Session KP01 - Poster Session III.
POSTER session, Tuesday afternoon, March 23
Exhibit Hall, GWCC
Magnetic confinement schemes in which the centrifugal forces of rotating plasma effect parallel confinement are assessed. The magnetic field is predominantly poloidal and could be mirror-like or multipole type. The rotation is toroidal. A supersonic rotation can effect complete parallel confinement, with the usual magnetic mirror force rendered irrelevant. The rotation, in addition, suppresses the flute mode. We show that supersonic rotation shear together with plasma elongation could result in almost complete or complete suppression. Any residual wobbles, observed in numerical simulations we will show, could be suppressed by a weak toroidal field. Likewise, the Kelvin-Helmholtz, at worst weakly growing in this geometry, could be suppressed by the weak toroidal field. The transport is also assessed. We show that at rotation speeds in excess of Mach 3.5, the parallel particle and heat losses can be minimized to below the Lawson breakeven point. The crossfield transport can be expected to be better than tokamaks on account of the large velocity shear. Broadly speaking, the plasma rotation constitutes an additional "knob" for purely magnetic confinement schemes with the result that centrifugal confinement schemes could feature four advantages over tokamaks: steady-state, disruption-free, superior confinement, and a simpler coil configuration. A disadvantage is the circulating power required to maintain the rotation. An exploratory experiment to test equilibrium, parallel detachment, and MHD stability has been proposed [1]. Earlier centrifugal confinement experiments - "homopolar generators", IXION, and experiments at Novosibirsk - will be discussed.
[1] MARYLAND CENTRIFUGAL TORUS: An Experiment to Test Centrifugal Confinement of Fusion Plasmas, R. F. Ellis and A. B. Hassam, ICC Workshop, PPPL, Princeton (1998).