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Title: Radial effects in heating and thermal stability of a sub-ignited tokamak

Abstract

The existence of thermally stable sub-ignited equilibria of a tokamak reactor, sustained in operation by a feedback-controlled supplementary heating source, is demonstrated. The establishment of stability depends on a number of radially non-uniform, nonlinear processes whose effect is analyzed. One-dimensional (radial) stability analyses of model transport equations, together with numerical results from a 1-D transport code, are used in studying the heating of DT-plasmas in the thermonuclear regime. Plasma core supplementary heating is found to be a thermally more stable process than bulk heating. In the presence of impurity line radiation, however, core-heated temperature profiles may collapse, contracting inward from the limiter, the result of an instability caused by the increasing nature of the radiative cooling rate, with decreasing temperature. Conditions are established for the realization of a sub-ignited high-Q, toroidal reactor plasma with appreciable output power (approx. = 2000 MW thermal).

Authors:
; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Plasma Science and Fusion Center
OSTI Identifier:
5153791
Report Number(s):
DOE/ET/51013-32; PFC/RR-82-6
ON: DE82009384; TRN: 82-017456
DOE Contract Number:  
AC02-78ET51013
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; THERMONUCLEAR IGNITION; CONTROL SYSTEMS; TOKAMAK TYPE REACTORS; EQUILIBRIUM PLASMA; FEEDBACK; ION TEMPERATURE; ONE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS; STABILITY; PLASMA; THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS; 700205* - Fusion Power Plant Technology- Fuel, Heating, & Injection Systems

Citation Formats

Fuchs, V., Shoucri, M. M., Thibaudeau, G., Harten, L., and Bers, A. Radial effects in heating and thermal stability of a sub-ignited tokamak. United States: N. p., 1982. Web. doi:10.2172/5153791.
Fuchs, V., Shoucri, M. M., Thibaudeau, G., Harten, L., & Bers, A. Radial effects in heating and thermal stability of a sub-ignited tokamak. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/5153791
Fuchs, V., Shoucri, M. M., Thibaudeau, G., Harten, L., and Bers, A. 1982. "Radial effects in heating and thermal stability of a sub-ignited tokamak". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/5153791. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/5153791.
@article{osti_5153791,
title = {Radial effects in heating and thermal stability of a sub-ignited tokamak},
author = {Fuchs, V. and Shoucri, M. M. and Thibaudeau, G. and Harten, L. and Bers, A.},
abstractNote = {The existence of thermally stable sub-ignited equilibria of a tokamak reactor, sustained in operation by a feedback-controlled supplementary heating source, is demonstrated. The establishment of stability depends on a number of radially non-uniform, nonlinear processes whose effect is analyzed. One-dimensional (radial) stability analyses of model transport equations, together with numerical results from a 1-D transport code, are used in studying the heating of DT-plasmas in the thermonuclear regime. Plasma core supplementary heating is found to be a thermally more stable process than bulk heating. In the presence of impurity line radiation, however, core-heated temperature profiles may collapse, contracting inward from the limiter, the result of an instability caused by the increasing nature of the radiative cooling rate, with decreasing temperature. Conditions are established for the realization of a sub-ignited high-Q, toroidal reactor plasma with appreciable output power (approx. = 2000 MW thermal).},
doi = {10.2172/5153791},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5153791}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1982},
month = {Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1982}
}