Experiments to improve power conversion parameters in a traveling wave direct energy converter simulator

An experimental study of direct power conversion for D-(3) He fusion is presented. In a small-scale simulator of direct energy converter, which is based on a principle of deceleration of 14.7MeVprotons by traveling wavefield, a new structure of an external transmission circuit in experiment is proposed for the purpose of enhancement of deceleration electrode voltages. A prototype circuit was designed and constructed, resulting improvement Of voltage amplitude in an order of magnitude. A more practical circuit, in which inductor elements were manufactured by using coaxial cables, was also constructed and tested. An excitation of the third harmonic frequency with a significant amplitude was observed. The cause of this problem is attributed to the modulated ion beam which has a third harmonic component and fact that the inductance of the element nonlinearly depends on frequency. This problem is serious for a practical scale energy converter, and a careful design of the circuit could avoid the problem.