Mechanisms for generating toroidal rotation in tokamaks without external momentum input

Journal Article · Sat May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3328521· OSTI ID:21371193

Solomon, W M; Kaye, S M; Bell, R E; Hahm, T S ^[1]; Burrell, K H; Garofalo, A M; Grassie, J S. de; Jackson, G L; Petty, C C; Strait, E J; Waltz, R E ^[2]; Cole, A J ^[3]; Diamond, P H ^[4]; Lanctot, M J; Reimerdes, H; Sabbagh, S A ^[5]; Tala, T ^[6]

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1. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States)
2. General Atomics, P.O. Box 85608, San Diego, California 92186-5608 (United States)
3. University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1609 (United States)
4. Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0424 (United States)
5. Columbia University, New York, New York 10027 (United States)
6. Association EURATOM-Tekes, VTT, P.O. Box 1000, FIN-02044 VTT (Finland)

Recent experiments on DIII-D [J. L. Luxon, Nucl. Fusion 42, 614 (2002)] and National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) [M. Ono et al., Nucl. Fusion 40, 557 (2000)] have focused on investigating mechanisms of driving rotation in fusion plasmas. The so-called intrinsic rotation is generated by an effective torque, driven by residual stresses in the plasma, which appears to originate in the plasma edge. A clear scaling of this intrinsic drive with the H-mode pressure gradient is observed. Coupled with the experimentally inferred pinch of angular momentum, such an edge source is capable of producing sheared rotation profiles. Intrinsic drive is also possible directly in the core, although the physics mechanisms are much more complex. Another option which is being explored is the use of nonresonant magnetic fields for spinning the plasma. It is found beneficially that the torque from these fields can be enhanced at low rotation, which assists in spinning the plasma from rest, and offers increased resistance against plasma slowing.

• OSTI ID: 21371193
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 17, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3328521; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
DOUBLET-3 DEVICE
H-MODE PLASMA CONFINEMENT
MAGNETIC FIELDS
NSTX DEVICE
PLASMA
PRESSURE GRADIENTS
RESIDUAL STRESSES
ROTATION
CLOSED PLASMA DEVICES
CONFINEMENT
MAGNETIC CONFINEMENT
MOTION
PLASMA CONFINEMENT
SPHEROMAK DEVICES
STRESSES
THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES
TOKAMAK DEVICES