Thermonuclear burn-up in deuterated methane $CD_4$

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the conditions for thermonuclear burn-up in highly compressed deuterated methane (CD4), identifying critical density and temperature thresholds for ignition in spherical geometry.

Contribution

It introduces a method to determine minimal burn-up parameters for deuterated methane, highlighting the density thresholds needed for practical thermonuclear ignition.

Findings

Burn-up in CD4 requires initial density > 5 x 10^3 g/cm^3.

Burn-up in CD2T2 methane needs about 100 times lower compression.

The approach can compute critical parameters for various deuterium fuels.

Abstract

The thermonuclear burn-up of highly compressed deuterated methane CD$_4$ is considered in the spherical geometry. The minimal required values of the burn-up parameter $x = \rho_0 \cdot r_f$ are determined for various temperatures $T$ and densities $\rho_0$. It is shown that thermonuclear burn-up in $CD_4$ becomes possible in practice if its initial density $\rho_0$ exceeds $\approx 5 \cdot 10^3$ $g \cdot cm^{-3}$. Burn-up in CD$_2$T$_2$ methane requires significantly ($\approx$ 100 times) lower compressions. The developed approach can be used in order to compute the critical burn-up parameters in an arbitrary deuterium containing fuel.