Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Units
- Part I Fusion power
- Part II The plasma physics of fusion energy
- 6 Overview of magnetic fusion
- 7 Definition of a fusion plasma
- 8 Single-particle motion in a plasma – guiding center theory
- 9 Single-particle motion – Coulomb collisions
- 10 A self-consistent two-fluid model
- 11 MHD – macroscopic equilibrium
- 12 MHD – macroscopic stability
- 13 Magnetic fusion concepts
- 14 Transport
- 15 Heating and current drive
- 16 The future of fusion research
- Appendix A Analytical derivation of 〈ς v〉
- Appendix B Radiation from an accelerating charge
- Appendix C Derivation of Boozer coordinates
- Appendix D Poynting's theorem
- Index
- References
13 - Magnetic fusion concepts
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 May 2010
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Units
- Part I Fusion power
- Part II The plasma physics of fusion energy
- 6 Overview of magnetic fusion
- 7 Definition of a fusion plasma
- 8 Single-particle motion in a plasma – guiding center theory
- 9 Single-particle motion – Coulomb collisions
- 10 A self-consistent two-fluid model
- 11 MHD – macroscopic equilibrium
- 12 MHD – macroscopic stability
- 13 Magnetic fusion concepts
- 14 Transport
- 15 Heating and current drive
- 16 The future of fusion research
- Appendix A Analytical derivation of 〈ς v〉
- Appendix B Radiation from an accelerating charge
- Appendix C Derivation of Boozer coordinates
- Appendix D Poynting's theorem
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
The goal of Chapter 13 is to describe the various magnetic configurations currently under investigation as potential fusion reactors. As will become apparent there is a substantial number of concepts to discuss. To succeed, each of these concepts has to successfully overcome the problems not only of MHD equilibrium and stability (p), but also of transport (τE) and heating (T). Even so, it still makes sense to introduce the concepts at this point in the book, immediately following MHD. The reason is that the underlying geometric features that distinguish each concept are primarily determined by MHD behavior. In contrast, transport is a far more difficult issue and significant progress has been made only for the tokamak configuration. With respect to heating, there are several techniques available providing a reasonable number of options. Because of this flexibility, heating can be accommodated in most fusion configurations, and thus is not a dominant driver of the geometry.
To motivate the discussion recall that the main objective of MHD is to discover magnetic geometries that are capable of stably confining sufficiently high plasma pressures to be of relevance to a fusion reactor. The leader for many years in terms of overall performance has been the tokamak which will therefore serve as the reference configuration against which all other concepts must be measured.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy , pp. 333 - 448Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007
References
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et al. (1958). An energy principle for hydromagnetic stability problems. Proceedings of the Royal Society, A223, 17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, , and (1978). Shear, periodicity, and plasma ballooning modes. Physical Review Letters, 40, 396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and (2004). Principles of Magnetohydrodynamics.Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, , and (1974). Hydromagnetic stability of a current-carrying pinch with noncircular cross section. Physics of Fluids, 17, 835.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, , et al. (2004). Aspect ratio scaling of ideal no-wall stability limits in high bootstrap fraction tokamak plasmas. Physics of Plasmas, 11, 639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and (1974). Two-dimensional calculation of tokamak stability. Nuclear Fusion, 14, 645.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1984). MHD limits to plasma confinement. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 26 (1A), 209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LDX Group (1998). Levitated Dipole Whitepaper. Innovative Confinement Concepts Workshop, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey.
(1997). Scaling relations for high gain, magnetized target fusion systems. Comments on Plasma Physicss and Controlled Fusion, 18, 17.Google Scholar
et al. (2002). Field-Reversed Configuration (FRC) equilibrium and Stability. 19th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, Lyon, France. Paper TH/4–5. Vienna: IAEA.Google Scholar
FRC community (1998). FRC Development Whitepaper. Innovative Confinement Concepts Workshop. Princeton: New Jersey Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
, , and (1999). Why magnetized target fusion offers a low-cost development path for fusion energy. Comments on Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 18, 363.Google Scholar
(2001). Fundamentals of Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, revised edn. Toki City: National Institute for Fusion Science.Google Scholar
RFP Research Community (1998). The Reversed Field Pinch Whitepaper. Innovative Confinement Concepts Workshop. Princeton: New Jersey Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
, , and (1998). The spheromak path to fusion energy. Innovative Confinement Concepts Workshop. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.Google Scholar
(1998). The spherical torus pathway to fusion power. Innovative Confinement Concepts Workshop. Princeton: New Jersey Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.Google Scholar
Spherical Torus White Paper (1999). US Spherical Torus Fusion Energy Science Research. Fusion Summer Study, Snowmass, Colorado.
(1982). Establishment of magnetic coordinates for a given magnetic field. Physics of Fluids, 25, 520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2004). Physics of magnetically confined plasmas. Reviews of Modern Physics, 76, 1071.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2001). Fundamentals of Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, revised edn. Toki City: National Institute for Fusion Science.Google Scholar
National Stellarator Program Planning Committee (1998). US Stellarator program plan. Innovative Confinement Concepts Workshop. Princeton: New Jersey, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.