A research program to measure the lifetime of spin polarized fuel

Heidbrink, W. W.; Ghiozzi, A. G.; Garcia, A. V.; Wei, X.; Sandorfi, A. M.; Engels, R. W.; Baylor, L. R.; Miller, G. W.; Büscher, M.

doi:10.22323/1.456.0107

Journal Article/Contribution to a conference proceedings/Contribution to a book

FZJ-2024-05593

A research program to measure the lifetime of spin polarized fuel

Heidbrink, W. W. (Corresponding author) ; Baylor, L. R. ; Büscher, M.FZJ* ; Engels, R. W.FZJ* ; Garcia, A. V. ; Ghiozzi, A. G. ; Miller, G. W. ; Sandorfi, A. M. ; Wei, X.

2024
Sissa Medialab Trieste, Italy

Proceedings of 25th International Symposium on Spin Physics — PoS(SPIN2023) - Sissa Medialab Trieste, Italy, 2024. - ISBN - doi:10.22323/1.456.0107
25th International Symposium on Spin Physics, SPIN2023, Durham, USA, 24 Sep 2023 - 29 Sep 2023 Proceedings of Science 456, 107 pp. (2024) [10.22323/1.456.0107]

This record in other databases:

Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.22323/1.456.0107 doi:10.34734/FZJ-2024-05593

Abstract: The use of spin polarized fuel could increase the deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion cross section by a factor of 1.5 and, owing to alpha heating, increase the fusion power by an even larger factor.Issues associated with the use of polarized fuel in a reactor are identified.Theoretically, nuclei remain polarized in a hot fusion plasma. The similarity between the Lorentz force law and the Bloch equations suggests polarization can be preserved despite the rich electromagnetic spectrum present in a magnetic fusion device. The most important depolarization mechanisms can be tested in existing devices.The use of polarized deuterium and $^3$He in an experiment avoids the complexities of handling tritium, while encompassing the same nuclear reaction spin-physics, making it a useful proxy to study issues associated with full D-T implementation. $^3$He fuel with 65% polarization can be prepared by permeating optically-pumped $^3$He into a shell pellet. Dynamically polarized $^7$Li-D pellets can achieve 70% vector polarization for the deuterium.Cryogenically-frozen pellets can be injected into fusion facilities by special injectors that minimize depolarizing field gradients. Alternatively, polarized nuclei could be injected as a neutral beam. Once injected, the lifetime of the polarized fuel is monitored through measurements of escaping charged fusion products. Multiple experimental scenarios to measure the polarization lifetime in the DIII-D tokamak and other magnetic-confinement facilities are discussed, followed by outstanding issues that warrant further study.

Keyword(s): Nuclei and Particles (1st) ; Nuclear Physics (2nd)

Contributing Institute(s):

Research Program(s):