RU2230377C2 - Injector of doping macroparticles in solid hydrogen isotope shells for the rmonuclear plants - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: thermonuclear plants. SUBSTANCE: injector has vacuum chamber, injector cylinder, shell generator whose space communicates with injector cylinder space, and shell generator cooling system. Casing is designed to hold doping macroparticles and communicates with shell generator. Pusher is installed in casing for moving macroparticles by its butt end from casing to shell generator space. Gas feeding system communicates with shell generator, injector cylinder, and casing spaces. Evacuating system is used to degas vacuum chamber and to generate shells. Pusher actuator is connected to pusher outside of vacuum chamber. Pusher is provided with internal passage communicating with mentioned pusher butt-end to form inlet hole therein whose diameter is smaller than size of doping macroparticle. Outlet hole of passage is provided between mentioned butt-end of pusher and its actuator. Evacuating system communicates in addition through outlet hole of pusher with mentioned passage. EFFECT: enhanced reliability of generation and injection of doping macroparticles in solid hydrogen isotope shells. 1 cl, 2 dwg

Description

The invention relates to the field of controlled thermonuclear fusion and can be used for plasma diagnostics in thermonuclear installations.

State of the art

Known injectors of impurity particulate particles without shells for thermonuclear installations (P.T. Lang et al., Compact gas gun injection system for vaiable sized solid pellets, Review of Scientific Instruments, 1994, v.65, No. 7, pp.2316-2321). These injectors throw an admixture of particulate matter (for example, carbon or lithium) into the plasma in order to judge the plasma parameters by the perturbations it creates. Their limitation is that impurities begin to evaporate at the periphery of the plasma and do not penetrate into its central zones, where it is most important to know the plasma parameters.

A known injector of impurity particulates in polystyrene shells (K.V. Khlopenkov, S. Sudo, Production and acceleration of tracer encapsulated solid pellets for particle transport diagnostics, Review of Scientific Instruments, 1998, v. 69, No. 9, pp. 3194-3198). The shell protects the impurity from evaporation and allows increasing the depth of its penetration into the plasma. A limitation of this injector is that the shell is also an impurity for thermonuclear plasma, which, as you know, consists of ionized atoms of hydrogen isotopes. Therefore, it is more difficult to judge the true plasma parameters from the disturbances created by the two types of impurities.

Closest to the proposed is an impurity particulate injector in shells of solid hydrogen isotopes containing a vacuum chamber, an injector barrel, a shell former, a cavity in communication with the injector barrel cavity, a shell former cooling system, a ferrule designed to contain impurity particulates in it and connected to shell shaper, a pusher installed in the cage with the ability to move the end of the particles from the cage into the cavity of the shaper, the feed system the basics connected with the cavities of the shaper, the holder and the injector barrel, a vacuum system designed to evacuate the vacuum chamber and the injector barrel, the shaper and the holder with the particles placed therein, a pusher drive connected to the pusher outside the vacuum chamber (S. Sudo, H. Itoh, K. Khlopenkov, Tracer-encapsulated cryogenic pellet production for particle transport diagnostics. Review of Scientific Instruments, 1997, v. 68, No. 7, pp. 2717-2724).

In this technical solution, the shaper shell contains two plates made with the possibility of movement relative to each other and relative to the body of the shaper.

When such a particle is injected into the plasma, the shell evaporates at the periphery of the plasma without introducing impurities into it, and the impurity particle begins to evaporate and create disturbances in the central zones of the plasma. From these perturbations, one can judge the plasma parameters.

A limitation of the injector is the insufficient reliability of the formation of impurity particles in the shells. After the formation of a half shell in one of the plates (at a temperature of 10 to 15 K, depending on the type of hydrogen isotope) and placement of an impurity particulate in it, the plate is moved inside the shell former and an additional inlet of the gaseous hydrogen isotope is used to condense and form the second half of the shell into another plate. The holes in both plates must be aligned and precisely positioned so that from the two halves of the shells a single shell is formed without protrusions on the side surface, which can lead to destruction of the shell during injection. The mass of the additional gas supplied for condensation of the second half of the shell is equal to or even greater than the mass of the already formed first half of the shell, and its heat capacity is significantly greater than the heat capacity of the formed half of the shell, since the gas temperature is much higher than 15 K. Therefore, heat is generated during condensation of the second half of the shell, which to partial heating or even melting of the already formed half of the shell. Then, both plates move the shell with the impurity particulate onto the axis of the barrel, which also leads to heat generation due to friction and changes in heat influx to the shell. With temperature changes, thermal stresses occur inside the shell. When the shell is heated, it softens and the impurity particulate under the action of thermal stresses and convective flows inside the shell can shift from the center to the edge of the shell. In such a place, the shell practically does not cover the particulate, and if it enters the plasma, the particulate will immediately begin to evaporate at the periphery of the plasma. This reduces the reliability of the injector as a tool for diagnosing the parameters of the central zones of the plasma. Another disadvantage of the injector is the complexity of its design, due to the need to move and accurately position both the impurity particulate and the shell formed in parts.

Disclosure of invention

The problem to which the present invention is directed, is to increase the reliability of the formation and injection of impurity particles in shells of solid hydrogen isotopes.

The technical result of the invention is to simplify the design of the injector of impurity particles in the shells of solid hydrogen isotopes.

To solve the problem with the achievement of the specified technical result in the known injector of impurity particles in shells of solid hydrogen isotopes for thermonuclear installations containing a vacuum chamber, an injector barrel, a shaper, the cavity of which is in communication with the cavity of the injector barrel, a cooling system of the shaper, a clip designed for placement of impurity particles in it and connected to the shaper of shells, a pusher mounted in a holder with the ability to move it about the end face of the particles from the holder into the cavity of the shell former, the gas supply system communicated with the cavities of the former, the holder and the injector barrel, a vacuum system designed to evacuate the vacuum chamber and the injector barrel, the former of the shell and cartridge with the particles located in it, the pusher drive connected to the pusher outside the vacuum chamber, according to the invention, the pusher is provided with a channel made inside it and communicated with the said end of the pusher with the formation of an inlet in it a channel whose diameter is smaller than the overall dimension of the impurity particulate, and an outlet channel is made in the pusher between the end of the pusher and its drive, and the evacuation system is additionally communicated with it through the outlet of the pusher channel.

The essence of the invention lies in the fact that the pusher of the particles has a channel through which gas can be supplied and sucked, but the impurity particulate cannot penetrate, since the inlet of the pusher channel must be smaller than the impurity particulate.

It is also significant that the formation of the shell from solid hydrogen isotopes is carried out around the impurity particulate, which does not move during the formation of the shell. The shell itself also does not move in the former until acceleration begins in the injector barrel.

The device in accordance with the present invention is significantly different from the known. During the loading of the particulate from the cage, its movement into the shaper of the shells and during the formation of the shell, the impurity particulate is pressed by the gas flow to the inlet of the pusher channel, through which it cannot pass. The gas flow is pumped through the gaps between the particulate and the walls of the pusher channel. As the gas solidifies and a shell forms around the particulate, the gas solidifies inside the plunger channel. While the pusher slowly extends from the formed shell and goes to the cage after the next particulate, solid hydrogen isotopes frozen inside the pusher channel begin to sublimate and condense inside the cavity left in the shell by the extendable pusher. Thus, the pusher is used not only as a vacuum tweezers to capture and hold impurity particles, but also as a source of hydrogen isotopes to complete the formation of the shell around the particles.

These advantages, as well as features of the present invention are illustrated by the best option for its implementation with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 depicts a functional diagram of the claimed injector.

Figure 2 schematically shows the formation of shells in the injector as the pusher moves, where (a) shows the location of the pusher of the particles in the holder at the time of capture of the particles; on (b) shows the location of the pusher with a particulate in the shaper shells on the axis of the injector barrel; on (c) the cavities of the shaper of the shells and the channel of the pusher, in which the condensation and solidification of the gaseous isotope of hydrogen occurred; on d) a shell formed of a solid hydrogen isotope formed around an impurity particulate with a cavity left by a pusher of particles extended from it is shown.

The best embodiment of the invention

1, 2, the following designations are accepted: vacuum chamber 1, shaper 2 of the shells, cooling system 3 of the shaper 2, barrel 4 of the injector, cage 5 with impurity particles, impurity particles 6, pusher 7 of impurity particles 6, gas supply system 8, system 9, the drive 10 of the pusher 7 impurity particles 6, the channel 11 in the pusher 7, the inlet 12 of the channel 11 of the pusher 7, the outlet 13 of the channel 11, the shell 14 of solid hydrogen isotopes.

The injector of impurity particles in the shells of solid hydrogen isotopes for thermonuclear plants (Fig. 1) contains a vacuum chamber 1, a barrel 4 of the injector, a shaper 2 of the shells 14, the cavity of which is in communication with the cavity of the barrel 4. The injector has a cooling system 3 of the shaper 2, a clip 5, designed to accommodate impurity particles 6 in it and connected to the former 2. The pusher 7 is installed in the holder 5 with the ability to move the end of the particles 6 from the holder 5 into the cavity of the former 2. The gas supply system 8 is in communication with the shaper 2, holder 5 and barrel 4 of the injector. The evacuation system 9 is designed to evacuate the vacuum chamber 1 and the injector barrel 4 located therein, shaper 2 of the shells 14 and the holder 5 with particulate 6. The drive 10 of the pusher 7 is connected to it outside the vacuum chamber 1.

The pusher 7 is provided with a channel 11 made inside of it and communicated with the said end of the pusher 7 with the formation of the inlet 12 therein. The diameter of the inlet 12 is made smaller than the overall dimension of the impurity particulate 6. Between the said end of the pusher 7 and its drive 10 (outside the vacuum chamber 1, as shown in figure 1, or inside it) in the pusher 7, an outlet 13 of the channel 11 of the pusher 7 is made. Through the outlet 13 of the channel 11 the evacuation system 9 is additionally communicated with the channel 11 of the pusher 7. The diameter of the input the holes 12 are made smaller than the overall dimension of the impurity particulate 6 so that impurity particulates of various shapes can be used, not necessarily in the shape of a ball, while the overall dimension of the impurity particulate 6 having a non-spherical shape means the minimum overall dimension in any of spatial directions.

The injector of impurity particles in the shells of solid hydrogen isotopes (figure 1) works as follows.

After evacuation of all injector cavities, the cooling system 3 lowers the temperature of the former 2 to a level of 5-10 K above the critical point of the hydrogen isotope from which the shell 14 will be formed. The selected gaseous hydrogen isotope comes from the gas supply system 8 to the shell former 2, the cage 5 and the barrel 4 and is evacuated by the evacuation system 9 only through the channel 11 in the follower 7 of the impurity particles 6, creating a directed gas flow through the follower 7. The drive 10 of the follower 7 sets it to the position shown 2 (a), in which the impurity particulate 6, located in the holder 5, is blown away by a directed gas flow to the inlet 12 of the pusher 7 (due to the pressure difference created by the system 9 when evacuating the cavity of the barrel 4 and the cavity of the channel 11 of the pusher 7 , or moves to the pusher 7 by other means, for example mechanical) and sticks to the pusher 7, since it cannot pass through the inlet 12. For this, the inlet 12 of the channel 11 of the pusher 7 must be smaller than the impurity particulate 6. The drive 10 of the pusher 7 moves it along with the impurity particulate 6 at its end from the cage 5 to the former 2 and installs the impurity particulate 6 on the axis of the barrel 4, as shown in Figure 2 (b). The cooling system 3 lowers the temperature of the former 2 to a level 3-10 K below the solidification temperature of the gaseous hydrogen isotope. The gas solidifies in the cavity of the former 2 and in the channel 11 of the pusher 7, forming a shell 14 around the pusher 7 with an impurity particulate 6, as shown in FIG. 2 (c). The evacuation system 9 disables the pumping of the channel 11 of the pusher 7. The pusher 7 slowly extends from the shell 14 back towards the cage 5 with impurity particles 6, as shown in Figure 2 (g). Since the contact area of the impurity particulate 6 with the pusher 7 is substantially smaller than the contact area of the impurity particulate 6 with a shell 14 frozen around it, the impurity particulate 6 is detached from the pusher 7, remaining stationary in the shell 14. The characteristic size of the shell 14 for injection of the impurity particulate 6 into a thermonuclear installation LHD (Japan) is 3 mm (diameter and length), and the size of the impurity particulate 6 is about 0.1-0.2 mm. For such dimensions, you can choose the diameter of the inlet 12 of the channel 11 of the pusher 7 is about 0.05 mm, the diameter of the channel 11 of the pusher 7 is about 0.2-0.3 mm, and the outer diameter of the pusher 7 is about 0.5-0.6 mm. As the pusher 7 moves to the holder 5, the solid hydrogen isotope freezes in the channel 11 of the pusher 7. The steam enters the cavity formed in the shell 14 by extending the pusher 7 and solidifies inside this cavity, filling it and completing the formation of the shell 14. as shown in FIG. The diameter of the cavity left by the pusher 7 is 0.5-0.6 mm and the length is about 1.5 mm, so that the volume of the cavity being filled is only 2% of the volume of the already formed shell 14. Temperature changes caused by sublimation and solidification of such an amount hydrogen isotopes are insignificant and do not lead to a significant change in the temperature of the entire shell 14, since the temperature of the sublimating vapor is close to the temperature of the shell 14. After the formation of the shell 14, a path is opened connecting the injector to the thermonuclear installation, and the system 8 gas supply produces a quick inlet of accelerating gas, which accelerates the shell 14 together with the impurity particulate 6 in the barrel 4 of the injector and directs it into the plasma of the thermonuclear installation. The cooling system 3 sets the temperature of the former 2 to 5-10 K above the critical point of the hydrogen isotope and, after evacuation by the evacuation system 9, the cycle of formation and injection of the impurity particulate 6 in the shell 14 is repeated.

The duration of the cycle is 5-10 minutes. For the formation of the shell 14 of the desired configuration, the shaper 2 must have a cavity made in the form of a corresponding channel, coaxial to the channel of the barrel 4 of the injector, with a diameter equal to the diameter of the channel of the barrel 4, and a length equal to the desired length of the shell 14. To the channel of the shaper 2 are connected from two opposite sides barrel 4 and a tube for supplying accelerating gas during injection. Gaseous hydrogen isotopes do not condense in these tube and barrel 4, since the latter are not cooled by the cooling system 3 of the former 2. The specified tube for supplying accelerating gas and barrel 4 can be equipped with heaters (not shown) to control the length of the resulting shell 14.

The injector of impurity particles in the shells of solid hydrogen isotopes in accordance with the present invention provides a reliable supply and retention of impurity particles 6 in the shaper 2 directly on the axis of the barrel 4 of the injector during the formation of the shell 14 of solid hydrogen isotopes. During the formation of the shell 14, the impurity particulate 6 and the shell 14 are stationary until the moment of injection, which greatly simplifies the design and operation of the injector and increases the reliability of the injection of impurity particulates 6.

Industrial applicability

The most successfully declared injector of impurity particles in shells of solid hydrogen isotopes for thermonuclear installations can be industrially applicable for the diagnosis of high-temperature plasma, mainly in the construction concept of the future ITER tokamak, as well as on existing installations LHD (Japan), ASDEX-UPGRADE (Germany) and others .

Claims (1)

Injector of impurity particles in shells of solid hydrogen isotopes for thermonuclear plants, containing a vacuum chamber, an injector barrel, a shaper, the cavity of which is in communication with the cavity of the injector barrel, a cooling system for the shaper of shells, a clip designed to contain impurity particles in it and connected to the shaper of shells , a pusher installed in the holder with the ability to move the end of the particles from the holder into the cavity of the shaper shells, a gas supply system, communicated with cavities of the former, the barrel of the injector and the cartridge with macroparticles, a vacuum system designed to evacuate the vacuum chamber and the injector barrel, cages and shell former located therein, a pusher drive connected to the pusher outside the vacuum chamber, characterized in that the pusher is provided with a channel, made inside it and communicated with the said end of the pusher with the formation of an inlet in it, the diameter of which is made smaller than the overall dimension of the impurity particulate, and between the outlet end of the channel is made by the curved end of the pusher and its drive in the pusher, and the evacuation system is additionally communicated with it through the outlet of the pusher channel.

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