Preventing ash from poisoning proton-boron 11 fusion plasmas

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ochs, Ian E., Kolmes, Elijah J., Fisch, Nathaniel J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Ochs, Ian E.
Kolmes, Elijah J.
Fisch, Nathaniel J.
author_facet Ochs, Ian E.
Kolmes, Elijah J.
Fisch, Nathaniel J.
contents Proton-Boron 11 (pB11) fusion is safe and clean, but also difficult to harness for breakeven power production. Particularly deleterious are fusion-born alpha particles, which massively increase both plasma pressure and bremsstrahlung losses unless they are pulled promptly from the plasma. We show that even if one cannot extract the alphas quickly, one can still achieve net power production, by separating the plasma into two regions: a fusion region, accessible to all species, and an alpha storage region, accessible only to alphas and electrons. This new demixing strategy could make pB11 fusion much easier to achieve.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_13300
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Preventing ash from poisoning proton-boron 11 fusion plasmas
Ochs, Ian E.
Kolmes, Elijah J.
Fisch, Nathaniel J.
Plasma Physics
Proton-Boron 11 (pB11) fusion is safe and clean, but also difficult to harness for breakeven power production. Particularly deleterious are fusion-born alpha particles, which massively increase both plasma pressure and bremsstrahlung losses unless they are pulled promptly from the plasma. We show that even if one cannot extract the alphas quickly, one can still achieve net power production, by separating the plasma into two regions: a fusion region, accessible to all species, and an alpha storage region, accessible only to alphas and electrons. This new demixing strategy could make pB11 fusion much easier to achieve.
title Preventing ash from poisoning proton-boron 11 fusion plasmas
topic Plasma Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.13300