Reflux physics and an operational scenario for the spheromak
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
The spheromak [1] is a toroidal magnetic confinement geometry for plasma with most of the magnetic field generated by internal currents. It has been demonstrated to have excellent energy confinement properties: A peak electron temperature of 0.4 keV was achieved in the Compact Torus Experiment (CTX) experiment [2] and of 0.5 keV in the Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment (SSPX) [3]. In both cases the plasmas were decaying slowly following formation and (in SSPX) sustainment by coaxial helicity injection (CHI) [4]. In SSPX, power balance analysis during this operational phase yielded electron thermal conductivities in the core plasma in the range of 1-10 m2/s [5, 6], comparable to the tokamak L-mode. These results motivate the consideration of possible operating scenarios for future fusion experiments or even reactors.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 1126762
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-TR-443691
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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