US 4,639,348 AGranted

Recyclotron III, a recirculating plasma fusion system

OwnerWilliam S. Jarnagininventor

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

This is one of a series of nuclear fusion (vs. fission) inventions by this physicist-inventor. This invention is designed to burn the cleanest of all known fusion fuels: boron hydride (B-H, or p-.sup.11 B). Boron hydride has no free neutrons on either side of its reaction equation: p+.sup.11 B=3.alpha.+W. If this fuel can be made to fuse as planned the many problems associated with neutron-based fuels, deuterium-tritium (D-T) in particular, can be obviated. D-T gives off 80% of its energy in the form of neutrons. These make the apparatus radioactive; and the neutrons may be used to breed weapons grade fission material. Whereas, p-.sup.11 B cannot be used to make fission bomb material; its product particles are entirely safe inert helium particles. B-H fuel is abundant, available and inexpensive. Boron hydride comes in gas, liquid or solid form, stable or unstable. The invention at hand proposes to accelerate macromolecular ions of boron hydride (such as B.sub.2 H.sub.6) into one another, then reaccelerate the debris ions (p, .sup.11 B) into one another also. This is to be done by recyclotrons--cyclotrons modified to recirculate a similar device's output. Recyclotrons take advantage of the fact that modest energies to a particle accelerator correspond to enormous kinetic temperatures in a plasma.

Claims5

Dependent claims

A recyclotron nuclear fusion system comprising a plurality of recyclotrons, each said recyclotron comprising cyclotron means for receiving and accelerating charged particles in spiral and work conservative pathways, and output means for forming a beam from particles received from said cyclotron means;

(i) said cyclotron means comprising
(a) a channel shaped electromagnet having a pair of indented polefaces, oriented along an input axis and defining an input magnetic well,
(b) a pair of elongated linear electrodes centered along said input magnetic well arranged generally parallel to said input axis and having a gap therebetween,
(c) tuned oscillator means connected to said electrodes for applying an oscillating electric potential thereto,
(ii) said output means comprising
(e) inverter means comprising an electromagnet having a polarity opposite that of the channel shaped electromagnet oriented contigously therealong for extracting fully accelerated particles from said cyclotron means,
(f) reinverter means comprising an electromagnet having a polarity the same as that of the channel shaped electromagnet for correcting the flightpath of the extracted particles, said inverter means and said reinverter means defining an output axis, said output means directing said beam along said output axis;
each of said plurality of recyclotrons being arranged so that particles of its output beam are received by the input magnetic well of an opposing similar recyclotron.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.