A Traveling Wave Direct Energy Converter for D-³HE Fueled Fusion Reactor

The principle of the traveling wave direct energy converter is introduced. The mechanism is understood as a combination of the traveling wave tube and the linear accelerator. Hardware of the traveling wave direct energy converter is also introduced. It becomes obvious that the applied engineering and materials are conventional. The traveling wave direct energy converter is studied numerically. Self-excitation in a transmission circuit has been verified and optimized geometry is obtained with one-dimensional calculations. For a case of ARTEMIS, 69.8 % of overall conversion efficiency was obtained. Experiments on traveling wave direct converter have been carried out. Self-excitation of a traveling wave has been observed. As conclusions, a traveling wave direct energy converter appears promising to apply to an open magnetic system with D-³He fusion fuels.