[Table of Contents]

Plasma and Fusion Research

Volume 9, 1306142 (2014)

Letters


Optimizing the Electrode Configuration of a Cylindrical Discharge-Type Fusion Device by Computational and Experimental Analysis
Kazuyuki NOBORIO, Yasushi YAMAMOTO1) and Satoshi KONISHI2)
Hydrogen Isotope Research Center, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-8555, Japan
1)
Faculty of Engineering Science, Kansai University, Suita 564-8680, Japan
2)
Institute of Advanced Energy, Kyoto University, Uji 611-0011, Japan
(Received 26 May 2014 / Accepted 8 August 2014 / Published 31 October 2014)

Abstract

A new design of a cylindrical discharge-type fusion device is proposed to achieve the precise alignment of components and prevent abnormal discharges. Cylindrical insulators that act as parts of the vacuum boundary and fix the relative position between cathode and anodes were used. The configuration of the electrodes was optimized to maintain stable discharge at low pressures and high discharge voltages, which enhances the neutron yield. The optimization was performed via analysis of the electric field and ion movements by developing a 2D code, and the results were experimentally verified. The results show that grounding the anodes is better for stable discharge at lower pressures. The optimized combination of the anode height and cathode overhang is 3 cm and 1 cm, or 2 cm, respectively. The discharge characteristics and neutron production rate were then experimentally measured for the optimized configuration. The attained highest discharge voltage (instantaneous) was ∼50 kV and the neutron production rate of 3 × 104 n/s was obtained by continuous discharge with an applied voltage of 30 kV and discharge current of 30 mA.


Keywords

discharge-type fusion device, neutron source, glow discharge, high voltage, IECF

DOI: 10.1585/pfr.9.1306142


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This paper may be cited as follows:

Kazuyuki NOBORIO, Yasushi YAMAMOTO and Satoshi KONISHI, Plasma Fusion Res. 9, 1306142 (2014).