p. 3573 (2002) T.J. Nash, et al., , Rev. Sci. Instrum. 74, 2211 (2003) S. A. Slutz, et al., Phys Plasmas 10, No. 5, p. 1875 (2003) J.E. Bailey, et al., Physical Review Letters 89, No. 095004 (2002) 56 J.E. Bailey, et al., LANL preprint server, physics/0306039 T.A. Mehlhorn, et al., Plasma Phys Controlled Fusion to be published, 2003

Energetics

ICF capsule implosions and neutron production

ICF ignition scaling

Code calculations and analytic scaling predict z-pinch driver requirements for IFE DEMO
Double-Pinch Hohlraum current /x-rays Eabs / yield 2 x 62-68 MA 2 x (16-19) MJ 1.3 2.6 MJ 400 4000 MJ Dynamic Hohlraum current /x-rays Eabs / yield 54 95 MA 12-37 MJ 2.4 7.2 MJ 530 4400 MJ

Based on these results, an IFE target for DEMO will require: double-pinch hohlraum dynamic hohlraum 36 MJ of x-rays (2x66MA) 30 MJ of x-rays (86 MA) 3000 MJ yield (G = 83) 3000 MJ yield (G = 100)

J. Hammer, M. Tabak, R. Vesey, S. Slutz, J. De Groot

Chambers/Power Plant

Z-Pinch IFE and Heavy Ion IFE use thick liquid walls
Z-Pinches use simple waterfalls with a pressure requirement of 10-20 Torr Major drivers: ______________________________________________ Laser Heavy ion Z-pinch (KrF, DPSSL) inductionlinac) ( pulsed power) ( GeV, kA MV, MA Targets :_____________________________________ _______________ Direct-drive Indirect-drive Fast Igniter option major driver + PW laser) (

Chambers __________________________________________________ : Dry- all w Wetted-wall Thick-liquid wall Solid/voids

Thick liquid walls essentially alleviate the first wall problem, and can lead to a faster development path

Steel RTL Remanufacture Process

To Waste Gas Treatment

Flux Agents Rolling Mill

Stamping

Scrap

Electric Arc Furnace

Ingots

Sheet

Waste Waste Solids recovered from Flibe Slag to Trace Metal Recovery and Waste Management Vacuum Buffer (storage) Waste RTL remains 90,000 RTL = 250 m 3 = 2000 tonnes
Formed RTL Halves

Cryogenic Buffer

Target Capsules Flibe Recyle Processes Purified Flibe Flibe with Impurities

Z-IFE DEMO produces 1000 MWe

DEMO parameters:
yield/pulse: driver x-rays/pulse (86 MA) energy recovery factor: thermal recovery/pulse: time between pulses/chamber: thermal power/unit thermal conversion efficiency electrical output/unit number of units total plant power output 3 GJ 30 MJ 80% 2.4 GJ 3 seconds 0.8 GWt 45 % 0.36 GWe 3 1.0 GWe $900 M $500 M $350 M $900 M $2.65 G ZP-3 (the first study) used 12 chambers, each with 3 GJ at 0.1 Hz

Major cost elements:

LTD z-pinch drivers (3) RTL factory Target factory Balance of Plant Total Cost

Z-Pinch power plant studies: G. Rochau, et al. : ZP-3 J. De Groot, et al.: Z-Pinch Fast Ignition Power Plant

Z-Pinch IFE near-term plans

Z-IFE PoP is a set of four experiments (shown here) plus IFE target studies plus IFE Power Plant studies
RTL experiments
issues: shape, inductance, mass, electrical/structural, manufacture, cost power flow: limits, optimal configuration, convolute location chamber/interface issues: vacuum/electrical, debris removal, shielding RTL experiment test on Z

Repetitive driver- LTD (Linear Transformer Driver) experiment

1 MA, 1 MV, 100 ns, 0.1 Hz driver design/construction/testing LTD is very compact (pioneered in Tomsk, Russia) no oil, no water LTD technology is modular, scalable, easily rep-ratable 1 MA, 100 kV cell is being developed this year (SNL/Tomsk)

Shock mitigation scaled experiments

3 GJ yield is larger than conventional IFE yields of 0.4-0.7 GJ coolant streams, or solids/voids, may be placed as close to target as desired shock experiments with explosives and water hydraulic flows validate code capabilities for modeling full driver scale yields

Full RTL cycle @ 0.1 Hz experiment

integrated experiment (LTD, RTLs, z-pinch loads, 0.1 Hz) demonstrate RTL/z-pinch insertion, vacuum/electrical connections, firing of z-pinch, removal of remnant, repeat of cycle z-pinches have 5 kJ x-ray output per shot

Cost: $14M/year for 3-5 years, $5M for FY04 to start

$4M for Z-Pinch IFE for FY04 is in House-Senate Conference Agreement

HEDP with Z

High current pulsed power accelerators drive many different load configurations
High Current
Z-pinch x-ray source
High Z Low to mid Z

Magnetic pressure
Isentropic Compression Experiments (ICE) Flyer Plates Basic science

Hohlraum source (Planckian)

ICF - Ignition & high yield - Inertial Fusion Energy Weapon physics Shock physics Basic science

K-shell source (Non-Planckian)

Radiation effects Weapon effects IFE chamber materials Basic science

ICF/WP

IFE

RES

ICE/Flyer Plates

High Current Laser