ICRF heating of deuterium-tritium plasmas in TFTR

Conference · Wed Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:32510

Taylor, G; Murakami, M; Adler, H

The first experiments to heat D-T plasmas in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) have been performed on the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR). These experiments have two major objectives: to study the RF physics of ICRF-heated D-T plasmas and to enhance the performance of D-T discharges. Experiments have been conducted at 43 MHz with out-of-phase current strap excitation to explore n{sub T}/n{sub e} concentrations up to approximately 40%. In these experiments n{sub T}/n{sub e} was limited by D recycling from the carbon walls. The location of the T resonance was varied by changing the toroidal magnetic field, and the RF power was modulated (f{sub mod}=5-10 Hz) to elucidate competing heating mechanisms. Up to 5.8 MW of ICRF heating has been coupled into D-T plasmas. The addition of 5.5 MW of ICRF heating to a D-T supershot resulted in an increase in central ion temperature from 26 to 36 keV and an increase in central electron temperature from 8 to 10.5 keV. Up to 80% of the absorbed ICRF power was coupled directly to ions, in good agreement with computer code predictions. These results extrapolate to efficient T heating in future devices such as ITER.

• Research Organization: Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Plasma Physics Lab.
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH03073
• OSTI ID: 32510
• Report Number(s): PPPL--3055; CONF-9409247--2; ON: DE95008719
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ICR HEATING
PULSED D-T REACTORS
TFTR TOKAMAK