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Fusion energy: Progress, partnerships, and the path to deployment
Over the past decade, fusion energy has moved decisively from scientific aspiration toward a credible pathway to a new energy technology. Thanks to long-term federal support, we have significantly advanced our fundamental understanding of plasma physics—the behavior of the superheated gases at the heart of fusion devices. This knowledge will enable the creation and control of fusion fuel under conditions required for future power plants. Our progress is exemplified by breakthroughs at the National Ignition Facility and the Joint European Torus.
K.H. Bang, J.J. MacFarlane, J.J. Barry, M.L. Corradini
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 716-720
Inertial Fusion | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29429
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Condensation within rapidly expanding metal vapors has been experimentally investigated by exploding wires in a test chamber filled with helium or argon at various pressures (10 millitorr to 760 torr). Lead and silver wires were vaporized using a 5.0 kV, 15.4 - 500 µF capacitor discharge system. It was observed that the metal vapor prefers to condense as droplets with a resulting fog or aerosol cloud as opposed to surface condensation. The debris analysis showed that the resulting aerosol particles were spherical and the size ranged from 0.02 to 0.2 microns, suggesting the vapor condensed by homogeneous nucleation. The time-dependent conditions of the expanding vapor were simulated using a 1-D hydrodynamics code. The calculations indicate that the vapor quickly becomes super-saturated due to expansion cooling. The implications of our results for nucleate condensation in ICF target chambers are also discussed.