Patent Number: 042283809
Section: summary

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As stated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,147 to Daniel R. Wells, there is a need for new techniques that will permit the construction of power generating stations that are relatively small when compared to conventional thermonuclear reactor designs. It is desirable that full size power generating thermonuclear reactors be built in sizes approximately 1000 times smaller than those possible with currently proposed designs. This would enable the utilization of these power plants, for example, in spacecraft intended for deep space missions. Such compact nuclear power plants could also be utilized for marine propulsion. Also, there is a need for a system suitable for facilitating substantially direct conversion of thermonuclear energy to electrical energy without the necessity of employing complex thermal cycle machinery. For various reasons, the currently available systems are not adequate to satisfactorily meet the above needs. Although heating plasma structures entirely be conieal theta pinch compression fields provides a basic solution, previous systems relying essentially on this technique have failed because it involves heating a plasma ring that is moving with respect to the theta pinch coils. This results in a very low coefficient of coupling and a very inefficient heating process. Furthermore, the rate of rise of the compression field must be very fast, thereby requiring the use of expensive and complex equipment. Therefore, there currently exists a need for more efficient and inexpensive means for compressing and heating plasma in thermonuclear devices. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, a main object of the present invention is to provide an improved system for generating energy by a thermonuclear process which overcomes the deficiencies and disadvantages of the previously employed systems. A further object of the invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for generating electrical energy by thermonuclear processes which utilizes an improved useful geometrical arrangement of the components of reactors of the TRISOPS type. A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved nuclear reactor of the theta pinch coil type in which the compression coils act through a collapsing Lithium, FLIBE, or other suitable molten metal liner and wherein the liner can be collapsed onto the plasma vortex rings at the center of the reactor chamber after said rings have collided. A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved thermonuclear reactor of the TRISOPS type employing compression coils acting through a collapsing molten metal liner, the liner having flexible stabilizing supporting means, including means to bias it toward the inside wall surface of the associated vacuum chamber. A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved thermonuclear reactor of the TRISOPS type employing compression coils acting through a collapsible molten metal liner, wherein part or all of the molten metal liner may comprise Uranium 238, Thorium 232, or similar thermonuclear fuel material, to provide for neutron capture in fertile material in order to produce fissile fuel, such as Plutonium 239 or Uranium 233, for use in fission reactors, and wherein the liner may or may not produce heat energy for use in generating electrical energy. The present invention comprises an improved method and means for compressing plasma vortex structures by means of a stabilized collapsing molten metal liner. The molten metal liner is "spun" substantially onto the inside surface of a suitable vacuum chamber which is preferably placed in an upright or vertical position so that the molten metal, which is swirled into the liner by a suitable set of nozzles, deposits at the bottom of the vessel where it is pumped out of the chamber, processed, and returned to the top of the chamber. This swirling molten metal liner is stabilized by a flexible metal mesh constructed of stainless steel or other suitable refractory metal. This mesh is normally held near the inside surface of the vacuum chamber by a "scissor-like" articulated cage structure which allows collapse of the liner toward the center line of the chamber, and after the collapse immediately returns the mesh to the wall of the chamber. After the molten liquid metal liner has been swirled onto the collapsible supporting structure adjacent the inside surface of the vacuum chamber, a set of vortex structures or matrices are fired into the chamber from each end through openings in the mesh. These vortex structures move to the center of the vacuum chamber and stop. At this instant a suitable timing mechanism activates a set of compression coils surrounding the chamber. The rapidly rising magnetic field generated by these coils induces large electrical currents in the swirling liner. The electromagnetic Lorentz forces drive the liner toward the axis of the chamber, thus trapping any magnetic fields inside the chamber and increasing the intensity of these fields as the liner collapses. These increasing fields in turn compress and heat the stable vortex structures to thermonuclear temperatures. The entire apparatus operates in a surrounding steady-state magnetic field which allows formation of the vortex structures by the theta pinch guns or ejectors and acts as a "seed" field inside the collapsing liner, which rapidly increases as the liner approaches the center line of the apparatus. Once the compression coils have accelerated the heavy liner toward the central axis, the inertia of the liner forces the hot metal against the compressed seed field, increasing the seed field and heating the plasma structures. The metal mesh is tightly woven so that there can be little or no flow of molten metal through it. The articulated scissor cage mechanism is designed so that it holds the mesh against the inner wall surface of the vacuum chamber until the collapse begins. During collapse, this mechanism closes the ends of the mesh so that no plasma can escape. Spring loading then returns the mesh to the wall and opens the ends of the mesh so that a new set of vortex rings can enter the chamber through the ends.