Fusion-neutron production in the TFTR with deuterium neutral beam injection
We report measurements of the fusion reaction rate in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) covering a wide range of plasma conditions and injected neutral beam powers up to 6.3 MW. The fusion-neutron production rate in beam-injected plasmas decreases slightly with increasing plasma density n/sub e/, even though the energy confinement parameter n/sub e/tau/sub E/ generally increases with density. The measurements indicate and Fokker-Planck simulations show that with increasing density the source of fusion neutrons evolves from mainly beam-beam and beam-target reactions at very low n/sub e/ to a combination of beam-target and thermonuclear reactions at high n/sub e/. At a given plasma current, the reduction in neutron source strength at higher n/sub e/ is due to both a decrease in electron temperature and in beam-beam reaction rate. The Fokker-Planck simulations also show that at low n/sub e/, plasma rotation can appreciably reduce the beam-target reaction rate for experiments with co-injection only. The variation of neutron source strength with plasma and beam parameters is as expected for beam-dominated regimes. However, the Fokker-Planck simulations systematically overestimate the measured source strength by a factor of 2 to 3; the source of this discrepancy has not yet been identified.
- Research Organization:
- Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76CH03073
- OSTI ID:
- 5405385
- Report Number(s):
- PPPL-2318; ON: DE86013625
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
TFTR TOKAMAK
THERMONUCLEAR REACTIONS
DEUTERIUM
FOKKER-PLANCK EQUATION
NEUTRAL ATOM BEAM INJECTION
NEUTRONS
PLASMA DENSITY
BARYONS
BEAM INJECTION
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EQUATIONS
FERMIONS
HADRONS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEI
NUCLEONS
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
STABLE ISOTOPES
SYNTHESIS
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
TOKAMAK TYPE REACTORS
700205* - Fusion Power Plant Technology- Fuel
Heating
& Injection Systems