Progress in the tandem mirror program
Experimental results in TMX have confirmed the basic principles of the tandem-mirror concept. A center-cell particle confinement parameter eta tau approx. 10/sup 11/ cm/sup -3/ s has been obtained at ion temperatures around 100 eV, which is a hundred-fold improvement over single mirrors at the same temperatures. For TMX these results have been obtained at peak beta values in the center cell in the range 10 to 40%, not yet limited by MHD activity; and ion-cyclotron resonant heating (ICRH) in the Phaedrus tandem-mirror experiment has produced beta values approx. 25%, which is several times the ideal MHD limit for that device. In addition, it has been demonstrated that the end fan chambers of TMX simultaneously isolate the hot electrons from the end walls, provide adequate pumping and conveniently dispose of the exhaust plasma energy either by thermal deposition on the end wall or by direct conversion to electricity (at 48% efficiency in agreement with calculations). Also, evidence was obtained for inherent divertor action in TMX, presumably in part responsible for the observed low impurity level (<0.5% low-Z ions in the center cell).
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 6245567
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-86588; CONF-810906-9; ON: DE81030303; TRN: 81-017065
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 10. European conference on controlled fusion and plasma physics, Moscow, USSR, 14 Sep 1981
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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