Document Type : Scientific Note

Authors

• Alireza Aslezaeem ¹
• Morteza Sedaghat Movahhed ²
• Ali Bagheri ²
• mojtaba Kabir ²
• Maryam Ghapanvary ³
• Ameneh Kargarian ⁴

¹ Plasma and nuclear fusion research school,, Nuclear science and research instituted

² Plasma and nuclear fusion research school

³ plasma and nuclear fusion research school

⁴ NSTRI

Abstract

Inertial electrostatic confinement fusion devices have been used in nuclear fusion reactions study particularly for the fusion neutron production. Strong electric field between two transparent electrodes ends in the formation and accelerations of ions toward the center of the device. The energy level of accelerated ions is about some tens of kilo-electron Volts, high enough to produce fast neutrons due to nuclear fusion reactions when deuterium gas is used. Overheating due to high energetic ions collision with the cathode surface is one of the main problems in this kind of device that limits the applied power and the long-time stable operation. In this research an actively cooled cathode has been designed and constructed for IR-IECF device. Deionized recirculating water has been used as the coolant fluid to reduce the cathode temperature. The cathode which is connected to the high voltage power supply within a feed through is able to prevent high voltage breakdown and melting at even more than three kilo-Watts input power. Both the theory and experimental results represent excellent agreement on heat removal in continuous mode of operation.

Keywords

• Inertial electrostatic confinement
• Deuterium fusion
• cathode cooling