D.L. Correll

Field-reversal experiments in a neutral-beam-injected mirror machine

Data on field-reversal experiments in the neutral-beam-injected 2XIIB mirror machine are reported. The best result is an estimated field-reversal parameter ζ = ΔB/Bvac = 0.9 ± 0.2 with vacuum field strength Bvac = 4.35 kG. Experiments at higher field strength Bvac = 6.7 kG achieved ζ = 0.6 ± 0.1. Ion energy confinement nτEi for the Bvac = 6.7 kG experiment is less than that predicted by classical Spitzer electron drag. Ion-cyclotron oscillations increasing with injected neutral-beam current suggest that ion-cyclotron losses are present and that ΔB/Bvac could be increased by improving stabilization of the ion-cyclotron oscillations.

Ambipolar potential formation and axial confinement in TMX

TMX experimental data on ambipolar potential control and on the accompanying electrostatic confinement are reported. In the radial core of the central cell, measurements of electrostatic potentials of 150 V which augment axial ion confinement are in agreement with predictions using the Maxwell-Boltzmann result. Central-cell ion confinement was observed to scale according to electrostatic potential theory up to average enhancement factors of eight times over mirror confinement alone.

Production of large-radius, high-beta, confined mirror plasmas

This paper reports results of experiments in which mirror-confined plasmas with radii as high as 7 ion gyro-radii are produced and maintained by neutral-beam injection. In these plasmas, betas as high as 0.45 were achieved and limited only by the available neutral-beam power. Electron temperature and ion-energy confinement increased with larger plasma size.

Radial transport in the central cell of the tandem mirror experiment

An experimental study of radial transport in the Tandem Mirror Experiment is reported here. Plasma parameters were measured in a series of well‐diagnosed plasma discharges. A negative electric current (80±40 A within a 30‐cm radius) flowed to the end wall, implying an equal radial loss of plasma ions. The axial losses of plasma ions were 100 A from the same volume. The nonambipolar radial ion flux was of the same order as the flux resulting from resonant‐neoclassical and ion‐neutral transport, but the uncertainties are large. The ambipolar radial transport (of both ions and electrons) was investigated by comparing the observed end losses with calculations of the plasma fueling by gas penetration and neutral beams. The ambipolar radial losses are probably smaller than the loses through other processes and may be as small as the classical losses resulting from Coulomb collisions.

Nonambipolar radial particle transport in a tandem mirror

Nonambipolar transport has been measured in the tandem mirror TMX‐U [Phys. Rev. Lett. 53, 783 (1984)] by applying charge conservation to the measured electron currents to the end walls. The resulting confinement time τ⊥ is found to depend upon the central‐cell potential φ approximately as τ⊥(msec) =3φ(kV)−2. The transport rate, deduced from the data, agrees to within a factor of 1–5 with resonant‐transport theory applied to the measured plasma parameters. Attempts to include radial effects by modeling the plasma self‐consistently using resonant transport are less successful; near the axis the transport coefficients become too small to explain the equilibrium. Modeling using an ad hoc φ−2 law for the transport coefficients is more successful.

The effect of end-cell stability on the confinement of the central-cell plasma in TMX

In the Tandem Mirror Experiment (TMX), the central-cell losses provide the warm unconfined plasma necessary to stabilize the drift-cyclotron loss-cone instability in the end cells. This places a theoretical limit on central-cell confinement, which is expressed as a limit on the end-cell to central-cell density ratio. As this density ratio increases in a TMX experiment, large increases of end-cell ion-cyclotron-frequency plasma fluctuations are observed. These fluctuations cause the central-cell confinement to decrease, in agreement with a theoretical model.

Beam plasma neutron sources based on beam-driven mirror

The design and performance of a relatively low-cost, plasma-based, 14-MeV D-T neutron source for accelerated end-of-life testing of fusion reactor materials are described in this article. An intense flux (up to 5×1018 n/m2·s) of 14-MeV neutrons is produced in a fully-ionized high-density tritium target (ne ≈ 3×1021 m−3) by injecting a current of 150-keV deuterium atoms. The tritium plasma target and the energetic D+ density produced by D0 injection are confined in a column of diameter ⩽ 0.16 m by a linear magnet set, which provides magnetic fields up to 12 T. Energy deposited by transverse injection of neutral beams at the midpoint of the column is conducted along the plasma column to the end regions. Longitudinal plasma pressure in the column is balanced by neutral gas pressure in the end tanks. The target plasma temperature is about 200 eV at the beam-injection position and falls to 5 eV or less in the end region. Ions reach the walls with energies below the sputtering threshold, and the wall temperature is maintained below 740 K by conventional cooling technology.

Geometrically focused neutral beam accelerators

A more reliable 40 kV, 65 A power supply drain at 0.4 A/cm2, neutral‐beam accelerator was developed for the Tandem Mirror Experiment (TMX). Multiple slotted aperture grids of 60% transparency are fabricated from refractory metal wires mounted to form a spherical surface. This geometrically focuses the beam by aiming individual beamlets at the center of curvature of the spherical grid (r = 3.2 m). We attain greater reliability and faster conditioning with geometrical focusing than with the previous technique of electrostatically steering beamlets to a common point. Electrostatic steering, accomplished by offsetting grid wires, is satisfactory if the offset of a beamlet is much less than the distance from the beamlet to the grids. It was found that Pierce Angle entrance grids performed better if sharper edged. A redesigned accelerator grid support structure reduced the number of ceramic‐to‐metal vacuum joints, and eliminated O rings between precisely aligned parts. The suppressor grid feedthrough is require...

Determination of ambipolar radial transport from the particle balance in the TMX-U tandem mirror

Ambipolar radial transport (equal ion and electron flux) is not directly measured in tandem mirror experiments because the particle flow does not produce a net electrical current. The first absolute measurements of the ionization source in the Tandem Mirror Experiment Upgrade (TMX-U) plasma have been obtained. These have permitted the determination of the magnitude of ambipolar radial transport from the particle balance. Furthermore, comparisons of the source measurements with a Monte Carlo neutral transport code have shown reasonable agreement. Measurements of the particle balance under several operating conditions are presented. For some of these cases, the ambipolar radial transport is smaller than the other measured losses.

Energy confinement studies in the tandem mirror experiment (TMX): Power balance

The power balance in the Tandem Mirror Experiment (TMX) is studied for several days of operation. Between them, these days typified the operating range of TMX. Examining the power balance on axis, it is found that 60% to 100% of the power is carried to the end walls by escaping central‐cell ions. Globally, these calculations account for 70% to 100% of the input power on each of the days studied. Based upon the power balance, the energy confinement times of the particle species are calculated. The end‐cell ion energy confinement time is similar to that achieved in the 2XIIB single‐cell magnetic mirror experiment, whereas the electron energy confinement in TMX was 10 to 100 times better. The central‐cell ion energy confinement in the central flux tube was determined by axial particle loss. At the central‐cell plasma‐edge radial particle transport and charge exchange with the fueling gas are important processes.