Thermonuclear burn-up in deuterated methane $CD_4$

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.