Rotating magnetic field current drive of high-temperature field reversed configurations with high {zeta} scaling
- Redmond Plasma Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, 14700 NE 95th Street, Suite 100, Redmond, Washington 98052 (United States)
Greatly reduced recycling and impurity ingestion in the Translation, Confinement, and Sustainment--Upgrade (TCSU) device has allowed much higher plasma temperatures to be achieved in the field reversed configurations (FRC) under rotating magnetic field (RMF) formation and sustainment. The hotter plasmas have higher magnetic fields and much higher diamagnetic electron rotation rates so that the important ratio of average electron rotation frequency to RMF frequency, called {zeta}, approaches unity, for the first time, in TCSU. A large fraction of the RMF power is absorbed by an as yet unexplained (anomalous) mechanism directly proportional to the square of the RMF magnitude. It becomes of relatively lesser significance as the FRC current increases, and simple resistive heating begins to dominate, but the anomalous absorption is useful for initial plasma heating. Measurements of total absorbed power, and comparisons of applied RMF torque to torque on the electrons due to electron-ion friction under high-{zeta} operation, over a range of temperatures and fields, have allowed the separation of the classical Ohmic and anomalous heating to be inferred, and cross-field plasma resistivities to be calculated.
- OSTI ID:
- 21069893
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 14, Issue 11; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2801481; (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ABSORPTION
CHARGED-PARTICLE TRANSPORT
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ELECTRONS
FIELD-REVERSED THETA PINCH DEVICES
FRICTION
HOT PLASMA
ION TEMPERATURE
IONS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PLASMA CONFINEMENT
PLASMA HEATING
PLASMA IMPURITIES