Experimental studies of plasma confinement in toroidal systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bodin, H A.B.; Keen, B E [UKAEA, Abingdon. Culham Lab.

1977-12-01

In this article the closed-line magnetic field approach to the plasma isolation and confinement problem in toroidal systems is reviewed. The theoretical aspects of closed-line magnetic field systems, indicating that topologically such systems are toroidal, are surveyed under the headings; topology of closed-line systems, equilibrium in different configurations and classification of toroidal devices, MHD stability, non-ideal effects in MHD stability, microscopic stability, and plasma energy loss. A section covering the experimental results of plasma confinement in toroidal geometry considers Stellerators, Tokamaks, toroidal pinch -the reversed-field pinch, screw pinches and high-..beta.. Tokamaks, Levitrons and multipoles (internal-ring devices), and miscellaneous toroidal containment devices. Recent achievements and the present position are discussed with reference to the status of Tokamak research, low-..beta.. stellerator research and high-..beta.. research. It is concluded from the continuing progress made in this research that the criteria for the magnetic containment of plasmas can be met. Further, it is concluded that the construction of a successful and economic fusion reactor is within the scope of advancing science and technology. 250 references.

Low-n shear Alfven spectra in axisymmetric toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, C.Z.; Chance, M.S.

1985-11-01

In toroidal plasmas, the toroidal magnetic field is nonuniform over a magnetic surface and causes coupling of different poloidal harmonics. It is shown both analytically and numerically that the toroidicity not only breaks up the shear Alfven continuous spectrum, but also creates new, discrete, toroidicity-induced shear Alfven eigenmodes with frequencies inside the continuum gaps. Potential applications of the low-n toroidicity-induced shear Alfven eigenmodes on plasma heating and instabilities are addressed. 17 refs., 4 figs

Heating in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knoepfel, H.; Mazzitelli, G.

1984-01-01

The article is a rather detailed report on the highlights in the area of the ''Heating in toroidal plasmas'', as derived from the presentations and discussions at the international symposium with the same name, held in Rome, March 1984. The symposium covered both the physics (experiments and theory) and technology of toroidal fusion plasma heating. Both large fusion devices (either already in operation or near completion) requiring auxiliary heating systems at the level of tens of megawatts, as well as physics of their heating processes and their induced side effects (as studied on smaller devices), received attention. Substantial progress was reported on the broad front of auxiliary plasma heating and Ohmic heating. The presentation of the main conclusions of the symposium is divided under the following topics: neutral-beam heating, Alfven wave heating, ion cyclotron heating, lower hybrid heating, RF current drive, electron cyclotron heating, Ohmic heating and special contributions

Reduced, three-dimensional, nonlinear equations for high-β plasmas including toroidal effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmalz, R.

1980-11-01

The resistive MHD equations for toroidal plasma configurations are reduced by expanding to the second order in epsilon, the inverse aspect ratio, allowing for high β = μsub(o)p/B 2 of order epsilon. The result is a closed system of nonlinear, three-dimensional equations where the fast magnetohydrodynamic time scale is eliminated. In particular, the equation for the toroidal velocity remains decoupled. (orig.)

Basic toroidal Effects on Alfven Wave Current in Small Aspect Ratio Tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burma, C.; Cuperman, S.; Komoshvili, K.

1998-01-01

The Alfven wave current drive (AWCD) in small aspect ratio Tokamaks is properly calculated, with consideration of the basic toroidicity effects present in (i) the dielectric tensor-operator (involving the strongly toroidal equilibrium profiles), (ii) the structure of the r.f. fields obtained as a solution of the wave equation (through Maxwell's equations' toroidal operators as well as the conversion rate and conversion layer location, depending also on the equilibrium profiles) and (iii) the formulation of the AWCD (which, besides its dependence on the r.f. fields - affected by toroidicity as mentioned at points (i) and (ii) - also requires the equilibrium-magnetic-surface averaging of non-resonant forces involved). Thus, we consider consistent equilibrium profiles with neo-classical conductivity corresponding to an ohmic START-like discharge; use a resistive (anisotropic) MHD dielectric tensor-operator Edith practically no limitations, adequate to describe the plasma response in the pre-heated stage ; solve numerically the 2(1/2)D full- wave equation by the aid of an advanced finite element code developed in; and evaluate the AWCD by the aid of the recently proposed, quite general formulation holding in the case of strongly toroidal fusion devices and including contributions due to helicity injection, momentum transfer and plasma Bow. A general discussion of the results obtained in this work is presented

Effects of 3D magnetic perturbations on toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Callen, J.D.

2011-01-01

Small three-dimensional (3D) magnetic field perturbations have many interesting and possibly useful effects on tokamak and quasi-symmetric stellarator plasmas. Plasma transport equations that include these effects, most notably on diamagnetic-level toroidal plasma flows, have recently been developed. The 3D field perturbations and their plasma effects can be classified according to their toroidal mode number n: low n (say 1-5) resonant (with field line pitch, q = m/n) and non-resonant fields, medium n (∼20, due to toroidal field ripple) and high n (due to microturbulence). Low n non-resonant fields induce a neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) that damps toroidal rotation throughout the plasma towards an offset rotation in the counter-current direction. Recent tokamak experiments have generally confirmed and exploited these predictions by applying external low n non-resonant magnetic perturbations. Medium n toroidal field ripple produces similar effects plus possible ripple-trapping NTV effects and ion direct losses in the edge. A low n (e.g. n = 1) resonant field is mostly shielded by the toroidally rotating plasma at and inside the resonant (rational) surface. If it is large enough it can stop plasma rotation at the rational surface, facilitate magnetic reconnection there and lead to a growing stationary magnetic island (locked mode), which often causes a plasma disruption. Externally applied 3D magnetic perturbations usually have many components. In the plasma their lowest n (e.g. n = 1) externally resonant components can be amplified by kink-type plasma responses, particularly at high β. Low n plasma instabilities (e.g. resistive wall modes, neoclassical tearing modes) cause additional 3D magnetic perturbations in tokamak plasmas. Tearing modes in their nonlinear (Rutherford) regime bifurcate the topology and form magnetic islands. Finally, multiple resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) can, if not shielded by plasma rotation effects, cause local magnetic

Effects of 3D Magnetic Perturbations on Toroidal Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Callen, J.D.

2010-01-01

Full text: To lowest order tokamaks are two-dimensional (2D) axisymmetric magnetic systems. But small 3D magnetic perturbations (both externally applied and from plasma instabilities) have many interesting and useful effects on tokamak (and quasi-symmetric stellarator) plasmas. Plasma transport equations that include these effects, especially on diamagnetic-level toroidal plasma rotation, have recently been developed. The 3D magnetic perturbations and their plasma effects can be classified according to their toroidal mode number n: low n (1 to 5) resonant (q = m/n in plasma) and non-resonant fields, medium n (due to toroidal field ripple), and high n (due to microturbulence). This paper concentrates on low and medium n perturbations. Low n non-resonant magnetic fields induce a neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) that damps toroidal plasma rotation throughout the plasma toward an offset flow in the counter-I p direction; recent tokamak experiments have confirmed and exploited these predictions by applying external low n non-resonant magnetic perturbations. Medium n perturbations have similar effects plus possible ripple trapping and resultant edge ion losses. A low n resonant magnetic field induces a toroidal plasma torque in the vicinity of the rational surface; when large enough it can stop plasma rotation there and lead to a locked mode, which often causes a plasma disruption. Externally applied 3D magnetic perturbations usually have many components; in the plasma their lowest n components are amplified by plasma responses, particularly at high beta. Low n plasma instabilities (e.g., NTMs, RWMs) cause additional 3D magnetic perturbations in tokamak plasmas; tearing modes can bifurcate the topology and form magnetic islands. Finally, multiple resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) can cause local magnetic stochasticity and influence H-mode edge pedestal transport. These various effects of 3D magnetic perturbations can be used to control the toroidal plasma

Toroidal Dielectric Tensor-Operator for Arbitrary Aspect-Ratio and Wave Frequency an Anisotropic-Resistivity MHD Formulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komoshvili, K.; Cuperman, S.

1998-01-01

Motivated by the recently increased interest in small aspect ratio tokamaks, we have derived a 2(1/2)D dielectric tensor-operator which can properly describe the plasma response to r.f. waves, under conditions prevailing in the pre-heated stages of arbitrary aspect ratio, axisymmetric toroidal fusion devices. The derived dielectric tensor elements are based on a two-fluid, weakly collisional plasma description, with the Hall term included. They are characterized by the following features: (i) They are cast in a form evidencing the dielectric (non-operator) and operator contributions - the latter being due to the toroidal structure of the V-operators present in Maxwell's equations, on the background of equilibrium currents and pressure gradients; (ii) They are not subject to any I imitation on the (relative) magnitude of the toroidal effects - no expansion in the inverse aspect ratio parameter is used for their derivation; (iii) They include anisotropic - parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field - contributions to the plasma resistivity; (iv) They are not Iimited by any restriction on the (relative) value of the wave frequency. The explicit, physically transparent formulation of the dielectric tensor is intended for the numerical solution of the full (E ll ≠ 0) wave equation and subsequently, evaluation of the Alfven wave current drive in small aspect ratio tokamaks

On steady poloidal and toroidal flows in tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McClements, K. G.; Hole, M. J.

2010-01-01

The effects of poloidal and toroidal flows on tokamak plasma equilibria are examined in the magnetohydrodynamic limit. ''Transonic'' poloidal flows of the order of the sound speed multiplied by the ratio of poloidal magnetic field to total field B θ /B can cause the (normally elliptic) Grad-Shafranov (GS) equation to become hyperbolic in part of the solution domain. It is pointed out that the range of poloidal flows for which the GS equation is hyperbolic increases with plasma beta and B θ /B, thereby complicating the problem of determining spherical tokamak plasma equilibria with transonic poloidal flows. It is demonstrated that the calculation of the hyperbolicity criterion can be easily modified when the assumption of isentropic flux surfaces is replaced with the more tokamak-relevant one of isothermal flux surfaces. On the basis of the latter assumption, a simple expression is obtained for the variation of density on a flux surface when poloidal and toroidal flows are simultaneously present. Combined with Thomson scattering measurements of density and temperature, this expression could be used to infer information on poloidal and toroidal flows on the high field side of a tokamak plasma, where direct measurements of flows are not generally possible. It is demonstrated that there are four possible solutions of the Bernoulli relation for the plasma density when the flux surfaces are assumed to be isothermal, corresponding to four distinct poloidal flow regimes. Finally, observations and first principles-based theoretical modeling of poloidal flows in tokamak plasmas are briefly reviewed and it is concluded that there is no clear evidence for the occurrence of supersonic poloidal flows.

Investigations of toroidal wave numbers of the kink instabilities in a toroidal pinch plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamajima, Takataro; Irisawa, Juichi; Tsukada, Tokuaki; Sugito, Osamu; Maruyama, Hideaki

1979-01-01

The axial toroidal wave numbers of the kink instability of toroidal pinch plasma were measured and investigated with a specially designed coil, and the results were compared with the MHD theory. The schematic figure and the particulars of the experimental apparatus are briefly illustrated in the first part. The method of generating theta-Z pinch plasma, the wave form of the magnetic flux density in Z-direction and the plasma current are also explained. The 360 deg stereoscopic framing photographs were taken with an image converter camera at the intervals of 0.5 μs after the initiation of the main electric discharge in Z-circuit. From these photographs, the growth of the kink instability was observed. The measured magnetic field distribution at t = 2 μs is presented. In the second part, the radial displacement of plasma and toroidal wave number were measured from the above framing photographs. Then the spectra of plasma displacement were analyzed by the Fourier analysis. The measured results of toroidal wave number was analyzed by both the skin current model and the diffuse current model. Many new results obtained from the present study were mainly derived from the observation of the framing photographs, and they are summarized in the final part of this paper. (Aoki, K.)

Long-wavelength microinstabilities in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang, W.M.; Rewoldt, G.

1993-01-01

Realistic kinetic toroidal eigenmode calculations have been carried out to support a proper assessment of the influence of long-wavelength microturbulence on transport in tokamak plasmas. In order to efficiently evaluate large-scale kinetic behavior extending over many rational surfaces, significant improvements have been made to a toroidal finite element code used to analyze the fully two-dimensional (r,θ) mode structures of trapped-ion and toroidal ion temperature gradient (ITG) instabilities. It is found that even at very long wavelengths, these eigenmodes exhibit a strong ballooning character with the associated radial structure relatively insensitive to ion Landau damping at the rational surfaces. In contrast to the long-accepted picture that the radial extent of trapped-ion instabilities is characterized by the ion-gyroradius-scale associated with strong localization between adjacent rational surfaces, present results demonstrate that under realistic conditions, the actual scale is governed by the large-scale variations in the equilibrium gradients. Applications to recent measurements of fluctuation properties in Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) [Plasma Phys. Controlled Nucl. Fusion Res. (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1985), Vol. 1, p. 29] L-mode plasmas indicate that the theoretical trends appear consistent with spectral characteristics as well as rough heuristic estimates of the transport level. Benchmarking calculations in support of the development of a three-dimensional toroidal gyrokinetic code indicate reasonable agreement with respect to both the properties of the eigenfunctions and the magnitude of the eigenvalues during the linear phase of the simulations of toroidal ITG instabilities

Heating in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Canobbio, E.

1981-01-01

This paper reports on the 2nd Joint Grenoble-Varenna International Symposium on Heating in Toroidal Plasmas, held at Como, Italy, from the 3-12 September 1980. Important problems in relation to the different existing processes of heating. The plasma were identified and discussed. Among others, the main processes discussed were: a) neutral beam heating, b) ion-(electron)-cyclotron resonance heating, c) hybrid resonance and low frequency heating

Plasma flow in toroidal systems with a separatrix

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gribkov, V.M.; Morozov, D.Kh.; Pogutse, O.P.

1984-01-01

A hydrodynamic plasma flow in toroidal systems is considered. Rlasma flow lines for various magnetic configurations are calculated. A particular attention is given to studying plasma flow in configurations with two magnetic a axes and a separatrix. The flow picture i the toroidal case is shown to qualita ity to penetrate through the separatrix - the latter becomes ''perforated''. Th he pictkre of these flows is calculated. The plasma diffusion coefficient with account for the separatrix is calculated and is shown not to turn into the infin nity in the toroidal case as well. The plasma flow is analytically considered in the model with distributed current as well as in the model with current conce entrated at the oroidal system axis. In the first case the existence of ''stagnant'' regions near the magnetic axis is established from which the plasma a does not flow out

Formation of a compact torus using a toroidal plasma gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levine, M.A.; Pincosy, P.A.

1981-01-01

Myers, Levine and Pincosy earlier reported results using a toroidal plasma gun. The device differs from the usual coaxial plasma gun in the use of a strong toroidal bias current for enhanced efficiency, a pair of disk-like accelerating electrodes for reduced viscosity and a fast pulsed toroidal gas valve for more effective use of the injected gas sample. In addition, a technique is used for generating a toroidal current in the plasma ring. The combination offers an opportunity to deliver a plasma with a large amount of energy and to vary the density and relative toroidal and poloidal magnetic field intensities over a range of values. It is the purpose of this paper to report further experimental results, to project the gun's applications to the formation of a compact torus, and to propose a simple modification of the present apparatus as a test

Long-wavelength microinstabilities in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang, W.W.; Rewoldt, G.

1993-01-01

Realistic kinetic toroidal eigenmode calculations have been carried out to support a proper assessment of the influence of long-wavelength microturbulence on transport in tokamak plasmas. In order to efficiently evaluate large-scale kinetic behavior extending over many rational surfaces, significant improvements have been made to a toroidal finite element code used to analyze the fully two-dimensional (r,θ) mode structures of trapped-ion and toroidal ion temperature gradient (ITG) instabilities. It is found that even at very long wavelengths, these eigenmodes exhibit a strong ballooning character with the associated radial structure relatively insensitive to ion Landau damping at the rational surfaces. In contrast to the long-accepted picture that the radial extent of trapped-ion instabilities is characterized by the ion-gyroradius-scale associated with strong localization between adjacent rational surfaces, present results demonstrate that under realistic conditions, the actual scale is governed by the large-scale variations in the equilibrium gradients. Applications to recent measurements of fluctuation properties in TFTR L-mode plasmas indicate that the theoretical trends appear consistent with spectral characteristics as well as rough heuristic estimates of the transport level. Benchmarking calculations in support of the development of a three-dimensional toroidal gyrokinetic code indicate reasonable agreement with respect to both the properties of the eigenfunctions and the magnitude of the eigenvalues during the linear phase of the simulations of toroidal ITG instabilities

Possible accuracy of the Cotton-Mouton polarimetry in a sheared toroidal plasma conversion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kravtsov, Y.A.; Chrzanowski, J.

2011-01-01

The Cotton-Mouton effect in the sheared plasma with helical magnetic lines is studied, using the equation for the complex amplitude ratio (CAR). A simple model for helical magnetic lines in plasma of toroidal configuration is suggested. Equation for CAR is solved perturbatively, treating the shear angle variations as a small perturbation, caused by the spiral form of the magnetic lines. It is shown that the uncertainty of the polarization measurements in the toroidal plasma with a spiral form of the magnetic lines does not exceed 1.0-2.0%, which determines the limiting accuracy of the Cotton-Mouton polarimetry. It is furthermore pointed out that the method of a priori subtraction of the '' sheared '' term may significantly improve the accuracy of the Cotton-Mouton polarimetry. (authors)

Current control necessary for toroidal plasma equilibrium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagao, S.

1987-01-01

It is shown that a significant amount of dipole current is necessary for the plasma equilibrium of toroidal configurations in general. Through the vector product with the poloidal field, this dipole current force has to balance with the hoop force of plasma pressure itself of the annular shape. The measurement of such a current of dipole type may be interesting for the confirmation of the plasma equilibrium in the toroidal system. Moreover it is certained that there is a new mode of a tokamak operation with such a dipole current component and with smaller vertical field than that based on the classical tokamak theory. (author) [pt

Theory for neoclassical toroidal plasma viscosity in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaing, K C; Chu, M S; Hsu, C T; Sabbagh, S A; Seol, Jae Chun; Sun, Y

2012-01-01

Error fields and magnetohydrodynamic modes break toroidal symmetry in tokamaks. The broken symmetry enhances the toroidal plasma viscosity, which results in a steady-state toroidal plasma flow. A theory for neoclassical toroidal plasma viscosity in the low-collisionality regimes is developed. It extends stellarator transport theory to include multiple modes and to allow for |m − nq| ∼ 1. Here, m is the poloidal mode number, n is the toroidal mode number and q is the safety factor. The bounce averaged drift kinetic equation is solved in several asymptotic limits to obtain transport fluxes. These fluxes depend non-linearly on the radial electric field except for those in the 1/ν regime. Here, ν is the collision frequency. The theory is refined to include the effects of the superbanana plateau resonance at the phase space boundary and the finite ∇B drift on the collisional boundary layer fluxes. Analytical expressions that connect all asymptotic limits are constructed and are in good agreement with the numerical results. The flux–force relations that relate transport fluxes to forces are used to illustrate the roles of transport fluxes in the momentum equation. It is shown that the ambipolar state is reached when the momentum equation is relaxed. It is also shown that the origin of the momentum for plasma flow generated without momentum sources is the local unbalance of particles' momenta and is diamagnetic in nature regardless of the details of the theory. (paper)

Linear wave propagation in a hot axisymmetric toroidal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaun, A.

1995-03-01

Kinetic effects on the propagation of the Alfven wave are studied for the first time in a toroidal plasma relevant for experiments. This requires the resolution of a set of coupled partial differential equations whose coefficients depend locally on the plasma parameters. For this purpose, a numerical wave propagation code called PENN has been developed using either a bilinear or a bicubic Hermite finite element discretization. It solves Maxwell's equations in toroidal geometry, with a dielectric tensor operator that takes into account the linear response of the plasma. Two different models have been implemented and can be used comparatively to describe the same physical case: the first treats the plasma as resistive fluids and gives results which are in good agreement with toroidal fluid codes. The second is a kinetic model and takes into account the finite size of the Larmor radii; it has successfully been tested against a kinetic plasma model in cylindrical geometry. New results have been obtained when studying kinetic effects in toroidal geometry. Two different conversion mechanisms to the kinetic Alfven wave have been described: one occurs at toroidally coupled resonant surfaces and is the kinetic counterpart of the fluid models' resonance absorption. The other has no such correspondence and results directly from the toroidal coupling between the kinetic Alfven wave and the global wavefield. An analysis of a heating scenario suggests that it might be difficult to heat a plasma with Alfven waves up to temperatures that are relevant for a tokamak reactor. Kinetic effects are studied for three types of global Alfven modes (GAE, TAE, BAE) and a new class of kinetic eigenmodes is described which appear inside the fluid gap: it could be related to recent observations in the JET (Joint European Torus) tokamak. (author) 56 figs., 6 tabs., 58 refs

Linear wave propagation in a hot axisymmetric toroidal plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaun, A [Ecole Polytechnique Federale, Lausanne (Switzerland). Centre de Recherche en Physique des Plasma (CRPP)

1995-03-01

Kinetic effects on the propagation of the Alfven wave are studied for the first time in a toroidal plasma relevant for experiments. This requires the resolution of a set of coupled partial differential equations whose coefficients depend locally on the plasma parameters. For this purpose, a numerical wave propagation code called PENN has been developed using either a bilinear or a bicubic Hermite finite element discretization. It solves Maxwell`s equations in toroidal geometry, with a dielectric tensor operator that takes into account the linear response of the plasma. Two different models have been implemented and can be used comparatively to describe the same physical case: the first treats the plasma as resistive fluids and gives results which are in good agreement with toroidal fluid codes. The second is a kinetic model and takes into account the finite size of the Larmor radii; it has successfully been tested against a kinetic plasma model in cylindrical geometry. New results have been obtained when studying kinetic effects in toroidal geometry. Two different conversion mechanisms to the kinetic Alfven wave have been described: one occurs at toroidally coupled resonant surfaces and is the kinetic counterpart of the fluid models` resonance absorption. The other has no such correspondence and results directly from the toroidal coupling between the kinetic Alfven wave and the global wavefield. An analysis of a heating scenario suggests that it might be difficult to heat a plasma with Alfven waves up to temperatures that are relevant for a tokamak reactor. Kinetic effects are studied for three types of global Alfven modes (GAE, TAE, BAE) and a new class of kinetic eigenmodes is described which appear inside the fluid gap: it could be related to recent observations in the JET (Joint European Torus) tokamak. (author) 56 figs., 6 tabs., 58 refs.

Stationary shear flows in CGL anisotropic toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pastukhov, V.P.; Ilgisonis, V.I.

1996-01-01

Recently a general structure of stationary shear flows in toroidal plasmas was obtained in the frame of ideal isotropic-pressure MHD model. The structure of the stationary plasma flows was shown to be determined by a hidden symmetry of MHD equations inherent in the toroidal systems with nested magnetic surfaces. However, the characteristic frequencies of the stationary plasma motion can considerably exceed the collisional frequencies in real plasma experiments. In this case the CGL collisionless MHD model seems to be more adequate than the simplified isotropic-pressure MHD model to describe the stationary plasma flows. In this paper we have generalized our approach to analyze the stationary plasma flows in the frame of the collisionless CGL model. We have found again that the hidden symmetry inherent in the toroidal topology results in two integral invariants which depend on two independent surface functions. The structure of stationary flows for CGL model is still the same as for isotropic MHD, however, the pressure tensor components satisfy a appreciably modifies the steady state force-balance equation. These results are applied to analyze the generalized equilibrium in axisymmetric (tokamak-like) magnetic confinement systems

Low-frequency fluctuations in a pure toroidal magnetized plasma

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

A magnetized, low- plasma in pure toroidal configuration is formed and extensively studied with ion mass as control parameter. Xenon, krypton and argon plasmas are formed at a fixed toroidal magnetic field of 0.024 T, with a peak density of ∼ 1011 cm-3, ∼ 4 × 1010 cm-3 and ∼ 2 × 1010 cm−3 respectively.

Toroidal magnetic confinement of non-neutral plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, Zensho; Ogawa, Yuichi; Morikawa, Junji; Himura, Haruhiko; Kondo, Shigeo; Nakashima, Chihiro; Kakuno, Shuichi; Iqbal, Muhamad; Volponi, Francesco; Shibayama, Norihisa; Tahara, Shigeru

1999-01-01

A new method of toroidal non-neutral plasma trap has been developed with applying the chaos-induced radial transport of particles near a magnetic null point. A pure electron plasma is produced by injecting an electron beam. The poloidal gyroradius of an electron at the energy of 1 keV is of order 10 mm, which determines the length scale of the chaotic region. Amongst various applications of toroidal non-neutral plasmas, a possibility of producing very high-β plasma, which is suitable for advanced fusion, has been examined. The self-electric field of a non-neutral plasma can generate a strong shear flow. When the flow velocity is comparable to the Alfven speed (which is smaller than the ion sound speed, if β>1), a high-β equilibrium can be produced in which the plasma pressure is primarily balanced by the dynamic pressure of the flow. This configuration is described by a generalized Bernoulli law

Confinement time exceeding one second for a toroidal electron plasma.

Science.gov (United States)

Marler, J P; Stoneking, M R

2008-04-18

Nearly steady-state electron plasmas are trapped in a toroidal magnetic field for the first time. We report the first results from a new toroidal electron plasma experiment, the Lawrence Non-neutral Torus II, in which electron densities on the order of 10(7) cm(-3) are trapped in a 270-degree toroidal arc (670 G toroidal magnetic field) by application of trapping potentials to segments of a conducting shell. The total charge inferred from measurements of the frequency of the m=1 diocotron mode is observed to decay on a 3 s time scale, a time scale that approaches the predicted limit due to magnetic pumping transport. Three seconds represents approximately equal to 10(5) periods of the lowest frequency plasma mode, indicating that nearly steady-state conditions are achieved.

International school of plasma physics course on instabilities and confinement in toroidal plasmas. Varenna (Italy), September 27-October 9, 1971

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1974-11-01

The lectures of a Varenna Summer School about the theme Instabilities and Confinement in toroidal Plasmas are given. The topics included are: high-beta toroidal pinches, non-MHD instabilities and anomalous transport, analogy between turbulent transfer in velocity space and plasma collisioned transport in real space, the magnetohydrodynamic approach of plasma confinement in closed magnetic configurations, properties of isodynamical equilibrium configurations and their generalization, transport theory for toroidal plasmas, plasma physics, low-β toroidal machines, the neoclassical theory of transit time magnetic pumping, radio frequency heating of toroidal plasmas, plasma heating at lower hybrid frequency, RF-plasma heating with L-structures, numerical simulation, dynamical stabilization of low frequency waves in inhomogeneous plasmas, dynamic and feedback stabilization of plasmas and problems with nuclear fusion reactors

Current drive by asymmetrical heating in a toroidal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gahl, J.M.

1986-01-01

This report describes the first experimental observation of current generation by asymmetrical heating of ions. A unidirectional fast Alfven wave launched by a slow-wave antenna inside the Texas Tech Tokamak, asymmetrically heated the ions. Measurements of the asymmetry of the toroidal plasma current with probes at the top and bottom of the toroidal plasma column confirmed the current generation indirectly. Current generation, obtained in a one-species, hydrogen plasma, is a phenomenon which had not been predicted previously. Calculations of the dispersion relation for the fast Alfven wave near the fundamental cyclotron resonance in a one-species, hydrogen plasma, using warm plasma theory, support the experimental results

Toroidal plasma reactor with low external magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beklemishev, A.D.; Khayrutdinov, R.R.; Petviashvili, V.I.; Tajima, T.; Gordin, V.A.; Tajima, T.

1991-01-01

A toroidal pinch configuration with safety factor q < 0.5 decreasing from the center to periphery without field reversal is proposed. This is capable of containing high pressure plasma with only small toroidal external magnetic field. Sufficient conditions for magnetohydrodynamic stability are fulfilled in this configuration. The stability is studied by constructing the Lyapunov functional and investigating its extrema both analytically and numerically. Comparison of the Lyapunov stability conditions with the conventional linear theory is carried out. Stable configurations are found with average β near 15%, with magnetic field associated mainly with plasma current. The β value calculated with the external magnetic field can be over 100%. Fast charged particles produced by fusion reactions are asymmetrically confined by the poloidal magnetic field (and due to the lack of strong toroidal field). They thus generate a current in the noncentral part of plasma to reinforce the poloidal field. This current drive can sustain the monotonic decrease of q with radius. 20 refs., 9 figs

Microwave produced plasma in a Toroidal Device

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, A. K.; Edwards, W. F.; Held, E. D.

2010-11-01

A currentless toroidal plasma device exhibits a large range of interesting basic plasma physics phenomena. Such a device is not in equilibrium in a strict magneto hydrodynamic sense. There are many sources of free energy in the form of gradients in plasma density, temperature, the background magnetic field and the curvature of the magnetic field. These free energy sources excite waves and instabilities which have been the focus of studies in several devices in last two decades. A full understanding of these simple plasmas is far from complete. At Utah State University we have recently designed and installed a microwave plasma generation system on a small tokamak borrowed from the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. Microwaves are generated at 2.45 GHz in a pulsed dc mode using a magnetron from a commercial kitchen microwave oven. The device is equipped with horizontal and vertical magnetic fields and a transformer to impose a toroidal electric field for current drive. Plasmas can be obtained over a wide range of pressure with and without magnetic fields. We present some preliminary measurements of plasma density and potential profiles. Measurements of plasma temperature at different operating conditions are also presented.

Plasma Heating and Losses in Toroidal Multipole Fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Armentrout, C. J.; Barter, J. D.; Breun, R. A.; Cavallo, A. J.; Drake, J. R.; Etzweiler,; Greenwood, J. R.

1974-01-01

The heating and loss of plasmas have been studied in three pulsed, toroidal multipole devices: a large levitated octupole, a small supported octupole and a very small supported quadrupole. Plasmas are produced by gun injection and heated by electron and ion cyclotron resonance heating and ohmic heating. Electron cyclotron heating rates have been measured over a wide range of parameters, and the results are in quantitative agreement with stochastic heating theory. Electron cyclotron resonance heating produces ions with energies larger than predicted by theory. With the addition of a toroidal field, ohmic heating gives densities as high as 10 13 cm -3 in the toroidal quadrupole and 10 12 cm -3 in the small octupole. Plasma losses for n=5 x 10 9 cm -3 plasmas are inferred from Langmuir probe and Fabry-Perot interferometer measurements, and measured with special striped collectors on the wall and rings. The loss to a levitated ring is measured using a modulated light beam telemeter. The confinement is better than Bohm but considerably worse than classical. Low frequency convective cells which are fixed in space are observed. These cells around the ring are diminished when a weak toroidal field is added, and loss collectors show a vastly reduced flux to the rings. Analysis of the spatial density profile shows features of B-independent diffusion. The confinement is sensitive to some kinds of dc field errors, but surprisingly insensitive to perturbations of the ac confining field

Stationary magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium of toroidal plasma in rotation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Missiato, O.

1986-01-01

The stationary equations of classical magnetohydrodynamics are utilized to study the toroidal motion of a thermonuclear magnetically - confined plasma with toroidal symmetry (Tokamak). In the present work, we considered a purely toroidal stationary rotation and te problem is reduced to studing a second order partial differencial equation of eliptic type Maschke-Perrin. Assuming that the temperature remains constant on the magnetic surfaces, an analitic solution, valid for low Mach numbers (M ≤ 0 .4), was obtained for the above-mentioned equation by means of a technique developed by Pantuso Sudano. From the solution found, we traced graphs for the quantities which described the equilibrium state of the plasma, namely: mass density, pressure, temperature, electric current density and toroidal magnetic field. Finally we compare this analitical model with others works which utilized differents analitical models and numerical simulations. We conclude that the solutions obtained are in good agreement with the previos results. In addition, however, our model contains the results of Sudano-Goes with the additional advantage of employing much simple analitical expressions. (author) [pt

Gyrokinetic analyses of core heat transport in JT-60U plasmas with different toroidal rotation direction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narita, Emi; Fukuda, Takeshi; Honda, Mitsuru; Hayashi, Nobuhiko; Urano, Hajime; Ide, Shunsuke

2015-01-01

Tokamak plasmas with an internal transport barrier (ITB) are capable of maintaining improved confinement performance. The ITBs formed in plasmas with the weak magnetic shear and the weak radial electric field shear are often observed to be modest. In these ITB plasmas, it has been found that the electron temperature ITB is steeper when toroidal rotation is in a co-direction with respect to the plasma current than when toroidal rotation is in a counter-direction. To clarify the relationship between the direction of toroidal rotation and heat transport in the ITB region, we examine dominant instabilities using the flux-tube gyrokinetic code GS2. The linear calculations show a difference in the real frequencies; the counter-rotation case has a more trapped electron mode than the co-rotation case. In addition, the nonlinear calculations show that with this difference, the ratio of the electron heat diffusivity χ_e to the ion's χ_i is higher for the counter-rotation case than for the co-rotation case. The difference in χ_e /χ_i agrees with the experiment. We also find that the effect of the difference in the flow shear between the two cases due to the toroidal rotation direction on the linear growth rate is not significant. (author)

The effect of sheared toroidal rotation on pressure driven magnetic islands in toroidal plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hegna, C. C. [Departments of Engineering Physics and Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States)

2016-05-15

The impact of sheared toroidal rotation on the evolution of pressure driven magnetic islands in tokamak plasmas is investigated using a resistive magnetohydrodynamics model augmented by a neoclassical Ohm's law. Particular attention is paid to the asymptotic matching data as the Mercier indices are altered in the presence of sheared flow. Analysis of the nonlinear island Grad-Shafranov equation shows that sheared flows tend to amplify the stabilizing pressure/curvature contribution to pressure driven islands in toroidal tokamaks relative to the island bootstrap current contribution. As such, sheared toroidal rotation tends to reduce saturated magnetic island widths.

Generation of toroidal pre-heat plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikeda, Nagayasu; Tamaru, Ken; Nagata, Akiyoshi.

1979-01-01

The characteristics of toroidal plasma in the initial stage of electric discharge were investigated. A small toroidal-pinch system was used for the present work. A magnetic probe was used to measure the magnetic field. The time of beginning of discharge was determined by observing the variation of the magnetic field. The initial gas pressure dependence of the induced electric field regions, in which electric discharge can be caused, was studied. It is necessary to increase the initial induced electric field for starting discharge. The delay time of large current discharge was measured, and it was about 2 microsecond. Dependences of the electric fields at the beginning of discharge on the charging voltage of capacitors, on the initial gas pressure, and on the discharge frequency were studied. The formation mechanism of plasma column was analyzed. (Kato, T.)

Effects of toroidicity on resistive tearing modes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Izzo, R.; Monticello, D.A.; Manickam, J.; Strauss, H.R.; Grimm, R.; McGuire, K.

1983-03-01

A reduced set of resistive MHD equations is solved numerically in three dimensions to study the stability of tokamak plasmas. Toroidal effects are included self-consistently to leading and next order in inverse aspect ratio, epsilon. The equations satisfy an energy integral. In addition, the momentum equation yields the Grad-Shafranov equation correct to all orders in epsilon. Low beta plasma are studied using several different q-profiles. In all cases, the linear growth rates are reduced by finite toroidicity. Excellent agreement with resistive PEST is obtianed. In some cases, toroidal effects lead to complete stabilization of the mode. Nonlinear results show smaller saturated island widths for finite aspect ratio compared to the cylindrical limit. If the current channel is wide enough so as to produce steep gradients towards the outside of the plasma, both the finite aspect ratio cases and cylindrical cases disrupt

Air core poloidal magnetic field system for a toroidal plasma producing device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marcus, F.B.

1978-01-01

A poloidal magnetics system for a plasma producing device of toroidal configuration is provided that reduces both the total volt-seconds requirement and the magnitude of the field change at the toroidal field coils. The system utilizes an air core transformer wound between the toroidal field (TF) coils and the major axis outside the TF coils. Electric current in the primary windings of this transformer is distributed and the magnetic flux returned by air core windings wrapped outside the toroidal field coils. A shield winding that is closely coupled to the plasma carries a current equal and opposite to the plasma current. This winding provides the shielding function and in addition serves in a fashion similar to a driven conducting shell to provide the equilibrium vertical field for the plasma. The shield winding is in series with a power supply and a decoupling coil located outside the TF coil at the primary winding locations. The present invention requires much less energy than the usual air core transformer and is capable of substantially shielding the toroidal field coils from poloidal field flux

Onsager relaxation of toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samain, A.; Nguyen, F.

1997-01-01

The slow relaxation of isolated toroidal plasmas towards their thermodynamical equilibrium is studied in an Onsager framework based on the entropy metric. The basic tool is a variational principle, equivalent to the kinetic equation, involving the profiles of density, temperature, electric potential, electric current. New minimization procedures are proposed to obtain entropy and entropy production rate functionals. (author)

Toroidal Plasma Thruster for Interplanetary and Interstellar Space Flights

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorelenkov, N.N.; Zakharov, L.E.; Gorelenkova, M.V.

2001-01-01

This work involves a conceptual assessment for using the toroidal fusion reactor for deep space interplanetary and interstellar missions. Toroidal thermonuclear fusion reactors, such as tokamaks and stellarators, are unique for space propulsion, allowing for a design with the magnetic configuration localized inside toroidal magnetic field coils. Plasma energetic ions, including charged fusion products, can escape such a closed configuration at certain conditions, a result of the vertical drift in toroidal rippled magnetic field. Escaping particles can be used for direct propulsion (since toroidal drift is directed one way vertically) or to create and heat externally confined plasma, so that the latter can be used for propulsion. Deuterium-tritium fusion neutrons with an energy of 14.1 MeV also can be used for direct propulsion. A special design allows neutrons to escape the shield and the blanket of the tokamak. This provides a direct (partial) conversion of the fusion energy into the directed motion of the propellant. In contrast to other fusion concepts proposed for space propulsion, this concept utilizes the natural drift motion of charged particles out of the closed magnetic field configuration

Toroidal plasma enhanced CVD of diamond films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zvanya, John; Cullen, Christopher; Morris, Thomas; Krchnavek, Robert R.; Holber, William; Basnett, Andrew; Basnett, Robert; Hettinger, Jeffrey

2014-01-01

An inductively coupled toroidal plasma source is used as an alternative to microwave plasmas for chemical vapor deposition of diamond films. The source, operating at a frequency of 400 kHz, synthesizes diamond films from a mixture of argon, methane, and hydrogen. The toroidal design has been adapted to create a highly efficient environment for diamond film deposition: high gas temperature and a short distance from the sample to the plasma core. Using a toroidal plasma geometry operating in the medium frequency band allows for efficient (≈90%) coupling of AC line power to the plasma and a scalable path to high-power and large-area operation. In test runs, the source generates a high flux of atomic hydrogen over a large area, which is favorable for diamond film growth. Using a deposition temperature of 900–1050 °C and a source to sample distance of 0.1–2.0 cm, diamond films are deposited onto silicon substrates. The results showed that the deposition rate of the diamond films could be controlled using the sample temperature and source to sample spacing. The results also show the films exhibit good-quality polycrystalline diamond as verified by Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. The scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction results show that the samples exhibit diamond (111) and diamond (022) crystallites. The Raman results show that the sp 3 peak has a narrow spectral width (FWHM 12 ± 0.5 cm −1 ) and that negligible amounts of the sp 2 band are present, indicating good-quality diamond films

Poloidal variations in toroidal fusion reactor wall power loadings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carroll, M.C.; Miley, G.H.

1985-01-01

A geometric formulation is developed by the authors for determining poloidal variations in bremmstrahlung, cyclotron radiation, and neutron wall power loadings in toroidal fusion devices. Assuming toroidal symmetry and utilizing a numerical model which partitions the plasma into small cells, it was generally found that power loadings are highest on the outer surface of the torus, although variations are not as large as some have predicted. Results are presented for various plasma power generation configurations, plasma volume fractions, and toroidal aspect ratios, and include plasma and wall blockage effects

Measurement of toroidal and poloidal plasma rotation in TCA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duval, B.P.; Joye, B.; Marchal, B.

1991-01-01

With optimal observation geometry we have measured both the toroidal and poloidal rotation velocities in the edge and in the bulk of the TCA plasma. Regular calibration and correction for variations in the spectrometer temperature permitted a measurement with an error of ∼0.5 km/s which is an order of magnitude smaller than the range of measured velocities. In general, changes in the velocities are observed to be stronger and faster in the plasma edge than in the plasma bulk. With increasing density, the toroidal velocity is observed to change sign and follow the plasma density, while the poloidal velocity increases. These two effects lead to an increase in the absolute value of the radial electric field. With very strong gas puffing, the toroidal velocity is observed to again reverse and tend to zero, an effect which is stronger as the gradient of the density ramp is increased. Comparison between gas puffing and high power AWH does not show a significant difference in the radial electric field that could be responsible for the large associated density rise, which still remains unexplained. (author) 4 figs., 2 refs

Ideal MHD equilibrium of a weakly toroidal plasma column with elongated cross-section

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heesch, E.J.M. van; Schuurman, W.

1980-07-01

Solutions are obtained of the ideal MHD equations describing the equilibrium of a weakly toroidal plasma with an elliptic cross-section surrounded by a force-free magnetic field with constant ratio between current density and magnetic field strength. The force-free field parameter causes the stagnation points to recede along the major axis of the ellipse. Above a certain value of the force-free field parameter, stagnation points do not exist, so that the compression ratio of the plasma column is no longer limited. The analysis was carried out to first order in the force-free field parameter as well as to second order for an estimate of the error

Global stability of plasmas with helical boundary deformation and net toroidal current against n=1,2 external modes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ardela, A.; Cooper, W.A.

1996-01-01

In this paper we resume a numerical study of the global stability of plasma with helical boundary deformation and non null net toroidal current. The aim was to see whether external modes with n=1,2 (n toroidal mode number) can be stabilized at values of β inaccessible to the tokamak. L=2,3 configurations with several aspect ratios and different numbers of equilibrium field periods are considered. A large variety of toroidal current densities and different pressure profiles are taken into account. Mercier stability is also investigated. (author) 4 figs., 6 refs

Plasma confinement of Nagoya high-beta toroidal-pinch experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirano, K.; Kitagawa, S.; Wakatani, M.; Kita, Y.; Yamada, S.; Yamaguchi, S.; Sato, K.; Aizawa, T.; Osanai, Y.; Noda, N.

1977-01-01

Two different types of high-β toroidal pinch experiments, STP [1] and CCT [2,3], have been done to study the confinement of the plasma produced by a theta-pinch. The STP is an axisymmetric toroidal pinch of high-β tokamak type, while the CCT consists of multiply connected periodic toroidal traps. Internal current-carrying copper rings are essential to the CCT. Since both apparatuses use the same fast capacitor bank system, they produce rather similar plasma temperatures and densities. The observed laser scattering temperature and density is about 50 eV and 4x10 15 cm -3 , respectively, when the filling pressure is 5 mtorr. In the STP experiment, strong correlations are found between the βsub(p) value and the amplitude of m=2 mode. It has a minimum around the value of βsub(p) of 0.8. The disruptive instability is observed to expand the pinched plasma column without lowering the plasma temperature. Just before the disruption begins, the q value around the magnetic axis becomes far less than 1 and an increase of the amplitude of m=2 mode is seen. The CCT also shows rapid plasma expansion just before the magnetic field reaches its maximum. Then the trap is filled up with the plasma by this irreversible expansion and stable plasma confinement is achieved. The energy confinement time of the CCT is found to be about 35 μs. (author)

Equations for the non linear evolution of the resistive tearing modes in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edery, D.; Pellat, R.; Soule, J.L.

1979-09-01

Following the tokamak ordering, we simplify the resistive MHD equations in toroidal geometry. We obtain a closed system of non linear equations for two scalar potentials of the magnetic and velocity fields and for plasma density and temperature. If we expand these equations in the inverse of aspect ratio they are exact to the two first orders. Our formalism should correctly describe the mode coupling by curvature effects /1/ and the toroidal displacement of magnetic surfaces /2/. It provides a natural extension of the well known cylindrical model /3/ and is now being solved on computer

Studies on limiter confined toroidal plasma in BETA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bera, D.; Reddy, C.; Jayakumar, R.; Kaw, P.K.

1984-01-01

Plasma equilibrium and stability in the presence of a toroidal magnetic field and a poloidal limiter is being studied experimentally in the BETA experiment. In a simple toroidal magnetic field, plasma cannot be in equilibrium because of the effect of the magnetic field curvature, which tends to expand the plasma. The electric field, which causes this expansion, is short circuited if a poloidal conducting limiter is placed and this brings about a quasi-equilibrium. In the model the charge separation current flows on the surface of the plasma and closes the path by flowing parallel to the magnetic field away from the limiter and transverse to the field at the limiter. For such an equilibrium, the vertical pressure profile is expected to be uniform, while the radial pressure profile is determined by transport. Such a profile is unstable to Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities, if the magnetic field gradient and the pressure gradient have the same sense

Turbulence induced radial transport of toroidal momentum in boundary plasma of EAST tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, N.; Yan, N.; Xu, G. S.; Wang, H. Q.; Wang, L.; Ding, S. Y.; Chen, R.; Chen, L.; Zhang, W.; Hu, G. H.; Shao, L. M.; Wang, Z. X.

2016-01-01

Turbulence induced toroidal momentum transport in boundary plasma is investigated in H-mode discharge using Langmuir-Mach probes on EAST. The Reynolds stress is found to drive an inward toroidal momentum transport, while the outflow of particles convects the toroidal momentum outwards in the edge plasma. The Reynolds stress driven momentum transport dominates over the passive momentum transport carried by particle flux, which potentially provides a momentum source for the edge plasma. The outflow of particles delivers a momentum flux into the scrape-off layer (SOL) region, contributing as a momentum source for the SOL flows. At the L-H transitions, the outward momentum transport suddenly decreases due to the suppression of edge turbulence and associated particle transport. The SOL flows start to decelerate as plasma entering into H-mode. The contributions from turbulent Reynolds stress and particle transport for the toroidal momentum transport are identified. These results shed lights on the understanding of edge plasma accelerating at L-H transitions.

High beta plasma operation in a toroidal plasma producing device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clarke, J.F.

1978-01-01

A high beta plasma is produced in a plasma producing device of toroidal configuration by ohmic heating and auxiliary heating. The plasma pressure is continuously monitored and used in a control system to program the current in the poloidal field windings. Throughout the heating process, magnetic flux is conserved inside the plasma and the distortion of the flux surfaces drives a current in the plasma. As a consequence, the total current increases and the poloidal field windings are driven with an equal and opposing increasing current. The spatial distribution of the current in the poloidal field windings is determined by the plasma pressure. Plasma equilibrium is maintained thereby, and high temperature, high beta operation results

Toroidal Trivelpiece-Gould modes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoessel, F.P.

1979-01-01

Electron plasma waves are treated in quasi-electrostatic approximation in a toroidal cavity of rectangular cross-section in an infinitely strong azimuthal magnetic field. The differential equation for the electrostatic potential, derived from fluid equations, can be separated using cylindrical coordinates. The eigenvalue problem for the radial dependence is solved numerically by a shooting method. Eigenvalues are given for different aspect ratios. Comparison with appropriate modes of the straight geometry shows that the toroidal frequencies generally lie some percent above those for the straight case. Plots of the eigenfunctions demonstrate clearly the influence of toroidicity. The deviation from symmetry (which should appear for straight geometry) depends not only on the aspect ratio but also strongly on the mode numbers. (author)

Advanced transport modeling of toroidal plasmas with transport barriers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukuyama, A.; Murakami, S.; Honda, M.; Izumi, Y.; Yagi, M.; Nakajima, N.; Nakamura, Y.; Ozeki, T.

2005-01-01

Transport modeling of toroidal plasmas is one of the most important issue to predict time evolution of burning plasmas and to develop control schemes in reactor plasmas. In order to describe the plasma rotation and rapid transition self-consistently, we have developed an advanced scheme of transport modeling based on dynamical transport equation and applied it to the analysis of transport barrier formation. First we propose a new transport model and examine its behavior by the use of conventional diffusive transport equation. This model includes the electrostatic toroidal ITG mode and the electromagnetic ballooning mode and successfully describes the formation of internal transport barriers. Then the dynamical transport equation is introduced to describe the plasma rotation and the radial electric field self-consistently. The formation of edge transport barriers is systematically studied and compared with experimental observations. The possibility of kinetic transport modeling in velocity space is also examined. Finally the modular structure of integrated modeling code for tokamaks and helical systems is discussed. (author)

Interaction of a spheromak-like compact toroid with a high beta spherical tokamak plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, D.Q.; McLean, H.S.; Baker, K.L.; Evans, R.W.; Horton, R.D.; Terry, S.D.; Howard, S.; Schmidt, G.L.

2000-01-01

Recent experiments using accelerated spheromak-like compact toroids (SCTs) to fuel tokamak plasmas have quantified the penetration mechanism in the low beta regime; i.e. external magnetic field pressure dominates plasma thermal pressure. However, fusion reactor designs require high beta plasma and, more importantly, the proper plasma pressure profile. Here, the effect of the plasma pressure profile on SCT penetration, specifically, the effect of diamagnetism, is addressed. It is estimated that magnetic field pressure dominates penetration even up to 50% local beta. The combination of the diamagnetic effect on the toroidal magnetic field and the strong poloidal field at the outer major radius of a spherical tokamak will result in a diamagnetic well in the total magnetic field. Therefore, the spherical tokamak is a good candidate to test the potential trapping of an SCT in a high beta diamagnetic well. The diamagnetic effects of a high beta spherical tokamak discharge (low aspect ratio) are computed. To test the penetration of an SCT into such a diamagnetic well, experiments have been conducted of SCT injection into a vacuum field structure which simulates the diamagnetic field effect of a high beta tokamak. The diamagnetic field gradient length is substantially shorter than that of the toroidal field of the tokamak, and the results show that it can still improve the penetration of the SCT. Finally, analytic results have been used to estimate the effect of plasma pressure on penetration, and the effect of plasma pressure was found to be small in comparison with the magnetic field pressure. The penetration condition for a vacuum field only is reported. To study the diamagnetic effect in a high beta plasma, additional experiments need to be carried out on a high beta spherical tokamak. (author)

Electrical disruption in toroidal plasma of hydrogen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberto, M.; Silva, C.A.B.; Goes, L.C.S.; Sudano, J.P.

1991-01-01

The initial phase of ionization of a toroidal plasma produced in hydrogen was investigated using zero-dimensional model. The model describes the temporal evolution of plasma by spatial medium of particle density and temperature, on whole plasma volume. The energy and particle (electrons and ions) balance equations are considered. The electron loss is due to ambipolar diffusion in the presence of magnetic field. The electron energy loss involves ionization, Coulomb interaction and diffusion. The ohmic heating converter gives the initial voltage necessary to disruption. (M.C.K.)

Turbulent and neoclassical toroidal momentum transport in tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abiteboul, J.

2012-10-01

The goal of magnetic confinement devices such as tokamaks is to produce energy from nuclear fusion reactions in plasmas at low densities and high temperatures. Experimentally, toroidal flows have been found to significantly improve the energy confinement, and therefore the performance of the machine. As extrinsic momentum sources will be limited in future fusion devices such as ITER, an understanding of the physics of toroidal momentum transport and the generation of intrinsic toroidal rotation in tokamaks would be an important step in order to predict the rotation profile in experiments. Among the mechanisms expected to contribute to the generation of toroidal rotation is the transport of momentum by electrostatic turbulence, which governs heat transport in tokamaks. Due to the low collisionality of the plasma, kinetic modeling is mandatory for the study of tokamak turbulence. In principle, this implies the modeling of a six-dimensional distribution function representing the density of particles in position and velocity phase-space, which can be reduced to five dimensions when considering only frequencies below the particle cyclotron frequency. This approximation, relevant for the study of turbulence in tokamaks, leads to the so-called gyrokinetic model and brings the computational cost of the model within the presently available numerical resources. In this work, we study the transport of toroidal momentum in tokamaks in the framework of the gyrokinetic model. First, we show that this reduced model is indeed capable of accurately modeling momentum transport by deriving a local conservation equation of toroidal momentum, and verifying it numerically with the gyrokinetic code GYSELA. Secondly, we show how electrostatic turbulence can break the axisymmetry and generate toroidal rotation, while a strong link between turbulent heat and momentum transport is identified, as both exhibit the same large-scale avalanche-like events. The dynamics of turbulent transport are

Modelling of density limit phenomena in toroidal helical plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itoh, Kimitaka; Itoh, Sanae-I.

2001-01-01

The physics of density limit phenomena in toroidal helical plasmas based on an analytic point model of toroidal plasmas is discussed. The combined mechanism of the transport and radiation loss of energy is analyzed, and the achievable density is derived. A scaling law of the density limit is discussed. The dependence of the critical density on the heating power, magnetic field, plasma size and safety factor in the case of L-mode energy confinement is explained. The dynamic evolution of the plasma energy and radiation loss is discussed. Assuming a simple model of density evolution, of a sudden loss of density if the temperature becomes lower than critical value, then a limit cycle oscillation is shown to occur. A condition that divides the limit cycle oscillation and the complete radiation collapse is discussed. This model seems to explain the density limit oscillation that has been observed on the Wendelstein 7-AS (W7-AS) stellarator. (author)

Modelling of density limit phenomena in toroidal helical plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itoh, K.; Itoh, S.-I.

2000-03-01

The physics of density limit phenomena in toroidal helical plasmas based on an analytic point model of toroidal plasmas is discussed. The combined mechanism of the transport and radiation loss of energy is analyzed, and the achievable density is derived. A scaling law of the density limit is discussed. The dependence of the critical density on the heating power, magnetic field, plasma size and safety factor in the case of L-mode energy confinement is explained. The dynamic evolution of the plasma energy and radiation loss is discussed. Assuming a simple model of density evolution, of a sudden loss of density if the temperature becomes lower than critical value, then a limit cycle oscillation is shown to occur. A condition that divides the limit cycle oscillation and the complete radiation collapse is discussed. This model seems to explain the density limit oscillation that has been observed on the W7-AS stellarator. (author)

Trapped ion mode in toroidally rotating plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Artun, M.; Tang, W.M.; Rewoldt, G.

1995-04-01

The influence of radially sheared toroidal flows on the Trapped Ion Mode (TIM) is investigated using a two-dimensional eigenmode code. These radially extended toroidal microinstabilities could significantly influence the interpretation of confinement scaling trends and associated fluctuation properties observed in recent tokamak experiments. In the present analysis, the electrostatic drift kinetic equation is obtained from the general nonlinear gyrokinetic equation in rotating plasmas. In the long perpendicular wavelength limit k τ ρ bi much-lt 1, where ρ bi is the average trapped-ion banana width, the resulting eigenmode equation becomes a coupled system of second order differential equations nmo for the poloidal harmonics. These equations are solved using finite element methods. Numerical results from the analysis of low and medium toroidal mode number instabilities are presented using representative TFTR L-mode input parameters. To illustrate the effects of mode coupling, a case is presented where the poloidal mode coupling is suppressed. The influence of toroidal rotation on a TFTR L-mode shot is also analyzed by including a beam species with considerable larger temperature. A discussion of the numerical results is presented

Inward transport of a toroidally confined plasma subject to strong radial electric fields

Science.gov (United States)

Roth, J. R.; Krawczonek, W. M.; Powers, E. J.; Hong, J.; Kim, Y.

1977-01-01

The paper aims at showing that the density and confinement time of a toroidal plasma can be enhanced by radial electric fields far stronger than the ambipolar values, and that, if such electric fields point into the plasma, radially inward transport can result. The investigation deals with low-frequency fluctuation-induced transport using digitally implemented spectral analysis techniques and with the role of strong applied radial electric fields and weak vertical magnetic fields on plasma density and particle confinement times in a Bumpy Torus geometry. Results indicate that application of sufficiently strong radially inward electric fields results in radially inward fluctuation-induced transport into the toroidal electrostatic potential well; this inward transport gives rise to higher average electron densities and longer particle confinement times in the toroidal plasma.

External kinks in plasmas with helical boundary deformation and net toroidal current

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ardelea, A. [Ecole Polytechnique Federale, Lausanne (Switzerland). Centre de Recherche en Physique des Plasma (CRPP)

1997-11-01

The investigation of the global ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability of plasmas with helical boundary shape and nonvanishing toroidal plasma current constitutes the principal aim of this work. Global external modes with small values of m,n (typically n = 1,2,3 and m = n+1) are studied, where m and n are the poloidal and toroidal mode numbers, respectively. The first and main part of the work concentrates on fixed boundary equilibria generated by systematically varying parameters such as the type and the magnitude of the boundary deformation, the number of equilibrium field periods N{sub per}, the aspect ratio, the toroidal current density profile, {beta} and the pressure profile. Due to the periodicity of the equilibrium, couplings between Fourier perturbation components with different toroidal mode numbers n occur and lead to the apparition of families of modes. The study of a particular (m,n) mode has to take into account all (m{sub l}, n{sub l}) perturbation components with n{sub 1} belonging to the same family as n. The stability analysis is carried out in the parameter region where the inverse rotational transform (the safety factor in the traditional tokamak notation) q{<=}2.0 and {beta}{<=}2%. A particular property of the configurations investigated is that equilibrium Fourier components (m{sub e}, N{sub per}n{sub e}) which are involved in the couplings between the (m,n) mode studied and the (m{sub k},n{sub k}) perturbation components with m{sub k}>n{sub k}>n that exhibit resonances in the q>1 region are very small. As a consequence, the contributions of the (m,n)x(m{sub k},n{sub k}) couplings to the potential energy are very weak. It is shown that a helical boundary deformation can stabilize the n=1,2,3 external modes; if {delta} is a measure of the plasma boundary deformation, then windows of stability [{delta}{sub min}, {delta}{sub max}] may exist for a large variety of equilibrium parameters. (author) figs., tabs., 44 refs.

Transport in a toroidally confined pure electron plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crooks, S.M.; ONeil, T.M.

1996-01-01

O close-quote Neil and Smith [T.M. O close-quote Neil and R.A. Smith, Phys. Plasmas 1, 8 (1994)] have argued that a pure electron plasma can be confined stably in a toroidal magnetic field configuration. This paper shows that the toroidal curvature of the magnetic field of necessity causes slow cross-field transport. The transport mechanism is similar to magnetic pumping and may be understood by considering a single flux tube of plasma. As the flux tube of plasma undergoes poloidal ExB drift rotation about the center of the plasma, the length of the flux tube and the magnetic field strength within the flux tube oscillate, and this produces corresponding oscillations in T parallel and T perpendicular . The collisional relaxation of T parallel toward T perpendicular produces a slow dissipation of electrostatic energy into heat and a consequent expansion (cross-field transport) of the plasma. In the limit where the cross section of the plasma is nearly circular the radial particle flux is given by Γ r =1/2ν perpendicular,parallel T(r/ρ 0 ) 2 n/(-e∂Φ/∂r), where ν perpendicular,parallel is the collisional equipartition rate, ρ 0 is the major radius at the center of the plasma, and r is the minor radius measured from the center of the plasma. The transport flux is first calculated using this simple physical picture and then is calculated by solving the drift-kinetic Boltzmann equation. This latter calculation is not limited to a plasma with a circular cross section. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

An analysis of plasma ion toroidal rotation during large amplitude MHD activity in JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snipes, J.A.; Esch, H.P.L. de; Lazzaro, E.; Stork, D.; Hellermann, M. von; Galvao, R.; Hender, T.C.; Zasche, D.

1989-01-01

A detailed study of plasma ion toroidal rotation in JET during large amplitude MHD activity has revealed a strong viscous force that couples plasma ions to MHD modes. Depending on the MHD modes present, this force can couple across all of the plasma cross section, across only the central region, roughly within the q=1 surface, or across only the outer region outside the q=1.5 surface. The force acts to flatten the ion toroidal rotation frequency profile, measured by the JET active charge exchange spectroscopy diagnostic, across the coupled region of plasma. The frequency of rotation in this region agrees with the MHD oscillation frequency measured by magnetic pick-up coils at the wall. The strength of the force between the ions and modes becomes evident during high power NBI when the mode locks and drags the ion toroidal rotation frequency to zero, within the errors of the measurements. The present theories of plasma rotation either ignore MHD effects entirely, consider only moderate n toroidal field ripple, or low n ripple effects. (author) 7 refs., 3 figs

Curvature-induced electrostatic drift modes in a toroidal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Venema, M.

1985-01-01

This thesis deals with a number of problems in the theory of linear stability of a hot, fully ionized plasma immersed in a strong magnetic field. The most widely used system to magnetically confine a plasma is the tokamak. This is a toroidal, current carrying device with a strong, externally imposed, magnetic field. The author discusses the linear theory of unstable, low-frequency waves in the gradient region, restricted to electrostatic waves. In that case the resulting radial fluxes of particles and energy are due to electric cross-field drifts. In the presence of magnetic fluctuations and small-scale reconnection phenomena, radial transport could also be predominantly along field lines. At present, it is not clear which of the two mechanisms is the dominant feature of the observed anomalous transport. First, the author introduces the theory of drift waves in toroidal geometry. Next, the electrostratic drift modes in toroidal geometry (weakly collisional regime), the equations for low-frequency waves in the strongly collisional regime and the electrostatic drift modes (strongly collisional regime) are discussed. (Auth.)

Experimental studies of compact toroids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

The Berkeley Compact Toroid Experiment (BCTX) device is a plasma device with a Marshall-gun generated, low aspect ratio toroidal plasma. The device is capable of producing spheromak-type discharges and may, with some modification, produce low-aspect ratio tokamak configurations. A unique aspect of this experimenal devie is its large lower hybrid (LH) heating system, which consists of two 450MHz klystron tubes generating 20 megawatts each into a brambilla-type launching structure. Successful operation with one klystron at virtually full power (18 MW) has been accomplished with 110 μs pulse length. A second klystron is currently installed in its socket and magnet but has not been added to the RF drive system. This report describes current activities and accomplishments and describes the anticipated results of next year's activity

Effect of toroidal plasma flow and flow shear on global MHD modes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, M.S.; Greene, J.M.; Jensen, T.H.; Miller, R.L.; Bondeson, A.; Johnson, R.W.; Mauel, M.E.

1995-01-01

The effect of a subsonic toroidal flow on the linear magnetohydrodynamic stability of a tokamak plasma surrounded by an external resistive wall is studied. A complex non-self-adjoint eigenvalue problem for the stability of general kink and tearing modes is formulated, solved numerically, and applied to high β tokamaks. Results indicate that toroidal plasma flow, in conjunction with dissipation in the plasma, can open a window of stability for the position of the external wall. In this window, stable plasma beta values can significantly exceed those predicted by the Troyon scaling law with no wall. Computations utilizing experimental data indicate good agreement with observations

Hydrogen transport in a toroidal plasma using multigroup discrete-ordinates methodology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wienke, B.R.; Miller, W.F. Jr.; Seed, T.J.

1979-01-01

Neutral hydrogen transport in a fully ionized two-dimensional tokamak plasma was examined using discrete ordinates and contrasted with earlier analyses. In particular, curvature effects induced by toroidal geometries and ray effects caused by possible source localization were investigated. From an overview of the multigroup discrete-ordinates approximation, methodology in two-dimensional cylindrical geometry is detailed, mesh and plasma zoning procedures are sketched, and the piecewise polynomial solution algorithm on a triangular domain is obtained. Toroidal effects and comparisons as related to reaction rates and perticle spectra are examined for various model and source configurations

Equilibrium poloidal field distributions in reversed-field-pinch toroidal discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, D.A.; Mann, L.W.; Schoenberg, K.F.

1982-04-01

A comparison between the analytic formulae of Shafranov for equilibrium in axisymmetric toroidal reversed field pinch (RFP) systems and fully toroidal numerical solutions of the Grad-Shafranov equation is presented as a function of poloidal beta, internal plasma inductance, and aspect ratio. The Shafranov formula for the equilibrium poloidal field distribution is accurate to within 5% for aspect ratios greater than 2, poloidal betas less than 50%, and for plasma current channels that exceed one-third of the minor toroidal radius. The analytic description for the center shift of the innermost flux surface that encloses the plasma current (the Shafranov shift) is accurate to within 15% for aspect ratios greater than 2 and poloidal betas below 50%, provided the shift does not exceed one-tenth of the minor conducting boundary radius. The behavior of the magnetic axis shift as a function of plasma parameters is included. The Shafranov formulae provide a convenient method for describing the equilibrium behavior of an RFP discharge. Examples illustrating the application of the analytic formulae to the Los Alamos ZT-40M RFP experiment are given

Equilibrium poloidal-field distributions in reversed-field-pinch toroidal discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, D.A.; Mann, L.W.; Schoenberg, K.F.

1983-01-01

A comparison between the approximate analytic formulae of Shafranov for equilibrium in axisymmetric toroidal systems and fully toroidal numerical solutions of the Grad-Shafranov equation for reversed-field-pinch (RFP) configurations is presented as a function of poloidal beta, internal plasma inductance, and aspect ratio. The Shafranov formula for the equilibrium poloidal-field distribution at the conducting shell that surrounds the plasma is accurate to within 5% for aspect ratios greater than 2, poloidal betas less than 50%, and for plasma current channels that exceed one third of the minor toroidal radius. The analytic description for the centre shift of the innermost flux surface that encloses the plasma current (the Shafranov shift) is accurate to within 15% for aspect ratios greater than 2 and poloidal betas below 50%, provided the shift does not exceed one tenth of the minor conducting boundary radius. The Shafranov formulae provide a convenient method for describing the gross equilibrium behaviour of an axisymmetric RFP discharge, as well as an effective tool for designing the poloidal-field systems of RFP experiments. (author)

A numerical solution for a toroidal plasma in equilibrium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hintz, E.; Sudano, J.P.

1982-01-01

The iterative techniques alternating direction implicit (ADI), sucessive ove-relaxation (SOR) and Gauss-Seidel are applied to a nonlinear elliptical second order differential equation (Grand-Shafranov). This equation was solve with the free boundary conditions plasma-vacuum interface over a rectangular section in cylindrical coordinates R and Z. The current density profile, plasma pressure profile, magnetic and isobaric surfaces are numerically determined for a toroidal plasma in equilibrium. (L.C.) [pt

Formation and sustainment of a low aspect ratio tokamak by a series of plasma injections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimamura, Shin; Taniguchi, Makoto; Takahashi, Tsutomu; Nogi, Yasuyuki

1995-01-01

A low aspect ratio tokamak plasma was generated and sustained by injecting a series of plasmas from a magnetized coaxial gun into a flux conserver with toroidal field. The magnetized coaxial gun was supplied by an oscillating current with a d.c. component. The first few current pulses injected plasma and helicity into the flux conserver. This pulse helicity injection method worked effectively to maintain the low aspect ratio tokamak. 8 refs., 5 figs

Effects of orbit squeezing on neoclassical toroidal plasma viscosity in tokamaks

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Shaing, K.C.; Sabbagh, S.A.; Chu, M.S.; Bécoulet, M.; Cahyna, Pavel

2008-01-01

Roč. 15, č. 8 (2008), 082505-1-082505-8 ISSN 1070-664X Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20430508 Keywords : plasma boundary layers * plasma instability * plasma magnetohydrodynamics * plasma toroidal confinement * plasma transport processes * Tokamak devices Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 2.427, year: 2008 http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2965146

Electron current generated in a toroidal plasma on injection of high-energy neutrals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolesnichenko, Ya.I.; Reznik, S.N.

1981-01-01

Problem of generation of electron current in toroidal plasma with a high-energy ion beam produced during neutral injection has been considered. The analysis was performed on the assumption that plasma is in the regime of rare collisions (banana regime) and ion beam velocity is considerably lower than thermal velocity of plasma ions. Formulae establishing the relation between beam current and electron current have been derived. It follows from them that toroidal affect considerably plasma current generated with the beam and under certain conditions result in changing this current direction in an area remoted from magne-- tic axis [ru

Confinement and heating of high beta plasma with emphasis on compact toroids. Compact toroid research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vlases, G.C.; Pietrzyk, Z.A.

1984-11-01

Two older projects associated with very high energy density plasmas, specifically the High Density Field Reversed Configuration and the Liner Plasma Compression Experiment, have been completed. Attention has been turned to compact toroid experiments of more conventional density, and three experiments have been initiated. These include the Coaxial Slow Source Experiment, the Variable Length FRC Experiment, and Variable Angle CthetaP Experiment. In each case, the project was begun in order to provide basic plasma physics information on specific unresolved issues of progammatic importance to the national CT Program

Non-Inductively Driven Tokamak Plasmas at Near-Unity Toroidal Beta in the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Reusch, Joshua

2017-10-01

A major goal of the spherical tokamak research program is accessing a state of low internal inductance li, high elongation κ, high toroidal and normalized beta (βt and βN) , and low collisionality without solenoidal current drive. A new local helicity injection (LHI) system in the lower divertor region of the ultra-low aspect ratio Pegasus ST provides non-solenoidally driven plasmas that exhibit most of these characteristics. LHI utilizes compact, edge-localized current sources (Ainj 4 cm2, Iinj 8 kA, Vinj 1.5 kV) for plasma startup and sustainment, and can sustain more than 200 kA of plasma current. Plasma growth via LHI is enhanced by a transition from a regime of high kink-like MHD activity to one of reduced MHD activity at higher frequencies and presumably shorter wavelengths. The strong edge current drive provided by LHI results in a hollow current density profile with low li. The low aspect ratio (R0 / a 1.2) of Pegasus allows ready access to high κ and MHD stable operation at very high normalized plasma currents (IN =Ip /aBT> 15). Thomson scattering measurements indicate Te 100 eV and ne 1 ×19 m-3. The impurity Ti evolution is correlated in time with high frequency magnetic fluctuations, implying substantial reconnection ion heating is driven by the applied helicity injection. Doppler spectroscopy indicates Ti >=Te and that the anomalous ion heating scales consistently with two fluid reconnection theory. Taken together, these features provide access to very high βt plasmas. Equilibrium analyses indicate βt up to 100% and βN 6.5 is achieved. At increasingly low BT, the discharge disrupts at the no-wall ideal stability limit. In these high βt discharges, a minimum |B| well forms over 50% of the plasma volume. This unique magnetic configuration may be of interest for testing predictions of stabilizing drift wave turbulence and/or improving energetic particle confinement. This work supported by US DOE Grants DE-FG02-96ER54375 and DE-SC0006928.

Performance and stability limits at near-unity aspect ratio in the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fonck, R.J.

2002-01-01

The Pegasus Toroidal Experiment is a mid-sized extremely-low aspect ratio (A) spherical torus (ST). It has the dual roles of exploring limits of ST behavior as A approaches 1 and studying the physics of ST plasmas in the tokamak-spheromak overlap regime. Major parameters are R 0.25 - 0.45 m, A 1.1 - 1.4, I p ≤ 0.15MA, and B t p =aB t is similar to that observed for NBI-heated START discharges. Achievable plasma current apparently is subject to a 'soft' limit of I p =I t f ≤ 1. Access to higher-current plasmas appears to be restricted by the appearance of large internal MHD activity, including m/n=2/1 and 3/2 modes. Recent experiments have begun to access ideal stability limits, with disruptions observed as q 95 approaches 5, in agreement with numerical predictions. (author)

Integrable perturbed magnetic fields in toroidal geometry: An exact analytical flux surface label for large aspect ratio

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kallinikos, N.; Isliker, H.; Vlahos, L.; Meletlidou, E. [Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR-54124 Thessaloniki (Greece)

2014-06-15

An analytical description of magnetic islands is presented for the typical case of a single perturbation mode introduced to tokamak plasma equilibrium in the large aspect ratio approximation. Following the Hamiltonian structure directly in terms of toroidal coordinates, the well known integrability of this system is exploited, laying out a precise and practical way for determining the island topology features, as required in various applications, through an analytical and exact flux surface label.

Integrable perturbed magnetic fields in toroidal geometry: An exact analytical flux surface label for large aspect ratio

Science.gov (United States)

Kallinikos, N.; Isliker, H.; Vlahos, L.; Meletlidou, E.

2014-06-01

An analytical description of magnetic islands is presented for the typical case of a single perturbation mode introduced to tokamak plasma equilibrium in the large aspect ratio approximation. Following the Hamiltonian structure directly in terms of toroidal coordinates, the well known integrability of this system is exploited, laying out a precise and practical way for determining the island topology features, as required in various applications, through an analytical and exact flux surface label.

Integrable perturbed magnetic fields in toroidal geometry: An exact analytical flux surface label for large aspect ratio

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kallinikos, N.; Isliker, H.; Vlahos, L.; Meletlidou, E.

2014-01-01

An analytical description of magnetic islands is presented for the typical case of a single perturbation mode introduced to tokamak plasma equilibrium in the large aspect ratio approximation. Following the Hamiltonian structure directly in terms of toroidal coordinates, the well known integrability of this system is exploited, laying out a precise and practical way for determining the island topology features, as required in various applications, through an analytical and exact flux surface label

Plasma heating and confinement in toroidal magnetic bottle by means of microwave slowing-down structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Datlov, J.; Klima, R.; Kopecky, V.; Musil, J.; Zacek, F.

1977-01-01

An invention is described concerning high-frequency plasma heating and confinement in toroidal magnetic vessels. Microwave energy is applied to the plasma via one or more slowing-down structures exciting low phase velocity waves whose energy may be efficiently absorbed by plasma electrons. The wave momentum transfer results in a toroidal electrical current whose magnetic field together with an external magnetic field ensure plasma confinement. The low-frequency modulation of microwave energy may also be used for heating the ion plasma component. (J.U.)

Collisional boundary layer analysis for neoclassical toroidal plasma viscosity in tokamaks

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Shaing, K.C.; Cahyna, Pavel; Bécoulet, M.; Park, J.-K.; Sabbagh, S.A.; Chu, M.S.

2008-01-01

Roč. 15, č. 8 (2008), 082506-1-7 ISSN 1070-664X Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20430508 Keywords : plasma boundary layers * plasma toroidal confinement * Tokamak devices Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 2.427, year: 2008 http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2969434

Analytical sudy on the equilibrium of quasi-stationary toroidal plasma with non-circular cross section of the Tokamak type

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goes, L.C.S.

1978-08-01

It is assumed that the plasma is governed by the static - equilibrium equations of magnetohydrodynamics. An analytical study is described for the equilibrium of an axially symmetric plasma configuration in the form of a toroid, with non-circular cross-section, carrying a longitudinal current. A class of exact solutions, for two different current distributions, with a fixed toroidal boundary, is described. The main features o these solutions are: it remains valid for an arbitrary aspect ratio, in the neighbourhood of the magnetic axis, the magnetic surfaces are ellipses of known eccentricities, there is, far from the magnetic axis, a hyperbolic point of a separatrix, at the origin of the coordinate system. The equilibrium found is suitable for calculations of a future fusion reactor. (Author) [pt

The problem of evolution of toroidal plasma equilibrium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kostomarov, D.; Zaitsev, F.; Shishkin, A.

1999-03-01

This paper is devoted to an advanced mathematical model for a self-consistent description of the evolution of free boundary toroidal plasmas, with a description of numerical algorithms for the solution of the appropriate non-linear system of integro-differential equations, and discussion of some results from the model. (author)

Performance and stability limits at near-unity aspect ratio in the pegasus toroidal experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fonck, R.; Diem, S.; Garstka, G.; Kissick, M.; Lewicki, B.; Ostrander, C.; Probert, P.; Reinke, M.; Sontag, A.; Tritz, K.; Unterberg, E.

2003-01-01

The Pegasus Toroidal Experiment is a mid-sized extremely-low aspect ratio (A) spherical torus (ST). It has the dual roles of exploring limits of ST behavior as A approaches 1 and studying the physics of ST plasmas in the tokamak-spheromak overlap regime. Major parameters are R 0.25 - 0.45 m, A 1.1 - 1.4, I p T 20% have been obtained, and the operational space of beta vs I p /aB T is similar to that observed for NBI-heated START discharges. Achievable plasma current is subject to an apparent limit of I p /I tf ∼ 1. Access to higher-current plasmas appears to be restricted by the appearance of large internal MHD activity, including m/n=2/1 and 3/2 modes. Recent experiments have begun to access ideal stability limits, with disruptions observed as q 95 approaches 5, in agreement with numerical predictions for external kink mode onset. (author)

Self-sustained turbulence and L-mode confinement in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itoh, K.; Itoh, S.; Fukuyama, A.; Yagi, M.; Azumi, M.

1993-04-01

Theory of the L-mode confinement in toroidal plasmas is developed. The quantitative effect of the anomalous transport, which is caused by microscopic fluctuations, on the pressure-gradient- driven modes is analyzed. The ExB nonlinearity is renormalized in a form of the transport coefficient such as the thermal diffusivity, the ion viscosity and the current diffusivity. The destabilization by the current-diffusivity and the stabilization by the thermal transport and ion viscosity are analyzed. By use of the mean-field approximations, the nonlinear dispersion relation is solved. Growth rate and stability condition are expressed in terms of the renormalized transport coefficients. The transport coefficients in the steady state are obtained by the marginal stability condition for the least stable mode. This method is applied to the microscopic ballooning mode for the toroidal plasma with the magnetic well (such as tokamak). The comparison with experimental observations are made. A good agreement is found in a various aspects of the L-mode plasmas; The typical wavenumber and level of the fluctuations for the self-sustained turbulence is also obtained. The analysis is also made for the plasma with magnetic hill and shear (such as torsatron/Heliotron devices). This method is applied to the interchange modes. Formula of the anomalous transport is obtained. Also investigated is the case of the magnetic well and low magnetic shear (conventional stellarator). The roles of the pressure gradient and the collisionless skin depth in determining the anomalous transport are found to be generic in toroidal plasmas. The difference in the magnetic configuration affects the transport coefficient. These formula explain major experimental observations. (J.P.N.)

On the parametric cyclotron heating of a toroidal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golovanivsky, K.C.; Punithavelu, A.M.

1976-01-01

The possibility of heating the ionic component of a dense plasma at the parametric cyclotron resonance, using a section of the conducting toroidal chamber of a large scale Tokamak as a resonance cavity, is considered. It is suggested to use the mode TE 011 to overcome the difficulties with the penetration of HF fields into such a dense plasma. The experimental investigation of parametric cyclotron heating of electrons in a overdense plasma (n/nsub(cut off)=10 2 ) on such a model has given hopeful results

MHD equilibrium of toroidal fusion plasma with stationary flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galkowski, A.

1994-01-01

Non-linear ideal MHD equilibria in axisymmetric system with flows are examined, both in 1st and 2nd ellipticity regions. Evidence of the bifurcation of solutions is provided and numerical solutions of several problems in a tokamak geometry are given, exhibiting bifurcation phenomena. Relaxation of plasma in the presence of zero-order flows is studied in a realistic toroidal geometry. The field aligned flow allows equilibria with finite pressure gradient but with homogeneous temperature distribution. Numerical calculations have been performed for the 1st and 2nd ellipticity regimes of the extended Grad-Shafranov-Schlueter equation. Numerical technique, alternative to the well-known Grad's ADM methods has been proposed to deal with slow adiabatic evolution of toroidal plasma with flows. The equilibrium problem with prescribed adiabatic constraints may be solved by simultaneous calculations of flux surface geometry and original profile functions. (author). 178 refs, 37 figs, 5 tabs

Formation of toroidal pre-heat plasma without residual magnetic field for high-beta pinch experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikeda, Nagayasu; Tamaru, Ken; Nagata, Akiyoshi.

1979-01-01

Formation of toroidal pre-heat plasma was studied. The pre-heat plasma without residual magnetic field was made by chopping the current for pre-heat, A small toroidal-pinch system was used for the experiment. The magnetic field was measured with a magnetic probe. One turn loop was used for the measurement of the toroidal one-turn electric field. A pair of Rogoski coil was used for the measurement of plasma current. The dependence of residual magnetic field on chopping time was measured. By fast chopping of the primary current in the pre-heating circuit, the poloidal magnetic field was reduced to several percent within 5 microsecond. After chopping, no instability was observed in the principal discharge plasma produced within several microsecond. As the conclusion, it can be said that the control of residual field can be made by current chopping. (Kato, T.)

On nonlinear MHD-stability of toroidal magnetized plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ilgisonis, V.I.; Pastukhov, V.P.

1994-01-01

The variational approach to analyze the nonlinear MHD stability of ideal plasma in toroidal magnetic field is proposed. The potential energy functional to be used is expressed in terms of complete set of independent Lagrangian invariants, that allows to take strictly into account all the restrictions inherent in the varied functions due to MHD dynamic equations. (author). 3 refs

System and method for generating steady state confining current for a toroidal plasma fusion reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bers, A.

1981-01-01

A system for generating steady state confining current for a toroidal plasma fusion reactor providing steady-state generation of the thermonuclear power. A dense, hot toroidal plasma is initially prepared with a confining magnetic field with toroidal and poloidal components. Continuous wave rf energy is injected into said plasma to estalish a spectrum of traveling waves in the plasma, where the traveling waves have momentum components substantially either all parallel, or all anti-parallel to the confining magnetic field. The injected rf energy is phased to couple to said traveling waves with both a phase velocity component and a wave momentum component in the direction of the plasma traveling wave components. The injected rf energy has a predetermined spectrum selected so that said traveling waves couple to plasma electrons having velocities in a predetermined range delta . The velocities in the range are substantially greater than the thermal electron velocity of the plasma. In addition, the range is sufficiently broad to produce a raised plateau having width delta in the plasma electron velocity distribution so that the plateau electrons provide steady-state current to generate a poloidal magnetic field component sufficient for confining the plasma. In steady state operation of the fusion reactor, the fusion power density in the plasma exceeds the power dissipated inthe plasma

Simulation Study of an Extended Density DC Glow Toroidal Plasma Source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Granda-Gutierrez, E. E.; Piedad-Beneitez, A. de la; Lopez-Callejas, R.; Godoy-Cabrera, O. G.; Benitez-Read, J. S.; Pacheco-Sotelo, J. O.; Pena-Eguiluz, R.; Mercado-Cabrera, A.; Valencia A, R.; Barocio, S. R.

2006-01-01

Conventional wisdom assigns the DC glow discharge regime to plasma currents below ∼500 mA values, beyond which the discharge falls into the anomalous glow and the turbulent arc regimes. However, we have found evidence that, during toroidal discharges, this barrier can be ostensibly extended up to 800 mA. Thus, a computer simulation has been applied to the evolution of the main electrical characteristics of such a glow discharge plasma in a toroidal vessel in order to design and construct a respective voltage/current controlled source. This should be able to generate a DC plasma in the glow regime with which currents in the range 10-3-100 A can be experimented and 109-1010 cm-3 plasma densities can be achieved to PIII optimization purposes. The plasma is modelled as a voltage-controlled current source able to be turned on whenever the breakdown voltage is reached across the gap between the anode and the vessel wall. The simulation outcome fits well our experimental measurements showing that the plasma current obeys power laws that are dependent on the power current and other control variables such as the gas pressure

Toroidal confinement of non-neutral plasma - A new approach to high-beta equilibrium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, Z.; Ogawa, Y.; Morikawa, J.

2001-01-01

Departure from the quasi-neutral condition allows us to apply significant two-fluid effects that impart a new freedom to the design of high-performance fusion plasma. The self-electric field in a non-neutralized plasma induces a strong ExB-drift flow. A fast flow produces a large hydrodynamic pressure that can balance with the thermal pressure of the plasma. Basic concepts to produce a toroidal non-neutral plasma have been examined on the internal-conductor toroidal confinement device Proto-RT. A magnetic separatrix determines the boundary of the confinement region. Electrons describe chaotic orbits in the neighborhood of the magnetic null point on the separatrix. The chaos yields collisionless diffusion of electrons from the particle source (electron gun) towards the confinement region. Collisionless heating also occurs in the magnetic null region, which can be applied to produce a plasma. (author)

2D full wave simulation on electromagnetic wave propagation in toroidal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hojo, Hitoshi; Uruta, Go; Nakayama, Kazunori; Mase, Atsushi

2002-01-01

Global full-wave simulation on electromagnetic wave propagation in toroidal plasma with an external magnetic field imaging a tokamak configuration is performed in two dimensions. The temporal behavior of an electromagnetic wave launched into plasma from a wave-guiding region is obtained. (author)

Improved plasma confinement by modulated toroidal current on HT-7 superconducting tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mao Jianshan; Zhao Junyu; Shen Biao; Luo Jiarong

2004-01-01

The improved confinement phase was observed during modulating toroidal current on the Hefei superconducting Tokamak-7 (HT-7). This improved plasma confinement phase is characterized by suppressing magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities effectively, thus increased the central line averaged electron density and the central electron temperature about 33%, out-put steeper density profiles, and reduced hydrogen radiation from the edge as well. The global energy confinement time was increased by 27%-45%; The impurity radiation was reduced by modulation of plasma toroidal current; particle confinement time was increased about two times; a stronger radial negative electric field formed inside the limiter. The radial electric field during modulating current was calculated and disscused. (authors)

Project and analysis of the toroidal magnetic field production circuits and the plasma formation of the ETE (Spherical Tokamak Experiment) tokamak; Projeto e analise dos circuitos de producao de campo magnetico toroidal e de formacao do plasma do Tokamak ETE (Experimento Tokamak Esferico)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barbosa, Luis Filipe F.P.W.; Bosco, Edson del

1994-12-31

This report presents the project and analysis of the circuit for production of the toroidal magnetic field in the Tokamak ETE (Spherical Tokamak Experiment). The ETE is a Tokamak with a small-aspect-ratio parameter to be used for studying the plasma physics for the research on thermonuclear fusion. This machine is being constructed at the Laboratorio Associado de Plasma (LAP) of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE) in Sao Jose dos Campos, SP, Brazil. (author). 20 refs., 39 figs., 4 tabs.

Generation of stable mixed-compact-toroid rings by inducing plasma currents in strong E rings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jayakumar, R.; Taggart, D.P.; Parker, M.R.; Fleischmann, H.H.

1989-01-01

In the RECE-Christa device, hybrid-type compact toroid rings are generated by inducing large toroidal plasma currents I rho in strong electron rings using a thin induction coil positioned along the ring axis. Starting from field-reversal values δ ο = 50 - 120 percent of the original pure fast-electron ring, the induced plasma current I rho raises δ to a maximum value of up to 240 percent with I rho contributing more than 50 percent of the total ring current. Quite interestingly, the generated hybrid compact toroid configurations appear gross-stable during the full I rho pulse length (half-amplitude width about 100 μs)

System and method for generating steady state confining current for a toroidal plasma fusion reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisch, N.J.

1981-01-01

A system for generating steady state confining current for a toroidal plasma fusion reactor providing steady-state generation of the thermonuclear power. A dense, hot toroidal plasma is initially prepared with a confining magnetic field with toroidal and poloidal components. Continuous wave rf energy is injected into said plasma to establish a spectrum of traveling waves in the plasma, where the traveling waves have momentum components substantially either all parallel, or all anti-parallel to the confining magnetic field. The injected rf energy is phased to couple to said traveling waves with both a phase velocity component and a wave momentum component in the direction of the plasma traveling wave components. The injected rf energy has a predetermined spectrum selected so that said traveling waves couple to plasma electrons having velocities in a predetermined range delta . The velocities in the range are substantially greater than the thermal electron velocity of the plasma. In addition, the range is sufficiently broad to produce a raised plateau having width delta in the plasma electron velocity distribution so that the plateau electrons provide steady-state current to generate a poloidal magnetic field component sufficient for confining the plasma. In steady state operation of the fusion reactor, the fusion power density in the plasma exceeds the power dissipated in the plasma

Moving toroidal limiter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikuta, Kazunari; Miyahara, Akira.

1983-06-01

The concept of the limiter-divertor proposed by Mirnov is extended to a toroidal limiter-divertor (which we call moving toroidal limiter) using the stream of ferromagnetic balls coated with a low Z materials such as plastics, graphite and ceramics. An important advantage of the use of the ferromagnetic materials would be possible soft landing of the balls on a catcher, provided that the temperature of the balls is below Curie point. Moreover, moving toroidal limiter would work as a protector of the first wall not only against the vertical movement of plasma ring but also against the violent inward motion driven by major disruption because the orbit of the ball in the case of moving toroidal limiter distributes over the small major radius side of the toroidal plasma. (author)

The vacuum-arc plasma motion in a toroidal magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Timoshenko, A.I.; Gnybida, M.V.; Taran, V.S.; Tereshin, V.I.; Chechelnitskij, O.G.

2005-01-01

The separation of the vacuum-arc plasma from macro-particles in the curvilinear plasma filters allows obtaining coatings with especially high characteristics. However, inside such filters the significant plasma losses also have been occurred. At the same time, increasing in the filter's efficiency is a difficult task without an effective mathematical model that really would describe the vacuum-arc plasma motion in a toroidal magnetic field. The description based on the flax-tube model was in fact only the first approximation in the decision of this problem. According to detailed flax-tube analysis of ions passage through the quarter torus plasma guide, the efficiency of the filter should grow up to 85% as the positive potential U, applied to the body of the plasma guide, is on the increase. However, the experiment showed that maximum of transparency reach up to ∼ 12%, at potential about of +18 Volts, and comes down under the further increase in potential. Such big digression from experiment does not justify the use of flux-tube model for designing of curvilinear plasma filters. We offer the new approach to the description of the vacuum-arc plasma motion in a toroidal magnetic field based on the solutions of steady-state (∂/∂t=0) Vlasov-Maxwell equations for the long plasma column aligned parallel to a constant axial magnetic field. The relations for the self-consistent electric polarization fields, which appear due to displacement of the electron component from ionic one on the curvilinear part of motion, were derived within a framework of the drift approximation. The dynamics of the central part of the plasma flow in the electric polarization fields was considered in detail. The displacement of the plasma flow at the output of the plasma guide was calculated for the carbon and titanium plasmas. The good agreement with the experimental data was obtained. (author)

Mode converter for electron cyclotron resonance heating of toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Motley, R.W.; Hsuan, H.; Glanz, J.

1980-09-01

A method is proposed for improving the efficiency of cyclotron resonance heating of a toroidal plasma by ordinary mode radiation from the outside of the torus. Radiation not absorbed in the first pass is reflected from the inside of the torus by a corrugated surface which rotates the polarization by 90 0 , so that a secondary source of extraordinary waves is created in the high field, accessible region of the plasma

Propagation and damping of mode converted ion-Bernstein waves in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ram, A.K.; Bers, A.

1991-01-01

In the heating of tokamak plasmas by waves in the ion-cyclotron range of frequencies, the fast Alfven waves launched at the plasma edge can mode convert to the ion-Bernstein waves (IBW). The propagation and damping of these mode converted waves was studied using a ray tracing code that follows the fast phase and the amplitude of the electromagnetic field along the IBW ray trajectories in a toroidal plasma. A simple analytical model is developed that describes the numerically observed features of propagation and damping of the IBW's. It is found that along the ray trajectory of the IBW there is an upshift of the poloidal mode numbers, which can lead to the electron Landau damping of the wave. This damping is dependent on the strength of the toroidal plasma current. From the properties of the upshift of the poloidal mode numbers, it is concluded that the mode converted ion-Bernstein waves are not suitable candidates for electron current drive

Linear mode conversion in a toroidal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hellsten, T.

1980-05-01

Linear mode conversion at the perpendicular ion cyclotron resonance has been treated for an axially symmetric toroidal plasma. The mode conversion appears between a fast electromagnetic wave and a slow-quasi electrostatic wave, due to finite electron inertia. The problem reduces to the Orr-Sommerfeld equation where the coefficients determining the reflectron, transmission and conversion are functions of the arc length along a poloidal intersection of the resonance surface. These coefficients can be determined from eigenfunctions of an ordinary differential equation. (author)

Three dimensional transport model for toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Copenhauer, C.

1980-12-01

A nonlinear MHD model, developed for three-dimensional toroidal geometries (asymmetric) and for high β (β approximately epsilon), is used as a basis for a three-dimensional transport model. Since inertia terms are needed in describing evolving magnetic islands, the model can calculate transport, both in the transient phase before nonlinear saturation of magnetic islands and afterwards on the resistive time scale. In the β approximately epsilon ordering, the plasma does not have sufficient energy to compress the parallel magnetic field, which allows the Alfven wave to be eliminated in the reduced nonlinear equations, and the model then follows the slower time scales. The resulting perpendicular and parallel plasma drift velocities can be identified with those of guiding center theory

Magnetohydrodynamic Stability of a Toroidal Plasma's Separatrix

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webster, A. J.; Gimblett, C. G.

2009-01-01

Large tokamaks capable of fusion power production such as ITER, should avoid large edge localized modes (ELMs), thought to be triggered by an ideal magnetohydrodynamic instability due to current at the plasma's separatrix boundary. Unlike analytical work in a cylindrical approximation, numerical work finds the modes are stable. The plasma's separatrix might stabilize modes, but makes analytical and numerical work difficult. We generalize a cylindrical model to toroidal separatrix geometry, finding one parameter Δ ' determines stability. The conformal transformation method is generalized to allow nonzero derivatives of a function on a boundary, and calculation of the equilibrium vacuum field allows Δ ' to be found analytically. As a boundary more closely approximates a separatrix, we find the energy principle indicates instability, but the growth rate asymptotes to zero

The role of fluctuation-induced transport in a toroidal plasma with strong radial electric fields

Science.gov (United States)

Roth, J. R.; Krawczonek, W. M.; Powers, E. J.; Hong, J. Y.; Kim, Y. C.

1981-01-01

Previous work employing digitally implemented spectral analysis techniques is extended to demonstrate that radial fluctuation-induced transport is the dominant ion transport mechanism in an electric field dominated toroidal plasma. Such transport can be made to occur against a density gradient, and hence may have a very beneficial effect on confinement in toroidal plasmas of fusion interest. It is shown that Bohm or classical diffusion down a density gradient, the collisional Pedersen-current mechanism, and the collisionless electric field gradient mechanism described by Cole (1976) all played a minor role, if any, in the radial transport of this plasma.

A Toroidally Symmetric Plasma Simulation code for design of position and shape control on tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takase, Haruhiko; Senda, Ikuo

1999-01-01

A Toroidally Symmetric Plasma Simulation (TSPS) code has been developed for investigating the position and shape control on tokamak plasmas. The analyses of three-dimensional eddy currents on the conducting components around the plasma and the two-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) equilibrium are taken into account in this code. The code can analyze the plasma position and shape control during the minor disruption in which the deformation of plasma is not negligible. Using the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) parameters, some examples of calculations are shown in this paper. (author)

A toroidal plasma MHD equilibrium code 'EQUCIR version 1'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ninomiya, Hiromasa; Shinya, Kichiro; Kameari, Akihisa.

1980-10-01

A new free-boundary toroidal MHD equilibrium code ''EQUCIR version 1'' has been developed. The central problems approached by this code is as follows: 1) The magnetic flux distribution of a plasma at equilibrium is determined in the given external field. 2) A set of circuit equations between the plasma and the external conductors are constructed. These circuit equations and the Grad-Shafranov equation are solved self-consistently and the time evolutions of plasma equilibria and currents in external conductors are determined at the same time. 3) The currents in the external conductors are determined so that the plasma cross-section and plasma parameters are to be maintained with desired ones. It is shown that this code is very useful for study of the tokamak plasma equilibria, for design of the poloidal coil system and for investigation of experimental results. (author)

Investigation of diocotron modes in toroidally trapped electron plasmas using non-destructive method

Science.gov (United States)

Lachhvani, Lavkesh; Pahari, Sambaran; Sengupta, Sudip; Yeole, Yogesh G.; Bajpai, Manu; Chattopadhyay, P. K.

2017-10-01

Experiments with trapped electron plasmas in a SMall Aspect Ratio Toroidal device (SMARTEX-C) have demonstrated a flute-like mode represented by oscillations on capacitive (wall) probes. Although analogous to diocotron mode observed in linear electron traps, the mode evolution in toroids can have interesting consequences due to the presence of in-homogeneous magnetic field. In SMARTEX-C, the probe signals are observed to undergo transition from small, near-sinusoidal oscillations to large amplitude, non-linear "double-peaked" oscillations. To interpret the wall probe signal and bring forth the dynamics, an expression for the induced current on the probe for an oscillating charge is derived, utilizing Green's Reciprocation Theorem. Equilibrium position, poloidal velocity of the charge cloud, and charge content of the cloud, required to compute the induced current, are estimated from the experiments. Signal through capacitive probes is thereby computed numerically for possible charge cloud trajectories. In order to correlate with experiments, starting with an intuitive guess of the trajectory, the model is evolved and tweaked to arrive at a signal consistent with experimentally observed probe signals. A possible vortex like dynamics is predicted, hitherto unexplored in toroidal geometries, for a limited set of experimental observations from SMARTEX-C. Though heuristic, a useful interpretation of capacitive probe data in terms of charge cloud dynamics is obtained.

Toroidal current asymmetry in tokamak disruptions

Science.gov (United States)

Strauss, H. R.

2014-10-01

It was discovered on JET that disruptions were accompanied by toroidal asymmetry of the toroidal plasma current I ϕ. It was found that the toroidal current asymmetry was proportional to the vertical current moment asymmetry with positive sign for an upward vertical displacement event (VDE) and negative sign for a downward VDE. It was observed that greater displacement leads to greater measured I ϕ asymmetry. Here, it is shown that this is essentially a kinematic effect produced by a VDE interacting with three dimensional MHD perturbations. The relation of toroidal current asymmetry and vertical current moment is calculated analytically and is verified by numerical simulations. It is shown analytically that the toroidal variation of the toroidal plasma current is accompanied by an equal and opposite variation of the toroidal current flowing in a thin wall surrounding the plasma. These currents are connected by 3D halo current, which is π/2 radians out of phase with the n = 1 toroidal current variations.

Wave propagation near the lower hybrid resonance in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohkubo, K.; Ohasa, K.; Matsuura, K.

1975-10-01

Dielectric tensor and equipotential curves (ray trajectories) of an electrostatic wave near the lower hybrid resonance are investigated for the toroidal plasma with a shear magnetic field. The ray trajectories start from the vicinity of the plasma surface, and rotate in a spiral form around the magnetic axis, and then reach the lower or upper parts of lower hybrid resonance layer. The numerical computations are performed on the parameters of JIPP T-II device with two dimensional inhomogeneity. (auth.)

A versatile ray-tracing code for studying rf wave propagation in toroidal magnetized plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peysson, Y; Decker, J; Morini, L

2012-01-01

A new ray-tracing code named C3PO has been developed to study the propagation of arbitrary electromagnetic radio-frequency (rf) waves in magnetized toroidal plasmas. Its structure is designed for maximum flexibility regarding the choice of coordinate system and dielectric model. The versatility of this code makes it particularly suitable for integrated modeling systems. Using a coordinate system that reflects the nested structure of magnetic flux surfaces in tokamaks, fast and accurate calculations inside the plasma separatrix can be performed using analytical derivatives of a spline-Fourier interpolation of the axisymmetric toroidal MHD equilibrium. Applications to reverse field pinch magnetic configuration are also included. The effects of 3D perturbations of the axisymmetric toroidal MHD equilibrium, due to the discreteness of the magnetic coil system or plasma fluctuations in an original quasi-optical approach, are also studied. Using a Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method for solving the set of ordinary differential equations, the ray-tracing code is extensively benchmarked against analytical models and other codes for lower hybrid and electron cyclotron waves. (paper)

Toroidal rotation studies in KSTAR

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, S. G.; Lee, H. H.; Yoo, J. W.; Kim, Y. S.; Ko, W. H.; Terzolo, L.; Bitter, M.; Hill, K.; KSTAR Team

2014-10-01

Investigation of the toroidal rotation is one of the most important topics for the magnetically confined fusion plasma researches since it is essential for the stabilization of resistive wall modes and its shear plays an important role to improve plasma confinement by suppressing turbulent transport. The most advantage of KSTAR tokamak for toroidal rotation studies is that it equips two main diagnostics including the high-resolution X-ray imaging crystal spectrometer (XICS) and charge exchange spectroscopy (CES). Simultaneous core toroidal rotation and ion temperature measurements of different impurity species from the XICS and CES have shown in reasonable agreement with various plasma discharges in KSTAR. It has been observed that the toroidal rotation in KSTAR is faster than that of other tokamak devices with similar machine size and momentum input. This may due to an intrinsically low toroidal field ripple and error field of the KSTAR device. A strong braking of the toroidal rotation by the n = 1 non-resonant magnetic perturbations (NRMPs) also indicates these low toroidal field ripple and error field. Recently, it has been found that n = 2 NRMPs can also damp the toroidal rotation in KSTAR. The detail toroidal rotation studies will be presented. Work supported by the Korea Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning under the KSTAR project.

Goya - an MHD equilibrium code for toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scheffel, J.

1984-09-01

A description of the GOYA free-boundary equilibrium code is given. The non-linear Grad-Shafranov equation of ideal MHD is solved in a toroidal geometry for plasmas with purely poloidal magnetic fields. The code is based on a field line-tracing procedure, making storage of a large amount of information on a grid unnecessary. Usage of the code is demonstrated by computations of equi/libria for the EXTRAP-T1 device. (Author)

Modeling and control of plasma rotation for NSTX using neoclassical toroidal viscosity and neutral beam injection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goumiri, I. R. [Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Mechanical and Aerospace Dept.; Rowley, C. W. [Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Mechanical and Aerospace Dept.; Sabbagh, S. A. [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States). Dept. of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics; Gates, D. A. [Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States); Gerhardt, S. P. [Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States); Boyer, M. D. [Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States); Andre, R. [Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States); Kolemen, E. [Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States); Taira, K. [Florida State Univ, Dept Mech Engn, Tallahassee, FL USA.

2016-02-19

A model-based feedback system is presented to control plasma rotation in a magnetically confined toroidal fusion device, to maintain plasma stability for long-pulse operation. This research uses experimental measurements from the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) and is aimed at controlling plasma rotation using two different types of actuation: momentum from injected neutral beams and neoclassical toroidal viscosity generated by three-dimensional applied magnetic fields. Based on the data-driven model obtained, a feedback controller is designed, and predictive simulations using the TRANSP plasma transport code show that the controller is able to attain desired plasma rotation profiles given practical constraints on the actuators and the available measurements of rotation.

Physics of electron internal transport barrier in toroidal helical plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itoh, K.; Toda, S.; Fujisawa, A.; Ida, K.; Itoh, S.-I.; Yagi, M.; Fukuyama, A.; Diamond, P.H.

2006-10-01

The role of zonal flows in the formation of the transport barrier in the helical plasmas is analyzed using the transport code. A set of one-dimensional transport equations is analyzed, including the effect of zonal flows. The turbulent transport coefficient is shown to be suppressed when the plasma state changes from the weak negative radial electric field to the strong positive one. This bifurcation of the turbulent transport is newly caused by the change of the damping rate of zonal flows. It is theoretically demonstrated that the damping rate of zonal flows governs the global confinement in toroidal plasmas. (author)

The theory of toroidally confined plasmas

CERN Document Server

White, Roscoe B

2014-01-01

This graduate level textbook develops the theory of magnetically confined plasma, with the aim of bringing the reader to the level of current research in the field of thermonuclear fusion. It begins with the basic concepts of magnetic field description, plasma equilibria and stability, and goes on to derive the equations for guiding center particle motion in an equilibrium field. Topics include linear and nonlinear ideal and resistive modes and particle transport. It is of use to workers in the field of fusion both for its wide-ranging account of tokamak physics and as a kind of handbook or formulary. This edition has been extended in a number of ways. The material on mode-particle interactions has been reformulated and much new information added, including methodology for Monte Carlo implementation of mode destabilization. These results give explicit means of carrying out mode destabilization analysis, in particular for the dangerous fishbone mode. A new chapter on cyclotron motion in toroidal geometry has ...

Non-inductively driven tokamak plasmas at near-unity βt in the Pegasus toroidal experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Reusch, J. A.; Bodner, G. M.; Bongard, M. W.; Burke, M. G.; Fonck, R. J.; Pachicano, J. L.; Perry, J. M.; Pierren, C.; Rhodes, A. T.; Richner, N. J.; Rodriguez Sanchez, C.; Schlossberg, D. J.; Weberski, J. D.

2018-05-01

A major goal of the spherical tokamak (ST) research program is accessing a state of low internal inductance ℓi, high elongation κ, and high toroidal and normalized beta ( βt and βN) without solenoidal current drive. Local helicity injection (LHI) in the Pegasus ST [Garstka et al., Nucl. Fusion 46, S603 (2006)] provides non-solenoidally driven plasmas that exhibit these characteristics. LHI utilizes compact, edge-localized current sources for plasma startup and sustainment. It results in hollow current density profiles with low ℓi. The low aspect ratio ( R0/a ˜1.2 ) of Pegasus allows access to high κ and high normalized plasma currents ( IN=Ip/a BT>14 ). Magnetic reconnection during LHI provides auxiliary ion heating. Together, these features provide access to very high βt plasmas. Equilibrium analyses indicate that βt up to ˜100% is achieved. These high βt discharges disrupt at the ideal no-wall β limit at βN˜7.

Self-organized profile relaxation by ion temperature gradient instability in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kishimoto, Y.; Tajima, T.; LeBrun, M.J.; Gray, M.G.; Kim, J.Y.; Horton, W.

1993-02-01

Toroidal effects on the ion-temperature gradient mode are found to dictate the temperature evolution and the subsequent relaxed profile realization according to our toroidal particle simulation. Both in the strongly unstable fluid regime as well as in the near-marginal kinetic regime we observe that the plasma maintains an exponential temperature profile and forces the heat flux to be radially independent. The self-organized critical relaxed state is sustained slightly above the marginal stability, where the weak wave growth balances the wave decorrelation

Formation of plasma and gaseous toroidal vortices in air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yusupaliev, U.; Yusupaliev, P. U.; Shuteev, S. A.

2007-01-01

The mechanism for the formation of high-temperature (plasma) vortices and low-temperature vortex rings produced by ejecting pulsed subsonic plasma/gas jets into air was investigated experimentally. A toroidal vortex forms due to the interaction between a pulsed jet with the flow induced by this jet in the ambient medium. By analyzing the experimental data and conservation laws, an equation is derived that allows one to determine the initial propagation velocity of the vortex as a function of the characteristics of the vortex generator and the ambient medium. The results obtained by solving this equation agree well with the experimental data

Project and analysis of the toroidal magnetic field production circuits and the plasma formation of the ETE (Spherical Tokamak Experiment) tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbosa, Luis Filipe F.P.W.; Bosco, Edson del.

1994-01-01

This report presents the project and analysis of the circuit for production of the toroidal magnetic field in the Tokamak ETE (Spherical Tokamak Experiment). The ETE is a Tokamak with a small-aspect-ratio parameter to be used for studying the plasma physics for the research on thermonuclear fusion. This machine is being constructed at the Laboratorio Associado de Plasma (LAP) of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE) in Sao Jose dos Campos, SP, Brazil. (author). 20 refs., 39 figs., 4 tabs

Current sustaining by RF travelling field in a collisional toroidal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukuda, Masaji; Matsuura, Kiyokata

1978-01-01

The relation between the current generated by RF travelling field and the absorbed power is studied in a collisional toroidal plasma, parameters being phase velocity and filling gap pressure or electron collision frequency. It is observed at a low magnetic field that the current is proportional to the plasma conductivity and an effective electromotive force, which is a new concept introduced on the basis of fluid model; the electromotive force is proportional to the absorbed RF power and inversely proportional to the plasma density and the phase velocity of the travelling field. (author)

Current sustaining by RF travelling field in a collisional toroidal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukuda, Masaji; Matsuura, Kiyokata.

1977-06-01

The relation between the current generation by RF travelling field and the accompanied power absorption is studied in a collisional toroidal plasma, parameters being phase velocity and filling gas pressure or electron collision frequency. It is observed at a low magnetic field that the current is proportional to the plasma conductivity and an effective electromotive force, which is a new concept introduced on the basis of fluid model; the electromotive force is proportional to the absorbed RF power and inversely proportional to the plasma density and the phase velocity of the travelling field. (auth.)

Observations of core toroidal rotation reversals in Alcator C-Mod ohmic L-mode plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rice, J.E.; Reinke, M.L.; Podpaly, Y.A.; Churchill, R.M.; Cziegler, I.; Dominguez, A.; Ennever, P.C.; Fiore, C.L.; Granetz, R.S.; Greenwald, M.J.; Hubbard, A.E.; Hughes, J.W.; Irby, J.H.; Ma, Y.; Marmar, E.S.; McDermott, R.M.; Porkolab, M.; Duval, B.P.; Bortolon, A.; Diamond, P.H.

2011-01-01

Direction reversals of intrinsic toroidal rotation have been observed in Alcator C-Mod ohmic L-mode plasmas following modest electron density or toroidal magnetic field ramps. The reversal process occurs in the plasma interior, inside of the q = 3/2 surface. For low density plasmas, the rotation is in the co-current direction, and can reverse to the counter-current direction following an increase in the electron density above a certain threshold. Reversals from the co- to counter-current direction are correlated with a sharp decrease in density fluctuations with k R ≥ 2 cm -1 and with frequencies above 70 kHz. The density at which the rotation reverses increases linearly with plasma current, and decreases with increasing magnetic field. There is a strong correlation between the reversal density and the density at which the global ohmic L-mode energy confinement changes from the linear to the saturated regime.

Equilibrium and stability of a toroidal-sector plasma discharge in an EXTRAP configuration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drake, J.R.

1982-02-01

Experimental studies of the equilibrium and stability of a sector of a toroidal EXTRAP plasma discharge have been studied. The high β plasma discharge, which had an Alfven transit time about 0.5 μsec, could be positioned in a stable equilibrium for the 300μsec time scale of the experiment. (author)

Convective cells and transport in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassam, A.B.; Kulsrud, R.M.

1978-12-01

The properties of convective cells and the diffusion resulting from such cells are significantly influenced by an inhomogeneity in the extermal confining magnetic field, such as that in toroidal plasmas. The convective diffusion in the presence of a field inhomogeneity is estimated. For a thermal background, this diffusion is shown to be substantially smaller than classical collisional diffusion. For a model nonthermal background, the diffusion is estimated, for typical parameters, to be at most of the order of collisional diffusion. The model background employed is based on spectra observed in numerical simulations of drift-wave-driven convective cells

Longitudinal permittivity of a toroidal plasma near rational surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nekrasov, F.M.

1990-01-01

A quite simple analytical formula for longitudinal permittivity, suitable for numerical processing on a computer, is determined. On the basis of a Fourier representation a poloidal angle a compact expression for the imaginary part of longitudinal permittivity near rational surfaces (m+nq=0) at an arbitrary relation between the bounce frequency and excited wave frequency is determined. A strongly magnetized collisionless plasma in the weak toroidality approximation is considered

Experimental study of high beta toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kellman, A.G.

1983-09-01

Experiments on the Wisconsin Levitated Toroidal Octupole have produced a wide range of stable high β plasmas with β significantly above single fluid MHD theory predictions. A stable β approx. 8% plasma, twice the fluid limit, is obtained with 5 rho/sub i/ approx. L/sub n/ and tau/sub β/ approx. = 6000 tau/sub Alfven/ = 600 μsec. The enhanced stability is explained with a kinetic treatment that includes the effect of finite ion gyroradius which couples the ballooning mode to an ion drift wave. In a more collisional, large gyroradius (2 rho/sub i/ approx. L/sub n/) regime, a stable β approx. 35% plasma is obtained with a decay time of 1000 Alfven times. Measurement of the equilibrium magnetic field in this regime indicates that the diamagnetic current density is five times smaller than predicted by ideal MHD, probably due to ion gyroviscosity. Particle transport is anomalous and ranges from agreement with the classical diffusion rate at the highest beta, lowest field plasma (B/sub P/ = 200 G), to thirteen times the classical rate in a β=11%, high field plasma (B/sub P/ = 860 G) where the level of enhancement increase with magnetic field. Fluctuations in density, electrostatic potential, and magnetic field have been studied in plasmas with β from 0.1% to 40%

Calculation of impurity poloidal rotation from measured poloidal asymmetries in the toroidal rotation of a tokamak plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chrystal, C. [University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, California 92186-5608 (United States); Burrell, K. H.; Groebner, R. J.; Kaplan, D. H. [General Atomics, San Diego, California 92186-5608 (United States); Grierson, B. A. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543-0451 (United States)

2012-10-15

To improve poloidal rotation measurement capabilities on the DIII-D tokamak, new chords for the charge exchange recombination spectroscopy (CER) diagnostic have been installed. CER is a common method for measuring impurity rotation in tokamak plasmas. These new chords make measurements on the high-field side of the plasma. They are designed so that they can measure toroidal rotation without the need for the calculation of atomic physics corrections. Asymmetry between toroidal rotation on the high- and low-field sides of the plasma is used to calculate poloidal rotation. Results for the main impurity in the plasma are shown and compared with a neoclassical calculation of poloidal rotation.

Calculation of impurity poloidal rotation from measured poloidal asymmetries in the toroidal rotation of a tokamak plasma.

Science.gov (United States)

Chrystal, C; Burrell, K H; Grierson, B A; Groebner, R J; Kaplan, D H

2012-10-01

To improve poloidal rotation measurement capabilities on the DIII-D tokamak, new chords for the charge exchange recombination spectroscopy (CER) diagnostic have been installed. CER is a common method for measuring impurity rotation in tokamak plasmas. These new chords make measurements on the high-field side of the plasma. They are designed so that they can measure toroidal rotation without the need for the calculation of atomic physics corrections. Asymmetry between toroidal rotation on the high- and low-field sides of the plasma is used to calculate poloidal rotation. Results for the main impurity in the plasma are shown and compared with a neoclassical calculation of poloidal rotation.

Classical impurity ion confinement in a toroidal magnetized fusion plasma.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, S T A; Den Hartog, D J; Caspary, K J; Magee, R M; Mirnov, V V; Chapman, B E; Craig, D; Fiksel, G; Sarff, J S

2012-03-23

High-resolution measurements of impurity ion dynamics provide first-time evidence of classical ion confinement in a toroidal, magnetically confined plasma. The density profile evolution of fully stripped carbon is measured in MST reversed-field pinch plasmas with reduced magnetic turbulence to assess Coulomb-collisional transport without the neoclassical enhancement from particle drift effects. The impurity density profile evolves to a hollow shape, consistent with the temperature screening mechanism of classical transport. Corroborating methane pellet injection experiments expose the sensitivity of the impurity particle confinement time to the residual magnetic fluctuation amplitude.

The combined toroidicity, ellipticity and triangularity effects on the energy deposition of Alfven modes in pre-heated, low aspect ratio tokamaks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cuperman, S. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel-Aviv (Israel); Bruma, C. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel-Aviv (Israel) and College of Judea and Samaria, 44837 Ariel (Israel)]. E-mail: edycb@post.tau.ac.il; Komoshvili, K. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel-Aviv (Israel); College of Judea and Samaria, 44837 Ariel (Israel)

2007-03-05

The combined plasma non-uniformity effects on the energy deposition of Alfven waves launched by an external antenna in pre-heated spherical tokamaks are investigated. The following relevant physical processes are here possible: (a) the emergence of gaps in the shear Alfven continuum spectrum and the generation of discrete global Alfven eigenmodes with frequencies inside the gaps; (b) multi-wave interactions, interactions of gaps of the same kind (e.g., toroidicity induced) and of different kinds (toroidicity, ellipticity and triangularity induced) as well as of secondary order gaps arising when a pair of modes is coupled to one or more modes through other coupling parameters; (c) basic wave-plasma interactions as propagation, reflection, mode-conversion, tunneling and deposition. Thus, we solved numerically the full 2D wave equations for the vector and scalar potentials, using a quite general two-fluid resistive tensor-operator, without any geometrical limitations. The results obtained indicate the existence of antenna-launched wave characteristics for which the power is most efficiently coupled in outer regions of plasmas, which is of special interest for low aspect ratio tokamaks, e.g., for the generation of non-inductive current drive as well as for turbulence suppression and transport barriers formation.

Experimental Evidence of Momentum Transport Induced by an Up-Down Asymmetric Magnetic Equilibrium in Toroidal Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camenen, Y.; Peeters, A. G.; Casson, F. J.; Hornsby, W. A.; Snodin, A. P.; Szepesi, G.; Bortolon, A.; Duval, B. P.; Federspiel, L.; Karpushov, A. N.; Piras, F.; Sauter, O.

2010-01-01

The first experimental evidence of parallel momentum transport generated by the up-down asymmetry of a toroidal plasma is reported. The experiments, conducted in the Tokamak a Configuration Variable, were motivated by the recent theoretical discovery of ion-scale turbulent momentum transport induced by an up-down asymmetry in the magnetic equilibrium. The toroidal rotation gradient is observed to depend on the asymmetry in the outer part of the plasma leading to a variation of the central rotation by a factor of 1.5-2. The direction of the effect and its magnitude are in agreement with theoretical predictions for the eight possible combinations of plasma asymmetry, current, and magnetic field.

Formation of a compact toroid for enhanced efficiency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mozgovoy, A. G. [P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute, Moscow 119991 (Russian Federation); Romadanov, I. V.; Ryzhkov, S. V., E-mail: ryzhkov@power.bmstu.ru [Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Moscow 105005 (Russian Federation)

2014-02-15

We report here our results on the formation of a plasma configuration with the generic name of compact toroid (CT). A method of compact toroid formation to confine, heat and compress a plasma is investigated. Formation of a compact torus using an additional toroidal magnetic field helps to increase the plasma current to a maintainable level of the original magnetic field. We design the Compact Toroid Challenge (CTC) experiment in order to improve the magnetic flux trapping during field reversal in the formation of a compact toroid. The level of the magnetic field immersed in the plasma about 70% of the primary field is achieved. The CTC device and scheme of high level capturing of magnetic flux are presented.

Wave trajectory and electron cyclotron heating in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maekawa, T.; Tanaka, S.; Terumichi, Y.; Hamada, Y.

1977-12-01

Wave trajectories propagating obliquely to magnetic field in toroidal plasmas are studied theoretically. Results show that the ordinary wave at appropriate incident angle is mode-converted to the extraordinary wave at first turning point and is further converted to the electron Bernstein wave during passing a loop or a hooked nail curve near second turning point and is cyclotron-damped away, resulting in local electron heating, before arriving at cyclotron resonance layer. (auth.)

Kinetic global analysis of Alfven eigenmodes in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukuyama, A.

2002-01-01

Systematic study on low to medium n (toroidal mode number) Alfven eigenmodes (AE) in tokamaks and helical systems is presented. Linear stability of AE in the presence of energetic ions was studied using the kinetic full-wave code TASK/WM.We have reproduced the destabilizing effect of toroidal co-rotation on TAE for JT-60U parameters. We have found the existence of reversed-shear-induced Alfven eigenmode (RSAE) which localizes near the q minimum in a reversed magnetic shear configuration. Two kinds of mode structures are identified for energetic particle mode (EPM) below the TAE frequency gap. The coupling to lower-frequency modes such as drift waves and MHD modes as well as the effect of trapped particles are also taken into account. For a helical plasma, the existence of GAE in the central region and TAE in the off-axis region was confirmed. (author)

Investigation on the Characteristics of Pellet Ablation in a Toroidal Plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, K.N.; Sakakita, H.; Fujita, H.

2003-01-01

Characteristics of a cloud ablated from an ice pellet has been investigated in detail in the JIPP T-IIU tokamak plasma by utilizing a new scheme of pellet injection system, 'the injection-angle controllable system'. A long 'helical tail' of ablation light has been observed using CCD cameras and a high speed framing photograph in the case of on-axis and off-axis injection with the injection angle smaller than a certain value. The direction of the helical tail is found to be independent to that of the total magnetic field lines of the torus. From the experiments with the combination of two toroidal filed directions and two plasma current directions, it is considered that the tail seems to rotate, in most cases, to the electron diamagnetic direction poloidally, and to the opposite to the plasma current direction toroidally. Consideration on various cross sections including charge exchange, ionization and elastic collisions leads us to the conclusion that the tail-shaped phenomena may come from the situation of charge exchange equilibrium of hydrogen ions and neutrals at extremely high density regime in the cloud. The relation of ablation behavior with plasma potential and rotation has also been studied. Potential measurements of pellet-injected plasmas using heavy ion beam probe (HIBP) method were carried out for the first time. In the case of an injection angle to be anti-parallel to the electron diamagnetic direction in the poloidal plane, the result shows that the direction of potential change is negative, and consequently the potential after the injection should be negative because it has been measured to be negative in usual ohmic plasmas without pellet injection. Thus, the direction of the 'tail' structure seems to be consistent to that of the plasma potential measured, if it is considered that tail structure may be caused by the effect of the plasma potential and the rotation

Structural responses to plasma disruptions in toroidal shells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tillack, M.S.; Kazimi, M.S.; Lidsky, L.M.

1985-01-01

The induced pressures, stresses and strains in unrestrained axisymmetric toroidal shells are studied to scope the behavior of tokamak first walls during plasma disruptions. The modeling includes a circuit analog representation of the shell to solve for induced currents and pressures, and a separate quasi-static 1-D finite element solution for the mechanical response. This work demonstrates that the stresses in tokamkak first walls due to plasma disruption may be large, but to first order will not cause failure in the bulk structure. However, stress concentrations at structural supports and discontinuities together with resonant effects can result in large enhancements of the stresses, which could contribute to plastic deformation or failure when added to the already large steady state thermal and pressure loading of the first wall

Existence of core localized toroidicity-induced Alfven eigenmode

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fu, G.Y.

1995-02-01

The core-localized toroidicity-induced Alfven eigenmode (TAE) is shown to exist at finite plasma pressure due to finite aspect ratio effects in tokamak plasma. The new critical beta for the existence of the TAE mode is given by α∼ 3ε + 2s 2 , where ε = r/R is the inverse aspect ratio, s is the magnetic shear and α = -Rq 2 dβ/dr is the normalized pressure gradient. In contrast, previous critical α is given by α ∼ s 2 . In the limit of s << √r/R, the new critical α is greatly enhanced by the finite aspect ratio effects

Effect of toroidicity during lower hybrid mode conversion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riyopoulos, S.; Mahajan, S.

1985-11-01

The effect of toroidicity during lower hybrid mode conversion is examined by treating the wave propagation in an inhomogeneous medium as an eigenvalue problem for ω 2 (m,n),m,n poloidal and toroidal wave numbers. Since the frequency regime near ω 2 = ω/sub LH/ 2 is an accumulation point for the eigenvalue spectrum, the degenerate perturbation technique must be applied. The toroidal eigenmodes are constructed by a zeroth order superposition of monochromatic solutions with different poloidal dependence m, thus they generically exhibit a wide spectrum in k/sub parallel/ for given fixed ω 2 even for small inverse aspect ratio epsilon. In case that the average is in the neighborhood of k/sub min/, the minimum wave number for accessibility of the mode conversion regime, it is expected that excitation of toroidal modes rather than geometric optics will determine the wave coupling to the plasma

Locked magnetic island chains in toroidally flow damped tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fitzpatrick, R; Waelbroeck, F L

2010-01-01

The physics of a locked magnetic island chain maintained in the pedestal of an H-mode tokamak plasma by a static, externally generated, multi-harmonic, helical magnetic perturbation is investigated. The non-resonant harmonics of the external perturbation are assumed to give rise to significant toroidal flow damping in the pedestal, in addition to the naturally occurring poloidal flow damping. Furthermore, the flow damping is assumed to be sufficiently strong to relax the pedestal ion toroidal and poloidal fluid velocities to fixed values determined by neoclassical theory. The resulting neoclassical ion flow causes a helical phase-shift to develop between the locked island chain and the resonant harmonic of the external perturbation. Furthermore, when this phase-shift exceeds a critical value, the chain unlocks from the resonant harmonic and starts to rotate, after which it decays away and is replaced by a helical current sheet. The neoclassical flow also generates an ion polarization current in the vicinity of the island chain which either increases or decreases the chain's radial width, depending on the direction of the flow. If the polarization effect is stabilizing, and exceeds a critical amplitude, then the helical island equilibrium becomes unstable, and the chain again decays away. The critical amplitude of the resonant harmonic of the external perturbation at which the island chain either unlocks or becomes unstable is calculated as a function of the pedestal ion pressure, the neoclassical poloidal and toroidal ion velocities and the poloidal and toroidal flow damping rates.

Analytical modelling of resistive wall mode stabilization by rotation in toroidal tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ham, C J; Gimblett, C G; Hastie, R J

2011-01-01

Stabilization of the resitive wall mode (RWM) may allow fusion power to be doubled for a given magnetic field in advanced tokamak operation. Experimental evidence from DIII-D and other machines suggests that plasma rotation can stabilize the RWM. Several authors (Finn 1995 Phys. Plasmas 2 3782, Bondeson and Xie 1997 Phys. Plasmas 4 2081) have constructed analytical cylindrical models for the RWM, but these do not deal with toroidal effects. The framework of Connor et al (1988 Phys. Fluids 31 577) is used to develop ideal plasma analytic models with toroidicity included. Stepped pressure profiles and careful ordering of terms are used to simplify the analysis. First, a current driven kink mode model is developed and a dispersion relation for arbitrary current profile is calculated. Second, the external pressure driven kink mode is similarly investigated as the most important RWM arises from this mode. Using this latter model it is found that the RWM is stabilized by Alfven continuum damping with rotation levels similar to those seen in experiments. An expression for the stability of the external kink mode for more general current profiles and a resistive wall is derived in the appendix.

Using numerical simulations to extract parameters of toroidal electron plasmas from experimental data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ha, B. N.; Stoneking,, M. R.; Marler, Joan

2009-01-01

Measurements of the image charge induced on electrodes provide the primary means of diagnosing plasmas in the Lawrence Non-neutral Torus II (LNT II) [Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 155001 (2008)]. Therefore, it is necessary to develop techniques that determine characteristics of the electron plasma from......, as in the cylindrical case. In the toroidal case, additional information about the m=1 motion of the plasma can be obtained by analysis of the image charge signal amplitude and shape. Finally, results from the numerical simulations are compared to experimental data from the LNT II and plasma characteristics...

Toroidal modeling of plasma response and resonant magnetic perturbation field penetration

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Liu, Y.Q.; Kirk, A.; Sun, Y.; Cahyna, Pavel; Chapman, I.T.; Denner, P.; Fishpool, G.; Garofalo, A.M.; Harrison, J.R.; Nardon, E.

2012-01-01

Roč. 54, č. 12 (2012), s. 124013-124013 ISSN 0741-3335 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20430508 Keywords : tokamak * resonant magnetic perturbation * neoclassical toroidal viscosity Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 2.369, year: 2012 http://iopscience.iop.org/0741-3335/54/12/124013/pdf/0741-3335_54_12_124013.pdf

Comparative investigation of ELM control based on toroidal modelling of plasma response to RMP fields

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yueqiang

2016-10-01

The type-I edge localized mode (ELM), bursting at low frequency and with large amplitude, can channel a substantial amount of the plasma thermal energy into the surrounding plasma-facing components in tokamak devices operating at the high-confinement mode, potentially causing severe material damages. Learning effective ways of controlling this instability is thus an urgent issue in fusion research, in particular in view of the next generation large devices such as ITER and DEMO. Among other means, externally applied, three-dimensional resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) fields have been experimentally demonstrated to be successful in mitigating or suppressing the type-I ELM, in multiple existing devices. In this work, we shall report results of a comparative study of ELM control using RMPs. Comparison is made between the modelled plasma response to the 3D external fields and the observed change of the ELM behaviour on multiple devices, including MAST, ASDEX Upgrade, EAST, DIII-D, JET, and KSTAR. We show that toroidal modelling of the plasma response, based on linear and quasi-linear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models, provides essential insights that are useful in interpreting and guiding the ELM control experiments. In particular, linear toroidal modelling results, using the MARS-F code, reveal the crucial role of the edge localized peeling-tearing mode response during ELM mitigation/suppression on all these devices. Such response often leads to strong peaking of the plasma surface displacement near the region of weak equilibrium poloidal field (e.g. the X-point), and this provides an alternative practical criterion for ELM control, as opposed to the vacuum field based Chirikov criteria. Quasi-linear modelling using MARS-Q provides quantitative interpretation of the side effects due to the ELM control coils, on the plasma toroidal momentum and particle confinements. The particular role of the momentum and particle fluxes, associated with the neoclassical toroidal

Review of the Advanced Toroidal Facility program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lyon, J.F.; Murakami, M.

1987-01-01

This report summarizes the history and design goals of the Advanced Toroidal Facility (ATF). The ATF is nearing completion at ORNL with device completion expected in May 1987 and first useful plasma operation in June/July 1987. ATF is a moderate-aspect-ratio torsatron, the world's largest stellarator facility with R = 2.1 m, α bar = 0.3 m and B = 2 T (5-s pulse) or 1 T (steady-state capability). It has been specifically designed to support the US tokamak program by studying important toroidal confinement issues in a similar magnetic geometry that allows external control of the magnetic configuration properties and their radial profiles: transform, shear, well depth, shaping, axis topology, etc. ATF will operate in a current-free model which allows separation of current-driven and pressure-driven plasma behavior. It also complements the world stellarator program in its magnetic configuration (between Heliotron-E and W VII-AS) and its capabilities (large size, good access, steady state capability, second stability access, etc.). For both roles ATF will require high-power long-pulse heating to carry out its physics goals since the high power NBI pulse is limited to 0.3 s. The ATF program focuses on demonstrating the principles of high-beta, steady-state operation in toroidal geometry through its study of: (1) scaling of beta limits with magnetic configuration properties and the plasma behavior in the second stability regime; (2) transport scaling at low collisionality and the role/control of electric field; (3) control of plasma density and impurities using divertors; (4) plasma heating with NBI, ECH, ICH, and plasma fueling with gas puffing and pellet injection; and (5) optimization of the magnetic configuration

Three-dimensional simulation study of compact toroid injection into magnetized plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshio Suzuki; Tomohiko Watanabe; Tetsuya Sato; Takaya Hayashi

1999-01-01

Three-dimensional dynamics of a compact toroid (CT), which is injected into a magnetized target plasma modeling a part of a fusion device is investigated by using magnetohydrodynamic numerical simulations. It is found that the injected CT penetrates into the device region, suffering from a tilting instability. In this process, magnetic reconnection between the CT magnetic field and the device magnetic field takes place, which disrupts the magnetic configuration of the CT. As a result, the high density plasma confined in the CT magnetic field is locally supplied in the device region. Furthermore, the authors examine the penetration depth of the CT high density plasma. And it is revealed that the CT high density plasma is decelerated by the device magnetic field through the compressional heating

Physical mechanism determining the radial electric field and its radial structure in a toroidal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ida, Katsumi; Miura, Yukitoshi; Itoh, Sanae

1994-10-01

Radial structures of plasma rotation and radial electric field are experimentally studied in tokamak, heliotron/torsatron and stellarator devices. The perpendicular and parallel viscosities are measured. The parallel viscosity, which is dominant in determining the toroidal velocity in heliotron/torsatron and stellarator devices, is found to be neoclassical. On the other hand, the perpendicular viscosity, which is dominant in dictating the toroidal rotation in tokamaks, is anomalous. Even without external momentum input, both a plasma rotation and a radial electric field exist in tokamaks and heliotrons/torsatrons. The observed profiles of the radial electric field do not agree with the theoretical prediction based on neoclassical transport. This is mainly due to the existence of anomalous perpendicular viscosity. The shear of the radial electric field improves particle and heat transport both in bulk and edge plasma regimes of tokamaks. (author) 95 refs

Toroidal asymmetries in divertor impurity influxes in NSTX

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Scotti

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Toroidal asymmetries in divertor carbon and lithium influxes were observed in NSTX, due to toroidal differences in surface composition, tile leading edges, externally-applied three-dimensional (3D fields and toroidally-localized edge plasma modifications due to radio frequency heating. Understanding toroidal asymmetries in impurity influxes is critical for the evaluation of total impurity sources, often inferred from measurements with a limited toroidal coverage. The toroidally-asymmetric lithium deposition induced asymmetries in divertor lithium influxes. Enhanced impurity influxes at the leading edge of divertor tiles were the main cause of carbon toroidal asymmetries and were enhanced during edge localized modes. Externally-applied 3D fields led to strike point splitting and helical lobes observed in divertor impurity emission, but marginal changes to the toroidally-averaged impurity influxes. Power coupled to the scrape-off layer SOL plasma during radio frequency (RF heating of H-mode discharges enhanced impurity influxes along the non-axisymmetric divertor footprint of flux tubes connecting to plasma in front of the RF antenna.

Theory and application of maximum magnetic energy in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, T.K.

1992-02-01

The magnetic energy in an inductively driven steady-state toroidal plasma is a maximum for a given rate of dissipation of energy (Poynting flux). A purely resistive steady state of the piecewise force-free configuration, however, cannot exist, as the periodic removal of the excess poloidal flux and pressure, due to heating, ruptures the static equilibrium of the partitioning rational surfaces intermittently. The rupture necessitates a plasma with a negative q'/q (as in reverse field pinches and spheromaks) to have the same α in all its force-free regions and with a positive q'/q (as in tokamaks) to have centrally peaked α's

Ideal magnetohydrodynamic simulations of low beta compact toroid injection into a hot strongly magnetized plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Wei [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Hsu, Scott [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Li, Hui [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2009-01-01

We present results from three-dimensional ideal magnetohydrodynamic simulations of low {beta} compact toroid (CT) injection into a hot strongly magnetized plasma, with the aim of providing insight into CT fueling of a tokamak with parameters relevant for ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor). A regime is identified in terms of CT injection speed and CT-to-background magnetic field ratio that appears promising for precise core fueling. Shock-dominated regimes, which are probably unfavorable for tokamak fueling, are also identified. The CT penetration depth is proportional to the CT injection speed and density. The entire CT evolution can be divided into three stages: (1) initial penetration, (2) compression in the direction of propagation and reconnection, and (3) coming to rest and spreading in the direction perpendicular to injection. Tilting of the CT is not observed due to the fast transit time of the CT across the background plasma.

Toroidal field ripple effects in large tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uckan, N.A.; Tsang, K.T.; Callen, J.D.

1975-01-01

In an experimental power reactor, the ripple produced by the finite number of toroidal field coils destroys the ideal axisymmetry of the configuration and is responsible for additional particle trapping, loss regions and plasma transport. The effects of toroidal field ripple on the plasma transport coefficient, the loss of alpha particles and energetic injection ions, and the relaxation of toroidal flows are investigated in a new and systematic way. The relevant results are applied to the ORNL-EPR reference design; the maximum ripple there of about 2.2 percent at the outer edge of the plasma column is found to be tolerable from plasma physics considerations

WKB theory for high-n modes in axisymmetric toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dewar, R.L.; Chance, M.S.; Glasser, A.H.; Greene, J.M.; Frieman, E.A.

1979-09-01

It is demonstrated that the low-frequency, k/sub parallel//k/sub perpendicular/ approx. = 0 normal modes of an axisymmetric plasma, at large but finite toroidal mode number n, can be obtained by solving a novel WKB problem involving an infinite number of branches. Formulae for the frequencies of periodic normal modes are derived. The analysis is performed in the context of an ideal MHD model, and comparison is made with numerical ballooning mode results

Chaotic magnetic field line in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatori, Tadatsugu; Abe, Yoshihiko; Urata, Kazuhiro; Irie, Haruyuki.

1989-05-01

This is an introductory review of chaotic magnetic field line in plasmas, together with some new results, with emphasis on the long-time tail and the fractional Brownian motion of the magnetic field line. The chaotic magnetic field line in toroidal plasmas is a typical chaotic phenomena in the Hamiltonian dynamical systems. The onset of stochasticity induced by a major magnetic perturbation is thought to cause a macroscopic rapid phenomena called the current disruption in the tokamak discharges. Numerical simulations on the basis of magnetohydrodynamics reveal in fact the disruptive phenomena. Some dynamical models which include the area-preserving mapping such as the standard mapping, and the two-wave Hamiltonian system can model the stochastic magnetic field. Theoretical results with use of the functional integral representation are given regarding the long-time tail on the basis of the radial twist mapping. It is shown that application of renormalization group technique to chaotic orbit in the two-wave Hamiltonian system proves decay of the velocity autocorrelation function with the power law. Some new numerical results are presented which supports these theoretical results. (author)

Toroidal Extrap Equilibria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scheffel, J.

1982-04-01

Ideal MHD-equilibria for the toroidal EXTRAP configuration have been computed with an equilibrium code. The free-boundary prob- lem is solved by using the condition that the current density is proportional to r on a flux surface. It is found that the toroidal Z-pinch, initially induced in the central zero-field region of a transverse octupole field, drifts radially outwards producing an inverse -D shaped cross-section. The plasma current of this high- beta equilibrium may be increased if the plasma is pushed back by altering the external confining magnetic field as demonstrated. (Author)

Shear-Alfven dynamics of toroidally confined plasmas. Part A

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hazeltine, R.D.; Meiss, J.D.

1984-08-01

Recent developments in the stability theory of toroidally confined plasmas are reviewed, with the intention of providing a picture comprehensible to non-specialists. The review considers a class of low-frequency, electromagnetic disturbances that seem especially pertinent to modern high-temperature confinement experiments. It is shown that such disturbances are best unified and understood through consideration of a single, exact fluid moment: the shear-Alfven law. Appropriate versions of this law and its corresponding closure relations are derived - essentially from first principles - and applied in a variety of mostly, but not exclusively, linear contexts. Among the specific topics considered are: flux coordinates (including Hamada coordinates), the Newcomb solubility condition. Shafranov geometry, magnetic island evolution, reduced MHD and its generalizations, drift-kinetic electron response, classical tearing, twisting, and kink instabilities, pressure-modified tearing instability (Δ-critical), collisionless and semi-collisional tearing modes, the ballooning representation in general geometry, ideal ballooning instability, Mercier criterion, near-axis expansions, the second stability region, and resistive and kinetic ballooning modes. The fundamental importance of toroidal topology and curvature is stressed

Effect of neoclassical toroidal viscosity on error-field penetration thresholds in tokamak plasmas.

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, A J; Hegna, C C; Callen, J D

2007-08-10

A model for field-error penetration is developed that includes nonresonant as well as the usual resonant field-error effects. The nonresonant components cause a neoclassical toroidal viscous torque that keeps the plasma rotating at a rate comparable to the ion diamagnetic frequency. The new theory is used to examine resonant error-field penetration threshold scaling in Ohmic tokamak plasmas. Compared to previous theoretical results, we find the plasma is less susceptible to error-field penetration and locking, by a factor that depends on the nonresonant error-field amplitude.

Free-boundary toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Eugene Y.; Berk, H. L.; Breizman, B.; Zheng, L. J.

2011-05-01

A numerical study is presented for the n = 1 free-boundary toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes (TAE) in tokamaks, which shows that there is considerable sensitivity of n = 1 modes to the position of the conducting wall. An additional branch of the TAE is shown to emerge from the upper continuum as the ratio of conducting wall radius to plasma radius increases. Such phenomena arise in plasma equilibria with both circular and shaped cross sections, where the shaped profile studied here is similar to that found in Alcator C-Mod.

Tokamak with liquid metal toroidal field coil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohkawa, T.; Schaffer, M.J.

1981-01-01

Tokamak apparatus includes a pressure vessel for defining a reservoir and confining liquid therein. A toroidal liner disposed within the pressure vessel defines a toroidal space within the liner. Liquid metal fills the reservoir outside said liner. Electric current is passed through the liquid metal over a conductive path linking the toroidal space to produce a toroidal magnetic field within the toroidal space about the major axis thereof. Toroidal plasma is developed within the toroidal space about the major axis thereof

Structure of parallel-velocity-shear-driven mode in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong, J.Q.; Xu, W.B.; Zhang, Y.Z.; Horton, W.

1998-01-01

It is shown that the Fourier-ballooning representation is appropriate for the study of short-wavelength drift-like perturbation in toroidal plasmas with a parallel velocity shear (PVS). The radial structure of the mode driven by a PVS is investigated in a torus. The Reynolds stress created by PVS turbulence, and proposed as one of the sources for a sheared poloidal plasma rotation, is analyzed. It is demonstrated that a finite ion temperature may strongly enhance the Reynolds stress creation ability from PVS-driven turbulence. The correlation of this observation with the requirement that ion heating power be higher than a threshold value for the formation of an internal transport barrier is discussed. copyright 1998 American Institute of Physics

Formation of compact toroidal configurations for magnetic confinement of high temperature plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuentes, N.O.; Rodrigo, A.B.

1986-01-01

The formation stage of inverted magnetic field toroidal configurations (FRC) for hot plasmas confinement using a low energy linear theta pinch is studied. The diagnostic techniques used are based on optical spectroscopy, ultrarapid photography, magnetic probes and excluded flux compensated bonds. The generalities of the present research program, the used diagnostic techniques and the results obtained are discussed. (Author)

The importance of the toroidal magnetic field for the feasibility of a tokamak burning plasma experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazzucato, E.

2000-01-01

The next step in the demonstration of the scientific feasibility of a tokamak fusion reactor is a DT burning plasma experiment for the study and control of self-heated plasmas. In this paper, the authors examine the role of the toroidal magnetic field on the confinement of a tokamak plasma in the ELMy H-mode regime--the operational regime foreseen for ITER

Curvature driven instabilities in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersson, P.

1986-11-01

The electromagnetic ballooning mode, the curvature driven trapped electron mode and the toroidally induced ion temperature gradient mode have been studies. Eigenvalue equations have been derived and solved both numerically and analytically. For electromagnetic ballooning modes the effects of convective damping, finite Larmor radius, higher order curvature terms, and temperature gradients have been investigated. A fully toroidal fluid ion model has been developed. It is shown that a necessary and sufficient condition for an instability below the MHD limit is the presence of an ion temperature gradient. Analytical dispersion relations giving results in good agreement with numerical solutions are also presented. The curvature driven trapped electron modes are found to be unstable for virtually all parameters with growth rates of the order of the diamagnetic drift frequency. Studies have been made, using both a gyrokinetic ion description and the fully toroidal ion model. Both analytical and numerical results are presented and are found to be in good agreement. The toroidally induced ion temperature gradients modes are found to have a behavior similar to that of the curvature driven trapped electron modes and can in the electrostatic limit be described by a simple quadratic dispersion equation. (author)

MHD stability properties of a system of reduced toroidal MHD equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maschke, E.K.; Morros Tosas, J.; Urquijo, G.

1993-01-01

A system of reduced toroidal magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) equations is derived from a general scalar representation of the complete MHD system, using an ordering in terms of the inverse aspect ratio ε of a toroidal plasma. It is shown that the energy principle for the reduced equations is identical with the usual energy principle of the complete MHD system, to the appropriate order in ε. Thus, the reduced equations have the same ideal MHD stability limits as the full MHD equations. (authors). 6 refs

Toroidal Thermonuclear device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takizawa, Teruhiro; Shizuoka, Yoshihide.

1982-01-01

Purpose: To reduce the shielding capacity of a current breaker for a current transformer coil and to facilitate the manufacture and the assembly of the current transformer coil. Constitution: A first current transformer coil is provided between a vacuum container for enclosing a plasma and a toroidal magnetic field coil, and a secon current transformer coil is provided outside the toroidal magnetic field coil. The rise of the plasma current is performed by the variation in the current of the coil of the first transformer having high electromagnetic coupling with the plasma current, and the variation in the magnetic flux necessary for maintaining the plasma is performed by the variation in the current of the second transformer coil. In this manner, the current shielding capacity of the first transformer coil can be reduced to decrease the number of coil turns, thereby facilitating the manufacture and assembly. (Seki, T.)

Kinetic extensions of magnetohydrodynamic models for axisymmetric toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, C.Z.

1989-04-01

A nonvariational kinetic-MHD stability code (NOVA-K) has been developed to integrate a set of non-Hermitian integro-differential eigenmode equations due to energetic particles for axisymmetric toroidal plasmas in a general flux coordinate system with an arbitrary Jacobian. The NOVA-K code employs the Galerkin method involving Fourier expansions in the generalized poloidal angle θ and generalized toroidal angle /zeta/ directions, and cubic-B spline finite elements in the radial /Psi/ direction. Extensive comparisons with the existing variational ideal MHD codes show that the ideal MHD version of the NOVA-K code converges faster and gives more accurate results. The NOVA-K code is employed to study the effects of energetic particles on MHD-type modes: the stabilization of ideal MHD internal kink modes and the excitation of ''fishbone'' internal kink modes; and the alpha particle destabilization of toroidicity-induced Alfven eigenmodes (TAE) via transit resonances. Analytical theories are also presented to help explain the NOVA-K results. For energetic trapped particles generated by neutral beam injection (NBI) or ion cyclotron resonant heating (ICRH), a stability window for the n = 1 internal kink mode in the hot particle beta space exists even in the absence of the core ion finite Larmor radius effect. On the other hand, the trapped alpha particles are found to have negligible effects on the stability of the n = 1 internal kink mode, but the circulating alpha particles can strongly destabilize TAE modes via inverse Landau damping associated with the spatial gradient of the alpha particle pressure. 60 refs., 24 figs., 1 tab

Compact toroid challenge experiment with the increasing in the energy input into plasma and the level of trapped magnetic field

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Romadanov, I.V.; Ryzhkov, S.V., E-mail: ryzhkov@power.bmstu.ru

2014-12-15

Highlights: • Compact torus formation method with high level of magnetic flux is proposed. • A compact torus is produced in a theta-pinch-coil with pulse mode of operation. • Key feature is a pulse of current in an axial direction. • We report a level of linked magnetic flux is higher than theta-pinch results. - Abstract: The present work reports on compact toroid hydrogen plasma creation by means of a specially designed discharge system and results of magnetic fields introduction. Experiments in the compact toroid challenge (CTC) device at P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute (FIAN) have been conducted since 2005. The CTC device differs from the conventional theta-pinch formation in the use of an axial current for enhanced efficiency. We have used a novel technique to maximize the flux linked to the plasma. The purpose of this method is to increase the energy input into the plasma and the level of trapped magnetic flux using an additional toroidal magnetic field. A study of compact torus formation with axial and toroidal currents was done and a new method is proposed and implemented.

Plasma edge physics in the TEXTOR tokamak with poloidal and toroidal limiters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samm, U.; Bogen, P.; Hartwig, H.; Hintz, E.; Hoethker, K.; Lie, Y.T.; Pospieszczyk, A.; Rusbueldt, D.; Schweer, B.; Yu, Y.J.

1989-01-01

Investigations of the plasma edge in TEXTOR are presented on the one hand by comparing results obtained with poloidal and toroidal limiters and on the other hand by discussing general problems of plasma edge physics which are independent of the limiter configuration. The characteristic properties of plasma flow to the different limiters are analyzed and show e.g. that the fraction of total ion flow to the limiter is much larger in the case of a toroidal limiter (80%). Density and heat flux profiles are presented which demonstrate that for both types of limiters a significant steepening of the scrape-off layer (SOL) occurs close to the limiter, leading to a small heat load e-folding length of 5-8 mm. The velocity distribution of recycled neutral hydrogen at a main limiter has been determined from the Doppler broadening of the H α line. The data clearly show that a large fraction of particles (30-50%) is reflected at the limiter surface having energies of about the sheath potential. Significant isotopic effects (H/D) concerning the plasma edge properties and the plasma core are presented and their relation to enhanced particle and energy transport in hydrogen compared to deuterium is discussed. A decrease of the cross field diffusion coefficient with increasing density can be deduced from density profile measurements in the SOL and a comparison with density fluctuations is given. The role of oxygen for impurity release is demonstrated. A new type of wall conditioning - boronization - is described, with two major improvements for quasi stationary conditions: reduction of oxygen and better density control. Best results with ICRH have been obtained under these conditions. (orig.)

Two and three dimensional imaging of compact toroid plasmas using fast photography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Englert, S.E.; Bell, D.E.; Coffey, S.K.

1992-01-01

As is discussed in a companion paper, Degnan el al, fast photography is used as a visual diagnostic tool for high energy plasma research at the Phillips Laboratory. Both, two dimensional and three dimensional images, are gathered by using nanosecond and microsecond range fast photography techniques. A set of microchannel plate cameras and a fast framing camera are used to record images of a compact toroid plasma during formation and acceleration stages. These images are subsequently digitized and enhanced to bring out detailed information of interest. This spatial information is combined with other diagnostic results as well as theoretical models in order to build a more complete picture of the fundamental physics associated with high-energy plasmas

Modelling of the toroidal asymmetry of poloidal halo currents in conducting structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pomphrey, N.; Bialek, J.M.; Part, W.

1998-01-01

During plasma disruptions, substantial toroidal and poloidal eddy currents are generated in the vacuum vessel and other plasma facing conducting structures. Eddy currents that conduct charge through paths which close through the plasma periphery are called halo currents, and these can be of substantial magnitude. Of particular concern for tokamak design and operation is the observed toroidal asymmetry of the halo current distribution: such an asymmetric distribution leads to problematic non-uniform forces on the conducting structures. The premise is adopted that the source of toroidal asymmetry is the plasma deformation resulting from the non-linear external kink instability that develops during the current quench phase of a disruption. A simple model is presented of the kinked plasma that allows an analytic calculation of the dependence of the toroidal peaking factor (TPF) on the ratio of the halo current to the total toroidal plasma current, I h /I p . Expressions for the TPF as a function of I h /I p are derived for m/n=2/1 and m/n=1/1 helical instabilities. The expressions depend on a single parameter, which measures the amplitude of the saturated state of the kink instability. A comparison with disruption data from experiments shows good agreement. Numerical experiments that simulate non-linear external kinks provide guidance on the values expected for the saturated amplitude. It is proposed that a simple plasma halo model is adequate for assessing the engineering impact of asymmetric halo currents, since the force distribution on the conducting structures depends mainly on the 'resistive distribution' of the eddy currents. A brief description is given of an electromagnetics code that calculates the time development of eddy currents in conducting structures, and the code is applied to two halo current disruption scenarios. These are used to emphasize the importance of having an accurate eddy current calculation to correctly estimate the engineering impact of

Analysis of MHD equilibria by toroidal multipolar expansions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alladio, F.; Crisanti, F.

1986-01-01

The use of fully toroidal co-ordinates permits the two-dimensional problem of the axisymmetric plasma toroidal equilibrium to be reduced to the one-dimensional problem of determining a limited number of its toroidal multipolar moments. This has allowed the creation of a fast semi-analytic predictive equilibrium code that can be used in both free and fixed boundary conditions for plasmas with circular or mildly non-circular cross-section. The concept of toroidal multipoles is also particularly suitable for the analysis of experimental data from magnetic probe measurements and clarifies the conditions under which the plasma thermal and electrical self-inductances βsub(p) and lsub(i) can be estimated separately. Finally, the interpretation of the magnetic equilibrium measurements in terms of toroidal multipoles can directly provide the boundary conditions for a fast equilibrium reconstruction code. Examples of the application of such a code to the JET magnetic measurements are reported. (author)

The comparative analysis of the different mechanisms of toroidal rotation in tokamaks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sabot, R [Association Euratom-CEA, Centre d` Etudes Nucleaires de Cadarache, 13 - Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France). Dept. de Recherches sur la Fusion Controlee; Parail, V [Kurchatov Institute, Moscow (Russian Federation)

1994-07-01

The toroidal plasma rotation appears as one the possible mechanism for suppression of plasma turbulence. Several mechanisms are believed to contribute to the toroidal plasma rotation. The results of numerical simulation of the toroidal rotation on JET are presented, where are taken into consideration the following effects: the neoclassical viscosity due to banana and ripple trapped particles, the anomalous viscosity due to plasma turbulence, the momentum input by NBI (neutron beam injection) and ion momentum loss near the separatrix due to prompt ion losses. The NBI appeared to be the principal source of toroidal plasma rotation. 6 refs., 2 figs.

Toroidal fusion reactor design based on the reversed-field pinch

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hagenson, R.L.

1978-07-01

The toroidal reversed-field pinch (RFP) achieves gross equilibrium and stability with a combination of high shear and wall stabilization, rather than the imposition of tokamak-like q-constraints. Consequently, confinement is provided primarily by poloidal magnetic fields, poloidal betas as large as approximately 0.58 are obtainable, the high ohmic-heating (toroidal) current densities promise a sole means of heating a D-T plasma to ignition, and the plasma aspect ratio is not limited by stability/equilibrium constraints. A reactor-like plasma model has been developed in order to quantify and to assess the general features of a power system based upon RFP confinement. An ''operating point'' has been generated on the basis of this plasma model and a relatively detailed engineering energy balance. These results are used to generate a conceptual engineering model of the reversed-field pinch reactor (RFPR) which includes a general description of a 750 MWe power plant and the preliminary consideration of vacuum/fueling, first wall, blanket, magnet coils, iron core, and the energy storage/transfer system

Anomalous transport in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Punjabi, A.

1991-01-01

We have developed a Monte Carlo method to estimate the transport of different groups of particles for plasmas in toroidal geometries. This method can determine the important transport mechanisms driving the anomalous transport by comparing the numerical results with the experimental data. The important groups of particles whose transport can be estimated by this method include runaway electrons, thermal electrons, both passing and trapped diagnostic beam ions etc. The three basic mechanisms driving the anomalous transport are: spatial variation of magnetic field strength, spatial variation of electrostatic potential within the flux surfaces, and the loss of flux surfaces. The equation of motion are obtained from the drift hamiltonian. The equations of motion are developed in the canonical and in the non-canonical, practical co-ordinates as well. The effects of collisions are represented by appropriate stochastic changes in the constants of motion at each time-step. Here we present the results of application of this method to three cases: superathermal alphas in the rippled field of tokamaks, motion in the magnetic turbulence of takapole II, and transport in the stochastic fields of ZT40. This work is supported by DOE OFE and ORAU HBCU program

Mirror theory applied to toroidal systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohen, R.H.

1987-01-01

Central features of a mirror plasma are strong departures from Maxwellian distribution functions, ambipolar potentials and densities which vary along a field line, and losses, and the mirror field itself. To examine these features, mirror theorists have developed analytical and numerical techniques to solve the Fokker-Planck equation, evaluate the potentials consistent with the resulting distribution functions, and assess the microstability of these distributions. Various combinations of mirror-plasma fetures are present and important in toroidal plasmas as well, particularly in the edge region and in plasmas with strong r.f. heating. In this paper we survey problems in toroidal plasmas where mirror theory and computational techniques are applicable, and discuss in more detail three specific examples: calculation of the toroidal generalization of the Spitzer-Haerm distribution function (from which trapped-particle effects on current drive can be calculated), evaluation of the nonuniform potential and density set up by pulsed electron-cyclotron heating, and calculation of steady-state distribution functions in the presence of strong r.f. heating and collisions. 37 refs., 3 figs

Mirror theory applied to toroidal systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohen, R.H.

1987-01-01

Central features of a mirror plasma are strong departures from Maxwellian distribution functions, ambipolar potentials and densities which vary along a field line, end losses, and the mirror field itself. To examine these features, mirror theorists have developed analytical and numerical techniques to solve the Fokker-Planck equation, evaluate the potentials consistent with the resulting distribution functions, and assess the microstability of these distributions. Various combinations of mirror-plasma features are present and important in toroidal plasmas as well, particularly in the edge region and in plasmas with strong rf heating. In this paper we survey problems in toroidal plasmas where mirror theory and computational techniques are applicable, and discuss in more detail three specific examples: calculation of the toroidal generalization of the Spitzer-Haerm distribution function (from which trapped-particle effects on current drive can be calculated), evaluation of the nonuniform potential and density set up by pulsed electron-cyclotron heating, and calculation of steady-state distribution functions in the presence of strong rf heating and collisions. 37 refs

Aurora T: a Monte Carlo code for transportation of neutral atoms in a toroidal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bignami, A.; Chiorrini, R.

1982-01-01

This paper contains a short description of Aurora code. This code have been developed at Princeton with Monte Carlo method for calculating neutral gas in cylindrical plasma. In this work subroutines such one can take in account toroidal geometry are developed

Magnetic field profiles during turbulent heating in a toroidal hydrogen plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalfsbeek, H.W.

1978-12-01

A description is given of the measurements of both poloidal and toroidal magnetic field components as functions of radius and time in a small turbulently heated tokamak. These measurements have been carried out with an array of miniature pick-up coils, enclosed in a quartz tube which is inserted into the plasma. The electric fields inside the plasma, as well as the parallel resistivity profiles are deduced from the measured magnetic fields. The ohmically dissipated energy is determined from the field distributions and compared with the total input energy. The experimental results are compared with the outcome of a numerical model. The consistency with information obtained from other diagnostic measurements is checked. (Auth.)

Fast mega pixels video imaging of a toroidal plasma in KT5D device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Min; Wang Zhijiang; Lu Ronghua; Sun Xiang; Wen Yizhi; Yu Changxuan; Wan Shude; Liu Wandong; Wang Jun; Xiao Delong; Yu Yi; Zhu Zhenghua; Hu Linyin

2005-01-01

A direct imaging system, viewing visible light emission from plasmas tangentially or perpendicularly, has been set up on the KT5D toroidal device to monitor the real two-dimensional profiles of purely ECR generated plasmas. This system has a typical spatial resolution of 0.2 mm (1280x1024 pixels) when imaging the whole cross section. Interesting features of ECR plasmas have been found. Different from what classical theories have expected, a resonance layer with two or three bright spots, rather than an even vertical band, has been observed. In addition, images also indicate an intermittent splitting and drifting character of the plasmas

Lyapunov stability analysis of magnetohydrodynamic plasma equilibria with axisymmetric toroidal flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Almaguer, J.A.; Hameiri, E.; Herrera, J.; Holm, D.D.

1988-01-01

Lyapunov stability conditions for ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) plasmas with mass flow in axisymmetric toroidal geometry are determined in the Eulerian representation. Axisymmetric equilibrium solutions of ideal MHD are associated to critical points of a nonlinearly conserved Lyapunov functional consisting of the sum of the total energy and the following flux-weighted quantities: the circulation along field lines, the angular momentum, the toroidal flux, and the mass content within each flux tube. Conditions sufficient for Lyapunov stability of these equilibria against axisymmetric perturbations are found by taking advantage of the Hamiltonian formalism for ideal MHD. In particular [see Eq. (60)], it is sufficient for Lyapunov stability under linearized dynamics that an axisymmetric equilibrium be subsonic in the appropriate rotating frame, lie in the first elliptic regime of the Bernoulli--Grad--Shafranov (BGS) system of equations, and satisfy one additional, more complicated, condition. Effects of boundary conditions, nonlinearity, and three-dimensionality on MHD stability are also discussed

The effect of toroidal plasma rotation on low-frequency reversed shear Alfven eigenmodes in tokamaks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haverkort, J. W.

2012-01-01

The influence of toroidal plasma rotation on the existence of reversed shear Alfven eigenmodes (RSAEs) near their minimum frequency is investigated analytically. An existence condition is derived showing that a radially decreasing kinetic energy density is unfavourable for the existence of RSAEs.

MHD equilibrium with toroidal rotation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, J.

1987-03-01

The present work attempts to formulate the equilibrium of axisymmetric plasma with purely toroidal flow within ideal MHD theory. In general, the inertial term Rho(v.Del)v caused by plasma flow is so complicated that the equilibrium equation is completely different from the Grad-Shafranov equation. However, in the case of purely toroidal flow the equilibrium equation can be simplified so that it resembles the Grad-Shafranov equation. Generally one arbitrary two-variable functions and two arbitrary single variable functions, instead of only four single-variable functions, are allowed in the new equilibrium equations. Also, the boundary conditions of the rotating (with purely toroidal fluid flow, static - without any fluid flow) equilibrium are the same as those of the static equilibrium. So numerically one can calculate the rotating equilibrium as a static equilibrium. (author)

Two novel compact toroidal concepts with Stellarator features

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moroz, P.E.

1997-07-01

Two novel compact toroidal concepts are presented. One is the Stellarator-Spheromak (SSP) and another is the Extreme-Low-Aspect-Ratio Stellarator (ELARS). An SSP device represents a hybrid between a spherical stellarator (SS) and a spheromak. This configuration retains the main advantages of spheromaks ans has a potential for improving the spheromak concept regarding its main problems. The MHD equilibrium in an SSP with very high β of the confined plasma is demonstrated. Another concept, ELARS, represents an extreme limit of the SS approach, and considers devices with stellarator features and aspect ratios A ∼ 1. We have succeeded in finding ELARS configurations with extremely compact, modular, and simple design compatible with significant rotational transform, large plasma volume, and good particle transport characteristics

The residual zonal dynamics in a toroidally rotating tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Deng

2015-01-01

Zonal flows, initially driven by ion-temperature-gradient turbulence, may evolve due to the neoclassic polarization in a collisionless tokamak plasma. In this presentation, the form of the residual zonal flow is presented for tokamak plasmas rotating toroidally at arbitrary velocity. The gyro-kinetic equation is analytically solved to give the expression of residual zonal flows with arbitrary rotating velocity. The zonal flow level decreases as the rotating velocity increases. The numerical evaluation is in good agreement with the previous simulation result for high aspect ratio tokamaks. (author)

Poloidal and toroidal heat flux distribution in the CCT tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, M.L.; Dhir, V.K.; Taylor, R.J.

1990-01-01

Plasma heat flux to the Faraday shield panels of the UCLA Continuous Current Tokamak (CCT) has been measured calorimetrically in order to identify the dominant parameters affecting the spatial distribution of heat deposition. Three heating methods were investigated: audio frequency discharge cleaning, RF heating, and AC ohmic. Significant poloidal asymmetry is present in the heat flux distribution. On the average, the outer panels received 25-30% greater heat flux than the inner ones, with the ratio of maximum to minimum values attaining a difference of more than a factor of 2. As a diagnostic experiment the current to a selected toroidal field coil was reduced in order to locally deflect the toroidal field lines outward in a ripple-like fashion. Greatly enhanced heat deposition (up to a factor of 4) was observed at this location on the outside Faraday panels. The enhancement was greatest for conditions of low toroidal field and low neutral pressure, leading to low plasma densities, for which Coulomb collisions are the smallest. An exponential model based on a heat flux e-folding length describes the experimentally found localization of thermal energy quite adequately. (orig.)

Turbulence simulations of blob formation and radial propagation in toroidally magnetized plasmas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Garcia, O.E.; Naulin, V.; Nielsen, A.H.

2006-01-01

the presence of long- range correlations in the particle density fluctuations. Finally, conditional statistics of the particle flux demonstrates the intermittency of the turbulent plasma transport and the quasi-periodic apparency of blob structures due to bursting in the global turbulence level....... of particles and heat, which is coupled to a scrape-off layer with linear damping terms for all dependent variables corresponding to transport along open magnetic field lines. The formation of blob structures is related to profile variations caused by bursting in the global turbulence level, which is due...... to a dynamical regulation by self- sustained differential rotation of the plasma layer. Radial propagation of the blob structures follows from a vertical charge polarization due to magnetic guiding centre drifts in the toroidally magnetized plasma. Statistical analysis of the particle density, radial electric...

A dissipative model of plasma equilibrium in toroidal systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wobig, H.

1985-10-01

In order to describe a steady-state plasma equilibrium in tokamaks, stellarators or other non-axisymmetric configurations, the model of ideal MHD with isotropic plasma pressure is widely used. The ideal MHD - model of a toroidal plasma equilibrium requires the existence of closed magnetic surfaces. Several numerical codes have been developed in the past to solve the three-dimensional equilibrium problem, but so far no existence theorem for a solution has been proved. Another difficulty is the formation of magnetic islands and field line ergodisation, which can only be described in terms of ideal MHD if the plasma pressure is constant in the ergodic region. In order to describe the formation of magnetic islands and ergodisation of surfaces properly, additional dissipative terms have to be incorporated to allow decoupling of the plasma and magnetic field. In a collisional plasma viscosity and inelastic collisions introduce such dissipative processes. In the model used a friction term proportional to the velocity v vector of the plasma is included. Such a term originates from charge exchange interaction of the plasma with a nuetral background. With these modifications, the equilibrium problem reduces to a set of quasilinear elliptic equations for the pressure, the electric potential and the magnetic field. The paper deals with an existence theorem based on the Fixed - Point method of Schauder. It can be shown that a self-consistent and unique equilibrium exists if the friction term is large and the plasma pressure is sufficiently low. The essential role of the dissipative terms is to remove the singularities of the ideal MHD model on rational magnetic surfaces. The problem has a strong similarity to Benard cell convection, and consequently similar behaviour such as bifurcation and exchange of stability are expected. (orig./GG)

Electrostatic instabilities and turbulence in a toroidal magnetized plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poli, F. M.

2007-06-01

This Thesis aims at characterizing the linear properties of electrostatic drift instabilities arising in a toroidal plasma and the mechanisms leading to their development into turbulence. The experiments are performed on the TORoidal Plasma EXperiment (TORPEX) at CRPP-EPFL, Lausanne. The first part of the Thesis focuses on the identification of the nature of the instabilities observed in TORPEX, using a set of electrostatic probes, designed and built for this purpose. The global features of fluctuations, analyzed for different values of control parameters such as the magnetic field, the neutral gas pressure and the injected microwave power, are qualitatively similar in different experimental scenarios. The maximum of fluctuations is observed on the low field side, where the pressure gradient and the gradient of the magnetic field are co-linear, indicating that the curvature of the magnetic field lines has an important role in the destabilization of the waves. The power spectrum is dominated by electrostatic fluctuations with frequencies much lower than the ion cyclotron frequency. Taking advantage of the extended diagnostics coverage, the spectral properties of fluctuations are measured over the whole poloidal cross-section. Both drift and interchange instabilities develop and propagate on TORPEX, with the stability of both being affected by the curvature of the magnetic field. It is shown that modes of different nature are driven at separate locations over the plasma cross-section and that the wavenumber and frequency spectra, narrow at the location where the instabilities are generated, broaden during convection, suggesting an increase in the degree of turbulence. The transition from coherent to turbulent spectral features and the role of nonlinear coupling between modes in the development of turbulence are treated in the second part of this work. It is found that nonlinear mode-mode coupling is responsible for the redistribution of spectral energy from the

Numerical determination of axisymmetric toroidal magnetohydrodynamic equilibria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, J.L.; Dalhed, H.E.; Greene, J.M.

1978-07-01

Numerical schemes for the determination of stationary axisymmetric toroidal equilibria appropriate for modeling real experimental devices are given. Iterative schemes are used to solve the elliptic nonlinear partial differential equation for the poloidal flux function psi. The principal emphasis is on solving the free boundary (plasma-vacuum interface) equilibrium problem where external current-carrying toroidal coils support the plasma column, but fixed boundary (e.g., conducting shell) cases are also included. The toroidal current distribution is given by specifying the pressure and either the poloidal current or the safety factor profiles as functions of psi. Examples of the application of the codes to tokamak design at PPPL are given

Full-wave Simulations of LH Wave Propagation in Toroidal Plasma with non-Maxwellian Electron Distributions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valeo, E.J.; Phillips, C.K.; Bonoli, P.T.; Wright, J.C.; Brambilla, M.

2007-01-01

The generation of energetic tails in the electron distribution function is intrinsic to lower-hybrid (LH) heating and current drive in weakly collisional magnetically confined plasma. The effects of these deformations on the RF deposition profile have previously been examined within the ray approximation. Recently, the calculation of full-wave propagation of LH waves in a thermal plasma has been accomplished using an adaptation of the TORIC code. Here, initial results are presented from TORIC simulations of LH propagation in a toroidal plasma with non-thermal electrons. The required efficient computation of the hot plasma dielectric tensor is accomplished using a technique previously demonstrated in full-wave simulations of ICRF propagation in plasma with non-thermal ions

Influence of toroidal rotation on resistive tearing modes in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, S.; Ma, Z. W.

2015-01-01

Influence of toroidal equilibrium plasma rotation on m/n = 2/1 resistive tearing modes is studied numerically using a 3D toroidal MHD code (CLT). It is found that the toroidal rotation with or without shear can suppress the tearing instability and the Coriolis effect in the toroidal geometry plays a dominant role on the rotation induced stabilization. For a high viscosity plasma (τ R /τ V  ≫ 1, where τ R and τ V represent resistive and viscous diffusion time, respectively), the effect of the rotation shear combined with the viscosity appears to be stabilizing. For a low viscosity plasmas (τ R /τ V  ≪ 1), the rotation shear shows a destabilizing effect when the rotation is large

TOKMINA, Toroidal Magnetic Field Minimization for Tokamak Fusion Reactor. TOKMINA-2, Total Power for Tokamak Fusion Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatch, A.J.

1975-01-01

1 - Description of problem or function: TOKMINA finds the minimum magnetic field, Bm, required at the toroidal coil of a Tokamak type fusion reactor when the input is beta(ratio of plasma pressure to magnetic pressure), q(Kruskal-Shafranov plasma stability factor), and y(ratio of plasma radius to vacuum wall radius: rp/rw) and arrays of PT (total thermal power from both d-t and tritium breeding reactions), Pw (wall loading or power flux) and TB (thickness of blanket), following the method of Golovin, et al. TOKMINA2 finds the total power, PT, of such a fusion reactor, given a specified magnetic field, Bm, at the toroidal coil. 2 - Method of solution: TOKMINA: the aspect ratio(a) is minimized, giving a minimum value for Bm. TOKMINA2: a search is made for PT; the value of PT which minimizes Bm to the required value within 50 Gauss is chosen. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: Input arrays presently are dimensioned at 20. This restriction can be overcome by changing a dimension card

Radial thermal diffusivity of toroidal plasma affected by resonant magnetic perturbations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanno, Ryutaro; Nunami, Masanori; Satake, Shinsuke; Takamaru, Hisanori; Okamoto, Masao

2012-04-01

We investigate how the radial thermal diffusivity of an axisymmetric toroidal plasma is modified by effect of resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs), using a drift kinetic simulation code for calculating the thermal diffusivity in the perturbed region. The perturbed region is assumed to be generated on and around the resonance surfaces, and is wedged in between the regular closed magnetic surfaces. It has been found that the radial thermal diffusivity χ r in the perturbed region is represented as χ r = χ r (0) {1 + c r parallel 2 >}. Here r parallel 2 > 1/2 is the strength of the RMPs in the radial directions, means the flux surface average defined by the unperturbed (i.e., original) magnetic field, χ r (0) is the neoclassical thermal diffusivity, and c is a positive coefficient. In this paper, dependence of the coefficient c on parameters of the toroidal plasma is studied in results given by the δ f simulation code solving the drift kinetic equation under an assumption of zero electric field. We find that the dependence of c is given as c ∝ ω b /ν eff m in the low collisionality regime ν eff b , where ν eff is the effective collision frequency, ω b is the bounce frequency and m is the particle mass. In case of ν eff > ω b , the thermal diffusivity χ r evaluated by the simulations becomes close to the neoclassical thermal diffusivity χ r (0) . (author)

A full wave code for ion cyclotron waves in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brambilla, M.

1996-02-01

The code TORIC solves the finite Larmor radius wave equations in the ion cyclotron frequency range in arbitrary axisymmetric toroidal geometry. The model used describes the compressional and torsional Alfven waves (or, depending on the parallel phase velocity, the kinetic counterpart of the latter), and ion Bernstein waves excited by mode conversion near the first ion cyclotron harmonic. In the ion response the broadening of the absorption regions due to the finite width of the cyclotron resonance of individual ions in toroidal geometry is taken into account. The parallel component of the wave electric field is evaluated on the same footing as the transverse ones; the response of the electrons includes Landau damping, Transit Time damping and the mixed term. The numerical approach uses a spectral representation of the solution in the poloidal angle θ, and cubic finite elements in the radial variable ψ. Great flexibility is provided in the way ion Bernstein waves excited by mode conversion are damped when their wavelength becomes comparable with the ion Larmor radius, in the regularization of Alfven resonances, and in the treatment of the outer plasma layers. As an option, we have also implemented the Order Reduction Algorithm, which provides a particularly fast, yet accurate evaluation of the power deposition profiles in toroidal geometry. Thee present report describes the model and its numerical implementation, and provides the information needed to use the code. A few examples illustrating applications of TORIC are also included. (orig.)

Basic physics of Alfven instabilities driven by energetic particles in toroidally confined plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heidbrink, W. W.

2008-01-01

Superthermal energetic particles (EP) often drive shear Alfven waves unstable in magnetically confined plasmas. These instabilities constitute a fascinating nonlinear system where fluid and kinetic nonlinearities can appear on an equal footing. In addition to basic science, Alfven instabilities are of practical importance, as the expulsion of energetic particles can damage the walls of a confinement device. Because of rapid dispersion, shear Alfven waves that are part of the continuous spectrum are rarely destabilized. However, because the index of refraction is periodic in toroidally confined plasmas, gaps appear in the continuous spectrum. At spatial locations where the radial group velocity vanishes, weakly damped discrete modes appear in these gaps. These eigenmodes are of two types. One type is associated with frequency crossings of counterpropagating waves; the toroidal Alfven eigenmode is a prominent example. The second type is associated with an extremum of the continuous spectrum; the reversed shear Alfven eigenmode is an example of this type. In addition to these normal modes of the background plasma, when the energetic particle pressure is very large, energetic particle modes that adopt the frequency of the energetic particle population occur. Alfven instabilities of all three types occur in every toroidal magnetic confinement device with an intense energetic particle population. The energetic particles are most conveniently described by their constants of motion. Resonances occur between the orbital frequencies of the energetic particles and the wave phase velocity. If the wave resonance with the energetic particle population occurs where the gradient with respect to a constant of motion is inverted, the particles transfer energy to the wave, promoting instability. In a tokamak, the spatial gradient drive associated with inversion of the toroidal canonical angular momentum P ζ is most important. Once a mode is driven unstable, a wide variety of

Unstable universal drift eigenmodes in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, C.Z.; Chen, L.

1979-08-01

The eigenmode equation describing ballooning collisionless drift instabilities is analyzed both analytically and numerically. A new branch of eigenmodes, which corresponds to quasi-bound states due to the finite toroidicity, is shown to be destabilized by electron Landau damping for typical Tokamak parameters. This branch cannot be understood by the strong coupling approximation. However, the slab-like (Pearlstein-Berk type) branch is found to remain stable and experience enhanced shear damping due to finite toroidicity

Electromagnetic torque on the toroidal plasma and the error-field induced torque

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pustovitov, V. D.

2007-01-01

The electromagnetic torque on the toroidal plasma is calculated assuming a linear plasma response to the applied perturbation, which may be the error field or the field created by the correction coils, or both. The result is compared with recently published expressions for the error field induced torque (Zheng et al 2006 Nucl. Fusion 46 L9, Zheng and Kotschenreuther 2006 Phys. Rev. Lett. 97 165001), and the conclusions of these papers are revised. We resolve the problem of the torque resonance raised there. It is shown that the strong increase in the torque due to the static error field must occur at the resistive wall mode stability limit and not at the no-wall stability limit

MHD equilibrium of toroidal fusion plasma with stationary flows; Rownowaga MHD toroidalnej plazmy termojadrowej z przeplywami

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Galkowski, A. [Institute of Atomic Energy, Otwock-Swierk (Poland)

1994-12-31

Non-linear ideal MHD equilibria in axisymmetric system with flows are examined, both in 1st and 2nd ellipticity regions. Evidence of the bifurcation of solutions is provided and numerical solutions of several problems in a tokamak geometry are given, exhibiting bifurcation phenomena. Relaxation of plasma in the presence of zero-order flows is studied in a realistic toroidal geometry. The field aligned flow allows equilibria with finite pressure gradient but with homogeneous temperature distribution. Numerical calculations have been performed for the 1st and 2nd ellipticity regimes of the extended Grad-Shafranov-Schlueter equation. Numerical technique, alternative to the well-known Grad`s ADM methods has been proposed to deal with slow adiabatic evolution of toroidal plasma with flows. The equilibrium problem with prescribed adiabatic constraints may be solved by simultaneous calculations of flux surface geometry and original profile functions. (author). 178 refs, 37 figs, 5 tabs.

Turbulence and transport characteristics of a barrier in a toroidal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujisawa, A; Shimizu, A; Nakano, H; Ohsima, S; Itoh, K; Iguchi, H; Yoshimura, Y; Minami, T; Nagaoka, K; Takahashi, C; Kojima, M; Nishimura, S; Isobe, M; Suzuki, C; Akiyama, T; Nagashima, Y; Ida, K; Toi, K; Ido, T; Itoh, S-I; Matsuoka, K; Okamura, S; Diamond, P H

2006-01-01

Turbulence and zonal flow at a transport barrier are studied with twin heavy ion beam probes in a toroidal helical plasma. A wavelet analysis is used to extract turbulence properties, e.g. spectra of both density and potential fluctuations, the coherence and the phase between them and the dispersion relation. Particle transport estimated from the fundamental characteristics is found to clearly rise with their intermittent activities after the barrier is broken down. Time-dependent analysis reveals that the intermittency of turbulence is correlated with the evolution of the stationary zonal flow

Turbulence and transport characteristics of a barrier in a toroidal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujisawa, A.; Shimizu, A.; Nakano, H.

2005-10-01

Turbulence and zonal flow at a transport barrier are studied with twin heavy ion beam probes in a toroidal helical plasma. A wavelet analysis is used to extract turbulence properties, e.g., spectra of both density and potential fluctuations, coherence and phase between them, and the dispersion relation. Particle transport estimated from the fundamental characteristics is found to clearly rise with their intermittent activities after the barrier is broken down. The time-dependent analysis reveals that intermittency of turbulence is correlated with evolution of stationary zonal flow. (author)

Effect of alpha particles on Toroidal Alfven Eigenmodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berk, H.L.

1992-11-01

An overview is given of the analytic structure for the linear theory of the Toroidal Alfven Eigenmode (TAE), where multiple gap structures occur. A discussion is given of the alpha particle drive and the various dissipation mechanisms that can stabilize the system. A self-consistent calculation of the TAE mode, for a low-beta high-aspect-ratio plasma, indicates that though the alpha particle drive is comparable to the dissipation mechanisms, overall stability is still achieved for ignited ITER-like plasma. A brief discussion is given of the nonlinear theory for the TAE mode and how nonlinear alpha particle dynamics can be treated by mapping methods

Influence of toroidal rotation on resistive tearing modes in tokamaks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, S.; Ma, Z. W., E-mail: zwma@zju.edu.cn [Institute for Fusion Theory and Simulation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China)

2015-12-15

Influence of toroidal equilibrium plasma rotation on m/n = 2/1 resistive tearing modes is studied numerically using a 3D toroidal MHD code (CLT). It is found that the toroidal rotation with or without shear can suppress the tearing instability and the Coriolis effect in the toroidal geometry plays a dominant role on the rotation induced stabilization. For a high viscosity plasma (τ{sub R}/τ{sub V} ≫ 1, where τ{sub R} and τ{sub V} represent resistive and viscous diffusion time, respectively), the effect of the rotation shear combined with the viscosity appears to be stabilizing. For a low viscosity plasmas (τ{sub R}/τ{sub V} ≪ 1), the rotation shear shows a destabilizing effect when the rotation is large.

Neoclassical viscosities in NCSX and QPS with few toroidal periods and low aspect ratios

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishimura, S.; Mikkelsen, D.R.; Ku, L.P.; Mynick, H.E.; Zarnstorff, M.C.; Spong, D.A.; Hirshman, S.P.

2008-01-01

Previously reported benchmarking examples for the analytical formulas of neoclassical viscosities were made implicitly assuming applications in a future integrated simulation system for the LHD (Large Helical Device). Therefore the toroidal period numbers assumed there were mainly N=10. In this kind of calculation, however, an implicit (or sometimes explicit) assumption of ι/N<<1 is sometimes included. This assumption is included not only in simplified bounce averaged drift kinetic equations for ripple diffusions, but also in the equation before the averaging for non-bounce-averaged effects determining neoclassical parallel viscosity and the banana-plateau diffusions. To clarify the applicability of the analytical methods even for configurations with extremely low toroidal period numbers (required for low aspect ratios), we show here recent benchmarking examples in NCSX (National Compact Stellarator Experiment) with N=3 and QPS (Quasi-poloidal Stellarator) with N=2. (author)

Stable confinement of toroidal electron plasma in an internal conductor device Prototype-Ring Trap

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saitoh, H.; Yoshida, Z.; Watanabe, S.

2005-01-01

A pure electron plasma has been produced in an internal conductor device Prototype-Ring Trap (Proto-RT). The temporal evolution of the electron plasma was investigated by the measurement of electrostatic fluctuations. Stable confinement was realized when the potential profile adjusted to match the magnetic surfaces. The confinement time varies as a function of the magnetic field strength and the neutral gas pressure, and is comparable to the diffusion time of electrons determined by the classical collisions with neutral gas. Although the addition of a toroidal magnetic field stabilized the electrostatic fluctuation of the plasma, the effects of the magnetic shear shortened the stable confinement time, possibly because of the obstacles of coil support structures

Threshold for the destabilisation of the ion-temperature-gradient mode in magnetically confined toroidal plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Zocco, A.; Xanthopoulos, P.; Doerk, H.; Connor, J. W.; Helander, P.

2018-02-01

The threshold for the resonant destabilisation of ion-temperature-gradient (ITG) driven instabilities that render the modes ubiquitous in both tokamaks and stellarators is investigated. We discover remarkably similar results for both confinement concepts if care is taken in the analysis of the effect of the global shear . We revisit, analytically and by means of gyrokinetic simulations, accepted tokamak results and discover inadequacies of some aspects of their theoretical interpretation. In particular, for standard tokamak configurations, we find that global shear effects on the critical gradient cannot be attributed to the wave-particle resonance destabilising mechanism of Hahm & Tang (Phys. Plasmas, vol. 1, 1989, pp. 1185-1192), but are consistent with a stabilising contribution predicted by Biglari et al. (Phys. Plasmas, vol. 1, 1989, pp. 109-118). Extensive analytical and numerical investigations show that virtually no previous tokamak theoretical predictions capture the temperature dependence of the mode frequency at marginality, thus leading to incorrect instability thresholds. In the asymptotic limit , where is the rotational transform, and such a threshold should be solely determined by the resonant toroidal branch of the ITG mode, we discover a family of unstable solutions below the previously known threshold of instability. This is true for a tokamak case described by a local local equilibrium, and for the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X, where these unstable solutions are present even for configurations with a small trapped-particle population. We conjecture they are of the Floquet type and derive their properties from the Fourier analysis of toroidal drift modes of Connor & Taylor (Phys. Fluids, vol. 30, 1987, pp. 3180-3185), and to Hill's theory of the motion of the lunar perigee (Acta Math., vol. 8, 1886, pp. 1-36). The temperature dependence of the newly determined threshold is given for both confinement concepts. In the first case, the new temperature

Computer simulations of compact toroid formation and acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peterkin, R.E. Jr.; Sovinec, C.R.

1990-01-01

Experiments to form, accelerate, and focus compact toroid plasmas will be performed on the 9.4 MJ SHIVA STAR fast capacitor bank at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory during the 1990. The MARAUDER (magnetically accelerated rings to achieve ultrahigh directed energy and radiation) program is a research effort to accelerate magnetized plasma rings with the masses between 0.1 and 1.0 mg to velocities above 10 8 cm/sec and energies above 1 MJ. Research on these high-velocity compact toroids may lead to development of very fast opening switches, high-power microwave sources, and an alternative path to inertial confinement fusion. Design of a compact toroid accelerator experiment on the SHIVA STAR capacitor bank is underway, and computer simulations with the 2 1/2-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics code, MACH2, have been performed to guide this endeavor. The compact toroids are produced in a magnetized coaxial plasma gun, and the acceleration will occur in a configuration similar to a coaxial railgun. Detailed calculations of formation and equilibration of a low beta magnetic force-free configuration (curl B = kB) have been performed with MACH2. In this paper, the authors discuss computer simulations of the focusing and acceleration of the toroid

Tearing modes in toroidal geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Connor, J.W.; Cowley, S.C.; Hastie, R.J.; Hender, T.C.; Hood, A.; Martin, T.J.

1988-01-01

The separation of the cylindrical tearing mode stability problem into a resistive resonant layer calculation and an external marginal ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) calculation (Δ' calculation) is generalized to axisymmetric toroidal geometry. The general structure of this separation is analyzed and the marginal ideal MHD information (the toroidal generalization of Δ') required to discuss stability is isolated. This can then, in principle, be combined with relevant resonant layer calculations to determine tearing mode growth rates in realistic situations. Two examples are given: the first is an analytic treatment of toroidally coupled (m = 1, n = 1) and (m = 2, n = 1) tearing modes in a large aspect ratio torus; the second, a numerical treatment of the toroidal coupling of three tearing modes through finite pressure effects in a large aspect ratio torus. In addition, the use of a coupling integral approach for determining the stability of coupled tearing modes is discussed. Finally, the possibility of using initial value resistive MHD codes in realistic toroidal geometry to determine the necessary information from the ideal MHD marginal solution is discussed

Equilibrium and stability of high-beta toroidal plasmas with toroidal and poloidal flow in reduced magnetohydrodynamic models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, A.; Nakajima, N.

2010-11-01

Effects of flow, finite ion temperature and pressure anisotropy on equilibrium and stability of a high-beta toroidal plasma are studied in the framework of reduced magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). A set of reduced equilibrium equations for high-beta tokamaks with toroidal and poloidal flow comparable to the poloidal sound velocity is derived in a unified form of single-fluid and Hall MHD models and a two-fluid MHD model with ion finite Larmor radius (FLR) terms. Pressure anisotropy is introduced with equations for the parallel heat flux which are closed by a fluid closure model. It is solved analytically for the single-fluid model and the solutions shows complicated characteristics in the region around the poloidal sound velocity due to pressure anisotropy and the parallel heat flux. Numerical solutions are found by using the finite element method for the two-fluid model with FLR effects in the case of isotropic, adiabatic pressure and indicate the following features of two-fluid equilibria: the isosurfaces of the magnetic flux, the pressure and the ion stream function do not coincide with each other, and the solutions depend on the sign of the radial electric field. Reduced single-fluid MHD equations with time evolution that are consistent with the above equilibria are also derived in order to study their stability. They conserve the energy up to the order required by the equilibria. (author)

First experimental result of toroidal confinement of non-neutral plasma on Proto-RT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Himura, H.; Yoshida, Z.; Morikawa, J.

1999-01-01

Recently, an internal-ring device named Proto-RT (Prototype Ring Trap) was constructed at University of Tokyo, and experiments on the device have been just initiated. The goal of Proto-RT is to explore an innovative way which has a possibility to attain a plasma equilibrium with extremely high-β (β>1) in a toroidal geometry using non-neutral condition. At the first series of the experiments, pure electron plasma (n e ∼10 12 m -3 ) is successfully confined inside a separatrix. No disruption is so far observed. The confinement time of the electron plasma is the order of 1 sec. A shear effect of magnetic fields seems to result in longer confinement. The non-neutrality of Δn e ∼10 12 m -3 is already beyond the value required to produce an enough self-electric field E in plasma, causing a strong ExB flow thoroughly all over the plasma where the hydrodynamic pressure of the flow is predicted to balance with the thermal pressure of the plasma. (author)

Investigation of intrinsic toroidal rotation scaling in KSTAR

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, J. W.; Lee, S. G.; Ko, S. H.; Seol, J.; Lee, H. H.; Kim, J. H.

2017-07-01

The behaviors of an intrinsic toroidal rotation without any external momentum sources are investigated in KSTAR. In these experiments, pure ohmic discharges with a wide range of plasma parameters are carefully selected and analyzed to speculate an unrevealed origin of toroidal rotation excluding any unnecessary heating sources, magnetic perturbations, and strong magneto-hydrodynamic activities. The measured core toroidal rotation in KSTAR is mostly in the counter-current direction and its magnitude strongly depends on the ion temperature divided by plasma current (Ti/IP). Especially the core toroidal rotation in the steady-state is well fitted by Ti/IP scaling with a slope of ˜-23, and the possible explanation of the scaling is compared with various candidates. As a result, the calculated offset rotation could not explain the measured core toroidal rotation since KSTAR has an extremely low intrinsic error field. For the stability conditions for ion and electron turbulences, it is hard to determine a dominant turbulence mode in this study. In addition, the intrinsic toroidal rotation level in ITER is estimated based on the KSTAR scaling since the intrinsic rotation plays an important role in stabilizing resistive wall modes for future reference.

The effect of toroidal plasma rotation on low-frequency reversed shear Alfvén eigenmodes in tokamaks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.W. Haverkort (Willem)

2012-01-01

htmlabstractThe influence of toroidal plasma rotation on the existence of reversed shear Alfvén eigenmodes (RSAEs) near their minimum frequency is investigated analytically. An existence condition is derived showing that a radially decreasing kinetic energy density is unfavourable for the existence

Impurity toroidal rotation and transport in Alcator C-Mod ohmic high confinement mode plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rice, J. E.; Goetz, J. A.; Granetz, R. S.; Greenwald, M. J.; Hubbard, A. E.; Hutchinson, I. H.; Marmar, E. S.; Mossessian, D.; Pedersen, T. Sunn; Snipes, J. A.

2000-01-01

Central toroidal rotation and impurity transport coefficients have been determined in Alcator C-Mod [I. H. Hutchinson et al., Phys. Plasmas 1, 1511 (1994)] Ohmic high confinement mode (H-mode) plasmas from observations of x-ray emission following impurity injection. Rotation velocities up to 3x10 4 m/sec in the co-current direction have been observed in the center of the best Ohmic H-mode plasmas. Purely ohmic H-mode plasmas display many characteristics similar to ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) heated H-mode plasmas, including the scaling of the rotation velocity with plasma parameters and the formation of edge pedestals in the electron density and temperature profiles. Very long impurity confinement times (∼1 sec) are seen in edge localized mode-free (ELM-free) Ohmic H-modes and the inward impurity convection velocity profile has been determined to be close to the calculated neoclassical profile. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics

A current profile model for magnetic analysis of the start-up phase of toroidal plasmas driven by electron cyclotron heating and current drive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshinaga, T.; Uchida, M.; Tanaka, H.; Maekawa, T.

2007-01-01

An estimation model of plasma current density distribution for the start-up phase of toroidal plasmas generated by electron cyclotron heating (ECH) in the low aspect ratio torus experiment device is presented. The model assumes a power law parabolic current profile having seven fitting parameters. Its position, extent and broadness (or steepness) are fitted by adjusting these parameters to the observed magnetic flux signals. The adequacy of the model has been examined and confirmed by comparisons of the reconstructed current profiles and the resultant poloidal flux surfaces with the plasma images at visible light range at various stages of start-up discharges, including both the initial open field phase, the subsequent closed field phase, the current decay phase after ECH is turned off and also by a current-profile limiting experiment. This method may be useful for the study of non-inductive start-up experiments by ECH, where there is no appropriate MHD constraint on the current distribution as that in the full tokamak discharge plasmas

Toroidal field effects on the stability of Heliotron E

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carreras, B.A.; Garcia, L.; Lynch, V.E.

1986-02-01

The addition of a small toroidal field to the Heliotron E configuration improves the stability of the n = 1 mode and increases the value of the stability beta critical. Total stabilization of this mode can be achieved with added toroidal fields between 5 and 15% of the total field. In this situation, the plasma can have direct access to the second stability regime. For the Heliotron E configuration, the self-stabilization effect is due to the shear, not to the magnetic well. The toroidal field threshold value for stability depends strongly on the pressure profile and the plasma radius. 21 refs., 15 figs

Evaluation of toroidal torque by non-resonant magnetic perturbations in tokamaks for resonant transport regimes using a Hamiltonian approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Albert, Christopher G.; Heyn, Martin F.; Kapper, Gernot; Kernbichler, Winfried; Martitsch, Andreas F. [Fusion@ÖAW, Institut für Theoretische Physik - Computational Physics, Technische Universität Graz, Petersgasse 16, 8010 Graz (Austria); Kasilov, Sergei V. [Fusion@ÖAW, Institut für Theoretische Physik - Computational Physics, Technische Universität Graz, Petersgasse 16, 8010 Graz (Austria); Institute of Plasma Physics, National Science Center “Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology,” ul. Akademicheskaya 1, 61108 Kharkov (Ukraine)

2016-08-15

Toroidal torque generated by neoclassical viscosity caused by external non-resonant, non-axisymmetric perturbations has a significant influence on toroidal plasma rotation in tokamaks. In this article, a derivation for the expressions of toroidal torque and radial transport in resonant regimes is provided within quasilinear theory in canonical action-angle variables. The proposed approach treats all low-collisional quasilinear resonant neoclassical toroidal viscosity regimes including superbanana-plateau and drift-orbit resonances in a unified way and allows for magnetic drift in all regimes. It is valid for perturbations on toroidally symmetric flux surfaces of the unperturbed equilibrium without specific assumptions on geometry or aspect ratio. The resulting expressions are shown to match the existing analytical results in the large aspect ratio limit. Numerical results from the newly developed code NEO-RT are compared to calculations by the quasilinear version of the code NEO-2 at low collisionalities. The importance of the magnetic shear term in the magnetic drift frequency and a significant effect of the magnetic drift on drift-orbit resonances are demonstrated.

Equilibrium, stability and heating of plasmas in linear and toroidal Extrap pinches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonnevier, B.; Drake, J.R.; Dalhed, H.E.

1983-01-01

The Extrap scheme consists of a Z-pinch immersed in an octupole field. The total magnetic field has no component along the pinch axis. Globally stable Z-pinch equilibria with a distributed plasma current density and a duration of about 100 Alfven transit times have been observed in linear and toroidal sector experiments. Theoretical studies indicate that this stability can be the result of constraints introduced by the octupole field and the resulting separatrix of the total field, in combination with finite-Larmor-radius effects. A scheme for ICRF heating of the plasma in configurations with a magnetic neutral line, being applicable to Extrap and FRC, is analysed. Wave propagation arises owing to the Hall effect. Particle resonances are responsible for the absorption, owing to a high parallel wavenumber and a weak magnetic field. (author)

A 3-MA compact-toroid-plasma-flow-switched plasma focus demonstration experiment on Shiva Star

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kiuttu, G F; Degnan, J H [Phillips Lab., Kirtland AFB, NM (United States). High Energy Sources Div.; Graham, J D [Maxwell Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States); and others

1997-12-31

A novel dense plasma focus experiment using the Shiva Star capacitor bank is described. The experiment uses a compact toroid (CT) magnetized plasma flow switch (PFS) to initiate the focus implosion. The CT armature stably and reproducibly translates up to 3 MA from the vacuum feed region through coaxial electrodes to the gas puff central load. The inertia of the 1 mg CT and the work that must be done in compressing the internal magnetic fields during the translation provide a delay in current delivery to the pinch of 5 - 10 {mu}s, which matches the bank quarter cycle time relatively well. Effectiveness of the current delivery was monitored primarily by inductive probes in the PFS region, fast photography of the focus, and x-ray and neutron measurements of the pinch. K shell x-ray yields using neon gas were as high as 1 kJ, and 10{sup 8} neutrons were produced in a deuterium gas focus. (author). 4 figs., 10 refs.

A 3-MA compact-toroid-plasma-flow-switched plasma focus demonstration experiment on Shiva Star

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiuttu, G.F.; Degnan, J.H.

1996-01-01

A novel dense plasma focus experiment using the Shiva Star capacitor bank is described. The experiment uses a compact toroid (CT) magnetized plasma flow switch (PFS) to initiate the focus implosion. The CT armature stably and reproducibly translates up to 3 MA from the vacuum feed region through coaxial electrodes to the gas puff central load. The inertia of the 1 mg CT and the work that must be done in compressing the internal magnetic fields during the translation provide a delay in current delivery to the pinch of 5 - 10 μs, which matches the bank quarter cycle time relatively well. Effectiveness of the current delivery was monitored primarily by inductive probes in the PFS region, fast photography of the focus, and x-ray and neutron measurements of the pinch. K shell x-ray yields using neon gas were as high as 1 kJ, and 10 8 neutrons were produced in a deuterium gas focus. (author). 4 figs., 10 refs

Implementation of vertically asymmetric toroidal-field ripple for beam heating of tokamak reactor plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jassby, D.L.; Sheffield, G.V.; Towner, H.H.; Weissenburger, D.W.

1976-10-01

The neutral-beam energy required for adequate penetration of tokamak plasmas of high opacity can be reduced by a large factor if the beam is injected vertically into a region of large TF (toroidal-field) ripple. Energetic ions are trapped in local magnetic wells and drift vertically toward the midplane (z = 0). If the ripple is made very small on the opposite side of the midplane, drifting ions are detrapped and thermalized in the central plasma region. This paper discusses design considerations for establishing the required vertically asymmetric ripple. Examples are given of special TF-coil configurations, and of the use of auxiliary coil windings to create the prescribed ripple profiles

Theoretical studies of the heating of toroidal plasmas with radio frequency electromagnetic radiation. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glasser, A.H.; Swanson, D.G.; Wersinger, J.M.

1982-01-01

The continuation of a program of theoretical studies of the heating of toroidal plasmas with radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic radiation is proposed. Funding for this project first began on September 3, 1981, and will expire on April 2, 1982. A summary of the principal accomplishments of the first five months of the project is presented. These include the acquisition of computer terminals and modems, the implementation of existing codes on the MFECC C Cray Computer, the extension of the LHTOR lower hybrid toroidal ray tracing code to the full electromagnetic dispersion relation, the implementation of graphic output from the code, the beginning of extensive parameter studies, the beginning of an analytical treatment of the mode conversion layer associated with singular harmonic absorption, and the introduction of a graduate student into the program

Global Hybrid Simulations of Energetic Particle-driven Modes in Toroidal Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fu, G.Y.; Breslau, J.; Fredrickson, E.; Park, W.; Strauss, H.R.

2004-01-01

Global hybrid simulations of energetic particle-driven MHD modes have been carried out for tokamaks and spherical tokamaks using the hybrid code M3D. The numerical results for the National Spherical Tokamak Experiments (NSTX) show that Toroidal Alfven Eigenmodes are excited by beam ions with their frequencies consistent with the experimental observations. Nonlinear simulations indicate that the n=2 mode frequency chirps down as the mode moves out radially. For ITER, it is shown that the alpha-particle effects are strongly stabilizing for internal kink mode when central safety factor q(0) is sufficiently close to unity. However, the elongation of ITER plasma shape reduces the stabilization significantly

Tokamak plasma variations under rapid compression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holmes, J.A.; Peng, Y.K.M.; Lynch, S.J.

1980-04-01

Changes in plasmas undergoing large, rapid compressions are examined numerically over the following range of aspect ratios A:3 greater than or equal to A greater than or equal to 1.5 for major radius compressions of circular, elliptical, and D-shaped cross sections; and 3 less than or equal to A less than or equal to 6 for minor radius compressions of circular and D-shaped cross sections. The numerical approach combines the computation of fixed boundary MHD equilibria with single-fluid, flux-surface-averaged energy balance, particle balance, and magnetic flux diffusion equations. It is found that the dependences of plasma current I/sub p/ and poloidal beta anti β/sub p/ on the compression ratio C differ significantly in major radius compressions from those proposed by Furth and Yoshikawa. The present interpretation is that compression to small A dramatically increases the plasma current, which lowers anti β/sub p/ and makes the plasma more paramagnetic. Despite large values of toroidal beta anti β/sub T/ (greater than or equal to 30% with q/sub axis/ approx. = 1, q/sub edge/ approx. = 3), this tends to concentrate more toroidal flux near the magnetic axis, which means that a reduced minor radius is required to preserve the continuity of the toroidal flux function F at the plasma edge. Minor radius compressions to large aspect ratio agree well with the Furth-Yoshikawa scaling laws

Statistical properties of turbulence in a toroidal magnetized ECR plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Yi; Lu Ronghua; Wang Zhijiang; Wen Yizhi; Yu Changxuan; Wan Shude; Liu, Wandong

2008-01-01

The statistical analyses of fluctuation data measured by electrostatic-probe arrays clearly show that the self-organized criticality (SOC) avalanches are not the dominant behaviors in a toroidal ECR plasma in the SMT (Simple Magnetic Torus) mode of KT-5D device. The f -1 index region in the auto-correlation spectra of the floating potential V f and the ion saturation current I s , which is a fingerprint of a SOC system, ranges only in a narrow frequency band. By investigating the Hurst exponents at increasingly coarse grained time series, we find that at a time scale of τ>100 μs, there exists no or a very weak long-range correlation over two decades in τ. The difference between the PDFs of I s and V f clearly shows a more global nature of the latter. The transport flux induced by the turbulence suggests that the natural intermittency of turbulent transport maybe independent of the avalanche induced by near criticality. The drift instability is dominant in a SMT plasma generated by means of ECR discharges

Tokamak configuration analysis with the method of toroidal multipoles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Micozzi, P.; Alladio, F.; Crisanti, F.; Marinucci, M.; Tanga, A.

1989-01-01

In the study of tokamak machines able to sustain plasmas of thermonuclear interest (JIT, IGNITOR, NET, CIT, ET), there is a strong quest for engineering optimization of the circuital components close to the plasma. We have developed a semianalytical axisymmetric MHD equilibrium code based on the technique of the poloidal ψ flux function expansion in toroidal harmonic series. This code is able to optimize the necessary currents in the poloidal circuits in order to sustain a plasma of fixed shape (also x-point configuration), toroidal current and poloidal β. (author) 4 refs., 4 figs

Plasma-wall interaction and locked modes in the toroidal pinch experiment TPE-RX reversed-field pinch

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pasqualini, D.; Martin, P.; Koguchi, H.; Yagi, Y.; Hirano, Y.; Sakakita, H.; Spizzo, G.

2006-01-01

The MHD instabilities that sustain the reversed-field pinch (RFP) configuration tend to phase-lock together and also to wall-lock, forming a bulging of the plasma column, called 'locked mode'. This phenomenon is of particular interest, since the locked mode causes a larger plasma resistivity, plasma cooling, and, in some cases, anomalous discharge termination. Up to now, studies of the locked mode have been focused on m=1 modes (being m the poloidal mode number). In this Letter we show that m=0 modes also play a role, based on the cross-check between magnetic spectra and toroidally resolved D α array measurements. (author)

Equilibrium and stability of theta-pinch plasma in modified toroidal multiple mirror field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shiina, S.; Saito, K.; Osanai, Y.; Itagaki, T.; Karakizawa, T.; Gesso, H.; Todoroki, J.; Kawakami, I.; Yoshimura, H.

1976-01-01

To confine a high-beta plasma a new toroidal magnetic configuration with closed lines of force has been proposed [1]. The configuration is an appropriate superposition of l = 0, l = +- 1, l = +- 2,sup(...), helical fields. In this experiment, it is generated by modifying the multiple mirror field by enclosing the discharge tube in a copper shell which has longitudinal gap. This configuration is preferred for the wall stabilizing effect to that with the separated helical windings. The characteristics of the equilibrium conditions are examined based on the near-axis approximation theory and compared with the experimental results. The stability of plasma in the configurations with l = 0 field and with superposition of l = 0, l = +- 2 fields is investigated in linear geometry. (author)

On the interplay between neoclassical tearing modes and nonlocal transport in toroidal plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, X. Q.; Xu, Y.; Hidalgo, C.; Diamond, P. H.; Liu, Yi; Pan, O.; Shi, Z. B.; Yu, D. L.

2016-09-01

This Letter presents the first observation on the interplay between nonlocal transport and neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) during transient nonlocal heat transport events in the HL-2A tokamak. The nonlocality is triggered by edge cooling and large-scale, inward propagating avalanches. These lead to a locally enhanced pressure gradient at the q = 3/2 (or 2/1) rational surface and hence the onset of the NTM in relatively low β plasmas (βN < 1). The NTM, in return, regulates the nonlocal transport by truncation of avalanches by local sheared toroidal flows which develop near the magnetic island. These findings have direct implications for understanding the dynamic interaction between turbulence and large-scale mode structures in fusion plasmas.

A simple toroidal shell model for the study of feedback stabilization of resistive wall modes in a tokamak plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jhang, Hogun

2008-01-01

A study is conducted on the feedback stabilization of resistive wall modes (RWMs) in a tokamak plasma using a toroidal shell model. An analytically tractable form of the RWM dispersion relation is derived in the presence of a set of discrete feedback coil currents. A parametric study is carried out to optimize the feedback system configuration. It is shown that the total toroidal angle of a resistive wall spanned by the feedback coils and the poloidal angular extent of a feedback coil are crucial parameters to determine the efficacy of the feedback system

Toroidal effects on drift wave turbulence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

LeBrun, M.J.; Tajima, T.; Gray, M.G.; Furnish, G.; Horton, W.

1992-09-23

The universal drift instability and other drift instabilities driven by density and temperature gradients in a toroidal system are investigated in both linear and nonlinear regimes via particle simulation. Runs in toroidal and cylindrical geometry show dramatic differences in plasma behavior, primarily due to the toroidicity-induced coupling of rational surfaces through the poloidal mode number m. In the toroidal system studied, the eigenmodes are seen to possess (i) an elongated, nearly global radial extent (ii) a higher growth rate than in the corresponding cylindrical system, (iii) an eigenfrequency nearly constant with radius, (iv) a global temperature relaxation and enhancement of thermal heat conduction. Most importantly, the measured Xi shows an increase with radius and an absolute value on the order of that observed in experiment. On the basis of our observations, we argue that the increase in Xi with radius observed in experiment is caused by the global nature of heat convection in the presence of toroidicity-induced mode coupling.

Toroidal effects on drift wave turbulence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

LeBrun, M.J.; Tajima, T.; Gray, M.G.; Furnish, G.; Horton, W.

1992-01-01

The universal drift instability and other drift instabilities driven by density and temperature gradients in a toroidal system are investigated in both linear and nonlinear regimes via particle simulation. Runs in toroidal and cylindrical geometry show dramatic differences in plasma behavior, primarily due to the toroidicity-induced coupling of rational surfaces through the poloidal mode number m. In the toroidal system studied, the eigenmodes are seen to possess (i) an elongated, nearly global radial extent (ii) a higher growth rate than in the corresponding cylindrical system, (iii) an eigenfrequency nearly constant with radius, (iv) a global temperature relaxation and enhancement of thermal heat conduction. Most importantly, the measured Xi shows an increase with radius and an absolute value on the order of that observed in experiment. On the basis of our observations, we argue that the increase in Xi with radius observed in experiment is caused by the global nature of heat convection in the presence of toroidicity-induced mode coupling

Anomalous transport in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Punjabi, A.

1989-12-01

When the magnetic moment of particle is conserved, there are three mechanisms which cause anomalous transport. These are: variation of magnetic field strength in flux surface, variation of electrostatic potential in flux surface, and destruction of flux surface. The anomalous transport of different groups of particles resulting from each of these mechanisms is different. This fact can be exploited to determine the cause of transport operative in an experimental situation. This approach can give far more information on the transport than the standard confinement time measurements. To implement this approach, we have developed Monte Carlo codes for toroidal geometries. The equations of motion are developed in a set of non-canonical, practical Boozer co-ordinates by means of Jacobian transformations of the particle drift Hamiltonian equations of motion. Effects of collisions are included by appropriate stochastic changes in the constants of motion. Effects of the loop voltage on particle motions are also included. We plan to apply our method to study two problems: the problem of the hot electron tail observed in edge region of ZT-40, and the energy confinement time in TOKAPOLE II. For the ZT-40 problem three situations will be considered: a single mode in the core, a stochastic region that covers half the minor radius, a stochastic region that covers the entire plasma. A turbulent spectrum of perturbations based on the experimental data of TOKAPOLE II will be developed. This will be used to simulate electron transport resulting from ideal instabilities and resistive instabilities in TOKAPOLE II

Neoclassical and anomalous transport in toroidal plasmas with drift-ordered turbulence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugama, H.; Horton, W.

1996-01-01

Neoclassical and anomalous transport fluxes are determined for axisymmetric toroidal plasmas with weak electromagnetic drift wave fluctuations. The neoclassical and anomalous fluxes are defined based on the ensemble-averaged kinetic equation with the statistically averaged nonlinear wave-particle interactions. The anomalous forces derived from that quasilinear term induce the anomalous particle and heat fluxes. For the microscale fluctuations k perpendicular ρ i ∼ 1 the parallel neoclassical fluxes remain invariant. For mesoscale fluctuations the mixing length fluctuation level with broken symmetry from (weak) shear flows the neoclassical banana-plateau fluxes are affected by the fluctuations through the parallel anomalous forces and the modified parallel viscosities. The entropy production rate due to the anomalous transport processes is formulated and used to identify conjugate pairs of the anomalous fluxes and forces, which are connected by the matrix with the Onsager symmetry. The proof of the Onsager symmetry is carried out by splitting the response function up into the even and odd parts under the (t, B) → (-t,-B) transformation and using the self-adjointness of the linearized Landau collision operator and the quasilinear formalism. An explicit calculation of the symmetric transport coefficients is possible when the Krook collision model replaces the Landau collision operator. The importance of low aspect ratio tokamaks and helical systems for experimental investigations of the Onsager symmetries is emphasized

Investigation of detached recombining deuterium plasma and carbon chemical erosion in the toroidal divertor simulator NAGDIS-T

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yada, K.; Matsui, N.; Ohno, N.; Kajita, S.; Takamura, S.; Takagi, M.

2009-01-01

Detached deuterium recombining plasma has been generated in the toroidal divertor simulator. The electron temperature (0.1-0.4 eV) and density (∼10 18 m -3 ) in the detached plasmas were evaluated with a spectroscopic method using a series of deuterium Balmer line emission from highly excited levels and the Stark broadening of D(2-12). We have investigated the role of volume plasma recombination through Electron-Ion Recombination (EIR) and Molecular Activated Recombination (MAR) processes. Moreover, the carbon erosion in the detached deuterium plasma has been studied with a weight loss method. It is found that deuterium neutrals generated by EIR process could have strong influence on the carbon chemical erosion.

Impact of ECRH launcher flexibility on NTM stabilization and advanced scenarios in large toroidal configurations as JET plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nowak, S.; Bruschi, A.; Ramponi, G.; Cirant, S.; Lazzaro, E.; Verhoeven, A.G.A.; Zohm, H.

2003-01-01

A beam-tracing code is used for extensive beam-tracing, ECCD and ECRH profile calculations in ideal JET-like plasmas with the main aim of specifying such crucial parameters for the ECRH launcher as the poloidal and toroidal steering ranges, the permitted error in the various launching angles and the optimal shape of the last mirrors reflecting surfaces. In order to be fusion-relevant, the calculations are performed on ideal target plasmas and equilibrium configurations scaled from real JET shots, selected by the JET-EP ECRH Physics Integration Project. The launching scheme is fully compliant with a launcher designed under the geometric constraints of JET, which consists of 6 to 8 beams arranged in pairs, with four end mirrors steerable both in the poloidal and in the toroidal directions. It is shown that with this arrangement all launching configurations requested by the physics goals of ECRH in a JET-like device are feasible. (authors)

Formation of compact toroidal plasmas by magnetized coaxial plasma gun injection into an oblate flux conserver

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, W.C.; Goldenbaum, G.C.; Granneman, E.H.A.; Hartman, C.W.; Prono, D.S.; Taska, J.; Smith, A.C. Jr.

1980-01-01

Initial results are reported on the formation of compact toroidal plasmas in an oblate shaped metallic flux conserver. A schematic of the experimental apparatus is shown. The plasma injector is a coaxial plasma gun with solenoid coils wound on the inner and outer electrodes. The electrode length is 100 cm, the diameter of the inner (outer) electrode is 19.3 cm (32.4 cm). Deuterium gas is puffed into the region between electrodes by eight pulsed valves located on the outer electrode 50 cm from the end of the gun. The gun injects into a cylindrically symmetrical copper shell (wall thickness = 1.6 mm) which acts as a flux conserver for the time scale of experiments reported here. The copper shell consists of a transition cylinder 30 cm long, 34 cm in diameter, a cylindrical oblate pill box 40 cm long, 75 cm in diameter and a downstream cylinder 30 cm long, 30 cm in diameter. The gap between the gun and transition cylinder is 6 cm. An axial array of coils outside the vacuum chamber can be used to establish an initial uniform bias field

Toroidal drift magnetic pumping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Canobbio, E.

1977-01-01

A set of azimuthal coils which carry properly dephased rf-currents in the KHz frequency range can be used to heat toroidal plasmas by perpendicular Landau damping of subsonic Alfven waves. The heating mechanism and the rf-field structure are discussed in some detail

Progress in gyrokinetic simulations of toroidal ITG turbulence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nevins, W.M.; Dimits, A.M.; Cohen, B.I.; Shumaker, D.E.

2001-01-01

The 3-D nonlinear toroidal gyrokinetic simulation code PG3EQ is used to study toroidal ion temperature gradient (ITG) driven turbulence - a key cause of the anomalous transport that limits tokamak plasma performance. Systematic studies of the dependence of ion thermal transport on various parameters and effects are presented, including dependence on E-vectorxB-vector and toroidal velocity shear, sensitivity to the force balance in simulations with radial temperature gradient variation, and the dependences on magnetic shear and ion temperature gradient. (author)

Investigation on the Characteristics of Pellet Ablation in a Toroidal Plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, K. N.; Sakakita, H.; Fujita, H.

2003-06-01

Characteristics of a cloud ablated from an ice pellet has been investigated in detail in the JIPP T-IIU tokamak plasma by utilizing a new scheme of pellet injection system, "the injection-angle controllable system". A long "helical tail" of ablation light has been observed using CCD cameras and a high speed framing photograph in the case of on-axis and off-axis injection with the injection angle smaller than a certain value. The direction of the helical tail is found to be independent to that of the total magnetic field lines of the torus. From the experiments with the combination of two toroildal filed directions and two plasma current directions, it is considered that the tail seems to rotate, in most cases, to the electron diamagnetic direction poloidally, and to the opposite to the plasma current direction toroidally. Consideration on various cross sections including charge exchange, ionization and elastic collisions leads us to the conclusion that the tail-shaped phenomena may come from the situation of charge exchange equilibrium of hydrogen ions and neutrals at extremely high density regime in the cloud. The relation of ablation behavior with plasma potential and rotation has also been studied. Potential measurements of pellet-injected plasmas using heavy ion beam probe (HIBP) method were carried out for the first time. In the case of an injection angle to be anti-parallel to the electron diamagnetic direction in the poloidal plane, the result shows that the direction of potential change is negative, and consequently the potential after the injection should be negative because it has been measured to be negative in usual ohmic plasmas without pellet injection. Thus, the direction of the "tail" structure seems to be consistent to that of the plasma potential measured, if it is considered that tail structure may be caused by the effect of the plasma potential and the rotation.

Ion confinement and transport in a toroidal plasma with externally imposed radial electric fields

Science.gov (United States)

Roth, J. R.; Krawczonek, W. M.; Powers, E. J.; Kim, Y. C.; Hong, H. Y.

1979-01-01

Strong electric fields were imposed along the minor radius of the toroidal plasma by biasing it with electrodes maintained at kilovolt potentials. Coherent, low-frequency disturbances characteristic of various magnetohydrodynamic instabilities were absent in the high-density, well-confined regime. High, direct-current radial electric fields with magnitudes up to 135 volts per centimeter penetrated inward to at least one-half the plasma radius. When the electric field pointed radially toward, the ion transport was inward against a strong local density gradient; and the plasma density and confinement time were significantly enhanced. The radial transport along the electric field appeared to be consistent with fluctuation-induced transport. With negative electrode polarity the particle confinement was consistent with a balance of two processes: a radial infusion of ions, in those sectors of the plasma not containing electrodes, that resulted from the radially inward fields; and ion losses to the electrodes, each of the which acted as a sink and drew ions out of the plasma. A simple model of particle confinement was proposed in which the particle confinement time is proportional to the plasma volume. The scaling predicted by this model was consistent with experimental measurements.

ELM frequency dependence on toroidal rotation in the grassy ELM regime in JT-60U

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oyama, N; Kamada, Y; Isayama, A; Urano, H; Koide, Y; Sakamoto, Y; Takechi, M; Asakura, N

2007-01-01

A systematic study of the effect of the level of toroidal plasma rotation at the top of the ion temperature pedestal ( T i ped ) on the edge localised mode (ELM) characteristics in JT-60U has been performed. The level of toroidal plasma rotation was varied by using different combinations of tangential and perpendicular neutral beam injection (NBI). In the grassy ELM regime at high triangularity (δ) and high safety factor (q), the ELM frequency clearly increased up to 1400 Hz, when counter (ctr) plasma rotation was increased. The response of the ELM frequency was independent of poloidal beta (β p ) in the range 0.84 p 0.53. Even in non-rotating plasma with balanced-NBIs, a high ELM frequency of ∼400 Hz was observed without a large energy loss. When the frequency of the plasma rotation in the co-direction of the plasma current became higher than ∼1 kHz, type I ELMs with a frequency of ∼20 Hz was observed. The achieved pedestal pressure and plasma confinement were similar both in plasmas with type I ELMs and in plasmas with grassy ELMs. The energy loss due to grassy ELMs was evaluated from the reduction in the electron temperature, and the ratio of the energy loss to the pedestal stored energy was less than 1%

Three-dimensional simulation study of compact toroid plasmoid injection into magnetized plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, Y.; Watanabe, T.-H.; Sato, T.; Hayashi, T.

1999-04-01

Three-dimensional dynamics of a compact toroid (CT) plasmoid, which is injected into a magnetized target plasma region is investigated by using magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) numerical simulations. It is found that the process of the CT penetration into this region is much more complicated than what has been analyzed so far by using a conducting sphere (CS) model. The injected CT suffers from a tilting instability, which grows with the similar time scale as the CT penetration. The instability is accompanied by magnetic reconnection between the CT magnetic field and the target magnetic field, which disrupts the magnetic configuration of the CT. Magnetic reconnection plays a role to supply the high density plasma initially confined in the CT magnetic field into the target region. Also, the penetration depth of the CT high density plasma is examined. It is shown to be shorter than that estimated from the CS model. The CT high density plasma is decelerated mainly by the Lorentz force of the target magnetic field, which includes not only the magnetic pressure force but also the magnetic tension force. Furthermore, by comparing the CT plasmoid injection with the bare plasmoid injection, magnetic reconnection is considered to relax the magnetic tension force, that is the deceleration of the CT plasmoid. (author)

A comparison between linear and toroidal Extrap systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lehnert, B.

1988-09-01

The Extrap scheme consists of a Z-pinch immersed in an octupole field generated by currents in a set of external conductors. A comparison between linear and toroidal Extrap geometry is made in this paper. As compared to toroidal systems, linear geometry has the advantages of relative simplicity and of a current drive by means of electrodes. Linear devices are convenient for basic studies of Extrap, at moderately high pinch currents and plasma temperatures. Within the parameter ranges of experiments at high pinch currents and plasma temperatures, linear systems have on the other hand some substantial disadvantages, on account of the plasma interaction with the end regions. This results in a limitation of the energy confinement time, and leads in the case of an ohmically heated plasma to excessively high plasma densities and small pinch radii which also complicate the introduction of the external conductors. (author)

LASL toroidal reversed-field pinch program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, D.A.; Buchenauer, C.J.; Burkhardt, L.C.

1978-01-01

The determination of the absolute energy loss due to radiation from impurities in the LASL toroidal reversed-field pinch experiment ZT-S is reported. The measurements show over half of the energy loss is accounted for by this mechanism. Thomson scattering electron density measurements indicate only a gradual increase in temperature as the filling pressure is reduced indicating an increased energy loss at lower pressures. Cylindrical and toroidal simulations of the experiment indicate either that a highly radiative pinch boundary or anomalous transport are needed to match the experimental results. New effects on the equilibrium due to plasma flows induced by the toroidal geometry are predicted by the toroidal simulations. The preliminary results on the low temperature discharge cleaning of the ZT-S torus are reported. A description of the upgrade of the ZT-S experiment and the objectives, construction and theoretical predictions for the new ZT-40 experiment are given

Dual-function magnetic structure for toroidal plasma devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, R.L.

1978-01-01

This invention relates to a support system wherein the iron core and yoke of the plasma current system of a tokamak plasma containment device is redesigned to support the forces of the magnet coils. The containment rings, which occupy very valuable space around the magnet coils, are utilized to serve as yokes for the core such that the conventional yoke is eliminated. The overall result is an improved aspect ratio, reduction in structure, smaller overall size, and improved access to the plasma ring

Heat removal in INTOR via a toroidal limiter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mioduszewski, P.

1981-01-01

In the present paper the potential of removing about 100 MW of thermal plasma power via a toroidal limiter in INTOR is studied. The heat flux distributions on various limiter configurations are calculated and the thermal response of a graphite tile limiter is estimated on the base of a one-dimensional heat conduction approach. The evaporation rates which have to be expected for the given energy flux densities and radiation cooled graphite tiles are evaluated. According to the present understanding it should be possible to remove 100 MW power from the INTOR plasma via a radiation cooled toroidal limiter. (author)

Divertor experiments in a toroidal plasma, with E x B drift due to an applied radial electric field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strait, E.J.

1979-09-01

It is proposed that the E x B drift arising from an externally applied electric field could be used in a tokamak or other toroidal magnetic plasma confinement device to remove plasma and impurities from the region near the wall and reduce the amount of plasma striking the wall. This could either augment or replace a conventional magnetic field divertor. Among the possible advantages of this scheme are easy external control over the rate of removal of plasma, more rapid removal than the naturally occurring rate in a magnetic divertor, and simplification of construction if the magnetic divertor is eliminated. Results of several related experiments performed in the Wisconsin Levitated Octupole are presented

A method for external measurement of toroidal equilibrium parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brunsell, P.; Hellblom, G.; Brynolf, J.

1992-01-01

A method has been developed for determining from external magnetic field measurements the horizontal shift, the vertical shift and the poloidal field asymmetry parameter (Λ) of a toroidal plasma in force equilibrium. The magnetic measurements consist of two toroidal differential flux loops, giving the average vertical magnetic field and the average radial magnetic field respectively, together with cosine-coils for obtaining the m=1 cosine harmonic of the external poloidal magnetic field component. The method is used to analyse the evolution of the toroidal equilibrium during reversed-field pinch discharges in the Extrap T1-U device. We find that good equilibrium control is needed for long plasma pulses. For non-optimized externally applied vertical fields, the diagnostic clearly shows a horizontal drift motion of the pinch resulting in earlier discharge termination. (au)

Collisional Transport in a Low Aspect Ratio Tokamak -- Beyond the Drift Kinetic Formalism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gates, D.A.; White, R.B.

2004-01-01

Calculations of collisional thermal and particle diffusivities in toroidal magnetic plasma confinement devices order the toroidal gyroradius to be small relative to the poloidal gyroradius. This ordering is central to what is usually referred to as neoclassical transport theory. This ordering is incorrect at low aspect ratio, where it can often be the case that the toroidal gyroradius is larger than the poloidal gyroradius. We calculate the correction to the particle and thermal diffusivities at low aspect ratio by comparing the diffusivities as determined by a full orbit code (which we refer to as omni-classical diffusion) with those from a gyroaveraged orbit code (neoclassical diffusion). In typical low aspect ratio devices the omni-classical diffusion can be up to 2.5 times the calculated neoclassical value. We discuss the implications of this work on the analysis of collisional transport in low aspect ratio magnetic confinement experiments

Experimental studies of equilibrium in the toroidal Extrap T1 experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drake, J.R.; Hedin, E.R.; Karlsson, P.; Jin Li; Saetherblom, H.E.

1989-03-01

Experimental studies of a toroidal, high-beta plasma discharge with a non-circular cross-section are described. In Extrap T1, four toroidal, current-carrying rings outside the plasma discharge current channel produce a separatrix which bounds the plasma. Plasma currents of up to 40 kA are induced, operating with a toroidal field of up to 0.2 T. The major radius of the device is 0.45 m and the average minor radius of the current channel is about 40 mm. The discharge pulse is approximately 100 μsec long. For the discharges reported here, the peak current density on the discharge axis is about 9 MA/m 2 , which corresponds to an on-axis safety factor q o of about 0.1. The plasma density is in the range n ≅ 0.2 to 1 x 10 21 m -3 , and the electron temperature is in the range T e ≅ 10 to 30 eV. Magnetic flux plots of the experiment have been studied using magnetic probes and current and pressure profiles have been derived from the magnetic data

Compact toroid refueling of reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gouge, M.J.; Hogan, J.T.; Milora, S.L.; Thomas, C.E.

1988-04-01

The feasibility of refueling fusion reactors and devices such as the International Thermonuclear Engineering Reactor (ITER) with high-velocity compact toroids is investigated. For reactors with reasonable limits on recirculating power, it is concluded that the concept is not economically feasible. For typical ITER designs, the compact toroid fueling requires about 15 MW of electrical power, with about 5 MW of thermal power deposited in the plasma. At these power levels, ideal ignition (Q = ∞) is not possible, even for short-pulse burns. The pulsed power requirements for this technology are substantial. 6 ref., 1 figs

LASL toroidal reversed-field pinch programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, D.A.; Buchenauer, C.J.; Burkhardt, L.C.

1979-01-01

The determination of the absolute energy loss due to radiation from impurities in the LASL toroidal reversed-field pinch experiment ZT-S is reported. The measurements show that over half the energy loss is accounted for by this mechanism. Thomson-scattering electron density measurements indicate only a gradual increase in temperature as the filling pressure is reduced, indicating an increased energy loss at lower pressures. Cylindrical and toroidal simulations of the experiment indicate either that a highly radiative pinch boundary or anomalous transport is needed to match the experimental results. New effects on the equilibrium due to plasma flows induced by the toroidal geometry are predicted by the toroidal simulations. The preliminary results on the low-temperature discharge cleaning of the ZT-S torus are reported. A description of the upgrade of the ZT-S experiment and the objectives, construction and theoretical predictions for the new ZT-40 experiment are given. (author)

Advanced Toroidal Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, R.L.

1985-01-01

The Advanced Toroidal Facility (ATF) is a new magnetic confinement plasma device under construction at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) that will lead to improvements in toroidal magnetic fusion reactors. The ATF is a type of stellerator, known as a ''torsatron'' which theoretically has the capability to operate at greater than or equal to8% beta in steady state. The ATF plasma has a major radius of 2.1 m, an average minor radius of 0.3 m, and a field of 2 T for a 2 s duration or 1 T steady state. The ATF device consists of a helical field (HF) coil set, a set of poloidal field (PF) coils, an exterior shell structure to support the coils, and a thin, helically contoured vacuum vessel inside the coils. The ATF replaces the Impurities Studies Experiment (ISX-B) tokamak at ORNL and will use the ISX-B auxiliary systems including 4 MW of electron cyclotron heating. The ATF is scheduled to start operation in late 1986. An overview of the ATF device is presented, including details of the construction process envisioned. 9 refs., 7 figs., 3 tabs

Plasma Discharge in Toroidal System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Usada, Widdi; Suryadi; Purwadi, Agus; Kasiyo

1996-01-01

A toroidal discharge apparatus has been made as an initial research in magnetic confinement system. This system consists of a capacitor, a RF source, an igniter system, a primary coil, a torus, and completed by Rogowski probe as a current detector. In this system, the discharge occurs when the minimum voltage is operated at 5 kV. The experiment result shows that the coupling factor is 0.35, it is proved that there is an equality between estimated and measurement results of the primary inductance i.e 8.5 μH

Solenoid-free Plasma Start-up in NSTX using Transient CHI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

R. Raman, B.A. Nelson, D. Mueller, T.R. Jarboe, M.G. Bell, B. LeBlanc, R. Maqueda, J. Menard, M. Ono, M. Nagata, L. Roquemore, and V. Soukhanovskii

2008-01-01

Experiments in NSTX have now unambiguously demonstrated the coupling of toroidal plasmas produced by the technique of CHI to inductive sustainment and ramp-up of the toroidal plasma current. This is an important step because an alternate method for plasma startup is essential for developing a fusion reactor based on the spherical torus concept. Elimination of the central solenoid would also allow greater flexibility in the choice of the aspect ratio in tokamak designs now being considered. The transient CHI method for spherical torus startup was originally developed on the HIT-II experiment at the University of Washington

Analysis of toroidal rotation data for the DIII-D tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

St John, H.; Stroth, U.; Burrell, K.H.; Groebner, R.J.; DeBoo, J.C.; Gohil, P.

1989-01-01

Both poloidal and toroidal rotation are observed during routine neutral beam heating operation of the DIII-D tokamak. Poloidal rotation results and the empirical techniques used to measure toroidal and poloidal rotation speeds are described by Groebner. Here we concentrate on the analysis of recent measurements of toroidal rotation made during diverted, H-mode operation of the DIII-D tokamak during co- and counter-neutral beam injection of hydrogen into deuterium plasmas. Our results are based on numerical inversions using the transport code ONETWO, modified to account for the radial diffusion of toroidal angular momentum. 13 refs., 4 figs

A two-dimensional transport-problem in magnetized plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sigmar, D.J.; Adam, G.; Hittmair, O.

1975-01-01

It is shown that by a generalization of the classical theory for a cylindrical plasma the expression for the so-called banana-diffusion in a toroidal plasma may be deduced. The ratio of the coefficient of the banana-diffusion to the one of classical diffusion is discussed. (Auth.)

Compact toroid formation, compression, and acceleration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Degnan, J.H.; Peterkin, R.E. Jr.; Baca, G.P.; Beason, J.D.; Bell, D.E.; Dearborn, M.E.; Dietz, D.; Douglas, M.R.; Englert, S.E.; Englert, T.J.; Hackett, K.E.; Holmes, J.H.; Hussey, T.W.; Kiuttu, G.F.; Lehr, F.M.; Marklin, G.J.; Mullins, B.W.; Price, D.W.; Roderick, N.F.; Ruden, E.L.; Sovinec, C.R.; Turchi, P.J.; Bird, G.; Coffey, S.K.; Seiler, S.W.; Chen, Y.G.; Gale, D.; Graham, J.D.; Scott, M.; Sommars, W.

1993-01-01

Research on forming, compressing, and accelerating milligram-range compact toroids using a meter diameter, two-stage, puffed gas, magnetic field embedded coaxial plasma gun is described. The compact toroids that are studied are similar to spheromaks, but they are threaded by an inner conductor. This research effort, named MARAUDER (Magnetically Accelerated Ring to Achieve Ultra-high Directed Energy and Radiation), is not a magnetic confinement fusion program like most spheromak efforts. Rather, the ultimate goal of the present program is to compress toroids to high mass density and magnetic field intensity, and to accelerate the toroids to high speed. There are a variety of applications for compressed, accelerated toroids including fast opening switches, x-radiation production, radio frequency (rf) compression, as well as charge-neutral ion beam and inertial confinement fusion studies. Experiments performed to date to form and accelerate toroids have been diagnosed with magnetic probe arrays, laser interferometry, time and space resolved optical spectroscopy, and fast photography. Parts of the experiment have been designed by, and experimental results are interpreted with, the help of two-dimensional (2-D), time-dependent magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) numerical simulations. When not driven by a second discharge, the toroids relax to a Woltjer--Taylor equilibrium state that compares favorably to the results of 2-D equilibrium calculations and to 2-D time-dependent MHD simulations. Current, voltage, and magnetic probe data from toroids that are driven by an acceleration discharge are compared to 2-D MHD and to circuit solver/slug model predictions. Results suggest that compact toroids are formed in 7--15 μsec, and can be accelerated intact with material species the same as injected gas species and entrained mass ≥1/2 the injected mass

Stellarator approach to toroidal plasma confinement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, J.L.

1981-12-01

An overview is presented of the development and current status of the stellarator approach to controlled thermonuclear confinement. Recent experimental, theoretical, and systems developments have made this concept a viable option for the evolution of the toroidal confinement program. Some experimental study of specific problems associated with departure from two-dimensional symmetry must be undertaken before the full advantages and opportunities of steady-state, net-current-free operation can be realized

Effects of Toroidal Rotation Sshear on Toroidicity-induced Alfven Eigenmodes in the National Spherical Torus Experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Podesta, M; Fredrickson, E D; Gorelenkov, N N; LeBlanc, B P; Heidbrink, W W; Crocker, N A; Kubota, S

2010-08-19

The effects of a sheared toroidal rotation on the dynamics of bursting Toroidicity-induced Alfven eigenmodes are investigated in neutral beam heated plasmas on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) [M. Ono et al., Nucl. Fusion 40 557 (2000)]. The modes have a global character, extending over most of the minor radius. A toroidal rotation shear layer is measured at the location of maximum drive for the modes. Contrary to results from other devices, no clear evidence of increased damping is found. Instead, experiments with simultaneous neutral beam and radio-frequency auxiliary heating show a strong correlation between the dynamics of the modes and the instability drive. It is argued that kinetic effects involving changes in the mode drive and damping mechanisms other than rotation shear, such as continuum damping, are mostly responsible for the bursting dynamics of the modes.

Effects of Toroidal Rotation Shear on Toroidicity-induced Alfven Eigenmodes in the National Spherical Torus Experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Podesta, M.; Bell, R.E.; Fredrickson, E.D.; Gorelenkov, N.N.; LeBlanc, B.P.; Heidbrink, W.W.; Crocker, N.A.; Kubota, S.; Yuh, H.

2010-01-01

The effects of a sheared toroidal rotation on the dynamics of bursting Toroidicity-induced Alfven eigenmodes are investigated in neutral beam heated plasmas on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) (M. Ono et al., Nucl. Fusion 40 557 (2000)). The modes have a global character, extending over most of the minor radius. A toroidal rotation shear layer is measured at the location of maximum drive for the modes. Contrary to results from other devices, no clear evidence of increased damping is found. Instead, experiments with simultaneous neutral beam and radio-frequency auxiliary heating show a strong correlation between the dynamics of the modes and the instability drive. It is argued that kinetic effects involving changes in the mode drive and damping mechanisms other than rotation shear, such as continuum damping, are mostly responsible for the bursting dynamics of the modes.

Calculation of modification to the toroidal magnetic field of the Tokamak Novillo. Part II; Calculo de modificacion al campo magnetico toroidal del Tokamak nivillo. Parte II

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Melendez L, L.; Chavez A, E.; Colunga S, S.; Valencia A, R.; Lopez C, R.; Gaytan G, E

1992-03-15

In a cylindrical magnetic topology. the confined plasma experiences 'classic' collisional transport phenomena. When bending the cylinder with the purpose of forming a toro, the magnetic field that before was uniform now it has a radial gradient which produces an unbalance in the magnetic pressure that is exercised on the plasma in the transverse section of the toro. This gives place to transport phenomena call 'neo-classicist'. In this work the structure of the toroidal magnetic field produced by toroidal coils of triangular form, to which are added even of coils of compensation with form of half moon is analyzed. With this type of coils it is looked for to minimize the radial gradient of the toroidal magnetic field. The values and characteristics of B (magnetic field) in perpendicular planes to the toro in different angular positions in the toroidal direction, looking for to cover all the cases of importance are exhibited. (Author)

Numerical Calculation of Transport Based on the Drift Kinetic Equation for plasmas in General Toroidal Magnetic Geometry; Calculo Numerico del Transporte mediante la Ecuacion Cinetica de Deriva para Plasmas en Geometria Magnetica Toroidal: Preliminares

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reynolds, J. M.; Lopez-Bruna, D.

2009-12-11

This report is the first of a series dedicated to the numerical calculation of the evolution of fusion plasmas in general toroidal geometry, including TJ-II plasmas. A kinetic treatment has been chosen: the evolution equation of the distribution function of one or several plasma species is solved in guiding center coordinates. The distribution function is written as a Maxwellian one modulated by polynomial series in the kinetic coordinates with no other approximations than those of the guiding center itself and the computation capabilities. The code allows also for the inclusion of the three-dimensional electrostatic potential in a self-consistent manner, but the initial objective has been set to solving only the neoclassical transport. A high order conservative method (Spectral Difference Method) has been chosen in order to discretized the equation for its numerical solution. In this first report, in addition to justifying the work, the evolution equation and its approximations are described, as well as the baseline of the numerical procedures. (Author) 28 refs.

Heat loads on poloidal and toroidal edges of castellated plasma-facing components in COMPASS

Science.gov (United States)

Dejarnac, R.; Corre, Y.; Vondracek, P.; Gaspar, J.; Gauthier, E.; Gunn, J. P.; Komm, M.; Gardarein, J.-L.; Horacek, J.; Hron, M.; Matejicek, J.; Pitts, R. A.; Panek, R.

2018-06-01

Dedicated experiments have been performed in the COMPASS tokamak to thoroughly study the power deposition processes occurring on poloidal and toroidal edges of castellated plasma-facing components in tokamaks during steady-state L-mode conditions. Surface temperatures measured by a high resolution infra-red camera are compared with reconstructed synthetic data from a 2D thermal model using heat flux profiles derived from both the optical approximation and 2D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. In the case of poloidal leading edges, when the contribution from local radiation is taken into account, the parallel heat flux deduced from unperturbed, upstream measurements is fully consistent with the observed temperature increase at the leading edges of various heights, respecting power balance assuming simple projection of the parallel flux density. Smoothing of the heat flux deposition profile due to finite ion Larmor radius predicted by the PIC simulations is found to be weak and the power deposition on misaligned poloidal edges is better described by the optical approximation. This is consistent with an electron-dominated regime associated with a non-ambipolar parallel current flow. In the case of toroidal gap edges, the different contributions of the total incoming flux along the gap have been observed experimentally for the first time. They confirm the results of recent numerical studies performed for ITER showing that in specific cases the heat deposition does not necessarily follow the optical approximation. Indeed, ions can spiral onto the magnetically shadowed toroidal edge. Particle-in-cell simulations emphasize again the role played by local non-ambipolarity in the deposition pattern.

Interaction of an ice pellet and a toroidal plasma in the JIPP T-IIU tokamak with the injection-angle controllable system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, K.N.; Sakakita, H.; Liang, R.; Hamada, Y.; Ida, K.; Kano, Y.; Sakamoto, M.

1994-01-01

The interaction of an ice pellet and a toroidal plasma has been studied in the JIPP T-IIU tokamak by using an injection-angle controllable system. In order to carry out various basic experiments by varying the pellet deposition profile within a plasma, anew technique for an ice pellet injection system with controllability of the injection angle has been developed and installed with the JIPP t-IIU tokamak. Injection angle can be varied easily and successfully during an interval of two plasma shots in the course of an experiment. The injection angle has been varied poloidally from 6 to 6 degree by changing the angle of the last stage drift tube, and this makes possible for pellets to aim at from about r = -2 a/3 to r = 2 a/3 of the plasma. From two dimensional observations by CCD cameras, details of the pellet ablation structures with various injections angles have been studied, and a couple of interesting phenomena have been found. In the case of an injection angle (θ) larger than a certain value (θ ≥ 4 0 ), a pellet penetrates straightly through the plasma with a trace of straight ablation cloud, which has been expected from usual theoretical consideration. On the other hand, a long helical tail of ablation light has been observed in the case of the angle smaller than the certain value (θ ≤ 4 0 ). The direction of helical rotation (tail) is independent to that of the total magnetic field lines of the torus. In order to examine the tail direction, further experiments have been carried out as to four conditions of the combination with two (clockwise and counter-clockwise) toroidal field directions and with two plasma current directions. The results show that it seems to rotate to the electron diamagnetic direction poloidally, and to the opposite to the plasma current direction toroidally. Consideration on various cross sections including charge exchange, ionization and elastic collisions leads us to the conclusion that the tail-shaped phenomena may come from

Axisymmetric plasma equilibria in a Kerr metric

Science.gov (United States)

Elsässer, Klaus

2001-10-01

Plasma equilibria near a rotating black hole are considered within the multifluid description. An isothermal two-component plasma with electrons and positrons or ions is determined by four structure functions and the boundary conditions. These structure functions are the Bernoulli function and the toroidal canonical momentum per mass for each species. The quasi-neutrality assumption (no charge density, no toroidal current) allows to solve Maxwell's equations analytically for any axisymmetric stationary metric, and to reduce the fluid equations to one single scalar equation for the stream function \\chi of the positrons or ions, respectively. The basic smallness parameter is the ratio of the skin depth of electrons to the scale length of the metric and fluid quantities, and, in the case of an electron-ion plasma, the mass ratio m_e/m_i. The \\chi-equation can be solved by standard methods, and simple solutions for a Kerr geometry are available; they show characteristic flow patterns, depending on the structure functions and the boundary conditions.

Nonlinear neoclassical theory for toroidal edge plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fueloep, T.; Helander, P.

2001-01-01

Edge plasma processes play a critical role for the global confinement of the plasma. In the edge region, where impurity ions are abundant and the temperature and density gradients are large, the assumptions of the standard neoclassical theory break down. We have extended the theory of neoclassical transport in an impure plasma with arbitrary cross section and aspect ratio to allow for steeper pressure and temperature gradients than are usually considered in the conventional theory. The gradients are allowed to be so large that the friction force between the bulk ions and heavy impurities is comparable to the parallel impurity pressure gradient. In this case the impurity ions are found to undergo a spontaneous rearrangement on each flux surface. This reduces their parallel friction with the bulk ions and causes the neoclassical ion flux to become a non-monotonic function of the gradients for plasma parameters typical of the tokamak edge. Thus, the neoclassical confinement is improved in regions where the gradients are large, such as in the edge pedestal. The theoretical predictions are compared with experimental data from several tokamaks. (orig.)

Effects of toroidal field ripple on suprathermal ions in tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldston, R.J.; Towner, H.H.

1980-02-01

Analytic calculations of three important effects of toroidal field ripple on suprathermal ions in tokamak plasmas are presented. In the first process, collisional ripple-trapping, beam ions become trapped in local magnetic wells near their banana tips due to pitch-angle scattering as they traverse the ripple on barely unripple-trapped orbits. In the second process, collisionless ripple-trapping, near-perpendicular untrapped ions are captured (again near a banana tip) due to their finite orbits, which carry them out into regions of higher ripple. In the third process, banana-drift diffusion, fast-ion banana orbits fail to close precisely, due to a ripple-induced variable lingering period near the banana tips. These three mechanisms lead to substantial radial transport of banana-trapped, neutral-beam-injected ions when the quantity α* identical with epsilon/sin theta/Nqdelta is of order unity or smaller

Effects of toroidal field ripple on suprathermal ions in tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldston, R.J.; Towner, H.H.

1981-01-01

Analytic calculations of three important effects of toroidal field ripple on suprathermal ions in tokamak plasmas are presented. In the first process, collisional ripple-trapping, ions become trapped in local magnetic wells near their banana tips owing to pitch-angle scattering as they traverse the ripple on barely unripple-trapped orbits. In the second process, collisionless ripple-trapping, ions are captured (again near a banana tip) owing to their finite orbits, which carry them out into regions of higher ripple. In the third process, banana-drift diffusion, fast-ion banana orbits fail to close precisely, due to a ripple-induced 'variable lingering period' near the banana tips. These three mechanisms lead to substantial radial transport of banana-trapped, neutral-beam-injected ions when the quantity α* is identical with epsilonsinthetaNqdelta is of order unity or smaller. (author)

Particle simulations in toroidal geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aydemir, A.Y.

1992-09-01

A computational tool to be used in kinetic simulations of toroidal plasmas is being developed. The initial goal of the project is to develop an electrostatic gyrokinetic model for studying transport and stability problems in tokamaks. In this brief report, preliminary results from the early stages of this effort are presented

Repetitive 'snakes' and their damping effect on core toroidal rotation in EAST plasmas with multiple H-L-H transitions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Liqing; Hu Liqun

2015-01-01

Repetitive impurity snake-modes have been observed after H-L mode transitions (high to low confinement modes) in EAST plasmas exhibiting multiple H-L-H transitions. Such snake-modes have been observed to lower the core plasma toroidal rotation. A critical impurity strength factor associated with snake-mode formation has been estimated to be as high as α_Z_,_c =n_Z_,_cZ"2 / n_e ∼0.75. These observations have implications for ITER H-mode sustainability when the heating power is only slightly above the H-mode power threshold. (author)

MHD simulation study of compact toroid injection into magnetized plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, Yoshio; Kishimoto, Yasuaki

2000-01-01

To understand the fuelling process in a fusion device by a compact toroid (CT) plasmoid injection method, we have carried out MHD numerical simulations where a spheromak-like CT (SCT) is injected into a magnetized target plasma region. So far, we revealed that the penetration depth of the SCT plasma becomes shorter than that estimated from the conducting sphere (CS) model, because in the simulation the Lorentz force of the target magnetic field sequentially decelerates the injected SCT while in the CS model only the magnetic pressure force acts as the deceleration mechanism. In this study, we represent the new theoretical model where the injected SCT is decelerated by both the magnetic pressure force and the magnetic tension force (we call it the non-slipping sphere (NS) model) and investigate in detail the deceleration mechanism of the SCT by comparison with simulation results. As a result, it is found that the decrease of the SCT kinetic energy in the simulation coincides with that in the NS model more than in the CS model. It means that not only the magnetic pressure force but also the magnetic tension force acts as the deceleration mechanism of the SCT. Furthermore, it is revealed that magnetic reconnection between the SCT magnetic field and the target magnetic field plays a role to relax the SCT deceleration. (author)

Stability of highly shifted equilibria in a large aspect ratio low-field tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gourdain, P.-A.; Leboeuf, J.-N.; Neches, R. Y.

2007-01-01

In the long run, the economics of fusion will dictate that reactors confine large plasma pressure rather efficiently. A possible route manifests itself as equilibria with large shift of the plasma magnetic axis. This shift compresses the flux surfaces on the outer part of the plasma, hereby increasing the allowable plasma pressure a machine can confine for a given toroidal magnetic field, which is the main cost of the device. As a first step toward a reactor, we propose investigating the stability of such configurations in a low magnetic field high aspect ratio machine. By focusing our arguments solely on the shape of the toroidal plasma current density profile we discuss the stability of highly shifted equilibria and their robustness to current profile variations that could occur in actual experiments. The evolution of the plasma parameters, as the beta poloidal is increased, is also examined to give a better understanding of the difference in performance between the various regimes

Density and magnetic field measurements in the Tormac IV-c plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coonrod, J.W. Jr.

1978-01-01

Tormac is a concept for magnetically confining a high-β fusion plasma in a toroidal, stuffed line cusp. A Tormac plasma has two regions: an interior confined on the closed toroidal field lines of the stuffing field, and an exterior sheath on open, cusped field lines. The interior plasma gives the device a longer confinement time than a standard mirror, while the favorable curvature of the cusp fields allow the plasma to be stable at higher values of β (the ratio of the plasma pressure to magnetic pressure) than a totally closed configuration like Tokamak. This thesis describes the design, construction and operation of Tormac IV-c, and reports on the results, with emphasis on describing the behavior of the density compression and field penetration

Bio-field array: a dielectrophoretic electromagnetic toroidal excitation to restore and maintain the golden ratio in human erythrocytes.

Science.gov (United States)

Purnell, Marcy C; Butawan, Matthew B A; Ramsey, Risa D

2018-06-01

Erythrocytes must maintain a biconcave discoid shape in order to efficiently deliver oxygen (O 2 ) molecules and to recycle carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) molecules. The erythrocyte is a small toroidal dielectrophoretic (DEP) electromagnetic field (EMF) driven cell that maintains its zeta potential (ζ) with a dielectric constant (ԑ) between a negatively charged plasma membrane surface and the positively charged adjacent Stern layer. Here, we propose that zeta potential is also driven by both ferroelectric influences (chloride ion) and ferromagnetic influences (serum iron driven). The Golden Ratio, a function of Phi φ, offers a geometrical mathematical measure within the distinct and desired curvature of the red blood cell that is governed by this zeta potential and is required for the efficient recycling of CO 2 in our bodies. The Bio-Field Array (BFA) shows potential to both drive/fuel the zeta potential and restore the Golden Ratio in human erythrocytes thereby leading to more efficient recycling of CO 2 . Live Blood Analyses and serum CO 2 levels from twenty human subjects that participated in immersion therapy sessions with the BFA for 2 weeks (six sessions) were analyzed. Live Blood Analyses (LBA) and serum blood analyses performed before and after the BFA immersion therapy sessions in the BFA pilot study participants showed reversal of erythrocyte rheological alterations (per RBC metric; P = 0.00000075), a morphological return to the Golden Ratio and a significant decrease in serum CO 2 (P = 0.017) in these participants. Immersion therapy sessions with the BFA show potential to modulate zeta potential, restore this newly defined Golden Ratio and reduce rheological alterations in human erythrocytes. © 2018 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society.

OCLATOR (One Coil Low Aspect Toroidal Reactor)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoshikawa, S.

1980-02-01

A new approach to construct a tokamak-type reactor(s) is presented. Basically the return conductors of toroidal field coils are eliminated and the toroidal field coil is replaced by one single large coil, around which there will be placed several tokamaks or other toroidal devices. The elimination of return conductors should, in addition to other advantages, improve the accessibility and maintainability of the tokamaks and offer a possible alternative to the search for special materials to withstand large neutron wall loading, as the frequency of changeover would be increased due to minimum downtime. It also makes it possible to have a low aspect ratio tokamak which should improve the ..beta.. limit, so that a low toroidal magnetic field strength might be acceptable, meaning that the NbTi superconducting wire could be used. This system is named OCLATOR (One Coil Low Aspect Toroidal Reactor).

Analysis of toroidal rotation data for the DIII-D tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

John, H.St.; Burrell, K.H.; Groebner, R.; DeBoo, J.; Gohil, P.

1989-01-01

Both poloidal and toroidal rotation are observed during routine neutral beam heating operation of the DIII-D tokamak. Poloidal rotation results and the empirical techniques used to measure toroidal and poloidal rotation speeds are described by Groebner et al. Here we concentrate on the analysis of recent measurements of toroidal rotation made during diverted, H-mode operation of the DIII-D tokamak during co- and counter-neutral beam injection of hydrogen into deuterium plasmas. Similar studies have been previously reported for Doublet III, ASDEX, TFTR, JET and other tokamaks. (author) 13 refs., 4 figs

Advanced Toroidal Facility (ATF)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thompson, P.B.

1985-01-01

The Advanced Toroidal Facility (ATF) is a new magnetic plasma confinement device, under construction at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), which will lead to improvements in toroidal magnetic fusion reactors. ATF is a type of stellarator known as a torsatron which theoretically has the capability at greater than or equal to8% beta in steady state. The ATF plasma has a major radius of 2.1 m, an average minor radius of 0.3 m, and a field of 2 T for a 5-s duration or 1 T steady state. The ATF device consists of a helical field (HF) coil set, a set of poloidal field (PF) coils, an exterior shell structure to support the coils, and a thin helically contoured vacuum vessel inside the coils. The ATF replaces the ISX-B tokamak at ORNL and will use the ISX-B auxiliary systems including 4 MW of neutral injection heating and 0.2 MW of electron cyclotron heating. ATF device is scheduled to start operation in the fall of 1986. An overview of the ATF device is presented including details of the construction process envisioned

Investigation of compact toroid penetration for fuelling spherical tokamak plasmas on CPD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukumoto, N.; Hanada, K.; Kawakami, S.

2008-10-01

In previous Compact Toroid (CT) injection experiments on several tokamaks, although CT fuelling had been successfully demonstrated, the CT fuelling process has been not clear yet. We have thus conducted CT injection into simple toroidal or vertical vacuum magnetic fields to investigate quantitatively dynamics of CT plasmoid in the penetration process on a spherical tokamak (ST) device. Understanding the process allows us to address appropriately one of the critical issues for practical application of CT injection on reactor-grade tokamaks. In the experiment, the CT shift amount of about 0.26 m in a vertical magnetic field has been observed by using a fast camera. In addition to toroidal magnetic field, vertical one appears to affect CT trajectory in not conventional tokamak but ST devices operated at rather low toroidal fields. We have also observed CT attacks on the target plate with an IR camera. The IR image has indicated that CT shifts 39 mm at the toroidal field of 261 G. From the calorimetric measurement, an input energy due to CT impact in vacuum without magnetic fields is also estimated to be 530 J, which agrees with the initial CT kinetic energy. (author)

Toroidally asymmetric particle transport caused by phase-locking of MHD modes in RFX-mod

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lorenzini, R.; Terranova, D.; Auriemma, F.; Cavazzana, R.; Innocente, P.; Martini, S.; Serianni, G.; Zuin, M.

2007-01-01

The particle and energy transport in reversed field pinch experiments is affected by the locking in phase of the tearing modes, also dubbed dynamo modes, that sustain the magnetic configuration. In standard RFP pulses many m = 1 and m = 0 resonant modes have a relatively large amplitude (a spectrum dubbed MH for multiple helicity). The locking in phase of m = 1 tearing modes produces a helical deformation (locked mode (LM)) of the magnetic surfaces in a region of approximately 40 toroidal degrees. The region of the LM is characterized by a strong plasma-wall interaction and by high losses of energy and particles that account for a significant fraction of the input power and of the total particle outflux. The locking in phase of m = 0 modes modifies the plasma radius, shrinking and enlarging the plasma cross section in two wide toroidal regions of about 100 0 . The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent the locking in phase of m = 0 modes introduces toroidal asymmetries in the transport properties of the plasma. This study has been carried out investigating the shape of the density profile in the RFX-mod experiment. The analyses show that the profile exhibits a dependence on the toroidal angle, which is related to the deformation of the plasma column due to the locking in phase of m = 0 modes: the least steep density gradients at the edge are found in the region where the plasma column is shrunk, entailing that in this region the particle transport is enhanced. An analogous asymmetry also characterizes the density and magnetic fluctuations at the edge, which are enhanced in the same toroidal region where the particle transport also is enhanced. This result can be considered the first experimental evidence of an instability localized where the plasma column is shrunk

Interaction of supra-thermal ions with turbulence in a magnetized toroidal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plyushchev, G.

2009-01-01

This thesis addresses the interaction of a supra-thermal ion beam with turbulence in the simple magnetized toroidal plasma of TORPEX. The first part of the Thesis deals with the ohmic assisted discharges on TORPEX. The aim of these discharges is the investigation of the open to closed magnetic field line transition. The relevant magnetic diagnostics were developed. Ohmic assisted discharges with a maximum plasma current up to 1 kA are routinely obtained. The equilibrium conditions on the vacuum magnetic field configuration were investigated. In the second part of the Thesis, the design of the fast ion source and detector are discussed. The accelerating electric field needed for the fast ion source was optimized. The fast ion source was constructed and commissioned. To detect the fast ions a specially designed gridded energy analyzer was used. The electron energy distribution function was obtained to demonstrate the efficiency of the detector. The experiments with the fast ion beam were conducted in different plasma regions of TORPEX. In the third part of the Thesis, numerical simulations are used to interpret the measured fast ion beam behavior. It is shown that a simple single particle equation of motion explains the beam behavior in the experiments in the absence of plasma. To explain the fast ion beam experiments with the plasma a turbulent electric field must be used. The model that takes into account this turbulent electrical field qualitatively explains the shape of the fast ion current density profile in the different plasma regions of TORPEX. The vertically elongated fast ion current density profiles are explained by a spread in the fast ion velocity distribution. The theoretically predicted radial fast ion beam spreading due to the turbulent electric field was observed in the experiment. (author)

ICRH experiments in a toroidal octupole

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barter, J.D.; Sprott, J.C.

1974-01-01

A 100 kW, 144 μsec pulse of 1.4 MHz rf is used to heat plasmas with densities less than or equal to 3 x 10 12 cm -3 at the ion cyclotron frequency in a toroidal octupole. The rf is coupled to the plasma by a single turn, electrostatically shielded hoop coaxial to the four main hoops and located near the wall. Absorbed power is inferred from plasma loading of the hoop and measured directly with an electrostatic ion energy analyzer and compared to single particle resonance heating theory

Effect of time-varying flow-shear on the nonlinear stability of the boundary of magnetized toroidal plasmas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Youngmin Oh

2018-02-01

Full Text Available We propose a phenomenological yet general model in a form of extended complex Ginzburg-Landau equation to understand edge-localized modes (ELMs, a class of quasi-periodic fluid instabilities in the boundary of toroidal magnetized high-temperature plasmas. The model reproduces key dynamical features of the ELMs (except the final explosive relaxation stage observed in the high-confinement state plasmas on the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research: quasi-steady states characterized by field-aligned filamentary eigenmodes, transitions between different quasi-steady eigenmodes, and rapid transition to non-modal filamentary structure prior to the relaxation. It is found that the inclusion of time-varying perpendicular sheared flow is crucial for reproducing all of the observed dynamical features.

Toroidal current asymmetry and boundary conditions in disruptions

Science.gov (United States)

Strauss, Henry

2014-10-01

It was discovered on JET that disruptions were accompanied by toroidal asymmetry of the plasma current. The toroidal current asymmetry ΔIϕ is proportional to the vertical current moment ΔMIZ , with positive sign for an upward vertical displacement event (VDE) and negative sign for a downward VDE. It was claimed that this could only be explained by Hiro current. It is shown that instead it is essentially a kinematic effect produced by the VDE displacement of a 3D magnetic perturbation. This is verified by M3D simulations. The simulation results do not require penetration of plasma into the boundary, as in the Hiro current model. It is shown that the normal velocity perpendicular to the magnetic field vanishes at the wall, in the small Larmor radius limit of electromagnetic sheath boundary conditions. Plasma is absorbed into the wall only via the parallel velocity, which is small, penetrates only an infinitesimal distance into the wall, and does not affect forces exerted by the plasma on the wall. Supported by USDOE and ITER.

Numerical Calculation of Transport Based on the Drift-Kinetic Equation for Plasmas in General Toroidal Magnetic Geometry: Convergence and Testing; Calculo Numerico del Transporte mediante la Ecuacion Cinetica de Deriva para Plasmas en Geometria Magnetica Toroidal: Convergencia y Comprobaciones

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reynolds, J. M.; Lopez-Bruna, D.

2009-12-11

This report is the third of a series [Informes Tecnicos Ciemat 1165 y 1172] devoted to the development of a new numerical code to solve the guiding center equation for electrons and ions in toroidal plasmas. Two calculation meshes corresponding to axisymmetric tokamaks are now prepared and the kinetic equation is expanded so the standard terms of neoclassical theory --fi rst order terms in the Larmor radius expansion-- can be identified, restricting the calculations correspondingly. Using model density and temperature profiles for the plasma, several convergence test are performed depending on the calculation meshes and the expansions of the distribution function; then the results are compared with the theory [Hinton and Hazeltine, Rev. Mod. Phys. (1976)]. (Author) 18 refs.

Hamilton-Jacobi theory for continuation of magnetic field across a toroidal surface supporting a plasma pressure discontinuity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGann, M.; Hudson, S.R.; Dewar, R.L.; Nessi, G. von

2010-01-01

The vanishing of the divergence of the total stress tensor (magnetic plus kinetic) in a neighborhood of an equilibrium plasma containing a toroidal surface of discontinuity gives boundary and jump conditions that strongly constrain allowable continuations of the magnetic field across the surface. The boundary conditions allow the magnetic fields on either side of the discontinuity surface to be described by surface magnetic potentials, reducing the continuation problem to that of solving a Hamilton-Jacobi equation. The characteristics of this equation obey Hamiltonian equations of motion, and a necessary condition for the existence of a continued field across a general toroidal surface is that there exist invariant tori in the phase space of this Hamiltonian system. It is argued from the Birkhoff theorem that existence of such an invariant torus is also, in general, sufficient for continuation to be possible. An important corollary is that the rotational transform of the continued field on a surface of discontinuity must, generically, be irrational.

Structure and damping of toroidal drift waves (and their implications for anomalous transport)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, J.B.; Connor, J.; Wilson, H.R.

1993-05-01

The conventional theory of high-n toroidal drift waves, based on the ballooning representation, indicates that shear-damping is generally reduced in a torus compared to its plane-slab value. It therefore describes the most unstable class of toroidal drift waves. However, modes of this type occur only i f the diamagnetic frequency ω*(r) has a maximum in r, and they affect only a small fraction, Ο(1/n l/2 ), of the plasma radius around this maximum. Consequently they may produce little anomalous transport. In the present work we show that, within the ballooning description, there is another class of toroidal drift waves with very different properties to the conventional ones. The new modes have greater shear-damping (closer to that in a plane-slab) than the conventional ones and so have a higher instability threshold. However, they occur for any plasma profile and at all radii, and they have larger radial extent. Consequently they may produce much greater anomalous transport than the possibly benign conventional modes. This suggests a picture of anomalous transport in which the plasma profile is determined by marginal stability, but marginal to the new class of modes not to the conventional ones. This might explain why marginally stable profiles calculated for drift waves with plane-slab damping sometimes agree well with the profiles in toroidal experiments. It is also consistent with the fact that experimental profiles may exceed conventional toroidal instability thresholds. The new modes may also be related to the tong radial structures which appear in some plasma simulations and in experiments

On the stabilization of toroidal pinches by finite larmor radius effects and toroidal magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, R.; Weiland, J.

1989-01-01

The radial eigenvalue problem for internal modes in a large aspect ratio toriodal pinch has been solved. A particularly stable regime for a weak but nonzero toroidal magnetic field has been found. (31 refs.)

Effects of Non-Maxwellian Plasma Species on ICRF Propagation and Absorption in Toroidal Magnetic Confinement Devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dumont, R.J.; Phillips, C.K.; Smithe, D.N.

2003-01-01

Auxiliary heating supplied by externally launched electromagnetic waves is commonly used in toroidal magnetically confined fusion experiments for profile control via localized heating, current drive and perhaps flow shear. In these experiments, the confined plasma is often characterized by the presence of a significant population of non-thermal species arising from neutral beam injection, from acceleration of the particles by the applied waves, or from copious fusion reactions in future devices. Such non-thermal species may alter the wave propagation as well as the wave absorption dynamics in the plasma. Previous studies have treated the corresponding velocity distributions as either equivalent Maxwellians, or else have included realistic distributions only in the finite Larmor radius limit. In this work, the hot plasma dielectric response of the plasma has been generalized to treat arbitrary distribution functions in the non-relativistic limit. The generalized dielectric tensor has been incorporated into a one-dimensional full wave all-orders kinetic field code. Initial comparative studies of ion cyclotron range of frequency wave propagation and heating in plasmas with nonthermal species, represented by realistic distribution functions or by appropriately defined equivalent Maxwellians, have been completed for some specific experiments and are presented

Observations of toroidal and poloidal rotation in the high beta tokamak Torus II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kostek, C.A.

1983-01-01

The macroscopic rotation of plasma in a toroidal containment device is an important feature of the equilibrium. Toroidal and poloidal rotation in the high beta tokamak Torus II is measured experimentally by examining the Doppler shift of the 4685.75 A He II line emitted from the plasma. The toroidal flow at an average velocity of 1.6 x 10 6 cm/sec, a small fraction of the ion thermal speed, moves in the same direction as the toroidal plasma current. The poloidal flow follows the ion diamagnetic current direction, also at an average speed of 1.6 x 10 6 cm/sec. In view of certain ordering parameters, the toroidal flow is compared with predictions from neoclassical theory in the collosional, Pfirsch-Schluter regime. The poloidal motion, however results from an E x B drift in a positive radial electric field, approaching a stable ambipolar state. This radial electric field is determined from theory by using the measured poloidal velocity. Mechanisms for the time evolution of rotation are also examined. It appears that the circulation damping is governed by a global decay of the temperature and density gradients which, in turn, may be functions of radiative cooling, loss of equilibrium due to external field decay, or the emergence of a growing instability, occasionally observed in CO 2 interferometry measurements

Effects of Resonant Helical Field on Toroidal Field Ripple in IR-T1 Tokamak

Science.gov (United States)

Mahdavipour, B.; Salar Elahi, A.; Ghoranneviss, M.

2018-02-01

The toroidal magnetic field which is created by toroidal coils has the ripple in torus space. This magnetic field ripple has an importance in plasma equilibrium and stability studies in tokamak. In this paper, we present the investigation of the interaction between the toroidal magnetic field ripple and resonant helical field (RHF). We have estimated the amplitude of toroidal field ripples without and with RHF (with different q = m/n) ( m = 2, m = 3, m = 4, m = 5, m = 2 & 3, n = 1) using “Comsol Multiphysics” software. The simulations show that RHF has effects on the toroidal ripples.

Plasma confinement in a magnetic field of the internal ring current

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shafranov, Vitaly; Popovich, Paul; Samitov, Marat

2000-01-01

Plasma confinement in compact region surrounding an internal ring current is considered. As the limiting case of large aspect ratio system the cylindrical plasma is considered initially. Analysis of the cylindrical tubular plasma equilibrium and stability against the most dangerous flute (m=0) and kink (m=1) modes revealed the possibility of the MHD stable plasma confined by magnetic field of the internal rod current, with rather peaked plasma pressure and maximal local beta β(γ)=0.4. In case of the toroidal internal ring system an additional external magnetic field creates the boundary separatrix witch limits the plasma volume. The dependence of the plasma pressure profiles, marginally stable with respect to the flute modes, from the shape of the external plasma boundary (separatrix) in such kind closed toroidal systems is investigated. The internal ring system with circular poloidal magnetic mirror, where the ring supports could be placed, is proposed. (author)

Relaxed plasmas in external magnetic fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spies, G.O.; Li, J.

1991-08-01

The well-known theory of relaxed plasmas (Taylor states) is extended to external magnetic fields whose field lines intersect the conducting toroidal boundary. Application to an axially symmetric, large-aspect-ratio torus with circular cross section shows that the maximum pinch ratio, and hence the phenomenon of current saturation, is independent of the external field. The relaxed state is explicitly given for an external octupole field. In this case, field reversal is inhibited near parts of the boundary if the octupole generates magnetic x-points within the plasma. (orig.)

Magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium of axisymmetric systems with toroidal rotation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mansur, N.L.P.

1986-01-01

A model for studying magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium of axisymetrically confined plasma with toroidal rotation, extended to the Grad. Shafranov equation is presented. The expression used for the scalar pressure is modifiec, and the influence of toroidal magnetic field is included, The equation for general motion of axisymetrically confined plasma, particularizing for rotation movements is described. Two cases are compared: one supposes the entropy as a function of poloidal magnetic flux and other supposes the temperature as a function of flux. The equations for these two cases obtaining a simplified expression by others approximations are established. The proposed model is compared with Shibata model, which uses density as function of flux, and with the ideal spheromak model. A set of cases taking in account experimental data is studied. (M.C.K.) [pt

Neoclassical and anomalous transport in axisymmetric toroidal plasmas with electrostatic turbulence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugama, H.; Horton, W.

1995-01-01

Neoclassical and anomalous transport fluxes are determined for axisymmetric toroidal plasmas with weak electrostatic fluctuations. The neoclassical and anomalous fluxes are defined based on the ensemble-averaged kinetic equation with the statistically averaged nonlinear term. The anomalous forces derived from that quasilinear term induce the anomalous particle and heat fluxes. The neoclassical banana-plateau particle and heat fluxes and the bootstrap current are also affected by the fluctuations through the parallel anomalous forces and the modified parallel viscosities. The quasilinear term, the anomalous forces, and the anomalous particle and heat fluxes are evaluated from the fluctuating part of the drift kinetic equation. The averaged drift kinetic equation with the quasilinear term is solved for the plateau regime to derive the parallel viscosities modified by the fluctuations. The entropy production rate due to the anomalous transport processes is formulated and used to identify conjugate pairs of the anomalous fluxes and forces, which are connected by the matrix with the Onsager symmetry. copyright 1995 American Institute of Physics

Neoclassical and anomalous transport in axisymmetric toroidal plasmas with electrostatic turbulence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugama, H.; Horton, W.

1995-05-01

Neoclassical and anomalous transport fluxes are determined for axisymmetric toroidal plasmas with weak electrostatic fluctuations. The neoclassical and anomalous fluxes are defined based on the ensemble-averaged kinetic equation with the statistically averaged nonlinear term. The anomalous forces derived from that quasilinear term induce the anomalous particle and heat fluxes. The neoclassical banana-plateau particle and heat fluxes and the bootstrap current are also affected by the fluctuations through the parallel anomalous forces and the modified parallel viscosities. The quasilinear term, the anomalous forces, and the anomalous particle and heat fluxes are evaluated from the fluctuating part of the drift kinetic equation. The averaged drift kinetic equation with the quasilinear term is solved for the plateau regime to derive the parallel viscosities modified by the fluctuations. The entropy production rate due to the anomalous transport processes is formulated and used to identify conjugate pairs of the anomalous fluxes and forces, which are connected by the matrix with the Onsager symmetry. (author)

OCLATOR (One Coil Low Aspect Toroidal Reactor)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshikawa, S.

1980-02-01

A new approach to construct a tokamak-type reactor(s) is presented. Basically the return conductors of toroidal field coils are eliminated and the toroidal field coil is replaced by one single large coil, around which there will be placed several tokamaks or other toroidal devices. The elimination of return conductors should, in addition to other advantages, improve the accessibility and maintainability of the tokamaks and offer a possible alternative to the search for special materials to withstand large neutron wall loading, as the frequency of changeover would be increased due to minimum downtime. It also makes it possible to have a low aspect ratio tokamak which should improve the β limit, so that a low toroidal magnetic field strength might be acceptable, meaning that the NbTi superconducting wire could be used. This system is named OCLATOR

Design features of HTMR-hybrid toroidal magnet tokamak reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosatelli, F.; Avanzini, P.G.; Derchi, D.; Magnasco, M.; Grattarola, M.; Peluffo, M.; Raia, G.; Brunelli, B.; Zampaglione, V.

1984-01-01

The HTMR (Hybrid Toroidal Magnet Tokamak Reactor) conceptual design is aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of a Tokamak reactor which could fulfil the scientific and technological objectives expected from next generation devices with size and costs as small as possible. A hybrid toroidal field magnet, made up by copper and superconducting coils, seems to be a promising solution, allowing a considerable flexibility in machine performances, so as to gain useful margins in front of the uncertainties in confinement time scaling laws and beta and plasma density limits. The optimization procedure for the hybrid magnet, configuration, the main design features of HTMR and the preliminary mechanical calculations of the superconducting toroidal coils are described. (author)

Comparison study of toroidal-field divertors for a compact reversed-field pinch reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bathke, C.G.; Krakowski, R.A.; Miller, R.L.

1985-01-01

Two divertor configurations for the Compact Reversed-Field Pinch Reactor (CRFPR) based on diverting the minority (toroidal) field have been reported. A critical factor in evaluating the performance of both poloidally symmetric and bundle divertor configurations is the accurate determination of the divertor connection length and the monitoring of magnetic islands introduced by the divertors, the latter being a three-dimensional effect. To this end the poloidal-field, toroidal-field, and divertor coils and the plasma currents are simulated in three dimensions for field-line tracings in both the divertor channel and the plasma-edge regions. The results of this analysis indicate a clear preference for the poloidally symmetric toroidal-field divertor. Design modifications to the limiter-based CRFPR design that accommodate this divertor are presented

Toroidal visco-resistive magnetohydrodynamic steady states contain vortices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bates, J.W.; Montgomery, D.C.

1998-01-01

Poloidal velocity fields seem to be a fundamental feature of resistive toroidal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) steady states. They are a consequence of force balance in toroidal geometry, do not require any kind of instability, and disappear in the open-quotes straight cylinderclose quotes (infinite aspect ratio) limit. If a current density j results from an axisymmetric toroidal electric field that is irrotational inside a torus, it leads to a magnetic field B such that ∇x(jxB) is nonvanishing, so that the Lorentz force cannot be balanced by the gradient of any scalar pressure in the equation of motion. In a steady state, finite poloidal velocity fields and toroidal vorticity must exist. Their calculation is difficult, but explicit solutions can be found in the limit of low Reynolds number. Here, existing calculations are generalized to the more realistic case of no-slip boundary conditions on the velocity field and a circular toroidal cross section. The results of this paper strongly suggest that discussions of confined steady states in toroidal MHD must include flows from the outset. copyright 1998 American Institute of Physics

Nonlinear interaction of fast particles with Alfven waves in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Candy, J.; Borba, D.; Huysmans, G.T.A.; Kerner, W.; Berk, H.L.

1996-01-01

A numerical algorithm to study the nonlinear, resonant interaction of fast particles with Alfven waves in tokamak geometry has been developed. The scope of the formalism is wide enough to describe the nonlinear evolution of fishbone modes, toroidicity-induced Alfven eigenmodes and ellipticity-induced Alfven eigenmodes, driven by both passing and trapped fast ions. When the instability is sufficiently weak, it is known that the wave-particle trapping nonlinearity will lead to mode saturation before wave-wave nonlinearities are appreciable. The spectrum of linear modes can thus be calculated using a magnetohydrodynamic normal-mode code, then nonlinearly evolved in time in an efficient way according to a two-time-scale Lagrangian dynamical wave model. The fast particle kinetic equation, including the effect of orbit nonlinearity arising from the mode perturbation, is simultaneously solved of the deviation, δf = f - f 0 , from an initial analytic distribution f 0 . High statistical resolution allows linear growth rates, frequency shifts, resonance broadening effects, and nonlinear saturation to be calculated quickly and precisely. The results have been applied to an ITER instability scenario. Results show that weakly-damped core-localized modes alone cause negligible alpha transport in ITER-like plasmas--even with growth rates one order of magnitude higher than expected values. However, the possibility of significant transport in reactor-type plasmas due to weakly unstable global modes remains an open question

Toroidal 12 cavity klystron : a novel approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hazarika, A.B.R.

2013-01-01

A toroidal 12 cavity klystron is designed to provide with high energy power with the high frequency microwave RF- plasma generated from it. The cavities are positioned in clock hour positions. The theoretical modeling and designing is done to study the novel approach. (author)

All Metal Iron Core For A Low Aspect Ratio Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gates, D.A.; Jun, C.; Zatz, I.; Zolfaghari, A.

2010-01-01

A novel concept for incorporating a iron core transformer within a axisymmetric toroidal plasma containment device with a high neutron flux is described. This design enables conceptual design of low aspect ratio devices which employ standard transformer-driven plasma startup by using all-metal high resistance separators between the toroidal field windings. This design avoids the inherent problems of a multiturn air core transformer which will inevitably suffer from strong neutron bombardment and hence lose the integrity of its insulation, both through long term material degradation and short term neutron-induced conductivity. A full 3-dimensional model of the concept has been developed within the MAXWELL program and the resultant loop voltage calculated. The utility of the result is found to be dependent on the resistivity of the high resistance separators. Useful loop voltage time histories have been obtained using achievable resistivities.

Measurements of the toroidal plasma rotation velocity in TFTR major-radius compression experiments with auxiliary neutral beam heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bitter, M.; Scott, S.; Wong, K.L.

1986-07-01

The time history of the central toroidal plasma rotation velocity in Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) experiments with auxiliary heating by neutral deuterium beam injection and major-radius compression has been measured from the Doppler shift of the emitted TiXXI-Kα line radiation. The experiments were conducted for neutral beam powers in the range from 2.1 to 3.8 MW and line-averaged densities in the range from 1.8 to 3.0 x 10 19 m -2 . The observed rotation velocity increase during compression is in agreement with results from modeling calculations which assume classical slowing-down of the injected fast deuterium ions and momentum damping at the rate established in the precompression plasma

One-dimensional MHD simulations of MTF systems with compact toroid targets and spherical liners

Science.gov (United States)

Khalzov, Ivan; Zindler, Ryan; Barsky, Sandra; Delage, Michael; Laberge, Michel

2017-10-01

One-dimensional (1D) MHD code is developed in General Fusion (GF) for coupled plasma-liner simulations in magnetized target fusion (MTF) systems. The main goal of these simulations is to search for optimal parameters of MTF reactor, in which spherical liquid metal liner compresses compact toroid plasma. The code uses Lagrangian description for both liner and plasma. The liner is represented as a set of spherical shells with fixed masses while plasma is discretized as a set of nested tori with circular cross sections and fixed number of particles between them. All physical fields are 1D functions of either spherical (liner) or small toroidal (plasma) radius. Motion of liner and plasma shells is calculated self-consistently based on applied forces and equations of state. Magnetic field is determined by 1D profiles of poloidal and toroidal fluxes - they are advected with shells and diffuse according to local resistivity, this also accounts for flux leakage into the liner. Different plasma transport models are implemented, this allows for comparison with ongoing GF experiments. Fusion power calculation is included into the code. We performed a series of parameter scans in order to establish the underlying dependencies of the MTF system and find the optimal reactor design point.

A steady-state axisymmetric toroidal system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirano, K.

1984-01-01

Conditions for achieving a steady state in an axisymmetric toroidal system are studied with emphasis on a very-high-beta field-reversed configuration. The analysis is carried out for the electromotive force produced by the Ohkawa current that is induced by neutral-beam injection. It turns out that, since the perpendicular component of the current j-vectorsub(perpendicular) to the magnetic field can be generated automatically by the diamagnetic effect, only the parallel component j-vectorsub(parallel) must be driven by the electromotive force. The drive of j-vectorsub(parallel) generates shear in the field line so that the pure toroidal field on the magnetic axis is rotated towards the plasma boundary and matched to the external field lines. This matching condition determines the necessary amount of injection beam current and power. It is demonstrated that a very-high-beta field-reversed configuration requires only a small amount of current-driving beam power because almost all the toroidal current except that close to the magnetic axis is carried by the diamagnetic current due to high beta. A low-beta tokamak, on the other hand, needs very high current-driving power since most of the toroidal current is composed of j-vectorsub(parallel) which must be driven by the beam. (author)

Axisymmetric Plasma Equilibria in General Relativity

Science.gov (United States)

Elsässer, Klaus

Axisymmetric plasma equilibria near a rotating black hole are considered within the multifluid description. An isothermal two-component plasma with electrons and positrons or ions is determined by four structure functions and the boundary conditions. These structure functions are the Bernoulli function and the toroidal canonical momentum per mass for each species; they remain arbitrary if no gain and loss processes are considered, in close analogy to the free flux functions in ideal magnetohydrodynamics. Several simplifying assumptions allow the reduction of the basic equations to one single scalar equation for the stream function χ of positrons or ions, respectively, playing the rôle of the Grad/Shafranov equation in magnetohydrodynamics; in particular, Maxwell's equations can be solved analytically for a quasineutral plasma when both the charge density and the toroidal electric current density are negligible (in contrast to the Tokamak situation). The basic smallness parameter is the ratio of the skin depth of electrons to the scale length of the metric and fluid quantities, and, in the case of an electron-ion plasma, the mass ratio me/mi. The χ-equation can be solved by standard methods, and simple solutions for a Kerr geometry are available; they show characteristic flow patterns, depending on the structure functions and the boundary conditions.

1D equation for toroidal momentum transport in a tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rozhansky, V A; Senichenkov, I Yu

2010-01-01

A 1D equation for toroidal momentum transport is derived for a given set of turbulent transport coefficients. The averaging is performed taking account of the poloidal variation of the toroidal fluxes and is based on the ambipolar condition of the zero net radial current through the flux surface. It is demonstrated that taking account of the Pfirsch-Schlueter fluxes leads to a torque in the toroidal direction which is proportional to the gradient of the ion temperature. This effect is new and has not been discussed before. The boundary condition at the separatrix, which is based on the results of the 2D simulations of the edge plasma, is formulated.

Ion heating at the cyclotron resonance in plasmas magnetically confined in a toroidal octupole field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barter, J.D.

1976-01-01

Ion temperatures as high as 600 eV have been produced using rf wave heating at the ion cyclotron resonance frequency in a toroidal octupole magnetic field. Rf is coupled to the plasma with an externally driven ''fifth'' hoop which forms the inductive leg of an oscillator tank circuit. Power levels up to 1 MW at 1 to 3 MHz have been applied for periods up to 2 msec. Plasmas produced either by ECRH or by gun injection are simulated with a computer program in which known particle and energy production and loss mechanisms are used to predict the spatially averaged time behaviour of the plasma in the presence of the applied ion heating. The program can be used to calculate the consequences of the heating model in the presence of many cooling mechanisms which may each have a separate dependence on instantaneous plasma parameters. Experimental quantities compared to computer predictions include density, ion temperature, and loading of the hoop by the plasma, both resistive and reactive, and neutral reflux from the wall by electron and ion impact. Wave penetration to the resonance zone is good up to the highest densities available (6 x 10 12 cm -3 by gun injection) in good agreement with theory. Neutral reflux from the walls and the large charge exchange cooling which results is the dominant loss mechanism at the higher hoop voltages

The High Aspect Ratio Design (HARD): A candidate ITER concept with improved technology phase performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nevins, W.M.; Perkins, L.J.; Wesley, J.C.

1992-10-01

The High Aspect Ratio Design (HARD) International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) concept developed by the US ITER team is an alternate to the low-aspect-ratio ITER design developed by the ITER participants during the Conceptual Design Activity (CDA). The CDA design, referred to hereafter as ITER CDA, has an aspect ratio, A, of 2.79, a toroidal magnetic field, B T , of 4.85 T, and a plasma current, I p , of 22 MA for operation with an ignited plasma. In contrast, HARD employs higher aspect ratio, A = 4.0, higher toroidal field, B T = 7.11 T, and lower plasma current, I p = 14.8 MA for ignition operation. The cross sections of the two designs are compared in. The parameters and performance of HARD and ITER CDA for inductively driven ignition operation are compared in. The HARD parameters provide the same ignition performance (ignition margin evaluated against ITER-89P confinement scaling) as ITER CDA in a device with comparable size and cost. However, the reason for advancing HARD rather than ITER CDA as the ITER design concept is not inductively driven ignition performance but HARD's significantly enhanced potential to achieve the technology testing and steady-state operation goals of the ITER objectives with non-inductive current drive

Stability properties of a toroidal z-pinch in an external magnetic multipole field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eriksson, H.G.

1987-01-01

MHD stability of m=1, axisymmetric, external modes of a toroidal z-pinch immersed in an external multipole field (Extrap configuration) is studied. The description includes the effects of a weak toroidicity, a non-circular plasma cross-section and the influence of induced currents in the external conductors. It is found that the non-circularity of the plasma cross-section always has a destabilizing effect but that the m=1 mode can be stabilized by the external feedback if the non-circularity is small. (author)

Calculation about a modification to the toroidal magnetic field of the Tokamak Novillo. Part I; Calculo sobre una modificacion al campo magnetico toroidal del Tokamak Novillo. Parte I

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chavez A, E.; Melendez L, L.; Colunga S, S.; Valencia A, R.; Lopez C, R.; Gaytan G, E

1991-07-15

The charged particles that constitute the plasma in the tokamaks are located in magnetic fields that determine its behavior. The poloidal magnetic field of the plasma current and the toroidal magnetic field of the tokamak possess relatively big gradients, which produce drifts on these particles. These drifts are largely the cause of the continuous lost of particles and of energy of the confinement region. In this work the results of numerical calculations of a modification to the 'traditional' toroidal magnetic field that one waits it diminishes the drifts by gradient and improve the confinement properties of the tokamaks. (Author)

Containment of high temperature plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bass, R.W.; Ferguson, H.R.P.; Fletcher, H. Jr.; Gardner, J.; Harrison, B.K.; Larsen, K.M.

1973-01-01

Apparatus is described for confining a high temperature plasma which comprises: 1) envelope means shaped to form a toroidal hollow chamber containing a plasma, 2) magnetic field line generating means for confining the plasma in a smooth toroidal shape without cusps. (R.L.)

HTMR: an experimental tokamak reactor with hybrid copper/superconductor toroidal field magnet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avanzini, P.G.; Raia, G.; Rosatelli, F.; Zampaglione, V.

1985-01-01

The feasibility of a hybrid configuration superconducting coils/copper coils for a next generation tokamak TF magnet has been investigated. On the basis of this hybrid solution, the conceptual design has been developed for a medium-high toroidal field tokamak reactor (HTMR). The results of this study show the possibility of designing a tokamak reactor with reduced size in comparison with other INTOR like devices, still gaining some margins in front of the uncertainties in the scaling laws for plasma physics parameters and retaining the presence of a blanket with a tritium breeding ratio of about 1

Unstable universal drift eigenmodes in toroidal plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, C.Z.; Chen, L.

1980-01-01

The eigenmode equation describing ballooning collisionless drift instabilities is analyzed both analytically and numerically. A new branch of eigenmodes, which corresponds to quasi-bound states due to toroidal coupling effects such as ion delB drifts, is shown to be destabilized by electron Landau damping for typical tokamak parameters. This branch cannot be understood by the strong coupling approximation. However, the slab-like (Pearlstein--Berk-type) branch is found to remain stable and experience enhanced shear damping

Core and edge toroidal rotation study in JT-60U

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, M.; Sakamoto, Y.; Honda, M.; Kamada, Y.; Takenaga, H.; Oyama, N.; Urano, H.

2012-01-01

The relation between toroidal rotation velocities (V t ) in the core and edge regions is investigated in H-mode plasmas with a small external torque input from the viewpoint of momentum transport. The toroidal rotation velocity in the core region (core-V t ) gradually varies on a timescale of ∼20 ms after a rapid change in the toroidal rotation velocity in the edge region (edge-V t ) at the L–H transition. This timescale of ∼20 ms is consistent with a transport timescale using the momentum diffusivity (χ φ ) and convection velocity (V conv ). In steady state, a linear correlation between the core- and edge-V t is observed in H-mode plasmas when the ion pressure gradient (∇P i ) is small. This relation between core- and edge-V t is also explained by momentum transport. The V t profiles with a large ∇P i are reproduced in the core region of r/a ∼ 0.2–0.7 by adopting a residual stress term 'Π res = α k χ φ ∇P i ' proposed in this paper. Here r/a is the normalized plasma radius and α k1 is a radial constant. Using this formula, V t profiles are reproduced over a wide range of plasma conditions. Parameter dependences of the edge-V t are investigated at a constant ripple loss power, ripple amplitude and plasma current. A reduction in the CTR-rotation is observed with decreasing ion temperature gradient (∇T i ). Here CTR refers to the counter-I P direction.

A conservative scheme of drift kinetic electrons for gyrokinetic simulation of kinetic-MHD processes in toroidal plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Bao, J.; Liu, D.; Lin, Z.

2017-10-01

A conservative scheme of drift kinetic electrons for gyrokinetic simulations of kinetic-magnetohydrodynamic processes in toroidal plasmas has been formulated and verified. Both vector potential and electron perturbed distribution function are decomposed into adiabatic part with analytic solution and non-adiabatic part solved numerically. The adiabatic parallel electric field is solved directly from the electron adiabatic response, resulting in a high degree of accuracy. The consistency between electrostatic potential and parallel vector potential is enforced by using the electron continuity equation. Since particles are only used to calculate the non-adiabatic response, which is used to calculate the non-adiabatic vector potential through Ohm's law, the conservative scheme minimizes the electron particle noise and mitigates the cancellation problem. Linear dispersion relations of the kinetic Alfvén wave and the collisionless tearing mode in cylindrical geometry have been verified in gyrokinetic toroidal code simulations, which show that the perpendicular grid size can be larger than the electron collisionless skin depth when the mode wavelength is longer than the electron skin depth.

Numerical Calculation of Transport Based on the Drift Kinetic Equation for plasmas in General Toroidal Magnetic Geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reynolds, J. M.; Lopez-Bruna, D.

2009-01-01

This report is the first of a series dedicated to the numerical calculation of the evolution of fusion plasmas in general toroidal geometry, including TJ-II plasmas. A kinetic treatment has been chosen: the evolution equation of the distribution function of one or several plasma species is solved in guiding center coordinates. The distribution function is written as a Maxwellian one modulated by polynomial series in the kinetic coordinates with no other approximations than those of the guiding center itself and the computation capabilities. The code allows also for the inclusion of the three-dimensional electrostatic potential in a self-consistent manner, but the initial objective has been set to solving only the neoclassical transport. A high order conservative method (Spectral Difference Method) has been chosen in order to discretized the equation for its numerical solution. In this first report, in addition to justifying the work, the evolution equation and its approximations are described, as well as the baseline of the numerical procedures. (Author) 28 refs

Design features of HTMR-Hybrid Toroidal Magnet Tokamak Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosatelli, F.; Avanzini, P.G.; Brunelli, B.; Derchi, D.; Magnasco, M.; Grattarola, M.; Peluffo, M.; Raia, G.; Zampaglione, V.

1985-01-01

The HTMR (Hybrid Toroidal Magnet Tokamak Reactor) conceptual design is aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of a Tokamak reactor which could fulfill the scientific and technological objectives expected from next generation devices (e.g. INTOR-NET) with size and costs as small as possible. An hybrid toroidal field magnet, made up by copper and superconducting coils, seems to be a promising solution, allowing a considerable flexibility in machine performances, so as to gain useful margins in front of the uncertainties in confinement time scaling laws and beta and plasma density limits. In this paper the authors describe the optimization procedure for the hybrid magnet configuration, the main design features of HTMR and the preliminary mechanical calculations of the superconducting toroidal coils

Nonideal magnetohydrodynamic instabilities and toroidal magnetic confinement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furth, H.P.

1985-05-01

The marked divergence of experimentally observed plasma instability phenomena from the predictions of ideal magnetohydrodynamics led in the early 1960s to the formulations of finite-resistivity stability theory. Beginning in the 1970s, advanced plasma diagnostics have served to establish a detailed correspondence between the predictions of the finite-resistivity theory and experimental plasma behavior - particularly in the case of the resistive kink mode and the tokamak plasma. Nonlinear resistive-kink phenomena have been found to govern the transport of magnetic flux and plasma energy in the reversed-field pinch. The other predicted finite-resistivity instability modes have been more difficult to identify directly and their implications for toroidal magnetic confinement are still unresolved

Superconducting magnets for toroidal fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haubenreich, P.N.

1980-01-01

Fusion reactors will soon be employing superconducting magnets to confine plasma in which deuterium and tritium (D-T) are fused to produce usable energy. At present there is one small confinement experiment with superconducting toroidal field (TF) coils: Tokamak 7 (T-7), in the USSR, which operates at 4 T. By 1983, six different 2.5 x 3.5-m D-shaped coils from six manufacturers in four countries will be assembled in a toroidal array in the Large Coil Test Facility (LCTF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for testing at fields up to 8 T. Soon afterwards ELMO Bumpy Torus (EBT-P) will begin operation at Oak Ridge with superconducting TF coils. At the same time there will be tokamaks with superconducting TF coils 2 to 3 m in diameter in the USSR and France. Toroidal field strength in these machines will range from 6 to 9 T. NbTi and Nb 3 Sn, bath cooling and forced flow, cryostable and metastable - various designs are being tried in this period when this new application of superconductivity is growing and maturing

Calculation of modification to the toroidal magnetic field of the Tokamak Novillo. Part II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melendez L, L.; Chavez A, E.; Colunga S, S.; Valencia A, R.; Lopez C, R.; Gaytan G, E.

1992-03-01

In a cylindrical magnetic topology. the confined plasma experiences 'classic' collisional transport phenomena. When bending the cylinder with the purpose of forming a toro, the magnetic field that before was uniform now it has a radial gradient which produces an unbalance in the magnetic pressure that is exercised on the plasma in the transverse section of the toro. This gives place to transport phenomena call 'neo-classicist'. In this work the structure of the toroidal magnetic field produced by toroidal coils of triangular form, to which are added even of coils of compensation with form of half moon is analyzed. With this type of coils it is looked for to minimize the radial gradient of the toroidal magnetic field. The values and characteristics of B (magnetic field) in perpendicular planes to the toro in different angular positions in the toroidal direction, looking for to cover all the cases of importance are exhibited. (Author)

Device for supporting a toroidal coil in a toroidal type nuclear fusion device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kitazawa, Hakaru; Sato, Hiroshi.

1975-01-01

Object: To easily manufacture a center block having a strength sufficient to withstand an electromagnetic force exerted on the center of toroidal of a toroidal coil and to increase its reliability. Structure: In a device for supporting toroidal coils wherein the electromagnetic force exerted on the center of toroidal of a plurality of toroidal coils arranged in toroidal fashion, the contact surface between the toroidal coil and the center block is arranged parallel to the center axis of toroidal so as to receive the electromagnetic force exerted on the center of toroidal of the toroidal coil as the component of force in a radial direction. (Taniai, N.)

Mode structure and continuum damping of high-n toroidal Alfven eigenmodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosenbluth, M.N.; Berk, H.L.; Van Dam, J.W.; Lindberg, D.M.

1992-02-01

An asymptotic theory is described for calculating the mode structure and continuum damping of short wave-length toroidal Alfven eigenmodes (TAE). The formalism somewhat resembles the treatment used for describing low-frequency toroidal modes with singular structure at a rational surface, where an inner solution, which for the TAE mode has toroidal coupling, is matched to an outer toroidally uncoupled solution. A three-term recursion relation among coupled poloidal harmonic amplitudes is obtained, whose solution gives the structure of the global wavefunction and the complex eigenfrequency, including continuum damping. Both analytic and numerical solutions are presented. The magnitude of the damping is essential for determining the thresholds for instability driven by the spatial gradients of energetic particles (e.g., neutral beam-injected ions or fusion-product alpha particles) contained in a tokamak plasma

System and method of operating toroidal magnetic confinement devices

Science.gov (United States)

Chance, M.S.; Jardin, S.C.; Stix, T.H.; Grimm, R.C.; Manickam, J.; Okabayashi, M.

1984-08-30

This invention pertains to methods and arrangements for attaining high beta values in plasma confinement devices. More specifically, this invention pertains to methods for accessing the second stability region of operation in toroidal magnetic confinement devices.

Impurity studies in the advanced toroidal facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Isler, R.C.; Horton, L.D.; Crume, E.C.; Howe, H.C.; Voronov, G.S.

1989-01-01

Impurities have played an important role in the initial stages of operation of the Advanced Toroidal Facility. Cleanup practices have been adequate enough that plasmas heated by ECH only can be operated in a quasi-steady state; however, neutral beam injected plasmas always collapse to a low temperature. It is not clear whether impurity radiation is actually responsible for initiating the collapse, but at the time the stored energy reaches a maximum, there are indications of poloidal asymmetries in radiation from low ionization stages, such as observed in marfes, which could play a dominant role in the plasma evolution. 3 refs., 5 figs

Transport in the high temperature core of toroidal confinement systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weiland, J.

1994-01-01

Recent theoretical and experimental results on confinement of hot plasmas in toroidal devices, particularly tokamaks, are discussed from general principal points of view and related to predictions from a toroidal drift wave model using a full transport matrix including off diagonal terms. A reactive fluid model corresponding to a two pole approximation of the kinetic response is used. This model has the ability to reproduce both adiabatic and isothermal limits of the perpendicular dynamics. 106 refs, 8 figs, 1 tab

Ballooning instabilities in toroidally linked mirror systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hastie, R.J.; Watson, C.J.H.

1977-01-01

This paper examines the stability against ballooning modes of plasma equilibria in toroidally linked mirror configurations consisting of a number of quadrupole minimum-B mirrors linked toroidally. On the basis of the Kruskal-Oberman energy principle, a class of displacements is identified which are potentially unstable, and a necessary criterion for stability is derived. The criterion is obtained from the eigenvalues of an ordinary differential equation, which determines the variation of the displacement along a field line. The coefficients in the equation are determined by the configuration, and by inserting various model configurations, estimates are obtained of the maximum value of β consistent with stability. In cases of interest, quite high β-values are obtained. (author)

Extending the collisional fluid equations into the long mean-free-path regime in toroidal plasmas. IV. Banana regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaing, K. C.

2007-01-01

In Part I [Phys. Fluids B 2, 1190 (1990)] and Part II [Phys. Plasmas 12, 082508 (2005)], it was emphasized that the equilibrium plasma viscous forces when applied for the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes are only rigorously valid at the mode rational surface where m-nq=0. Here, m is the poloidal mode number, n is the toroidal mode number, and q is the safety factor. This important fact has been demonstrated explicitly by calculating the viscous forces in the plateau regime in Parts I and II. Here, the effective viscous forces in the banana regime are calculated for MHD modes by solving the linear drift kinetic equation that is driven by the plasma flows first derived in Part I. At the mode rational surface, the equilibrium plasma viscous forces are reproduced. However, it is found that away from the mode rational surface, the viscous forces for MHD modes decrease, a behavior similar to that observed in the viscous forces for the plateau regime. The proper form of the momentum equation that is appropriate for the modeling of the MHD modes is also discussed

Fast Waves Mode Conversion and Energy Deposition in Simulated, Pre-Heated, Neoclassical, Tight Aspect Ratio Tokamak Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruma, C.; Cuperman, S.; Komoshvili, K.

1999-01-01

Some basic aspects of wave-plasma interaction of interest for tight aspect ratio spherical tokamaks are investigated theoretically. The following scenario is considered: A. Fast magnetosonic waves are launched by an external antenna into a simulated spherical Tokamak plasma; these waves are converted to Alfven waves at points (layer) satisfying the Alfven resonance condition. B. The simulated spherical tokamaks-plasma has a circular cross-section and toroidicity effects are simulated by Grad-Shafranov type, radially dependent axial magnetic field and its shear. (J. Actual equilibrium profiles (magnetic field, pressure and current) observed in the low field side (LFS) of spherical tokamaks (viz., START at Culham, UK) are used. D. The study is based on the numerical solution of the full e.m. wave equation which includes a quite general resistive MHD dielectric tensor, with consideration of equilibrium current and neoclassical effects. Two kinds of results will be presented: I. Proofs validating the computational algorithm used and including convergence and energy conservation. II. Exact quantitative results concerning (i) the structure and space dependence of the mode-converted Alfven waves and (ii) the basic features of the deposited p over . The dependence of the results on the launched wave characteristics (wave numbers, frequency and intensity) as well as on those of the equilibrium plasma (equilibrium current, neoclassical resistivity and electron inertia) will be discussed

Destabilization of a peeling-ballooning mode by a toroidal rotation in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aiba, N.; Hirota, M.; Tokuda, S.; Furukawa, M.

2009-01-01

Full text: From the viewpoint of the heat load on the divertor, Type-I edge localized mode (ELM) needs to be suppressed or the amplitude of this ELM needs to be reduced. In JT-60U, some experimental results showed that the ELM frequency depends on the toroidal rotation, and the rapid rotation in the counter direction of the plasma current changes from Type-I ELM to Grassy ELM, whose frequency is high and the amplitude is small. Recent experimental and theoretical/numerical studies in a static system have identified that both Type-I and Grassy ELMs are considered ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes destabilizing near the plasma surface, called peeling-ballooning modes. To investigate the mechanism of the change of ELM frequency by a toroidal rotation, theoretical and numerical analyses are important for understanding the toroidal rotation effects on the peeling-ballooning mode. Previous works about the toroidal rotation effect on the edge MHD stability have illustrated that the toroidal rotation with shear can destabilize low/intermediate-n (<50) modes but can stabilize high-n modes, where n is the toroidal mode number. The stabilization of the high-n mode can be understood qualitatively in analogy with the infinite-n ballooning mode case. However, the destabilizing mechanism of the low/intermediate-n mode is not still clarified, and to understand the stability property related to ELM suppression/mitigation, it is important to clarify this destabilizing mechanism. In this paper, we investigate numerically the destabilizing effect of a toroidal rotation on the peeling-ballooning mode with a newly developed code MINERVA, which solves the Frieman-Rotenberg equation. Particularly, we pay attention to the effect of the centrifuged force on not only equilibrium but also change of equation of motion. (author)

Compact toroids with Alfvenic flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Zhehui; Tang, X.Z.

2004-01-01

The Chandrasekhar equilibria form a class of stationary ideal magnetohydrodynamics equilibria stabilized by magnetic-field-aligned Alfvenic flows. Analytic solutions of the Chandrasekhar equilibria are explicitly constructed for both field-reversed configurations and spheromaks. Favorable confinement property of nested closed flux surfaces and the ideal magnetohydrodynamic stability of the compact toroids are of interest for both magnetic trapping of high energy electrons in astrophysics and confinement of high temperature plasmas in laboratory

Hybrid simulation of toroidal Alfvén eigenmode on the National Spherical Torus Experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, D., E-mail: deyongl@uci.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, California 92697 (United States); Fu, G. Y.; Podestà, M.; Breslau, J. A.; Fredrickson, E. D. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States); Crocker, N. A.; Kubota, S. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angles, California 90095 (United States)

2015-04-15

Energetic particle modes and Alfvén eigenmodes driven by super-Alfvénic fast ions are routinely observed in neutral beam heated plasmas on the National Spherical Torus eXperiment (NSTX). These modes can significantly impact fast ion transport and thus cause fast ion redistribution or loss. Self-consistent linear simulations of Toroidal Alfvén Eigenmodes (TAEs) in NSTX plasmas have been carried out with the kinetic/magnetohydrodynamic hybrid code M3D-K using experimental plasma parameters and profiles including plasma toroidal rotation. The simulations show that unstable TAEs with n=3,4, or 5 can be excited by the fast ions from neutral beam injection. The simulated mode frequency, mode radial structure, and phase shift are consistent with measurements from a multi-channel microwave reflectometer diagnostic. A sensitivity study on plasma toroidal rotation, safety factor q profile, and initial fast ion distribution is performed. The simulations show that rotation can have a significant destabilizing effect when the rotation is comparable or larger than the experimental level. The mode growth rate is sensitive to q profile and fast ion distribution. Although mode structure and peak position depend somewhat on q profile and plasma rotation, the variation of synthetic reflectometer response is within experimental uncertainty and it is not sensitive enough to see the difference clearly.

Comparison of edge plasma perturbation during ELM control using one vs. two toroidal rows of RMP coils in ITER similar shaped plasmas on DIII-D

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fenstermacher, M.E., E-mail: fenstermacher@fusion.gat.co [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, California 94551 (United States); Evans, T.E.; Osborne, T.H.; Schaffer, M.J.; DeGrassie, J.S.; Gohil, P.; Groebner, R.J. [General Atomics, P.O. Box 85608, San Diego, California 92186-5608 (United States); Moyer, R.A. [University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, California 92093 (United States)

2009-06-15

Large Type-I edge localized modes (ELMs) were suppressed by n = 3 resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) from a set of internal coils in plasmas with an ITER similar shape at the ITER pedestal collisionality, nu{sub e}*approx0.1 and low edge safety factor (q{sub 95} approx 3.6), with either a single toroidal row of the internal RMP coils or two poloidally separated rows of coils. ELM suppression with a single row of internal coils was achieved at approximately the same q{sub 95} surface-averaged perturbation field as with two rows of coils, but required higher current per coil. Maintaining complete suppression of ELMs using n = 3 RMPs from a single toroidal row of internal coils was less robust to variations in input neutral beam injection torque than previous ELM suppression cases using both rows of internal coils. With either configuration of RMP coils, maximum ELM size is correlated with the width of the edge region having good overlap of the magnetic islands from vacuum field calculations.

Method and apparatus to produce and maintain a thick, flowing, liquid lithium first wall for toroidal magnetic confinement DT fusion reactors

Science.gov (United States)

Woolley, Robert D.

2002-01-01

A system for forming a thick flowing liquid metal, in this case lithium, layer on the inside wall of a toroid containing the plasma of a deuterium-tritium fusion reactor. The presence of the liquid metal layer or first wall serves to prevent neutron damage to the walls of the toroid. A poloidal current in the liquid metal layer is oriented so that it flows in the same direction as the current in a series of external magnets used to confine the plasma. This current alignment results in the liquid metal being forced against the wall of the toroid. After the liquid metal exits the toroid it is pumped to a heat extraction and power conversion device prior to being reentering the toroid.

Neoclassical offset toroidal velocity and auxiliary ion heating in tokamaks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lazzaro, E., E-mail: lazzaro@ifp.cnr.it [Istituto di Fisica del Plasma CNR (Italy)

2016-05-15

In conditions of ideal axisymmetry, for a magnetized plasma in a generic bounded domain, necessarily toroidal, the uniform absorption of external energy (e.g., RF or any isotropic auxiliary heating) cannot give rise to net forces or torques. Experimental evidence on contemporary tokamaks shows that the near central absorption of RF heating power (ICH and ECH) and current drive in presence of MHD activity drives a bulk plasma rotation in the co-I{sub p} direction, opposite to the initial one. Also the appearance of classical or neoclassical tearing modes provides a nonlinear magnetic braking that tends to clamp the rotation profile at the q-rational surfaces. The physical origin of the torque associated with P{sub RF} absorption could be due the effects of asymmetry in the equilibrium configuration or in power deposition, but here we point out also an effect of the response of the so-called neoclassical offset velocity to the power dependent heat flow increment. The neoclassical toroidal viscosity due to internal magnetic kink or tearing modes tends to relax the plasma rotation to this asymptotic speed, which in absence of auxiliary heating is of the order of the ion diamagnetic velocity. It can be shown by kinetic and fluid calculations, that the absorption of auxiliary power by ions modifies this offset proportionally to the injected power thereby forcing the plasma rotation in a direction opposite to the initial, to large values. The problem is discussed in the frame of the theoretical models of neoclassical toroidal viscosity.

Measurements of the toroidal plasma rotation velocity in TFTR major-radius compression experiments with auxiliary neutral beam heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bitter, M.; Wong, K.L.; Scott, S.; Hsuan, H.; Grek, B.; Johnson, D.; Tait, G.

1990-01-01

The time history of the central toroidal plasma rotation velocity in Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) experiments [Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 2587 (1985)] with auxiliary heating by neutral deuterium beam injection and major-radius compression has been measured from the Doppler shift of the emitted Ti XXI Kα line radiation. The experiments were conducted for neutral beam powers in the range 2.1--3.8 MW and line-averaged densities in the range 1.8--3.0x10 19 m -2 . The observed rotation velocity increase during compression is consistent with theoretical estimates

Compact toroid injection system for JFT-2M

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fukumoto, N. [University of Hyogo, 2167 Shosha, Himeji, Hyogo 671-2280 (Japan)]. E-mail: fukumotn@eng.u-hyogo.ac.jp; Ogawa, H. [Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), 801-1 Mukoyama, Naka, Ibaraki 311-0193 (Japan); Nagata, M. [University of Hyogo, 2167 Shosha, Himeji, Hyogo 671-2280 (Japan); Uyama, T. [University of Hyogo, 2167 Shosha, Himeji, Hyogo 671-2280 (Japan); Shibata, T. [Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), 801-1 Mukoyama, Naka, Ibaraki 311-0193 (Japan); Kashiwa, Y. [Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), 801-1 Mukoyama, Naka, Ibaraki 311-0193 (Japan); Suzuki, S. [Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), 801-1 Mukoyama, Naka, Ibaraki 311-0193 (Japan); Kusama, Y. [Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), 801-1 Mukoyama, Naka, Ibaraki 311-0193 (Japan)

2006-11-15

The compact toroid (CT) injection system for JFT-2M is composed of a CT injector, a gas delivery and vacuum system, a power supply system, and a diagnostics system. In particular, the power supply system delivers high performance for CT formation and acceleration. The CT formation capacitor bank unit achieved a formation current of 350 kA with a rise time less than 10 {mu}s. Although the CT acceleration bank units are equipped with 14 ignitron switches instead of gap switches to attenuate the discharge noise level, an acceleration current of 400 kA with a short rise time of 9 {mu}s is controlled within a jitter of much less than 1 {mu}s. The resulting CT velocity and mass density satisfy the requirements for CT penetration into the tokamak plasma core at a toroidal field of 1 T. This CT injection system is thus suitable for CT injection in a middle-sized tokamak plasma such as the JFT-2M tokamak.

Compact toroid injection system for JFT-2M

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukumoto, N.; Ogawa, H.; Nagata, M.; Uyama, T.; Shibata, T.; Kashiwa, Y.; Suzuki, S.; Kusama, Y.

2006-01-01

The compact toroid (CT) injection system for JFT-2M is composed of a CT injector, a gas delivery and vacuum system, a power supply system, and a diagnostics system. In particular, the power supply system delivers high performance for CT formation and acceleration. The CT formation capacitor bank unit achieved a formation current of 350 kA with a rise time less than 10 μs. Although the CT acceleration bank units are equipped with 14 ignitron switches instead of gap switches to attenuate the discharge noise level, an acceleration current of 400 kA with a short rise time of 9 μs is controlled within a jitter of much less than 1 μs. The resulting CT velocity and mass density satisfy the requirements for CT penetration into the tokamak plasma core at a toroidal field of 1 T. This CT injection system is thus suitable for CT injection in a middle-sized tokamak plasma such as the JFT-2M tokamak

Feedback control of resistive wall modes in toroidal devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Y.Q.

2002-01-01

Active feedback of resistive wall modes is investigated using cylindrical theory and toroidal calculations. For tokamaks, good performance is obtained by using active coils with one set of coils in the poloidal direction and sensors detecting the poloidal field inside the first wall, located at the outboard mid-plane. With suitable width of the feedback coil such a system can give robust control with respect to variations in plasma current, pressure and rotation. Calculations are shown for ITER-like geometry with a double wall. The voltages and currents in the active coils are well within the design limits for ITER. Calculations for RFP's are presented for a finite number of coils both in the poloidal and toroidal directions. With 4 coils in the poloidal and 24 coils in the toroidal direction, all non-resonant modes can be stabilized both at high and low theta. Several types of sensors, including radial and internal poloidal or toroidal sensors, can stabilize the RWM, but poloidal sensors give the most robust performance. (author)

Ion temperature gradient modes in toroidal helical systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuroda, T. [Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Toki, Gifu (Japan); Sugama, H.; Kanno, R.; Okamoto, M.

2000-04-01

Linear properties of ion temperature gradient (ITG) modes in helical systems are studied. The real frequency, growth rate, and eigenfunction are obtained for both stable and unstable cases by solving a kinetic integral equation with proper analytic continuation performed in the complex frequency plane. Based on the model magnetic configuration for toroidal helical systems like the Large Helical Device (LHD), dependences of the ITG mode properties on various plasma equilibrium parameters are investigated. Particularly, relative effects of {nabla}B-curvature drifts driven by the toroidicity and by the helical ripples are examined in order to compare the ITG modes in helical systems with those in tokamaks. (author)

Ion temperature gradient modes in toroidal helical systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuroda, T.; Sugama, H.; Kanno, R.; Okamoto, M.

2000-04-01

Linear properties of ion temperature gradient (ITG) modes in helical systems are studied. The real frequency, growth rate, and eigenfunction are obtained for both stable and unstable cases by solving a kinetic integral equation with proper analytic continuation performed in the complex frequency plane. Based on the model magnetic configuration for toroidal helical systems like the Large Helical Device (LHD), dependences of the ITG mode properties on various plasma equilibrium parameters are investigated. Particularly, relative effects of ∇B-curvature drifts driven by the toroidicity and by the helical ripples are examined in order to compare the ITG modes in helical systems with those in tokamaks. (author)

Field-reversed experiments (FRX) on compact toroids

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Armstrong, W.T.; Linford, R.K.; Lipson, J.; Platts, D.A.; Sherwood, E.G.

1981-11-01

Equilibrium, stability, and confinement properties of compact toroids produced in field-reversed theta-pinch experiments (FRX) are reported. Two experimental facilities, FRX-A and FRX-B, have been used to study highly elongated compact toroid plasmas confined in a purely poloidal field geometry. Spatial scans and fill pressure scaling of the equilibrium plasma parameters are presented. Plasma conditions range from T/sub e/approx.150 eV, T/sub i/approx.800 eV, n/sub m/approx.1 x 10/sup 15/ cm/sup -3/ to T/sub e/approx.100 eV, T/sub i/approx.150 eV, n/sub m/approx.4 x 10/sup 15/ cm/sup -3/. Typical confined plasma dimensions are: major radius Rapprox.4 cm, minor radius aapprox.2 cm, and total length 35--50 cm. The plasma configuration remains in a stable equilibrium for up to 50 ..mu..sec followed by the destructive n = 2 rotational instability. The stable period prior to the onset of the rotational mode is up to one hundred times greater than characteristic Alfven transit times of the plasma. This stable period increases and the mode growth rate decreases with increased a/rho/sub i/ (where rho/sub i/ is the ion gyroradius). Agreement of experimental and theoretical mode frequencies for the instability is observed. Preferential particle loss has been proposed as a likely cause of rotation. The particle inventory at the onset of the instability is consistent with this hypothesis. The particle loss rate is also consistent with the predicted anomalous transport near the separatrix. Contributions to rotational instability from diffusion, end-shorting, equipartition, and compression are also discussed.

Field-reversed experiments (FRX) on compact toroids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Armstrong, W.T.; Linford, R.K.; Lipson, J.; Platts, D.A.; Sherwood, E.G.

1981-01-01

Equilibrium, stability, and confinement properties of compact toroids produced in field-reversed theta-pinch experiments (FRX) are reported. Two experimental facilities, FRX-A and FRX-B, have been used to study highly elongated compact toroid plasmas confined in a purely poloidal field geometry. Spatial scans and fill pressure scaling of the equilibrium plasma parameters are presented. Plasma conditions range from T/sub e/approx.150 eV, T/sub i/approx.800 eV, n/sub m/approx.1 x 10 15 cm -3 to T/sub e/approx.100 eV, T/sub i/approx.150 eV, n/sub m/approx.4 x 10 15 cm -3 . Typical confined plasma dimensions are: major radius Rapprox.4 cm, minor radius aapprox.2 cm, and total length 35--50 cm. The plasma configuration remains in a stable equilibrium for up to 50 μsec followed by the destructive n = 2 rotational instability. The stable period prior to the onset of the rotational mode is up to one hundred times greater than characteristic Alfven transit times of the plasma. This stable period increases and the mode growth rate decreases with increased a/rho/sub i/ (where rho/sub i/ is the ion gyroradius). Agreement of experimental and theoretical mode frequencies for the instability is observed. Preferential particle loss has been proposed as a likely cause of rotation. The particle inventory at the onset of the instability is consistent with this hypothesis. The particle loss rate is also consistent with the predicted anomalous transport near the separatrix. Contributions to rotational instability from diffusion, end-shorting, equipartition, and compression are also discussed

Theoretical studies of the heating of toroidal plasmas with radio frequency electromagnetic radiation. Progress report, July 1, 1984-June 30, 1985

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swanson, D.G.; Wersinger, J.M.

1985-01-01

The program of theoretical studies of the heating of toroidal plasmas with radio frequency electromagnetic radiation has continued in three directions. A summary of principal accomplishments of the first nine months of this year's contract is presented. These include: (1) The development of a numerical program for complex ray tracing with focusing. (2) Several developments in mode conversion theory. and (3) several developments in Nonlinear Wave Energy Absorption

Suppression of m = 0 in a RFP by toroidal field coils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexander, D.; Robertson, S.

1993-01-01

The Reversatron RFP is normally operated with the toroidal field coils connected in series. The time-integrated voltage applied to the circuit determines the sum of the fluxes linking each turn but not the flux within each turn. Each winding may have a different flux determined by the external drive and by currents within the plasma. A parallel connection of the field coils results in the flux within each coil being determined by the volt-seconds applied to the windings; thus the toroidal flux is the same within each coil. This configuration suppresses any toroidal variation in the toroidal flux and effectively reduces the level of the m = 0 component of the radial field. The m = 0 fluctuations are expected to arise due to nonlinear coupling of the m = 1 modes. A parallel connection of field coils is impractical due to the low impedance required for driving the coils. The authors have tested the effect of parallel connected coils by adding an auxiliary set of 36 coils. These are connected in parallel but are not connected to any supply. The toroidal flux is generated by the series-connected coils which generate voltage but not current in the parallel-connected coils. With the auxiliary coils, the discharge duration is increased from 500 to 550 μsec, the plasma current is increased from 50 kA to 60 kA, F is more negative, Θ is larger, and there is less shot-to-shot variation in the discharges. The m = 0 fluctuations measured by 43 surface coils are, however, only slightly reduced

Radial electric field in JET advanced tokamak scenarios with toroidal field ripple

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Crombe, K.; Andrew, Y.; Biewer, T. M.; Blanco, E.; de Vries, P. C.; Giroud, C.; Hawkes, N. C.; Meigs, A.; Tala, T.; von Hellermann, M.; Zastrow, K. D.

2009-01-01

A dedicated campaign has been run on JET to study the effect of toroidal field (TF) ripple on plasma performance. Radial electric field measurements from experiments on a series of plasmas with internal transport barriers (ITBs) and different levels of ripple amplitude are presented. They have been

Numerical Calculation of Transport Based on the Drift-Kinetic Equation for Plasmas in General Toroidal Magnetic Geometry: Convergence and Testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reynolds, J. M.; Lopez-Bruna, D.

2009-01-01

This report is the third of a series [Informes Tecnicos Ciemat 1165 y 1172] devoted to the development of a new numerical code to solve the guiding center equation for electrons and ions in toroidal plasmas. Two calculation meshes corresponding to axisymmetric tokamaks are now prepared and the kinetic equation is expanded so the standard terms of neoclassical theory --fi rst order terms in the Larmor radius expansion-- can be identified, restricting the calculations correspondingly. Using model density and temperature profiles for the plasma, several convergence test are performed depending on the calculation meshes and the expansions of the distribution function; then the results are compared with the theory [Hinton and Hazeltine, Rev. Mod. Phys. (1976)]. (Author) 18 refs

ALT-II toroidal belt limiter biasing experiments on TEXTOR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doerner, R.; Boedo, J.A.; Gray, D.S.

1991-01-01

Edge electric fields have been related to H-mode-like behaviour. The experiments reported here are an attempt to control the SOL profiles by electrostatic biasing of the full toroidal-belt limiter ALT-II. The specific goals are: influencing the edge particle flows, particle removal, power deposition and the global confinement. The ALT-II pump limiter is a full toroidal belt located at 45 o below the outer midplane and consisting of eight graphite covered blades which can be independently biased. Particle scoops located behind the limiter neutralize and direct the incoming plasma into the pumping ducts. (author) 5 refs., 3 figs

Structural analysis of the ITER Divertor toroidal rails

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Viganò, F., E-mail: Fabio.Vigano@LTCalcoli.it [L.T. Calcoli SaS, Piazza Prinetti 26/B, 23807 Merate (Italy); Escourbiac, F.; Gicquel, S.; Komarov, V. [ITER Organization, Route de Vinon sur Verdon, 13115 St. Paul lez Durance (France); Lucca, F. [L.T. Calcoli SaS, Piazza Prinetti 26/B, 23807 Merate (Italy); Merola, M. [ITER Organization, Route de Vinon sur Verdon, 13115 St. Paul lez Durance (France); Ngnitewe, R. [L.T. Calcoli SaS, Piazza Prinetti 26/B, 23807 Merate (Italy)

2013-10-15

The Divertor is one of the most technically challenging components of the ITER machine, which has the main function of extracting the power conducted in the scrape-off layer while maintaining the plasma purity. There are 54 Divertor cassettes installed in the vacuum vessel (VV). Each cassette body (CB) is fastened on the inner and outer concentric Divertor toroidal rails. The comprehensive assessment (in accordance with the Structural Design Criteria for ITER In-vessel Components: ITER SDC-IC) of the Divertor toroidal rails has been performed during design activity based on performing of thermal and stress analyses at operating conditions of neutron stage of ITER operation. This paper outlines the engineering aspects of the ITER Divertor toroidal rails and focuses on some critical regions of the present design highlighted by the performed structural assessment. The structural assessment has been performed with help of using Finite Element (FE) Abaqus code and based on criteria given by ITER SDC-IC.

Effect of halo current and its toroidal asymmetry during disruptions in JT-60U

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neyatani, Y.; Yoshino, R.; Ando, T.

1995-01-01

A poloidal halo current due to a vertical displacement event (VDE) is observed in experimentally simulated VDE discharges and density limit disruptions in the JT-60U tokamak. In the case of a clockwise I p and B T discharge, the halo current flows into the vacuum vessel from the inside separatrix and goes back to the plasma from the outside separatrix. A maximum halo current is produced by a change in the poloidal flux generated by plasma current decay. A toroidal asymmetry factor of 2.5 is estimated from the requirements of the fracture of the carbon-fiber composite tiles. The toroidal asymmetry is caused by the poloidal field (PF) that is produced by the toroidal field (TF) ripple, the deformation of the vacuum vessel, the setting error between the vacuum vessel and the TF and PF coils, the low-n mode during current quench, etc. To consider this asymmetry, in JT-60U, one must estimate the total halo current as nearly 26% of the plasma current just before a current quench. 25 refs., 10 figs

Experiments on toroidal inductively coupled alternating-current gas discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lok, J.

1976-01-01

This report is on an experimental study of a toroidal, inductively coupled a.c. gas discharge sustained at pressures roughly between one tenth of a Torr and some tens of Torrs. After breakdown is obtained at low pressure, additional gas is let in. The energy is inductively coupled into the electrodeless discharge by means of an iron core transformer of which the toroidal plasma column is the secondary winding. The power dissipated in the plasma is between 80 and 260 kW and is delivered by a motor-generator system at a frequency of 8 kHz for times up to 2 seconds. A toroidal magnetic field of 0.5 T maximum can be supplied in a short pulse. Five different gases (hydrogen, deuterium, helium, argon, and nitrogen) are used. The pressure range in which the discharges are sustained is specified, and the dynamic current-voltage characteristics are given for different pressures. Some typical streak pictures with simultaneously obtained recordings of the time behaviour of the discharge current and of the loop voltage are presented for the initial phase - at low pressure - of the discharge. The shape and the position of fully developed discharges at various pressures are discussed on the basis of photographic observations. The temperature of hydrogen plasmas is derived both from the electrical conductivity and from the emission of line radiation. The values of the temperature obtained in these ways differ in magnitude and in time behaviour. A possible explanation of the discrepancy can be obtained in terms of expansion and contraction of electron density and temperature profiles during a period of the discharge current, if it is taken into account that the main part of the light emission always originates from the outer colder regions of the plasma. In a somewhat different pressure regime, this picture is confirmed by microwave measurements

[Ratio of erythrocyte and plasma in massive blood transfusion].

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Xian-Hui; Liu, Feng-Xia; Zhang, Jun-Hua; Gui, Rong

2014-06-01

This study was purposed to explore the suitable ratio between fresh frozen plasma and erythrocyte by retrospective analysis of coagulation in patients with massive blood transfusion. The clinical data of 151 cases with massive blood transfusion from January 2011 to January 2013 were analyzed retrospectively. According to coagulation, patients were divided into coagulation normal group (138 cases) and coagulation dysfunction group (13 cases). Based on the ratio of 1:1 of fresh frozen plasma and erythrocyte, the patients were divided into high plasma group(2:1), medium plasma group (1:1) and low plasma (blood transfusion. The results showed that prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and thrombin time (TT) were prolonged, fibrinogen (FIB) level decreased significantly (all P blood transfusion 24 h; the high plasma and the medium plasma group of coagulation normal group had no significant changes in coagulation (P > 0.05); prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time and fibrinogen level in the medium plasma and low plasma subgroup of coagulation dysfunction group after massive transfusion was still in abnormal levels (P > 0.05), coagulation function in high plasma subgroup was improved significantly (P blood transfusion, the ratio between fresh frozen plasma and erythrocyte is recommended to be 2:1 in patients of coagulation dysfunction in order to improve the patient's coagulation function and to reduce the incidence of adverse event, the ratio of fresh frozen plasma to erythrocyte is recommended to be 1:1 in patients with normal coagulation so as to reduce the dilutional coagulopathy and hypervolemia of blood.

Development of a magnetized coaxial plasma gun for compact toroid injection into the C-2 field-reversed configuration device.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsumoto, T; Sekiguchi, J; Asai, T; Gota, H; Garate, E; Allfrey, I; Valentine, T; Morehouse, M; Roche, T; Kinley, J; Aefsky, S; Cordero, M; Waggoner, W; Binderbauer, M; Tajima, T

2016-05-01

A compact toroid (CT) injector was developed for the C-2 device, primarily for refueling of field-reversed configurations. The CTs are formed by a magnetized coaxial plasma gun (MCPG), which consists of coaxial cylindrical electrodes and a bias coil for creating a magnetic field. First, a plasma ring is generated by a discharge between the electrodes and is accelerated by Lorenz self-force. Then, the plasma ring is captured by an interlinkage flux (poloidal flux). Finally, the fully formed CT is ejected from the MCPG. The MCPG described herein has two gas injection ports that are arranged tangentially on the outer electrode. A tungsten-coated inner electrode has a head which can be replaced with a longer one to extend the length of the acceleration region for the CT. The developed MCPG has achieved supersonic CT velocities of ∼100 km/s. Plasma parameters for electron density, electron temperature, and the number of particles are ∼5 × 10(21) m(-3), ∼40 eV, and 0.5-1.0 × 10(19), respectively.

Development of a magnetized coaxial plasma gun for compact toroid injection into the C-2 field-reversed configuration device

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matsumoto, T., E-mail: cstd14003@g.nihon-u.ac.jp; Sekiguchi, J.; Asai, T. [College of Science and Technology, Nihon University, 1-8-14 Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 1018308 (Japan); Gota, H.; Garate, E.; Allfrey, I.; Valentine, T.; Morehouse, M.; Roche, T.; Kinley, J.; Aefsky, S.; Cordero, M.; Waggoner, W.; Binderbauer, M. [Tri Alpha Energy, Inc., P.O. Box 7010 Rancho Santa Margarita, California 92688 (United States); Tajima, T. [Tri Alpha Energy, Inc., P.O. Box 7010 Rancho Santa Margarita, California 92688 (United States); Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, California 92697 (United States)

2016-05-15

A compact toroid (CT) injector was developed for the C-2 device, primarily for refueling of field-reversed configurations. The CTs are formed by a magnetized coaxial plasma gun (MCPG), which consists of coaxial cylindrical electrodes and a bias coil for creating a magnetic field. First, a plasma ring is generated by a discharge between the electrodes and is accelerated by Lorenz self-force. Then, the plasma ring is captured by an interlinkage flux (poloidal flux). Finally, the fully formed CT is ejected from the MCPG. The MCPG described herein has two gas injection ports that are arranged tangentially on the outer electrode. A tungsten-coated inner electrode has a head which can be replaced with a longer one to extend the length of the acceleration region for the CT. The developed MCPG has achieved supersonic CT velocities of ∼100 km/s. Plasma parameters for electron density, electron temperature, and the number of particles are ∼5 × 10{sup 21} m{sup −3}, ∼40 eV, and 0.5–1.0 × 10{sup 19}, respectively.

Development of a magnetized coaxial plasma gun for compact toroid injection into the C-2 field-reversed configuration device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsumoto, T.; Sekiguchi, J.; Asai, T.; Gota, H.; Garate, E.; Allfrey, I.; Valentine, T.; Morehouse, M.; Roche, T.; Kinley, J.; Aefsky, S.; Cordero, M.; Waggoner, W.; Binderbauer, M.; Tajima, T.

2016-01-01

A compact toroid (CT) injector was developed for the C-2 device, primarily for refueling of field-reversed configurations. The CTs are formed by a magnetized coaxial plasma gun (MCPG), which consists of coaxial cylindrical electrodes and a bias coil for creating a magnetic field. First, a plasma ring is generated by a discharge between the electrodes and is accelerated by Lorenz self-force. Then, the plasma ring is captured by an interlinkage flux (poloidal flux). Finally, the fully formed CT is ejected from the MCPG. The MCPG described herein has two gas injection ports that are arranged tangentially on the outer electrode. A tungsten-coated inner electrode has a head which can be replaced with a longer one to extend the length of the acceleration region for the CT. The developed MCPG has achieved supersonic CT velocities of ∼100 km/s. Plasma parameters for electron density, electron temperature, and the number of particles are ∼5 × 10"2"1 m"−"3, ∼40 eV, and 0.5–1.0 × 10"1"9, respectively.

Neoclassical poloidal and toroidal rotation in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Y.B.; Diamond, P.H.; Groebner, R.J.

1991-01-01

Explicit expressions for the neoclassical poloidal and toroidal rotation speeds of primary ion and impurity species are derived via the Hirshman and Sigmar moment approach. The rotation speeds of the primary ion can be significantly different from those of impurities in various interesting cases. The rapid increase of impurity poloidal rotation in the edge region of H-mode discharges in tokamaks can be explained by a rapid steepening of the primary ion pressure gradient. Depending on ion collisionality, the poloidal rotation speed of the primary ions at the edge can be quite small and the flow direction may be opposite to that of the impurities. This may cast considerable doubts on current L to H bifurcation models based on primary ion poloidal rotation only. Also, the difference between the toroidal rotation velocities of primary ions and impurities is not negligible in various cases. In Ohmic plasmas, the parallel electric field induces a large impurity toroidal rotation close to the magnetic axis, which seems to agree with experimental observations. In the ion banana and plateau regime, there can be non-negligible disparities between primary ion and impurity toroidal rotation velocities due to the ion density and temperature gradients. Detailed analytic expressions for the primary ion and impurity rotation speeds are presented, and the methodology for generalization to the case of several impurity species is also presented for future numerical evaluation

On Current Drive and Wave Induced Bootstrap Current in Toroidal Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hellsten, T.; Johnson, T.

2008-01-01

A comprehensive treatment of wave-particle interactions in toroidal plasmas including collisional relaxation, applicable to heating or anomalous wave induced transport, has been obtained by using Monte Carlo operators satisfying quasi-neutrality. This approach enables a self-consistent treatment of wave-particle interactions applicable to the banana regime in the neoclassical theory. It allows an extension into a regime with large temperature and density gradients, losses and transport of particles by wave-particle interactions making the method applicable to transport barriers. It is found that at large gradients the relationship between radial electric field, parallel velocity, temperature and density gradient in the neoclassical theory is modified such that coefficient in front of the logarithmic ion temperature gradient, which in the standard neoclassical theory is small and counteracts the electric field caused by the density gradient, now changes sign and contributes to the built up of the radial electric field. The possibility to drive current by absorbing the waves on trapped particles has been studied and how the wave-particle interactions affect the bootstrap current. Two new current drive mechanisms are studied: current drive by wave induced bootstrap current and selective detrapping into passing orbits by directed waves.

Numerical Calculation of Transport Based on the Drift-Kinetic Equation for Plasmas in General Toroidal Magnetic Geometry: Numerical Methods; Calculo Numerico de Transporte mediante la Ecuacion Cinetica de Deriva para Plasmas en Geometria Magnetica Toroidal: Metodos Numericos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reynolds, J. M.; Lopez-Bruna, D.

2009-10-12

In this report we continue with the description of a newly developed numerical method to solve the drift kinetic equation for ions and electrons in toroidal plasmas. Several numerical aspects, already outlined in a previous report [Informes Tecnicos Ciemat 1165, mayo 2009], will be treated now in more detail. Aside from discussing the method in the context of other existing codes, various aspects will be now explained from the viewpoint of numerical methods: the way to solve convection equations, the adopted boundary conditions, the real-space meshing procedures along with a new software developed to build them, and some additional questions related with the parallelization and the numerical integration. (Author) 16 refs.

Toroidal rotation braking with n = 1 magnetic perturbation field on JET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun, Y; Liang, Y; Koslowski, H R; Harting, D; Wiegmann, C; Wiesen, S; Jachmich, S; Alfier, A; Asunta, O; Corrigan, G; Giroud, C; Gryaznevich, M P; Hender, T; Nardon, E; Parail, V; Naulin, V; Tala, T

2010-01-01

A strong toroidal rotation braking has been observed in plasmas with application of an n = 1 magnetic perturbation field on the JET tokamak. Calculation results from the momentum transport analysis show that the torque induced by the n = 1 perturbation field has a global profile. The maximal value of this torque is at the plasma core region (ρ - √ν regime in the plasma core, but it is close to the transition between the 1/ν and ν - √ν regimes. The neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) torque in the 1/ν and ν - √ν regimes is calculated. The observed torque is of a magnitude in between that of the NTV torque in the 1/ν and ν - √ν regimes. The NTV torque in the ν - √ν regimes is enhanced using the Lagrangian variation of the magnetic field strength. However, it is still smaller than the observed torque by one order of magnitude.

Design of the TPX outboard toroidal limiters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaubel, K.M.; Anderson, P.M.; Baxi, C.B.

1995-01-01

The Tokamak Physics Experiment outboard limiter system incorporates the passive stabilizer plates, the ripple armor, the toroidal break and the support structures. These components are designed to withstand substantial steady state heat loads and high mechanical forces caused by plasma disruptions. The design of these components has been developed to deal with the challenging thermal, structural and remote handling requirements

Closed expressions for the magnetic field of toroidal multipole configurations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheffield, G.V.

1983-04-01

Closed analytic expressions for the vector potential and the magnetic field for the lower order toroidal multipoles are presented. These expressions can be applied in the study of tokamak plasma cross section shaping. An example of such an application is included. These expressions also allow the vacuum fields required for plasma equilibrium to be specified in a general form independent of a particular coil configuration

Electromagnetic microinstabilities in tokamak plasmas using a global spectral approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Falchetto, G. L

2002-03-01

Electromagnetic microinstabilities in tokamak plasmas are studied by means of a linear global eigenvalue numerical code. The code is the electromagnetic extension of an existing electrostatic global gyrokinetic spectral toroidal code, called GLOGYSTO. Ion dynamics is described by the gyrokinetic equation, so that ion finite Larmor radius effects are taken into account to all orders. Non adiabatic electrons are included in the model, with passing particles described by the drift-kinetic equation and trapped particles through the bounce averaged drift-kinetic equation. A low frequency electromagnetic perturbation is applied to a low -but finite- {beta}plasma (where the parameter {beta} identifies the ratio of plasma pressure to magnetic pressure); thus, the parallel perturbations of the magnetic field are neglected. The system is closed by the quasi-neutrality equation and the parallel component of Ampere's law. The formulation is applied to a large aspect ratio toroidal configuration, with circular shifted surfaces. Such a simple configuration enables one to derive analytically the gyrocenter trajectories. The system is solved in Fourier space, taking advantage of a decomposition adapted to the toroidal geometry. The major contributions of this thesis are as follows. The electromagnetic effects on toroidal Ion Temperature Gradient driven (ITG) modes are studied. The stabilization of these modes with increasing {beta}, as predicted in previous work, is confirmed. The inclusion of trapped electron dynamics enables the study of its coupling to the ITG modes and of Trapped Electron Modes (TEM) .The effects of finite {beta} are considered together with those of different magnetic shear profiles and of the Shafranov shift. The threshold for the destabilization of an electromagnetic mode is identified. Moreover, the global formulation yields for the first time the radial structure of this so-called Alfvenic Ion Temperature Gradient (AITG) mode. The stability of the

Qualifying tests for TRIAM-1M superconducting toroidal magnetic field coil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakanura, Yukio; Hiraki, Naoji; Nakamura, Kazuo; Tanaka, Masayoshi; Nagao, Akihiro; Kawasaki, Shoji; Itoh, Satoshi

1984-09-01

In the strong toroidal magnetic field experimental facility ''TRIAM-1M'' currently under construction, construction of the superconducting toroidal magnetic field coil and the following qualifying tests conducted on the full-scale superconducting toroidal magnetic field coil actually fabricated are described: (1) coil excitation test, (2) superconducting stability test, (3) external magnetic field application test, and (4) high-speed excitation test. On the basis of these test results, stability was evaluated of the superconducting coil being operated in the tokamak device. In normal tokamak operation, there occurs no normal conduction transition. At the time of plasma disruption, though this transition takes place in part of the coil, the superconducting state is immediately restored. By its electromagnetic force analysis, the superconducting coil is also stable in structure.

Suppression of vertical instability in elongated current-carrying plasmas by applying stellarator rotational transform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

ArchMiller, M. C.; Cianciosa, M. R.; Ennis, D. A.; Hanson, J. D.; Hartwell, G. J.; Hebert, J. D.; Herfindal, J. L.; Knowlton, S. F.; Ma, X.; Maurer, D. A.; Pandya, M. D.; Traverso, P.

2014-01-01

The passive stability of vertically elongated current-carrying toroidal plasmas has been investigated in the Compact Toroidal Hybrid, a stellarator/tokamak hybrid device. In this experiment, the fractional transform f, defined as the ratio of the imposed external rotational transform from stellarator coils to the total rotational transform, was varied from 0.04 to 0.50, and the elongation κ was varied from 1.4 to 2.2. Plasmas that were vertically unstable were evidenced by motion of the plasma in the vertical direction. Vertical drifts are measured with a set of poloidal field pickup coils. A three chord horizontally viewing interferometer and a soft X-ray diode array confirmed the drifts. Plasmas with low fractional transform and high elongation are the most susceptible to vertical instability, consistent with analytic predictions that the vertical mode in elongated plasmas can be stabilized by the poloidal field of a relatively weak stellarator equilibrium

Effect of plasma current breakaway on the operating stability of the superconducting coil of the toroidal magnetic field in the T-10M installation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kostenko, A.I.; Kravchenko, M.Yu.; Monoszon, N.A.; Trokhachev, G.V.

1979-01-01

The method and calculation results of stability of a superconducting coil of the toroidal magnetic field in the T-10M installation to plasma current breakaway are presented. The calculations were performed for two values of the magnetic field induction in the centre of the plasma cross section: 3.5 and 5 T. The calculation of energy losses and heating of the superconducting coil was performed assuming the plasma current in case of breakaway decreases to zero with an infinite rate, so that the estimations obtained are maxiaum. It is shown that in case of 3.5 T induction the superconducting coil exhibits resistance to plasma current breakaways, and in case of 5 T it is necessary to use electromagnetic screening to provide stability

Linked tandem mirror configuration as a possible steady state high β plasma container

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikuta, Kazunari.

1982-04-01

A possibility of achieving steady state high β plasma confinement in toroidal geometry is considered in detail by closing off the ends of tandem mirrors entirely by flux bridges, where β is the ratio of plasma pressure to the magnetic pressure. The key problem of this approach seems to be the magnetic design of magneto-hydrodynamically stabilized, preferentially leaky bridges. (author)

Magnetohydrodynamic equilibria and local stability of axisymmetric tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng, Y.K.M.; Dory, R.A.; Nelson, D.B.; Sayer, R.O.

1976-07-01

Axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamic equilibria are evaluated in terms of the Mercier Stability Criterion. The parameters of interest include poloidal beta (β/sub p/), current and pressure profile widths, D-shaped and doublet plasmas with elongation (sigma) and triangularity (delta), and the aspect ratio (A). For marginal local stability, the critical values of β, plasma current, and the safety factor q with fixed toroidal field at the geometric center of the plasma are obtained. It is shown that for a wide range of profiles in a D-shaped plasma with A = 3, the highest critical β occurs at β/sub p/ = 2.4, sigma = 1.65, and delta = 0.5. If the toroidal field at the coil surface is fixed, the highest critical pressure occurs near A approximately 3 to 4, given reasonable distance between the coils and the plasma edge. Calculations for a Doublet II-A plasma with sigma = 3 show that with similar pressure profile the highest critical β occurs at β/sub p/ = 1 and is 84 percent of the highest critical β for the D-shaped plasmas. Critical values of ohmic heating power density are also found to be comparable for the two plasma shapes. A D-shaped plasma with the above parameters is suggested for use in future high-β tokamak devices

Waveguide and loop coupling to fast MHD toroidal eigenmodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paoloni, F.J.

1975-12-01

Heating of plasmas by wave techniques requires an effective method of coupling rf energy to the plasma. In cavities the presence of weakly damped eigenmodes will enhance the loading of antennas when the wave frequency equals an eigenmode frequency. This report considers two methods of coupling to fast MHD eigenmodes in a toroidal cavity: one is by a waveguide mounted perpendicular to the vacuum vessel wall; and the other by a loop placed within the cavity

US-Japan workshop on field-reversed configurations with steady-state high-temperature fusion plasmas and the 11th US-Japan workshop on compact toroids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, D.C.; Fernandez, J.C.; Rej, D.J.

1990-05-01

The US-Japan Workshop on Field-Reversed Configurations with Steady-State High-Temperature Fusion Plasma and the 11th US-Japan Workshop on Compact Toroids were held at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico on November 7--9, 1989. These proceedings contain the papers presented at the workshops as submitted by the authors. These papers have been indexed separately

US-Japan workshop on field-reversed configurations with steady-state high-temperature fusion plasmas and the 11th US-Japan workshop on compact toroids

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barnes, D.C.; Fernandez, J.C.; Rej, D.J. (comps.)

1990-05-01

The US-Japan Workshop on Field-Reversed Configurations with Steady-State High-Temperature Fusion Plasma and the 11th US-Japan Workshop on Compact Toroids were held at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico on November 7--9, 1989. These proceedings contain the papers presented at the workshops as submitted by the authors. These papers have been indexed separately.

Calculation of transport coefficients in an axisymmetric plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shumaker, D.E.

1976-01-01

A method of calculating the transport coefficient in an axisymmetric toroidal plasma is presented. This method is useful in calculating the transport coefficients in a Tokamak plasma confinement device. The particle density and temperature are shown to be a constant on a magnetic flux surface. Transport equations are given for the total particle flux and total energy flux crossing a closed toroidal surface. Also transport equations are given for the toroidal magnetic flux. A computer code was written to calculate the transport coefficients for a three species plasma, electrons and two species of ions. This is useful for calculating the transport coefficients of a plasma which contains impurities. It was found that the particle and energy transport coefficients are increased by a large amount, and the transport coefficients for the toroidal magnetic field are reduced by a small amount. For example, a deuterium plasma with 1.3 percent oxygen, one of the particle transport coefficients is increased by a factor of about four. The transport coefficients for the toroidal magnetic flux are reduced by about 20 percent. The increase in the particle transport coefficient is due to the collisional scattering of the deuterons by the heavy oxygen ions which is larger than the deuteron electron scattering, the normal process for particle transport in a two species plasma. The reduction in the toroidal magnetic flux transport coefficients are left unexplained

Controlling Confinement with Induced Toroidal Current in the Flexible Heliac TJ-II

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Romero, J A; Lopez-Bruna, D; Lopez-Fraguas, A; Ascasibar, E; TJ-II Team

2002-07-01

A method to control plasma particle an energy confinement in the TJ-II Heliac devices is reported A small toroidal current is induced in the plasma with the aid of a 0.2 Wb air core transformer. Plasma particle and energy confinement improve (degrade) with negative (positive) plasma current. For typical TJ-II discharges plasma density and temperature broaden considerably when plasma current is sufficiently negative, accounting for a 40% increase in stored energy. The experimental results agree qualitatively with the paradigm of instability growth rate modifications with magnetic shear. (Author) 18 refs.

Controlling Confinement with Induced Toroidal Current in the Flexible Heliac TJ-II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romero, J. A.; Lopez-Bruna, D.; Lopez-Fraguas, A.; Ascasibar, E.; TJ-II Team

2002-01-01

A method to control plasma particle an energy confinement in the TJ-II Heliac devices is reported A small toroidal current is induced in the plasma with the aid of a 0.2 Wb air core transformer. Plasma particle and energy confinement improve (degrade) with negative (positive) plasma current. For typical TJ-II discharges plasma density and temperature broaden considerably when plasma current is sufficiently negative, accounting for a 40% increase in stored energy. The experimental results agree qualitatively with the paradigm of instability growth rate modifications with magnetic shear. (Author) 18 refs

BRIEF COMMUNICATION: On the drift kinetic equation driven by plasma flows

Science.gov (United States)

Shaing, K. C.

2010-07-01

A drift kinetic equation that is driven by plasma flows has previously been derived by Shaing and Spong 1990 (Phys. Fluids B 2 1190). The terms that are driven by particle speed that is parallel to the magnetic field B have been neglected. Here, such terms are discussed to examine their importance to the equation and to show that these terms do not contribute to the calculations of plasma viscosity in large aspect ratio toroidal plasmas, e.g. tokamaks and stellarators.

Calculation about a modification to the toroidal magnetic field of the Tokamak Novillo. Part I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chavez A, E.; Melendez L, L.; Colunga S, S.; Valencia A, R.; Lopez C, R.; Gaytan G, E.

1991-07-01

The charged particles that constitute the plasma in the tokamaks are located in magnetic fields that determine its behavior. The poloidal magnetic field of the plasma current and the toroidal magnetic field of the tokamak possess relatively big gradients, which produce drifts on these particles. These drifts are largely the cause of the continuous lost of particles and of energy of the confinement region. In this work the results of numerical calculations of a modification to the 'traditional' toroidal magnetic field that one waits it diminishes the drifts by gradient and improve the confinement properties of the tokamaks. (Author)

Tokamak plasma current disruption infrared control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kugel, H.W.; Ulrickson, M.

1987-01-01

This patent describes a device for magnetically confining a plasma driven by a plasma current and contained within a toroidal vacuum chamber, the device having an inner toroidal limiter on an inside wall of the vacuum chamber and an arrangement for the rapid prediction and control in real time of a major plasma disruption. The arrangement is described which includes: scanning means sensitive to infrared radiation emanating from within the vacuum chamber, the infrared radiation indicating the temperature along a vertical profile of the inner toroidal limiter. The scanning means is arranged to observe the infrared radiation and to produce in response thereto an electrical scanning output signal representative of a time scan of temperature along the vertical profile; detection means for analyzing the scanning output signal to detect a first peaked temperature excursion occurring along the profile of the inner toroidal limiter, and to produce a detection output signal in repsonse thereto, the detection output signal indicating a real time prediction of a subsequent major plasma disruption; and plasma current reduction means for reducing the plasma current driving the plasma, in response to the detection output signal and in anticipation of a subsequent major plasma disruption

Linear theory of the tearing instability in axisymmetric toroidal devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rogister, A.; Singh, R.

1988-08-01

We derive a very general kinetic equation describing the linear evolution of low m/l modes in axisymmetric toroidal plasmas with arbitrary cross sections. Included are: Ion sound, inertia, diamagnetic drifts, finite poloidal beta, and finite ion Larmor radius effects. Assuming the magnetic surfaces to form a set of nested tori with circular cross sections of shifted centers, and introducing adequate simplifications justified by our knowledge of experimental tokamak plasmas, we then obtain explicitely the sets of equations describing the coupling of the quasimodes 0/1, 1/1, 2/1, and, for m≥2, m/1, (m+1)/1. By keeping finite aspect ratio effects into account when calculating the jump of the derivative of the eigenfunction, it is shown that the theory can explain the rapid evolution, within one sawtooth period, of the growth rate of the sawteeth precursors from resistive values to magnetohydrodynamic ones. The characteristics thus theoretically required from current profiles in sawtoothing discharges have clearly been observed. Other aspects of the full theory could be relevant to the phenomenon of major disruptions. (orig.)

Two-fluid and parallel compressibility effects in tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugiyama, L.E.; Park, W.

1998-01-01

The MHD, or single fluid, model for a plasma has long been known to provide a surprisingly good description of much of the observed nonlinear dynamics of confined plasmas, considering its simple nature compared to the complexity of the real system. On the other hand, some of the supposed agreement arises from the lack of the detailed measurements that are needed to distinguish MHD from more sophisticated models that incorporate slower time scale processes. At present, a number of factors combine to make models beyond MHD of practical interest. Computational considerations still favor fluid rather than particle models for description of the full plasma, and suggest an approach that starts from a set of fluid-like equations that extends MHD to slower time scales and more accurate parallel dynamics. This paper summarizes a set of two-fluid equations for toroidal (tokamak) geometry that has been developed and tested as the MH3D-T code [1] and some results from the model. The electrons and ions are described as separate fluids. The code and its original MHD version, MH3D [2], are the first numerical, initial value models in toroidal geometry that include the full 3D (fluid) compressibility and electromagnetic effects. Previous nonlinear MHD codes for toroidal geometry have, in practice, neglected the plasma density evolution, on the grounds that MHD plasmas are only weakly compressible and that the background density variation is weaker than the temperature variation. Analytically, the common use of toroidal plasma models based on aspect ratio expansion, such as reduced MHD, has reinforced this impression, since this ordering reduces plasma compressibility effects. For two-fluid plasmas, the density evolution cannot be neglected in principle, since it provides the basic driving energy for the diamagnetic drifts of the electrons and ions perpendicular to the magnetic field. It also strongly influences the parallel dynamics, in combination with the parallel thermal

PC-based package for interactive assessment of MHD equilibrium and poloidal field coil design in axisymmetric toroidal geometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelleher, W.P.

1987-01-01

In the assessment of Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibrium and Poloidal Field Coil (PFC) arrangement for toroidal axisymmetric geometry, the Grad-Shafranov equation must be solved, either analytically or numerically. Existing numerical tools have been developed primarily for mainframe usage and can prove cumbersome for screening assessments and parametric evaluations. The objective of this thesis was to develop a personal computer (PC)-based calculational tool for assessing MHD/PFC problems in a highly interactive mode, well suited for scoping studies. The approach adopted involves a two-step process: first the MHD equilibrium is calculated and then the PFC arrangement, consistent with the equilibrium, is determined in an interactive design environment. The PC-based system developed consists of two programs: (1) PCEQ, which solve the MHD equilibrium problem and (2) PFDE-SIGN, which is employed to arrive at a PFC arrangement. PCEQ provides an output file including, but not limited to, the following: poloidal beta, total beta, safety factors, q, on axis and on edge. PCEQ plots the following contours and/or profiles: flux, pressure and toroidal current density, safety factor, and ratio of plasma toroidal field to vacuum field

On the existence and uniqueness of dissipative plasma equilibria in a toroidal domain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spada, M.; Wobig, H.

1991-06-01

A one-fluid, dissipative magnetohydrodynamic model of plasma equilibrium in a torus is considered. The equations include inertial forces, finte resistivity and viscosity, and a particle source which sustains the pressure gradient in the plasma; viscosity is described by the Braginskii operator. Plasma density, resistivity and viscosity coefficients are assumed to be uniform. A boundary-value problem in a general toroidal domain is formulated, no further assumption on the domain being made besides a sufficient regularity of its boundary. The system of equations is reduced to a problem with unknowns p, v, B (p denotes the scalar pressure, v the flow velocity, B the magnetic field). A functional setting of the equations is established and, generalizing the classical mathematical techniques adopted in the theory of viscous incompressible flow to investigate the solvability of the steady-state Navier-Stokes equations, a problem for weak solutions is formulated which is shown to be equivalent to solving a nonlinear equation in a separable Hilbert space. Then, by analysing the Braginskii viscosity in the established functional framework, we find properties which allow to write the above equation as a fixed-point equation. Main results of our analysis are the following: (i) We prove the existence of at least one weak solution if the source is sufficiently small, or viscosity and resistivity sufficiently large; (ii) We obtain an estimate of the solution(s); (iii) We prove that, under a condition of the same kind as that for existence, but more stringent, there exists only one solution; (iv) The well known existence and uniqueness results for the steady-state Navier-Stokes problem are recovered when the magnetic field is set equal to zero. (orig.)

Axisymmetric toroidal equilibrium with flow and anisotropic pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iacono, R.; Bondeson, A.; Troyon, F.; Gruber, R.

1989-10-01

Axisymmetric toroidal plasma equilibria with mass flows and anisotropic pressure are investigated. The equilibrium system is derived for a general functional form of the pressures, which includes both fluid models, such as the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and the double-adiabatic models, and Grad's guiding centre model. This allows for detailed comparisons between the models and clarifies how the 'first hyperbolic region', occurring in the fluid theory when the poloidal flow is of the order of the poloidal sound speed, can be eliminated in guiding centre theory. In the case of a pure toroidal rotation, macroscopic equations of state are derived from the guiding centre model, characterized by a parallel temperature that is constant on each magnetic surface and a perpendicular temperature that varies with the magnetic field. The outward centrifugal shifts of the magnetic axis and of the mass density profile, due to toroidal rotation, are increased by anisotropy. The guiding centre model shows that poloidal flow produces an inward shift of the density profile, in contrast with the MHD result. (author) 1 fig., 1 tab., 17 refs

Plasma rotation study in Tore Supra radio frequency heated plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chouli, Bilal

2014-01-01

Toroidal flows are found to improve the performance of the magnetic confinement devices with increase of the plasma stability and confinement. In ITER or future reactors, the torque from NBI should be less important than in present-day tokamaks. Consequently, it is of interest to study other intrinsic mechanisms that can give rise to plasma rotation in order to predict the rotation profile in experiments. Intriguing observations of plasmas rotation have been made in radio frequency (RF) heated plasmas with little or no external momentum injection. Toroidal rotation in both the direction of the plasma current (co-current) and in the opposite direction (counter-current) has been observed depending on the heating schemes and plasma performance. In Tore Supra, most observations in L-mode plasmas have been in the counter-current direction. However, in this thesis, we show that in lower hybrid current drive (LHCD), the core toroidal rotation increment is in co- or counter-current direction depending on the plasma current amplitude. At low plasma current the rotation change is in the co-current direction while at high plasma current, the change is in the counter-current direction. In both low and high plasma current cases, rotation increments are found to increase linearly with the injected LH power. Several mechanisms in competition which can induce co- or counter-current rotation in Tore Supra LHCD plasmas are investigated and typical order of magnitude are discussed in this thesis. (author) [fr

Predictive Simulations of ITER Including Neutral Beam Driven Toroidal Rotation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halpern, Federico D.; Kritz, Arnold H.; Bateman, G.; Pankin, Alexei Y.; Budny, Robert V.; McCune, Douglas C.

2008-01-01

Predictive simulations of ITER [R. Aymar et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 44, 519 2002] discharges are carried out for the 15 MA high confinement mode (H-mode) scenario using PTRANSP, the predictive version of the TRANSP code. The thermal and toroidal momentum transport equations are evolved using turbulent and neoclassical transport models. A predictive model is used to compute the temperature and width of the H-mode pedestal. The ITER simulations are carried out for neutral beam injection (NBI) heated plasmas, for ion cyclotron resonant frequency (ICRF) heated plasmas, and for plasmas heated with a mix of NBI and ICRF. It is shown that neutral beam injection drives toroidal rotation that improves the confinement and fusion power production in ITER. The scaling of fusion power with respect to the input power and to the pedestal temperature is studied. It is observed that, in simulations carried out using the momentum transport diffusivity computed using the GLF23 model [R.Waltz et al., Phys. Plasmas 4, 2482 (1997)], the fusion power increases with increasing injected beam power and central rotation frequency. It is found that the ITER target fusion power of 500 MW is produced with 20 MW of NBI power when the pedesta temperature is 3.5 keV. 2008 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.2931037

New Toroid shielding design

CERN Multimedia

Hedberg V

On the 15th of June 2001 the EB approved a new conceptual design for the toroid shield. In the old design, shown in the left part of the figure above, the moderator part of the shielding (JTV) was situated both in the warm and cold areas of the forward toroid. It consisted both of rings of polyethylene and hundreds of blocks of polyethylene (or an epoxy resin) inside the toroid vacuum vessel. In the new design, shown to the right in the figure above, only the rings remain inside the toroid. To compensate for the loss of moderator in the toroid, the copper plug (JTT) has been reduced in radius so that a layer of borated polyethylene can be placed around it (see figure below). The new design gives significant cost-savings and is easier to produce in the tight time schedule of the forward toroid. Since the amount of copper is reduced the weight that has to be carried by the toroid is also reduced. Outgassing into the toroid vacuum was a potential problem in the old design and this is now avoided. The main ...

Samus Toroid Installation Fixture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stredde, H.; /Fermilab

1990-06-27

The SAMUS (Small Angle Muon System) toroids have been designed and fabricated in the USSR and delivered to D0 ready for installation into the D0 detector. These toroids will be installed into the aperture of the EF's (End Toroids). The aperture in the EF's is 72-inch vertically and 66-inch horizontally. The Samus toroid is 70-inch vertically by 64-inch horizontally by 66-inch long and weighs approximately 38 tons. The Samus toroid has a 20-inch by 20-inch aperture in the center and it is through this aperture that the lift fixture must fit. The toroid must be 'threaded' through the EF aperture. Further, the Samus toroid coils are wound about the vertical portion of the aperture and thus limit the area where a lift fixture can make contact and not damage the coils. The fixture is designed to lift along a surface adjacent to the coils, but with clearance to the coil and with contact to the upper steel block of the toroid. The lift and installation will be done with the 50 ton crane at DO. The fixture was tested by lifting the Samus Toroid 2-inch off the floor and holding the weight for 10 minutes. Deflection was as predicted by the design calculations. Enclosed are sketches of the fixture and it relation to both Toroids (Samus and EF), along with hand calculations and an Finite Element Analysis. The PEA work was done by Kay Weber of the Accelerator Engineering Department.

Calculations of toroidal EXTRAP equilibria for different toroidal ring current configurations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drake, J.R.; Scheffel, J.

1985-12-01

EXTRAP is a concept in which a pure Z-pinch is generated along the axis of an octupole field. Experiments in a linear as well as in a sector geometry have demonstrated that the pinch becomes stable against instabilities for many Alfven times. The octupole field in EXTRAP is produced by four, external, current-carrying rings. In the toroidal geometry these rings must be supplemented by additional rings to compensate for the plasma loop force and transformer core leakage flux. Equilibrium studies are carried out for two basically ring designs. The studies are based on numerical equilibrium copmputations using the GOYA code. Sensitivity of the equilibrium to technical imperfections is also analyzed. (author)

NCSX Toroidal Field Coil Design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalish M; Rushinski J; Myatt L; Brooks A; Dahlgren F; Chrzanowski J; Reiersen W; Freudenberg K.

2005-01-01

The National Compact Stellarator Experiment (NCSX) is an experimental device whose design and construction is underway at the Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). The primary coil systems for the NCSX device consist of the twisted plasma-shaping Modular Coils, the Poloidal Field Coils, and the Toroidal Field (TF) Coils. The TF Coils are D-shaped coils wound from hollow copper conductor, and vacuum impregnated with a glass-epoxy resin system. There are 18 identical, equally spaced TF coils providing 1/R field at the plasma. They operate within a cryostat, and are cooled by LN2, nominally, to 80K. Wedge shaped castings are assembled to the inboard face of these coils, so that inward radial loads are reacted via the nesting of each of the coils against their adjacent partners. This paper outlines the TF Coil design methodology, reviews the analysis results, and summarizes how the design and analysis support the design requirements

Toroidal high-spin isomers in the nucleus 304120

Science.gov (United States)

Staszczak, A.; Wong, Cheuk-Yin; Kosior, A.

2017-05-01

Background: Strongly deformed oblate superheavy nuclei form an intriguing region where the toroidal nuclear structures may bifurcate from the oblate spheroidal shape. The bifurcation may be facilitated when the nucleus is endowed with a large angular moment about the symmetry axis with I =Iz . The toroidal high-K isomeric states at their local energy minima can be theoretically predicted using the cranked self-consistent Skyrme-Hartree-Fock method. Purpose: We use the cranked Skyrme-Hartree-Fock method to predict the properties of the toroidal high-spin isomers in the superheavy nucleus 120304184. Method: Our method consists of three steps: First, we use the deformation-constrained Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach to search for the nuclear density distributions with toroidal shapes. Next, using these toroidal distributions as starting configurations, we apply an additional cranking constraint of a large angular momentum I =Iz about the symmetry z axis and search for the energy minima of the system as a function of the deformation. In the last step, if a local energy minimum with I =Iz is found, we perform at this point the cranked symmetry- and deformation-unconstrained Skyrme-Hartree-Fock calculations to locate a stable toroidal high-spin isomeric state in free convergence. Results: We have theoretically located two toroidal high-spin isomeric states of 120304184 with an angular momentum I =Iz=81 ℏ (proton 2p-2h, neutron 4p-4h excitation) and I =Iz=208 ℏ (proton 5p-5h, neutron 8p-8h) at the quadrupole moment deformations Q20=-297.7 b and Q20=-300.8 b with energies 79.2 and 101.6 MeV above the spherical ground state, respectively. The nuclear density distributions of the toroidal high-spin isomers 120304184(Iz=81 ℏ and 208 ℏ ) have the maximum density close to the nuclear matter density, 0.16 fm-3, and a torus major to minor radius aspect ratio R /d =3.25 . Conclusions: We demonstrate that aligned angular momenta of Iz=81 ℏ and 208 ℏ arising from

High #betta# and toroidal effects on the internal kink mode in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmalz, R.

1982-09-01

The inclusion of high-#betta# and first-order toroidal terms in the reduced set of (resistive) MHD equations affords the possibility of improving the study of tokamak plasma behaviour by three-dimensional numerical simulation. A new code, GALA, based on the reduced equations is developed. It is used to analyse the linear and nonlinear behaviour of the internal kink mode in equilibria which are generated by a simple relaxation procedure. We find that the inclusion of toroidal effects in high-#betta# equilibria provides considerable stabilization. (orig.)

Pellet injection and toroidal confinement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-12-01

The proceedings of a technical committee meeting on pellet injection and toroidal confinement, held in Gut Ising, Federal Republic of Germany, 24-26 October, 1988, are given in this report. Most of the major fusion experiments are using pellet injectors; these were reported at this meeting. Studies of confinement, which is favorably affected, impurity transport, radiative energy losses, and affects on the ion temperature gradient instability were given. Studies of pellet ablation and effects on plasma profiles were presented. Finally, several papers described present and proposed injection guns. Refs, figs and tabs

Overview of toroidal momentum transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peeters, A.G.; Hornsby, W.A.; Angioni, C.; Hein, T.; Kluy, N.; Strintzi, D.; Tardini, G.; Bortolon, A.; Camenen, Y.; Casson, F.J.; Snodin, A.P.; Szepesi, G.; Duval, B.; Fiederspiel, L.; Idomura, Y.; Mantica, P.; Parra, F.I.; Tala, T.; De Vries, P.; Weiland, J.

2011-01-01

Toroidal momentum transport mechanisms are reviewed and put in a broader perspective. The generation of a finite momentum flux is closely related to the breaking of symmetry (parity) along the field. The symmetry argument allows for the systematic identification of possible transport mechanisms. Those that appear to lowest order in the normalized Larmor radius (the diagonal part, Coriolis pinch, E x B shearing, particle flux, and up-down asymmetric equilibria) are reasonably well understood. At higher order, expected to be of importance in the plasma edge, the theory is still under development.

Controllers for high-performance nuclear fusion plasmas

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baar, de M.R.

2012-01-01

A succesful nuclear fusion reactor will confine plasma at hig temperatures and densities, with low thermal losses. The workhorse of the nuclear fusion community is the tokamak, a toroidal device in which plasmas are confined by poloidal and toroidal magnetic fields. Ideally, the confirming magnetic

Effect of eddy currents in the toroidal field coils of a tokamak with an air-core transformer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tani, Keiji; Kobayashi, Tomofumi; Tamura, Sanae

1975-02-01

The effect of eddy currents in the copper parts of the toroidal field coils is evaluated for a tokamak with the air-core transformer windings located inside the bore of the toroidal field coils. By introducing appropriate weights to the solutions obtained for a simplified cylindrical model, calculation is made of the induction toroidal electric field on the plasma axis in the presence of the eddy currents. The result shows that, to reduce the influence of the eddy currents on the induction one-turn voltage to the permissible level, it is necessary to choose the optimal number of turns and shape of the single conductor of the toroidal field coil. (auth.)

Dynamic processes in field-reversed-configuration compact toroids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rej, D.J.

1987-01-01

In this lecture, the dynamic processes involved in field-reversed configuration (FRC) formation, translation, and compression will be reviewed. Though the FRC is related to the field-reversed mirror concept, the formation method used in most experiments is a variant of the field-reversed Θ-pinch. Formation of the FRC eqilibrium occurs rapidly, usually in less than 20 μs. The formation sequence consists of several coupled processes: preionization; radial implosion and compression; magnetic field line closure; axial contraction; equilibrium formation. Recent experiments and theory have led to a significantly improved understanding of these processes; however, the experimental method still relies on a somewhat empirical approach which involves the optimization of initial preionization plasma parameters and symmetry. New improvements in FRC formation methods include the use of lower voltages which extrapolate better to larger devices. The axial translation of compact toroid plasmas offers an attractive engineering convenience in a fusion reactor. FRC translation has been demonstrated in several experiments worldwide, and these plasmas are found to be robust, moving at speeds up to the Alfven velocity over distances of up to 16 m, with no degradation in the confinement. Compact toroids are ideal for magnetic compression. Translated FRCs have been compressed and heated by imploding liners. Upcoming experiments will rely on external flux compression to heat a translater FRC at 1-GW power levels. 39 refs

Self-consistent perturbed equilibrium with neoclassical toroidal torque in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Jong-Kyu; Logan, Nikolas C.

2017-01-01

Toroidal torque is one of the most important consequences of non-axisymmetric fields in tokamaks. The well-known neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) is due to the second-order toroidal force from anisotropic pressure tensor in the presence of these asymmetries. This work shows that the first-order toroidal force originating from the same anisotropic pressure tensor, despite having no flux surface average, can significantly modify the local perturbed force balance and thus must be included in perturbed equilibrium self-consistent with NTV. The force operator with an anisotropic pressure tensor is not self-adjoint when the NTV torque is finite and thus is solved directly for each component. This approach yields a modified, non-self-adjoint Euler-Lagrange equation that can be solved using a variety of common drift-kinetic models in generalized tokamak geometry. The resulting energy and torque integral provides a unique way to construct a torque response matrix, which contains all the information of self-consistent NTV torque profiles obtainable by applying non-axisymmetric fields to the plasma. This torque response matrix can then be used to systematically optimize non-axisymmetric field distributions for desired NTV profiles. Published by AIP Publishing.

Calculation of transport coefficients in an axisymmetric plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shumaker, D.E.

1977-01-01

A method of calculating the transport coefficient in an axisymmetric toroidal plasma is presented. This method is useful in calculating the transport coefficients in a Tokamak plasma confinement device. The particle density and temperature are shown to be a constant on a magnetic flux surface. Transport equations are given for the total particle flux and total energy flux crossing a closed toroidal surface. Also transport equations are given for the toroidal magnetic flux. A computer code was written to calculate the transport coefficients for a three species plasma, electrons and two species of ions. This is useful for calculating the transport coefficients of a plasma which contains impurities. It was found that the particle and energy transport coefficients are increased by a large amount, and the transport coefficients for the toroidal magnetic field are reduced by a small amount

Bridge between fusion plasma and plasma processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohno, Noriyasu; Takamura, Shuichi

2008-01-01

In the present review, relationship between fusion plasma and processing plasma is discussed. From boundary-plasma studies in fusion devices new applications such as high-density plasma sources, erosion of graphite in a hydrogen plasma, formation of helium bubbles in high-melting-point metals and the use of toroidal plasmas for plasma processing are emerging. The authors would like to discuss a possibility of knowledge transfer from fusion plasmas to processing plasmas. (T. Ikehata)

Fast waves mode conversion and energy deposition in simulated, pre-heated, neoclassical, tight aspect ratio tokamak plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bruma, C.; Komoshvili, K. [Tel Aviv Univ. (Israel). School of Physics and Astronomy; Coll. of Judea and Samaria, Ariel (Israel); Cuperman, S. [Tel Aviv Univ. (Israel). School of Physics and Astronomy

2000-11-01

Some basic aspects of wave-plasma interaction of special interest for tight aspect ratio (spherical) tokamaks (ST's) are investigated numerically; these aspects include fast mode conversion and energy deposition. The study is based on the numerical solution of the full electro-magnetic (e.m.) wave equation which includes a quite general two-fluid, resistive MHD dielectric tensor, with consideration of equilibrium current and neoclassical effects. A generalized expression for the power absorption appropriate for the above scenario, with consideration of all the basic effects also present in the dielectric tensor-operator, was derived and used. The current-carrying ST-plasma has a circular cross-section and toroidicity effects are simulated by a Grad-Shafranov type, radially dependent axial magnetic field and its shear; however, the Shafranov shift is not considered. Actually, the equilibrium parameters and radial profiles (magnetic field, pressure and current) observed in the low field side (LFS) of spherical tokamaks (viz., START at Culham, UK) are used. Fast magnetosonic waves are launched from an external antenna into this simulated spherical tokamak plasma; these waves are converted to Alfven waves at points (layers) satisfying the Alfven resonance condition. Quantitative-results concerning (i) the structure and space dependence of the mode-converted Alfven waves and (ii) the basic features of the deposited power are presented. Their dependence on the equilibrium plasma current, neoclassical resistivity and electron inertia as well as on those of the antenna launched wave (wave numbers, frequency and current intensity) is systematically studied and discussed. (orig.)

Fast waves mode conversion and energy deposition in simulated, pre-heated, neoclassical, tight aspect ratio tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruma, C.; Komoshvili, K.; Cuperman, S.

2000-01-01

Some basic aspects of wave-plasma interaction of special interest for tight aspect ratio (spherical) tokamaks (ST's) are investigated numerically; these aspects include fast mode conversion and energy deposition. The study is based on the numerical solution of the full electro-magnetic (e.m.) wave equation which includes a quite general two-fluid, resistive MHD dielectric tensor, with consideration of equilibrium current and neoclassical effects. A generalized expression for the power absorption appropriate for the above scenario, with consideration of all the basic effects also present in the dielectric tensor-operator, was derived and used. The current-carrying ST-plasma has a circular cross-section and toroidicity effects are simulated by a Grad-Shafranov type, radially dependent axial magnetic field and its shear; however, the Shafranov shift is not considered. Actually, the equilibrium parameters and radial profiles (magnetic field, pressure and current) observed in the low field side (LFS) of spherical tokamaks (viz., START at Culham, UK) are used. Fast magnetosonic waves are launched from an external antenna into this simulated spherical tokamak plasma; these waves are converted to Alfven waves at points (layers) satisfying the Alfven resonance condition. Quantitative-results concerning (i) the structure and space dependence of the mode-converted Alfven waves and (ii) the basic features of the deposited power are presented. Their dependence on the equilibrium plasma current, neoclassical resistivity and electron inertia as well as on those of the antenna launched wave (wave numbers, frequency and current intensity) is systematically studied and discussed. (orig.)

Efficiency of wave-driven rigid body rotation toroidal confinement

Science.gov (United States)

Rax, J. M.; Gueroult, R.; Fisch, N. J.

2017-03-01

The compensation of vertical drifts in toroidal magnetic fields through a wave-driven poloidal rotation is compared with compensation through the wave driven toroidal current generation to support the classical magnetic rotational transform. The advantages and drawbacks associated with the sustainment of a radial electric field are compared with those associated with the sustainment of a poloidal magnetic field both in terms of energy content and power dissipation. The energy content of a radial electric field is found to be smaller than the energy content of a poloidal magnetic field for a similar set of orbits. The wave driven radial electric field generation efficiency is similarly shown, at least in the limit of large aspect ratio, to be larger than the efficiency of wave-driven toroidal current generation.

Passing particle toroidal precession induced by electric field in a tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreev, V. V.; Ilgisonis, V. I.; Sorokina, E. A.

2013-01-01

Characteristics of a rotation of passing particles in a tokamak with radial electric field are calculated. The expression for time-averaged toroidal velocity of the passing particle induced by the electric field is derived. The electric-field-induced additive to the toroidal velocity of the passing particle appears to be much smaller than the velocity of the electric drift calculated for the poloidal magnetic field typical for the trapped particle. This quantity can even have the different sign depending on the azimuthal position of the particle starting point. The unified approach for the calculation of the bounce period and of the time-averaged toroidal velocity of both trapped and passing particles in the whole volume of plasma column is presented. The results are obtained analytically and are confirmed by 3D numerical calculations of the trajectories of charged particles

Passing particle toroidal precession induced by electric field in a tokamak

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andreev, V. V. [Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Ordzhonikidze St. 3, Moscow 117198 (Russian Federation); Ilgisonis, V. I.; Sorokina, E. A. [Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Ordzhonikidze St. 3, Moscow 117198 (Russian Federation); NRC “Kurchatov Institute”, Kurchatov Sq. 1, Moscow 123182 (Russian Federation)

2013-12-15

Characteristics of a rotation of passing particles in a tokamak with radial electric field are calculated. The expression for time-averaged toroidal velocity of the passing particle induced by the electric field is derived. The electric-field-induced additive to the toroidal velocity of the passing particle appears to be much smaller than the velocity of the electric drift calculated for the poloidal magnetic field typical for the trapped particle. This quantity can even have the different sign depending on the azimuthal position of the particle starting point. The unified approach for the calculation of the bounce period and of the time-averaged toroidal velocity of both trapped and passing particles in the whole volume of plasma column is presented. The results are obtained analytically and are confirmed by 3D numerical calculations of the trajectories of charged particles.

Diagnostic Development for ST Plasmas on NSTX

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, D.

2003-01-01

Spherical tokamaks (STs) have much lower aspect ratio (a/R) and lower toroidal magnetic field, relative to tokamaks and stellarators. This paper will highlight some of the challenges and opportunities these features pose in the diagnosis of ST plasmas on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX), and discuss some of the corresponding diagnostic development that is underway. The low aspect ratio necessitates a small center stack, with tight space constraints and large thermal excursions, complicating the design of magnetic sensors in this region. The toroidal magnetic field on NSTX is less than or equal to 0.6 T, making it impossible to use ECE as a good monitor of electron temperature. A promising new development for diagnosing electron temperature is electron Bernstein wave (EBW) radiometry, which is currently being pursued on NSTX. A new high-resolution charge exchange recombination spectroscopy system is being installed. Since non-inductive current initiation and sustainment ar e top-level NSTX research goals, measurements of the current profile J(R) are essential to many planned experiments. On NSTX several modifications are planned to adapt the MSE technique to lower field, and two novel MSE systems are being prototyped. Several high speed 2-D imaging techniques are being developed, for viewing both visible and x-ray emission. The toroidal field is comparable to the poloidal field at the outside plasma edge, producing a large field pitch (>50 o ) at the outer mid-plane. The large shear in pitch angle makes some fluctuation diagnostics like beam emission spectroscopy very difficult, while providing a means of achieving spatial localization for microwave scattering investigations of high-k turbulence, which are predicted to be virulent for NSTX plasmas. A brief description of several of these techniques will be given in the context of the current NSTX diagnostic set

Toroidal plasmoid generation via extreme hydrodynamic shear.

Science.gov (United States)

Gharib, Morteza; Mendoza, Sean; Rosenfeld, Moshe; Beizai, Masoud; Alves Pereira, Francisco J

2017-11-28

Saint Elmo's fire and lightning are two known forms of naturally occurring atmospheric pressure plasmas. As a technology, nonthermal plasmas are induced from artificially created electromagnetic or electrostatic fields. Here we report the observation of arguably a unique case of a naturally formed such plasma, created in air at room temperature without external electromagnetic action, by impinging a high-speed microjet of deionized water on a dielectric solid surface. We demonstrate that tribo-electrification from extreme and focused hydrodynamic shear is the driving mechanism for the generation of energetic free electrons. Air ionization results in a plasma that, unlike the general family, is topologically well defined in the form of a coherent toroidal structure. Possibly confined through its self-induced electromagnetic field, this plasmoid is shown to emit strong luminescence and discrete-frequency radio waves. Our experimental study suggests the discovery of a unique platform to support experimentation in low-temperature plasma science. Copyright © 2017 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

System and method of operating toroidal magnetic confinement devices

Science.gov (United States)

Chance, Morrell S.; Jardin, Stephen C.; Stix, Thomas H.; Grimm, deceased, Ray C.; Manickam, Janardhan; Okabayashi, Michio

1987-01-01

For toroidal magnetic confinement devices the second region of stability against ballooning modes can be accessed with controlled operation. Under certain modes of operation, the first and second stability regions may be joined together. Accessing the second region of stability is accomplished by forming a bean-shaped plasma and increasing the indentation until a critical value of indentation is reached. A pusher coil, located at the inner-major-radius side of the device, is engaged to form a bean-shaped poloidal cross-section in the plasma.

Design description of the vacuum vessel for the Advanced Toroidal Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chipley, K.K.; Nelson, B.E.; Vinyard, L.M.; Williamson, D.F.

1983-01-01

The Advanced Toroidal Facility (ATF) will be a stellarator experiment to investigate improvements in toroidal confinement. The vacuum vessel for this facility will provide the appropriate evacuated region for plasma containment within the helical field (HF) coils. The vessel is designed to provide the maximum reasonable volume inside the HF coils and to provide the maximum reasonable access for future diagnostics. The vacuum vessel design is at an early phase and all of the details have not been completed. The heat transfer analysis and stress analysis completed during the conceptual design indicate that the vessel will not change drastically

Compact toroid fueling of the TdeV tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, F.; Raman, R.; Xiao, C.; Thomas, J.

1993-01-01

Compact toroids have been proposed as a means of centrally fueling tokamak reactors because of the high velocity to which they can be accelerated. These are cold (T e ∼ 10 eV), high density (n e > 10 20 m -3 ) spheromak plasmoids that are accelerated in a magnetized Marshall gun. As a proof of principle experiment, a compact toroid fueler (CTF) has been developed for injection into the TdeV tokamak. The engineering goals of the experiment are to measure and minimize the impurity content of the CT plasma and the neutral gas remaining after CT formation. Also of importance is the effect of CT central fueling on the tokamak density profile and bootstrap current, and the relaxation rate of the density profile providing information on the confinement time of the CT fuel

Toroidal electric field in front of the lower hybrid grill of the castor tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zacek, F.; Petrzilka, V.; Devynck, P.; Goniche, M.

2003-01-01

A small tokamak Castor (R/a = 0.4/0.85 m) with low plasma energy density and short pulses (20 ms) offers a unique possibility to carry out probe measurements in front of the grill antenna and as a consequence to provide direct information about the local electric fields in this region. For measurements of the toroidal electrical field, a small double probe with 2 tips separated by 3.5 mm in the toroidal direction has been used. The tips are oriented in the radial direction. The probe is radially movable in front of the central grill waveguide. Cross-correlations and FFT (fast Fourier transform) analysis of the measured V fl signals are given together with an attempt to investigate characteristics of toroidal electric field E tor (up to 500 kHz), derived from V fl measured by 2 toroidally separated tips

Toroidal effects on propagation, damping, and linear mode conversion of lower hybrid waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ignat, D.W.

1980-09-01

A common simplifying assumption made in the consideration of radio-frequency heating of tokamaks near the lower hybrid frequency is that the wave-length imposed by the coupling device parallel to the magnetic field is not modified by gradients along the field. In the present calculation, the parallel wave-length is allowed to vary, and important effects are found on wave penetration and damping if the toroidal aspect ratio (R/sub major//r/sub minor/) is less than approx. 5. The calculation shows that heating at the center of a small aspect ratio torus is inhibited by a decrease of k/sub parallel/ if waves are launched at the outside, and that it may be possible to change the plasma current via electron Landau damping with a coupler of symmetric power spectrum by placing the coupler at the top (or bottom) of the torus

Density Measurement of Compact Toroid with Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

Science.gov (United States)

Laufman-Wollitzer, Lauren; Endrizzi, Doug; Brookhart, Matt; Flanagan, Ken; Forest, Cary

2016-10-01

Utilizing a magnetized coaxial plasma gun (MCPG) built by Tri Alpha Energy, a dense compact toroid (CT) is created and injected at high speed into the Wisconsin Plasma Astrophysics Laboratory (WiPAL) vessel. A modified Mach-Zehnder interferometer from the Line-Tied Reconnection Experiment (LTRX) provides an absolute measurement of electron density. The interferometer is located such that the beam intersects the plasma across the diameter of the MCPG drift region before the CT enters the vessel. This placement ensures that the measurement is taken before the CT expand. Results presented will be used to further analyze characteristics of the CT. Funding provided by DoE, NSF, and WISE Summer Research.

Coupling to fast MHD eigenmodes in a toroidal cavity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paoloni, F.J.

1975-05-01

The coupling to fast MHD waves in toroidal-like geometry is calculated when eigenmodes exist in the plasma. The torus is considered to be a resonant cavity into which energy is coupled by a half turn loop. The cavity Q is calculated for the minority heating process, for cyclotron harmonic damping, electron transit-time magnetic pumping, wall loading, and Coulomb collisional damping. The problem of sustaining the eigenmode as the plasma conditions change with time is also discussed. One method that seems to be practical is a feedback scheme that varies the plasma major radius by a small amount as the conditions change. (U.S.)

MHD-model for low-frequency waves in a tokamak with toroidal plasma rotation and problem of existence of global geodesic acoustic modes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lakhin, V. P.; Sorokina, E. A., E-mail: sorokina.ekaterina@gmail.com, E-mail: vilkiae@gmail.com; Ilgisonis, V. I. [National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute (Russian Federation); Konovaltseva, L. V. [Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (Russian Federation)

2015-12-15

A set of reduced linear equations for the description of low-frequency perturbations in toroidally rotating plasma in axisymmetric tokamak is derived in the framework of ideal magnetohydrodynamics. The model suitable for the study of global geodesic acoustic modes (GGAMs) is designed. An example of the use of the developed model for derivation of the integral conditions for GGAM existence and of the corresponding dispersion relation is presented. The paper is dedicated to the memory of academician V.D. Shafranov.

Theory of the rippling instability in toroidal devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rogister, A.

1985-04-01

The theory of the rippling instability is developed for axisymmetric toroidal plasmas including ion viscosity and parallel electron heat conduction, but assuming that the growth rate is small compared to the wave angular frequency. Parallel electron heat conduction is stabilizing but ion viscosity broadens the instability domain. Under certain conditions, an important top-bottom asymmetry of the density fluctuation spectrum may arise. (orig./GG)

Toroidal effects on the non-linearly saturated m = 1 island in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avinash, K.; Haas, F.A.; Thyagaraja, A.

1990-01-01

This paper investigates the influence of toroidal effects (due to the coupling of various poloidal harmonics) on the non-linear saturation of the m=1 island. Bounds are obtained relating the aspect ratio, the shear at the q=1 surface and the saturated island width. Provided these bounds are satisfied, then we find that the cylindrical m=1 island theory is valid for toroidal geometry. (author)

Current generation by unidirectional lower hybrid waves in the ACT-1 toroidal device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wong, K.L.; Horton, R.; Ono, M.

1980-05-01

An unambiguious experimental observation of current generation by unidirectional lower hybrid waves in a toroidal plasma is reported. Up to 10 amperes of current was driven by 500 watts of rf power at 160 MHz

The Pre-compression System of the Toroidal Field Coils in ITER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knaster, J.; Jong, C.; Vollmann, T.; Ferrari, M.

2006-01-01

The Toroidal Field (TF) coils of ITER will undergo out-of-plane forces caused by the machine poloidal fields required to maintain the toroidal stability of the plasma. These forces will be supported against overturning moments by links between the coils. In turn, these links consist of the Inner Intercoil Structure (IIC), which are composed by 2 sets of 4 poloidal shear keys inserted in slots between adjacent coils placed at the top and bottom part of the inboard leg, and the Outer Intercoil Structure (OIS) formed by 4 bands of shear panels at the outboard leg. The magnetic forces during energization of ITER would cause at IIC locations a toroidal gap between adjacent TF coils of 0.35 mm; during plasma operation this value could reach >1 mm causing a loosening of the keys and intensifying stress concentrations. This undesired effect will be suppressed by the application of a centripetal force of 70 MN per coil (35 MN at both the bottom and top part of the inboard leg of each of the 18 TF coils) that will be provided by 2 sets of 3 fibre-glass epoxy composite rings submitted to a toroidal hoop force of 100 MN per set. The calculated maximum stress in the rings will occur during the installation phase at room temperature, where the maximum radial elongation (∼ 25 mm) is required, and it will be less than 30% of its ultimate stress. The imposed elongation to reach that force and the lower Young modulus of the composite compared with the stainless steel one will ease component tolerances and/or settlement effects in the final assembly. (author)

BPX toroidal field coil design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heitzenvoeder, D.J.

1992-01-01

This paper reports on the toroidal field (TF) coil system of the Burning Plasma Experiment (BPX) which consists of (18) beryllium copper magnets arrayed in a wedged configuration with a major radius of 2.6 meters and a field strength capability on axis of 9.0 Tesla. The toroidal array is constructed from six (3)-coil modules to facilitate remote recovery in the event of a magnet failure after nuclear activation precludes hands-on servicing. The magnets are of a modified Bitter plate design with partial cases of type 316-LN stainless steel welded with Inconel 182 weld wire. The coil turn plates are fabricated from CDA C17510 beryllium copper with optimized mechanical, thermal, and electrical characteristics. joints within the turns and between turns are made by welding with C17200 filler wire. Cryogenic cooling is employed to reduce power dissipation and to enhance performance. The magnets are cooled between experimental pulses by pressurized liquid nitrogen flowing through channels in the edges of the coil turns. This arrangement makes possible one full-power pulse per hour. Electrical insulation consists of polyimide-glass sheets bonded in place with vacuum-pressure impregnated epoxy/glass

Resistive vs. total power depositions by Alfven modes in pre-heated low aspect ratio tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cuperman, S.; Bruma, C.; Komoshvili, K.

2004-01-01

The power deposition of fast waves launched by a LFS located antenna in a pre-heated, strongly non-uniform low aspect ratio tokamak (START) is investigated. The rigorous computational results indicate a total power deposition by far larger than that predicted for Alfven continuum eigenmodes in cylindrical plasmas. For toroidal wave numbers |N| > 1, the resistive and total power depositions are almost equal. (author)

Progress in toroidal confinement and fusion research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furth, H.P.

1987-10-01

During the past 30 years, the characteristic T/sub i/n tau/sub E/-value of toroidal-confinement experiments has advanced by more than seven orders of magnitude. Part of this advance has been due to an increase of gross machine parameters. Most of this advance has been due to an increase of gross machine parameters. Most of the advance is associated with improvements in the ''quality of plasma confinement.'' The combined evidence of spherator and tokamak research clarifies the role of magnetic-field geometry in determining confinement and points to the importance of shielding out plasma edge effects. A true physical understanding of anomalous transport remains to be achieved. 39 refs., 11 figs., 1 tab

Magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium with spheroidal plasma-vacuum interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaneko, Shobu; Chiyoda, Katsuji; Hirota, Isao.

1983-01-01

The Grad-Shafranov equations for an oblate and a prolate spheroidal plasmas are solved analytically under the assumptions, Bsub(phi) = 0 and dp/dpsi = constant. Here Bsub(phi) is the toroidal magnetic field, p is the kinetic pressure, and psi is the magnetic flux function. The plasmas in magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium are shown to be toroidal. The equilibrium magnetic-field configurations outside the spheroidal plasmas are considerably different from that of a spherical plasma. A line cusp or two point cusps appear outside the oblate or the prolate spheroidal plasma, respectively. (author)

Two-dimensional transport of tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirshman, S.P.; Jardin, S.C.

1979-01-01

A reduced set of two-fluid transport equations is obtained from the conservation equations describing the time evolution of the differential particle number, entropy, and magnetic fluxes in an axisymmetric toroidal plasma with nested magnetic surfaces. Expanding in the small ratio of perpendicular to parallel mobilities and thermal conductivities yields as solubility constraints one-dimensional equations for the surface-averaged thermodynamic variables and magnetic fluxes. Since Ohm's law E +u x B =R', where R' accounts for any nonideal effects, only determines the particle flow relative to the diffusing magnetic surfaces, it is necessary to solve a single two-dimensional generalized differential equation, (partial/partialt) delpsi. (delp - J x B) =0, to find the absolute velocity of a magnetic surface enclosing a fixed toroidal flux. This equation is linear but nonstandard in that it involves flux surface averages of the unknown velocity. Specification of R' and the cross-field ion and electron heat fluxes provides a closed system of equations. A time-dependent coordinate transformation is used to describe the diffusion of plasma quantities through magnetic surfaces of changing shape

Effect of toroidal field ripple on the formation of internal transport barriers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vries, P C de; Hawkes, N C; Challis, C D; Andrew, Y; Beurskens, M; Brix, M; Giroud, C; Zastrow, K-D [EURATOM/UKAEA Fusion Association, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Joffrin, E [EFDA-JET CSU, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Litaudon, X [Association EURATOM-CEA, DSM/DFRC, CEA Cadarache, 13108, St Paul lez Durance (France); Brzozowski, J; Johnson, T [Association EURATOM-VR, Fusion Plasma Physics, EES, KTH, Stockholm (Sweden); Crombe, K [Department of Applied Physics, Ghent University, Ghent (Belgium); Hobirk, J [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Euratom Association, 85748 Garching (Germany); Loennroth, J; Salmi, A [Association Euratom-Tekes, Helsinki University of Technology, PO Box 4100, 02015 TKK (Finland); Tala, T [Association Euratom-Tekes, VTT, PO Box 1000, 02044 VTT (Finland); Yavorskij, V [Institute for Theoretical Physics, Association EURATOM-OEAW, University of Innsbruck (Austria)], E-mail: Peter.de.Vries@jet.uk

2008-06-15

The effect of a toroidal field (TF) ripple on the formation and performance of internal transport barriers (ITBs) has been studied in JET. It was found that the TF ripple had a profound effect on the toroidal plasma rotation. An increased TF ripple up to {delta} = 1% led to a lower rotation and reduced the rotational shear in the region where the ITBs were formed. ITB triggering events were observed in all cases and it is thought that the rotational shear may be less important for this process than, for example, the q-profile. However, the increase in the pressure gradient following the ITB trigger was reduced in discharges with a larger TF ripple and consequently a lower rotational shear. This suggests that toroidal rotation and its shear play a role in the growth of the ITB once it has been triggered.