Experimental evidence of low frequency current drive in the Phaedrus-T tokamak
- Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics; and others
The first experimental evidence of low frequency current drive in a tokamak has been observed on the Phaedrus-T tokamak. Low frequency current drive utilizes waves with frequencies below the ion cyclotron frequency to inject momentum to electrons to drive a toroidal current, and is often referred to as Alfven wave current drive (AWCD). Like other noninductive current drive techniques, AWCD would allow fusion tokamak reactors to operate as steady state devices. AWCD would also allow tailoring of the energy and current density profiles. Properly modified profiles would make the plasma less susceptible to instabilities. The presence of noninductive current is inferred from the behavior of the plasma loop voltage measured at the edge of the plasma. For the experiments presented here, the principle evidence of AWCD is a fractional loop voltage drop of 0.35 that cannot be accounted for by a decrease in plasma resistivity or stored magnetic energy. The estimated driven current is 20--35 kA out of a total 64 kA. Furthermore, the {Delta}V{sub L} is approximately linear with applied RF power and {Delta}V{sub L} is dependent upon the phase of the antenna.
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG02-88ER53264
- OSTI ID:
- 178177
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950612-; ISBN 0-7803-2669-5; TRN: 96:006672
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 22. international conference on plasma science, Madison, WI (United States), 5-8 Jun 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of IEEE conference record -- abstracts: 1995 IEEE international conference on plasma science; PB: 312 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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