Fusion reaction rates and the angular distribution of emitted products, such as neutrons and alpha particles, are significantly influenced by the spin states of the fuel nuclei, including deuterium, tritium, and helium-3. While the selective preparation of nuclei in specific spin states can enhance fusion reaction rates, this typically results in anisotropic emission patterns of fusion products. Such anisotropic emission poses several challenges for fusion reactor operation, including causing uneven particle flux and undesirable localized heating on fusion device walls, which can lead to material degradation and operational limitations. Furthermore, anisotropic distributions of fast alpha particles and neutrons can induce instabilities within magnetic confinement fusion plasmas. Consequently, a key challenge has been to simultaneously achieve enhanced fusion reactivity and maintain isotropic emission, as existing methods for polarizing fusion fuel to boost reaction rates often inherently lead to anisotropic emission profiles.
A spin-polarized fusion fuel composition enhances fusion reaction rates while ensuring isotropic emission of fusion products. This is achieved by precisely controlling the nuclear spin states of deuterium and tritium (or helium-3) nuclei within the fuel. Unlike other polarized fuel configurations that increase fusion rates but result in anisotropic emission patterns, this invention utilizes specific mixtures of spin states to yield a 20% increase in fusion reactivity over unpolarized fuel while maintaining a uniform, omnidirectional distribution of emitted neutrons and alpha particles. This capability allows for increased plasma self-heating and power output in fusion reactors without the detrimental effects of uneven wall loading or plasma instabilities caused by anisotropic particle flux.
Applications
Commercial Fusion Energy Production: The invention provides a novel spin-polarized fuel composition that enhances fusion reaction rates and ensures isotropic emission, crucial for efficient and stable operation of commercial fusion power plants.
Fusion Reactor Design and Optimization Tools: The invention includes analytical models for calculating neutron wall loading in polarized fusion reactors, enabling the development of software and services for optimizing reactor geometries and operational parameters.
Specialized Fusion Fuel Manufacturing and Supply: The invention describes specific spin-polarized fuel compositions, creating a need for specialized manufacturing and supply chains to produce and deliver these advanced fuels for fusion applications.
Advanced Neutron Source Development: The invention's ability to control fusion reaction rates and precisely tailor neutron emission patterns makes it valuable for developing advanced, tunable neutron sources for industrial, research, or medical applications.
Advantages
Increased Fusion Power Output: The invention enables a 20% enhancement in fusion reaction rates compared to unpolarized fusion fuel, leading to higher energy yield for the same fuel input and device size.
Improved Reactor Component Lifespan: Unlike prior spin-polarized fuel approaches (e.g., "A mode," "B mode," "perpendicular mode," "parallel mode") that produce anisotropic emission patterns, this invention ensures isotropic emission of fusion products, preventing uneven wall loading and localized damage to reactor components.
Enhanced Plasma Stability: The isotropic emission of fast particles (alpha particles and neutrons) achieved by this invention, a key differentiator from other high-reactivity spin-polarized fuel mixtures, mitigates instabilities caused by anisotropic fast particle distributions in magnetic confinement fusion devices.
Optimized Fusion Reactor Design and Operation: This invention uniquely combines enhanced fusion rates with isotropic emission, a combination not previously reported, thereby eliminating the design trade-off between maximizing power output and managing detrimental anisotropic particle fluxes in fusion devices like spherical inertial confinement fusion (ICF) chambers and magnetic confinement fusion reactors.