Electron confinement investigation in low beta magnetic polywell configurations

• Published in: Fusion engineering and design Vol. 206; p. 114606
• Main Authors: Boonchoo, R., Promping, J., Tamman, A., Nisoa, M., Wisitsorasak, A., Klaywittaphat, P., Sangaroon, S., Chatthong, B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.09.2024
• Subjects: Electron confinement; Inertial electrostatic confinement; Magnetic confinement; Polywell fusion; Electron confinement; Magnetic confinement; Polywell fusion; Inertial electrostatic confinement
• ISSN: 0920-3796
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fusengdes.2024.114606

•Several polywell configurations are designed including cube, dodeca, double-layer, and disco configurations.•Electron injections are applied numerically in order to investigate electron confinement capability of each configuration.•Electron confinement time is proportional to the coils current and magnetic flux. This study uses numerical simulations to investigate the effects of magnetic field topology resulting from various polywell fusion setup configurations, including the cube configuration (6 coils), dodecahedron configuration (12 coils), double-layer configuration (14 coils) and disco configuration (26 coils). The results suggest that increased number of magnetic coils and magnitude of magnetic flux density through increased coil current leads to a longer electron confinement time. This is shown by the increased magnetic flux density and magnetic well width with increasing number of coils. In addition, each configuration is investigated to predict the capacity of electron confinement. Numerical electron injections are applied to each magnetic field topology to determine the decay behavior of electron numbers, from which the electron confinement time is calculated.