Centrifugal-mirror confinement with strong azimuthal magnetic field

Stoltzfus-Dueck, Timothy; Parra, Felix I.

doi:10.1088/1361-6587/adfe8e

Centrifugal-mirror confinement with strong azimuthal magnetic field

Journal Article · Wed Sep 17 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6587/adfe8e· OSTI ID:2588121

^[1]; ^[1]

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

One practical challenge for the centrifugal-mirror confinement concept is the large radial voltage necessary to drive supersonic azimuthal rotation. In principle, the addition of a strong azimuthal field could reduce the required voltage, since the simple azimuthal E x B drift would be replaced by more rapid azimuthal trapped-particle precession. Also, if the mirror ratio is large enough, newly ionized ions are accelerated to the necessary parallel velocities in their first bounce orbit, both confining and significantly heating them. Unfortunately, MHD analysis shows that the centrifugal-force-confining plasma current is purely azimuthal. This implies that only the axial magnetic field contributes to the confining magnetic pressure, severely limiting the usefulness of the azimuthal magnetic field in a beta-limited plasma scenario.

Research Organization:: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-09CH11466

OSTI ID:: 2588121

Journal Information:: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Journal Name: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 67; ISSN 0741-3335; ISSN 1361-6587

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (13)

Charge and Mass Considerations for Plasma Velocity Measurements in Rotating Plasmas Romero-Talamás, C. A.; Elton, R. C.; Young, W. C. Journal of Fusion Energy, Vol. 29, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10894-010-9331-x	journal	September 2010
An experiment to test centrifugal confinement for fusion Ellis, R. F.; Hassam, A. B.; Messer, S. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 8, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1350957	journal	May 2001
Self-consistent equilibrium model of low aspect-ratio toroidal plasma with energetic beam ions Belova, E. V.; Gorelenkov, N. N.; Cheng, C. Z. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 10, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1592155	journal	August 2003
Rotating Plasma Experiments. I. Hydromagnetic Properties Baker, D. A.; Hammel, J. E.; Ribe, F. L. The Physics of Fluids, Vol. 4, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1706312	journal	December 1961
Observation of momentum confinement time scalings in a rotating plasma Messer, S.; Ellis, R.; Case, A. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 12, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1931981	journal	June 2005
Equilibrium, multistability, and chiral asymmetry in rotated mirror plasmas Valanju, P. M.; Mahajan, S. M.; Quevedo, H. J. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 13, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2209967	journal	June 2006
Experimental study on the velocity limits of magnetized rotating plasmas Teodorescu, C.; Clary, R.; Ellis, R. F. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 15, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2904903	journal	January 2008
Centrifugal particle confinement in mirror geometry White, Roscoe; Hassam, Adil; Brizard, Alain Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 25, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5003359	journal	January 2018
Nonlinear stabilization of the Rayleigh–Taylor instability by external velocity shear Hassam, A. B. Physics of Fluids B: Plasma Physics, Vol. 4, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.860245	journal	March 1992
Rotating Plasmas Lehnert, B. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 11, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/11/5/010	journal	October 1971
Collisional losses of electrons from an adiabatic trap in a plasma with a positive potential Pastukhov, V. P. Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 14, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/0029-5515/14/1/001	journal	January 1974
Confinement of Plasma along Shaped Open Magnetic Fields from the Centrifugal Force of Supersonic Plasma Rotation Teodorescu, C.; Young, W. C.; Swan, G. W. S. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.085003	journal	August 2010
Velocity Shear Stabilization of Centrifugally Confined Plasma Huang, Yi-Min; Hassam, A. B. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 87, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.235002	journal	November 2001

Similar Records

Confinement of Plasma along Shaped Open Magnetic Fields from the Centrifugal Force of Supersonic Plasma Rotation

Journal Article · Fri Aug 20 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review Letters · OSTI ID:21470978

Wave-driven rotation and mass separation in rotating magnetic mirrors

Thesis/Dissertation · Sat Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 2011 · OSTI ID:1364443

Steady supersonically rotating plasmas in the Maryland Centrifugal Experiment

Journal Article · Sun May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2005 · Physics of Plasmas · OSTI ID:20736564

Related Subjects

Grad-Shafranov
MHD equilibrium
centrifugal mirror
trapped-particle precession

Centrifugal-mirror confinement with strong azimuthal magnetic field

Citation Formats

References (13)

Similar Records

Related Subjects