AAWSAP DIRD, Aneutronic Fusion Propulsion II, November 2010

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Magnetic
BURN CHAMBER
Expansion
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Chamber
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Fuel Beam lnjecti_~n t
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~ 10 m
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Figure 11. Magnetized Target Fusion Reactor
AIR PROPULSION
The reactor propulsion concepts described in the previous section were limited to space
propulsion. The DPF reactor is the lightest concept at 16 Mg (16 metric tons) and could
produce 800 MW of power with thrust levels of 1000 kN for space propulsion through
ej ection of high-energy ions. The application of this fusion reactor for propelling aircraft
from ground to hypersonic speeds would be very difficult since converting the 800 MW
of power to propellant thrust through a thermodynamically driven gas turbine would
provide lSN/MW or 1.53 kg of force per MW, which is only 1,224 kg of thrust for lifting
a 16,000 kg vehicle. The thrust per kilogram of reactor weight would have to go up a
factor of 50 to 100 in order to lift the reactor and the aircraft it is powering.
The assistance of conventional rocket technology plus air-breathing
magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)-assisted propulsion to augment aneutronic fusion plasma
propulsion has been studied as depicted in Figure 12. In this concept, rocket- and
turbine-based combined-cycle air-breathing engines are used for accelerating the
vehicle to Mach 14.15 MHD power generation is used during Mach 7-14 air-breathing
flight because it may produce hundreds of megawatts of electrical power for DPF fusion
rocket system ignition. The DPF fusion rocket system could then provide additional
propulsion, power, and acceleration outside the atmosphere at speeds above the Mach
14 air-breathing MHD threshold. A thrust-vectoring chemical rocket system provides
additional thrust and control any time during vehicle flight.
• Aneutronic fusion power
• 2025 time period
and rocket propulsion
from Mach 14 to orbit
• Air-breathing propulsion
and MHD power from
Mach 7to Mach 14
• Chemical rocket and
air-breathing propulsion
Propellants: Liquid Hydrogen;
from Oto Mach 7
Liquid Oxygen (or Liquified Air)
Figure 12. MHD Air-Breathing and Fusion Rocket Aerospace Plane
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