{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/23223"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/23223","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"A Computational Study of A Lithium Deuteride Fueled Electrothermal Plasma Mass Accelerator","abstract":"Future magnetic fusion reactors such as tokamaks will need innovative, fast, deep-fueling systems to inject frozen deuterium-tritium pellets at high speeds and high repetition rates into the hot plasma core. There have been several studies and concepts for pellet injectors generated, and different devices have been proposed. In addition to fueling, recent studies show that it may be possible to disrupt edge localized mode (ELM) formation by injecting pellets or gas into the fusion plasma. The system studied is capable of doing either at a variety of plasma and pellet velocities, volumes, and repetition rates that can be controlled through the formation conditions of the plasma. In magnetic or inertial fusion reactors, hydrogen, its isotopes, and lithium are used as fusion fueling materials. Lithium is considered a fusion fuel and not an impurity in fusion reactors as it can be used to produce fusion energy and breed fusion products. Lithium hydride and lithium deuteride may serve as good ablating sleeves for plasma formation in an ablation-dominated electrothermal plasma source to propel fusion pellets. Previous studies have shown that pellet exit velocities, greater 3 km/s, are possible using low-z propellant materials. In this work, a comprehensive study of solid lithium hydride and deuteride as a pellet propellant is conducted using the ETFLOW code, and relationships between propellants, source and barrel geometry, pellet volume and aspect ratio, and pellet velocity are determined for pellets ranging in volume from 1 to 100 mm3.","abstract_html":"Future magnetic fusion reactors such as tokamaks will need innovative, fast, deep-fueling systems to inject frozen deuterium-tritium pellets at high speeds and high repetition rates into the hot plasma core. There have been several studies and concepts for pellet injectors generated, and different devices have been proposed. In addition to fueling, recent studies show that it may be possible to disrupt edge localized mode (ELM) formation by injecting pellets or gas into the fusion plasma. The system studied is capable of doing either at a variety of plasma and pellet velocities, volumes, and repetition rates that can be controlled through the formation conditions of the plasma. In magnetic or inertial fusion reactors, hydrogen, its isotopes, and lithium are used as fusion fueling materials. Lithium is considered a fusion fuel and not an impurity in fusion reactors as it can be used to produce fusion energy and breed fusion products. Lithium hydride and lithium deuteride may serve as good ablating sleeves for plasma formation in an ablation-dominated electrothermal plasma source to propel fusion pellets. Previous studies have shown that pellet exit velocities, greater 3 km/s, are possible using low-z propellant materials. In this work, a comprehensive study of solid lithium hydride and deuteride as a pellet propellant is conducted using the ETFLOW code, and relationships between propellants, source and barrel geometry, pellet volume and aspect ratio, and pellet velocity are determined for pellets ranging in volume from 1 to 100 mm3.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Gebhart, Gerald Edward III"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Mechanical Engineering","degree_department":"Mechanical Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Pierson, Mark Alan","Winfrey, Leigh"],"committee_members":["Vick, Brian L."],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-06-13","date_published":"2013-06-13","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:41Z","subjects":["Tokamak fueling","electrothermal plasma","mass accelerator","pellet injector","plasma launcher","plasma disruption mitigation"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:1117"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:1117","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/23223","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Pierson, Mark Alan","Winfrey, Leigh"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Vick, Brian L."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Gebhart, Gerald Edward III"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2013-06-14T08:00:20Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-06-14T08:00:20Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2013-06-13"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Mechanical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Tokamak fueling","electrothermal plasma","mass accelerator","pellet injector","plasma launcher","plasma disruption mitigation"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:1117"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/23223"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Future magnetic fusion reactors such as tokamaks will need innovative, fast, deep-fueling systems to inject frozen deuterium-tritium pellets at high speeds and high repetition rates into the hot plasma core. There have been several studies and concepts for pellet injectors generated, and different devices have been proposed. In addition to fueling, recent studies show that it may be possible to disrupt edge localized mode (ELM) formation by injecting pellets or gas into the fusion plasma. The system studied is capable of doing either at a variety of plasma and pellet velocities, volumes, and repetition rates that can be controlled through the formation conditions of the plasma. In magnetic or inertial fusion reactors, hydrogen, its isotopes, and lithium are used as fusion fueling materials. Lithium is considered a fusion fuel and not an impurity in fusion reactors as it can be used to produce fusion energy and breed fusion products. Lithium hydride and lithium deuteride may serve as good ablating sleeves for plasma formation in an ablation-dominated electrothermal plasma source to propel fusion pellets. Previous studies have shown that pellet exit velocities, greater 3 km/s, are possible using low-z propellant materials. In this work, a comprehensive study of solid lithium hydride and deuteride as a pellet propellant is conducted using the ETFLOW code, and relationships between propellants, source and barrel geometry, pellet volume and aspect ratio, and pellet velocity are determined for pellets ranging in volume from 1 to 100 mm3."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Computational Study of A Lithium Deuteride Fueled Electrothermal Plasma Mass Accelerator"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Pierson, Mark Alan","Winfrey, Leigh"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Vick, Brian L."],"dc:contributor.department":["Mechanical Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Gebhart, Gerald Edward III"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2013-06-14T08:00:20Z"],"dc:date.available":["2013-06-14T08:00:20Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2013-06-13"],"dc:description.abstract":["Future magnetic fusion reactors such as tokamaks will need innovative, fast, deep-fueling systems to inject frozen deuterium-tritium pellets at high speeds and high repetition rates into the hot plasma core. There have been several studies and concepts for pellet injectors generated, and different devices have been proposed. In addition to fueling, recent studies show that it may be possible to disrupt edge localized mode (ELM) formation by injecting pellets or gas into the fusion plasma. The system studied is capable of doing either at a variety of plasma and pellet velocities, volumes, and repetition rates that can be controlled through the formation conditions of the plasma. In magnetic or inertial fusion reactors, hydrogen, its isotopes, and lithium are used as fusion fueling materials. Lithium is considered a fusion fuel and not an impurity in fusion reactors as it can be used to produce fusion energy and breed fusion products. Lithium hydride and lithium deuteride may serve as good ablating sleeves for plasma formation in an ablation-dominated electrothermal plasma source to propel fusion pellets. Previous studies have shown that pellet exit velocities, greater 3 km/s, are possible using low-z propellant materials. In this work, a comprehensive study of solid lithium hydride and deuteride as a pellet propellant is conducted using the ETFLOW code, and relationships between propellants, source and barrel geometry, pellet volume and aspect ratio, and pellet velocity are determined for pellets ranging in volume from 1 to 100 mm3."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:format.medium":["ETD"],"dc:identifier.other":["vt_gsexam:1117"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/23223"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["Tokamak fueling","electrothermal plasma","mass accelerator","pellet injector","plasma launcher","plasma disruption mitigation"],"dc:title":["A Computational Study of A Lithium Deuteride Fueled Electrothermal Plasma Mass Accelerator"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Mechanical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:20:41Z"}