Ion cyclotron resonance heating and its effect on confinement in tokamaks

Thesis/Dissertation · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:6644654

Whang, K W

Ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) and its effect on plasma confinement in tokamaks is considered. The analysis is based on the single particle equations of motion in the quasi-adiabatic approximation, i.e., taking advantage that in the absence of collisions, the ion guiding center variables (..mu.., P/sub phi/ and W) are conserved over most of a particle's trajectory. The collisionless heating is treated both analytically and numerically using a set of finite mapping equations. The stochastic nature of ICRH in the absence of collisions is investigated and the threshold r.f. electric field amplitude for the transition from the superadiabatic to the stochastic regime is found. The characteristic regimes of two presently operating tokamaks, Macrotor and PLT, are used as a guide in choosing parameter values. The effect of heating on confinement is examined by studying the changes in single particle orbits produced by the r.f. and the resultant collisionless r.f. confinement time is compared with the neoclassical confinement time and the change exchange time. Although the effects of r.f. considered here do not significantly alter the confinement time in present tokamaks, the scaling laws indicate that they will play an important role at the higher r.f. power levels planned for future experiments.

• OSTI ID: 6644654
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ICR HEATING
TOKAMAK DEVICES
COLLISIONLESS PLASMA
EQUATIONS OF MOTION
PLASMA CONFINEMENT
SCALING LAWS
STOCHASTIC PROCESSES
CLOSED PLASMA DEVICES
CONFINEMENT
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS
HEATING
HIGH-FREQUENCY HEATING
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PLASMA
PLASMA HEATING
THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES
700101* - Fusion Energy- Plasma Research- Confinement
Heating
& Production