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EP-4738384-A2 - MUON-CATALYZED FUSION REACTOR AND SYSTEM WITH ELECTROMAGNETIC MUON REACTIVATION AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USE THEREOF

EP4738384A2EP 4738384 A2EP4738384 A2EP 4738384A2EP-4738384-A2

Abstract

An aspect of the present disclosure includes a fusion reactor including a reactor housing extending in an axial direction from a first end to a second end, wherein the reactor housing includes a first port, a second port, a fluid communication port, and a charged particle source delivery port, a fuel hopper located within the reactor housing proximal to the first end, an outlet located within the reactor housing proximal to the second end, a plurality of magnetic field generating coils located about the reactor housing, wherein the plurality of magnetic field generating coils are oriented to produce a directional magnetic field within the reactor housing, a plurality of electrodes extending within the reactor housing from the first end to the second end, wherein the plurality of electrodes are configured to generate a plurality time-varying electric fields via an electrical source.

Inventors

  • KNAIAN, ARA
  • MACFADDEN, Nathaniel
  • HARRINGTON, Demetrious
  • SPOOL, IRA

Assignees

  • NK Labs, LLC

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20210810

Claims (15)

  1. A system for generating output particles, comprising: a housing extending in an axial direction from a first end to a second end, wherein the housing includes a first port, a second port, and a fluid communication port; a fuel hopper located within the housing proximal to the first end, the fuel hopper being configured to receive a plurality of fuel pellets via the first port and distribute the plurality of fuel pellets within the housing; an outlet located within the housing proximal to the second end; a plurality of magnetic field generating coils located about the housing, wherein the plurality of magnetic field generating coils are oriented to produce a directional magnetic field within the housing; a plurality of electrodes extending within the housing from the first end to the second end and configured to generate a time-varying electric field within the housing; and an input particle source delivery port configured to provide an input particle beam having input particles into the housing to generate the output particles.
  2. The system of claim 1, wherein the output particles include one or more of helium particles, neutrons, or tritium particles.
  3. The system of claim 1, wherein the fuel hopper is perforated with a plurality of openings configured to radially distribute the plurality of fuel pellets within the housing.
  4. The system of claim 1, further comprises a vibrator motor configured to spatially or temporarily control a distribution of the plurality of fuel pellets.
  5. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of magnetic field generating coils are configured to produce the directional magnetic field that confine one or more of the output particles or the plurality of fuel pellets toward a center of the housing.
  6. The system of claim 1, wherein the time-varying electric field is a rotating and radially directed electric field.
  7. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of electrodes are further configured to accelerate the input particle beam to increase collisions of input particles in the input particle beam.
  8. The system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of electrodes are further configured to accelerate the input particles at a cyclotron resonant frequency of the input particles.
  9. The system of claim 1, further comprises a breeding blanket configured to: receive at least a portion of the input particles; and generate helium particles and tritium particles in response to the at least portion of the input particles impinging the breeding blanket.
  10. The system of claim 9, wherein the breeding blanket includes lithium.
  11. The system of claim 1, further comprises a refrigeration system configured to cool the plurality of fuel pellets prior to the plurality of fuel pellets entering the housing.
  12. The system of claim 1, further comprises a conveyor system configured to: receive a portion of the plurality of fuel pellets exiting the housing via the outlet; direct the portion of the plurality of fuel pellets back into the housing via the first port.
  13. The system of claim 1, wherein the housing is a toroidal chamber.
  14. The system of claim 1, wherein the housing is configured to operate at a pressure up to 100,000 pound per square inch (PSI).
  15. The system of claim 1, wherein the input particle source delivery port is further configured to receive the input particle beam from a particle accelerator.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The current application claims priority to and the benefit of United States Provisional Application No. 63/063,797 filed on August 10, 2020, entitled "MUON-CATALYZED FUSION REACTOR AND SYSTEM WITH ELECTROMAGNETIC MUON REACTIVATION AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USE THEREOF," the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. FIELD OF THE TECHNOLOGY Aspects of the present disclosure relate to fusion reactors, systems, and methods of making and use thereof, and, in particular, to catalyzed fusion reactors. BACKGROUND There exist many possible methods for producing energy to meet the demands of modern society. Many of these different methods include a variety of advantages and disadvantages. For example, solar and wind power are clean and renewable sources of energy, but only supply power when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. Burning fossil fuel may produce energy on-demand, but is limited in quantity, while the process of obtaining the fuel via operations such as mining and fracking, may damage the environment. Further, the exhaust produced by burning these fuels may contain chemical pollutants and carbon dioxide, which may also contribute to the disruption of vital ecosystems and habitats. Nuclear fission provides a reliable source for baseload electrical power generation, but produces long-lived radioactive waste, among other drawbacks. Thus, there exists an unmet need to continue to research and develop alternative methods of viable and clean energy production, such as nuclear fusion. SUMMARY Aspects of the present disclosure relate to a fusion reactor and system and methods of making and use thereof, that may be used for various purposes, such as to generate electricity, do mechanical work, , produce neutrons, or produce medical isotopes therefrom. The fusion reactor may be comprised of a housing structure including a centralized vacuum region, wherein the reactor housing may be configured to interoperate with a muon generating system, such that the muon generating system may supply muons to the centralized vacuum region. The reactor housing may further interoperate with a particle trapping system and a particle accelerator system. The muon generating system may generate muons by facilitating collisions between two muon-generating particles, such as collisions or other interactions between two tritium particles or one tritium particle and one deuterium particle, for example (the various particles, atoms, ions, and other atomic and subatomic material also interchangeably being referred to individually, by category and/or collectively herein as "atomic material"). Upon the interaction between the muon-generating particles occurring, a pion subatomic particle may be released, wherein the pion may then spontaneously decay into a muon. In one example, the muon generating system may be comprised of a particle accelerator, such as a cyclotron, positioned external to the reactor housing, wherein the particle accelerator may be configured to accelerate a beam of the muon-generating particles into the reactor housing. Once inside the reactor housing, the beam of muon generating particles may become trapped or otherwise encouraged to be contained within a trapping or containment system. In one example implementation, the trapping or containment system may include a plurality of magnetic coils positioned to trap or otherwise function to encourage containment of the muon-generating particles via one or more magnetic fields, wherein the magnetic fields may bias the particles onto spiraling paths toward the center of the centralized vacuum region, increasing the probability that a muon generating collision may occur. The fusion reactor may further include a microencapsulated fuel pellet dispersion system, wherein the microencapsulated fuel pellet dispersion system may be configured to disperse a plurality of microencapsulated fuel pellets into the centralized vacuum region, such that muons generated by the muon generating system may interact with the mass of atomic matter encapsulated within the microencapsulated fuel pellet. The generated muon may then interact with a single particle within the atomic matter to form a muonic atom. The muonic atom may then react with a separate particle within the atomic matter such that a nuclear fusion reaction may occur. The nuclear fusion reaction may occur either within the original microencapsulated fuel pellet or in a proximally located microencapsulated fuel pellet, for example. Upon fusion or other interaction of the muonic atom and the separate particle within the atomic matter, the muon may be released, such that the muon may be free to continue to catalyze fusion reactions within other of the particles encapsulated within any of the plurality of microencapsulated fuel pellets suspended in the centralized vacuum region. Occasionally, instead of being released as a free muon, the fusion reaction may rele