PRODUCTION AND INNOVATIVE APPLICATIONS OF CRYOGENIC SOLID PELLETS

摘要

For over two decades Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been developing cryogenic pellet injectors for fueling hot, magnetic fusion plasmas. Cryogenic solid pellets of all three hydrogen isotopes have been produced in a size range of 1- to 10-mm diameter and accelerated to speeds from <100 to ～3000 m/s. The pellets have been formed discretely by cryocondensation in gun barrels and also by extrusion of cryogenic solids at mass flow rates up to ～0.26 g/s and production rates up to ten pellets per second. The pellets traverse the hot plasma in a fraction of a millisecond and continuously ablate, providing fresh hydrogenic fuel to the interior of the plasma. From this initial application, uses of this technology have expanded to include (1) cryogenic xenon drops or solids for use as a debris-less target in a laser plasma source of X-rays for advanced lithography systems, (2) solid argon and carbon dioxide pellets for surface cleaning or decontamination, and (3) methane pellets in a liquid hydrogen bath for use as an innovative moderator of cold neutrons. Methods of production and acceleration/transport of these cryogenic solids will be described, and examples will be given of their use in prototype systems.