Fusion-neutron production in the TFTR with deuterium neutral-beam injection

Journal Article · Mon Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1986 · J. Fusion Energy; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01050616· OSTI ID:7012274

Hendel, H W; England, A C; Josshy, D L; Mirin, A A; Nieschmidt, E B; Cohn, D R

We report measurements of the fusion reaction rate in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) covering a wide range of plasma conditions and injected neutral-beam powers up to 6.3 MW. The fusion neutron production rate in beam-injected plasmas decreases slightly with increasing plasma density n /SUB e/ , even though the energy confinement parameter n /SUB e/ t /SUB e/ generally increases with density. The measurements indicate and Fokker-Planck simulations show that with increasing density the source of fusion neutrons evolves from mainly beam-beam and beam-target reactions at very low n /SUB e/ to a combination of beam-target and thermonuclear reactions at high n /SUB e/ . At a given plasma current, the reduction in neutron source strength at higher n /SUB e/ is due to both a decrease in electron temperature and in beam-beam reaction rate. The Fokker-Planck simulations also show that at low n /SUB e/ , plasma rotation can appreciably reduce the beam-target reaction rate for experiments with coinjection only. The variation of neutron source strength with plasma and beam parameters is as expected for beam-dominated regimes. However, the Fokker-Planck simulations systematically overestimates the measured source strength by a factor of 2-3; the source of this discrepancy has not yet been identified.

• Research Organization: RCA David Sarnoff Research Center, Princeton, NJ
• OSTI ID: 7012274
• Journal Information: J. Fusion Energy; (United States), Journal Name: J. Fusion Energy; (United States) Vol. 5:3; ISSN JFEND
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

653003 -- Nuclear Theory-- Nuclear Reactions & Scattering
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700205* -- Fusion Power Plant Technology-- Fuel
Heating
& Injection Systems
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
BARYONS
BEAM INJECTION
BEAM INJECTION HEATING
BEAMS
CALIBRATION
CHARGED-PARTICLE REACTIONS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DEUTERIUM TARGET
DEUTERON BEAMS
DEUTERON REACTIONS
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EQUATIONS
FERMIONS
FOKKER-PLANCK EQUATION
HADRONS
HEATING
ION BEAMS
KINETICS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NEUTRAL ATOM BEAM INJECTION
NEUTRON DETECTORS
NEUTRON SPECTRA
NEUTRONS
NUCLEAR REACTION KINETICS
NUCLEAR REACTION YIELD
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEONS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA HEATING
RADIATION DETECTORS
REACTION KINETICS
SIMULATION
SPECTRA
TARGETS
TFTR TOKAMAK
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
TOKAMAK TYPE REACTORS
YIELDS