On the Application of Accelerators in High-Voltage Direct Current Transmission
Abstract Generated abstract
This paper proposes a speculative application of charged-particle accelerators as sources for high-voltage direct-current power transmission. It argues that accelerated charged particles can be directed onto an insulated conductor, charging it to a potential corresponding to the particle energy, after which the conductor could be connected to a transmission line to maintain a high direct voltage. The discussion also notes possible variants in which fast-particle bombardment produces secondary electrons or further nuclear processes, suggesting additional ways to generate or sustain high-voltage charge for power transmission.
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On the Use of Accelerators in High-Voltage Direct Current Transmission
A. A. VOROB'EV
Recently, great successes have been achieved in the theory, design, and manufacture of charged-particle accelerators. A synchro-cyclotron for 300 MeV and a betatron for 180 MeV have already been built; linear synchronous accelerators are being constructed for accelerating ions and electrons to energies of several tens of mega-electron-volts. Installations are being designed for accelerating charged particles up to a billion electron-volts. Considerable success has been achieved in extracting accelerated particles from accelerator chambers. The efficiency of the installations, although still very small, is increasing rapidly.
In an accelerator we are dealing with a direct current of accelerated particles. In this sense, an accelerator may be regarded as a kind of direct-current source. Such a machine may be proposed for the purposes of electric-power transmission at high direct voltage, for example according to the following scheme: charged fast particles from the accelerator are fed to a certain conductor, charging it to a high potential. Having at one’s disposal a source of accelerated particles of considerable power, this high direct potential is maintained constant. Indeed, in charging a body, energy is expended. This energy can be calculated if one imagines that the charge is supplied gradually in small portions; then each newly supplied portion of electricity experiences a repulsive force from the like charge already previously imparted to the body. Bringing the charge up to the body and overcoming the action of this force requires the application of at least an equal force, which along the path to the surface of the charged body will perform a certain amount of work, increasing the energy reserve of the charged conductor. Thus it will be possible to charge the conductor to a potential corresponding to the energy of the accelerated particles. By connecting this conductor to a transmission line, one can carry out the transmission of high-voltage direct current.
In general, other schemes are also possible for using fast particles for electric-power transmission purposes. For example, under the action of a beam of fast particles bombarding some substance, a nuclear decay process arises with the emission of fast electrons. These electrons are likewise directed onto an insulated conductor and charge it to a high voltage, or they may be used to induce a secondary nuclear process in another substance, occurring under the action of faster particles and with a greater yield.