ICF reactor chambers with rotating liquid blankets

It is shown that a rotating reactor chamber with a liquid blanket can be designed with sufficient turbulence in the free surface to remove the heat generated by target explosions. Because viscosity, not thermal conductivity, limits heat removal, both lithium-lead and Flibe can be used. Although LiPb has a fairly high rotational stored energy, it translates into a moderate dynamic pressure and thermalized temperature rise. The stored energy in Flibe is quite low and poses no problem. A rough cost estimate shows that the primary reactor components are not very expensive. Flibe has the advantages of low activation and lower atomic number constituents than LiPb, increasing the allowable chamber pressure for heavy ion beam propagation. However, it is a poor heat transfer medium and must rely on higher levels of turbulence than LiPb to avoid overheating of the liquid surface. The LIFE (liner inertial fusion energy) reactor concept appears to be an improvement over the Cascade concept in that granule refurbishing is eliminated, the blanket is self-healing, and heat transfer to the power conversion system is by convection rather than radiation. One disadvantage is the lower operating temperature compared to the ceramic granules in Cascade. Nevertheless, power conversion efficiencies in the 45% range can be expected.<>