Evaluation of a New Kind of Z-Pinch-Based Space Propulsion Engine: Theoretical Foundations and Design of a Proof-of-Concept Experiment

This paper explores a recently proposed scalable z-pinch-based space propulsion engine in greater detail. This concept involves a “modified plasma focus with a tapered anode that transports current from a pulsed power source to a consumable portion of the anode in the form of a hypodermic needle tube continuously extruded along the axis of the device”. This tube is filled with a gas at a high pressure and also optionally with an axial magnetic field. The current enters the metal tube through its contact with the anode and returns to the cathode via the plasma sliding over its outer wall. The resulting rapid electrical explosion of the metal tube partially transfers current to a snowplough shock in the fill gas. Both the metal plasma and the fill gas form axisymmetric converging shells. Their interaction forms a hot and dense plasma of the fill gas surrounded by the metal plasma. Its ejection along the axis provides the impulse needed for propulsion. In a nonnuclear version, the fill gas could be xenon or hydrogen. Its unique energy density scaling could potentially lead to a neutron-deficient nuclear fusion drive based on the proton-boron avalanche fusion reaction by lining the tube with solid decaborane. In order to explore the inherent potential of this idea as a scalable space propulsion engine, this paper discusses its theoretical foundations and outlines the first iteration of a conceptual engineering design study for a proof-of-concept experiment based on the UNU-ICTP Plasma Focus facility at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.