磁惯性约束聚变:通向聚变能源的新途径

Magneto-inertial fusion: A new approach towards fusion energy

磁约束聚变和惯性约束聚变是两种传统的聚变方式,磁约束聚变的能量增益已经达到得失相当,惯性约束聚变近年来也取得了突破性进展.但传统聚变方式的等离子体参数处于两个极端,相差11个量级,且它们的设施庞大,成本高昂,研发周期很长.磁惯性约束聚变兼具两种传统聚变方案的特点,其等离子体参数介于它们之间,同时由于其成本低廉,设施小型化,研发周期相对较短等优势,因此具有潜在的商业价值,近年来成为国际上比较活跃的研究领域.本文将详细介绍磁惯性约束聚变的特点以及该领域的最新进展.

Magnetic confinement fusion （MCF） and inertial confinement fusion （ICF） are two typical approaches of controlled fusion. The energy gain of magnetic confinement fusion achieved unity already, and inertial confinement fusion also made a big progress recently. However, the parameter spaces of two methods are different with 11 magnitudes, and their facilities are very large with fancy cost. Magneto-inertial fusion （MIF） combines both features of MCF and ICF, whose parameter space intermediates between the two extremes of MCF and ICE The capital cost of MIF is much lower than either of the two, and it has large potential for commercial applications. With advantages of low cost, compact facility, and short time of construction, MIF draws more and more attention recently. In this paper, the status and recent progress of MIF research will be introduced.