US 2026/0128183 A1Published application

System and Method for Energy Recovery in a Beam Collider

OwnerEvgueni Tsiperinventor

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Abstract

Energy-recovery system and method for a beam collider. A first ion beam and a second ion beam are directed within an active space along a first path and a second path, respectively. Each ion beam has essentially uniform energies of ions within each ion beam, and essentially uniform velocity vectors of ions within each beam at points within each path of each respective ion beam. The first and the second ion beams are caused to collide substantially head-on with each other within a collision zone in the active space, where the ratio of the energy of the ions of the first beam to the energy of the ions of the second beam equals the inverse ratio of the respective ion masses. Energy of the scattered ions of the first ion beam and the second ion beam is recovered, and cold ions are evacuated from the active space.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An energy recovery system for a beam collider that accelerates and collides beams of hot ions, the beam collider including a vacuum chamber that defines an interior, at least one ion injection port, and a plurality of electrodes that, when energized, are configured to form an ion beam focusing arrangement that produces, in an active space of the interior, a first ion beam of hot ions and a second ion beam of hot ions from ions injected via the at least one ion injection port, and wherein the ion beam focusing arrangement directs the ion beams to overlap and cause collisions of some of the hot ions of the first and the second beams within a collision zone in the interior, the energy recovery system comprising:

a vacuum pump coupled to the vacuum chamber, the vacuum pump configured to maintain a vacuum in the interior;
an ion energization circuit coupled to the plurality of electrodes and configured to energize the electrodes to form the first and the second ion beams which are directed head-on with one another with uniform energies and uniform velocity vectors of the hot ions within each ion beam, wherein a ratio of the energy of the ions of the first beam to the energy of the ions of the second beam equals the inverse ratio of the respective ion masses in the head-on collisions;
a first energy recovery electrode coupled with the ion energization circuit and positively biased based on known energy of scattered ions of the first ion beam that are scattered as a result of the collisions in the collision zone, the energy of the scattered ions being known based on the ratio of the energy of the ions of the first beam to the energy of the ions of the second beam being equal to the inverse ratio of the respective ion masses, the first energy recovery electrode being configured to slow down the scattered ions, and transfer kinetic energy of those scattered ions to the ion energization circuit, to produce a first set of cold ions that are evacuated from the active space.

A method of recovering energy in a beam collider that accelerates and collides beams of hot ions within a vacuum chamber having an interior that includes an active space and a collision zone, the beam collider including at least one ion injection port and a plurality of electrodes operable to form an ion beam focusing arrangement, the method comprising:

maintaining a vacuum in the interior of the vacuum chamber;
injecting ions into the interior via the at least one ion injection port;
energizing, with an ion energization circuit, the plurality of electrodes to form, in the active space, a first ion beam of hot ions and a second ion beam of hot ions from the injected ions;
controlling the ion beam focusing arrangement to direct the first ion beam and the second ion beam head-on with one another such that ions within each of the first ion beam and the second ion beam have uniform energies and uniform velocity vectors and such that the first ion beam and the second ion beam overlap and collide within the collision zone;
setting an energy of ions of the first ion beam and an energy of ions of the second ion beam such that a ratio of the energy of the ions of the first ion beam to the energy of the ions of the second ion beam equals an inverse ratio of respective ion masses in the head-on collisions;
positively biasing a first energy recovery electrode coupled with the ion energization circuit based on a known energy of the scattered ions of the first ion beam that are scattered as a result of the collisions in the collision zone, wherein the known energy of scattered ions of the first ion beam is based on the ratio of the energy of the ions of the first ion beam to the energy of the ions of the second ion beam being equal to the inverse ratio of the respective ion masses;
slowing, with the first energy recovery electrode, the scattered ions of the first ion beam;
transferring kinetic energy of the slowed scattered ions of the first ion beam to the ion energization circuit;
producing, responsive to the slowing and transferring, a first set of cold ions;
and evacuating the first set of cold ions from the active space.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 19/437,291Filed 30 Dec 2025
Priority: 23 Apr 2020
Published: 7 May 2026
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

G21B 3/006
Low temperature nuclear fusion reactors, e.g. alleged cold fusion reactors: fusion by impact, e.g. cluster/beam interaction, ion beam collisions,…
G21B 1/05
Thermonuclear fusion reactors: with magnetic or electric plasma confinement
Y02E 30/10
Energy generation of nuclear origin: nuclear fusion reactors
G21B
Fusion reactors

Family

Application63/014,405Us provisional application · filed 23 Apr 2020
Application63/085,157Us provisional application · filed 30 Sep 2020
Application17/239,435Division · filed 23 Apr 2021
Application19/437,291Division
US 2021/0335507 A1Published application
US 2026/0128183 A1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.