Simulation on the compressed field-reversed configuration with alpha particle self-heating

• Published in: Plasma physics and controlled fusion Vol. 61; no. 7; pp. 75015 - 75023
• Main Authors: Zhao, Xiaoming, Sun, Chengwei, Sun, Qizhi, Jia, Yuesong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IOP Publishing 01.07.2019
• Subjects: alpha particles; compression of FRC; plasma burning; self-heating
• ISSN: 0741-3335; 1361-6587
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-6587/ab1e84

Study on the compression of field-reversed configuration (FRC) by a magnetic-driven solid liner is carried out based on a one-dimensional code. In the investigation, plasma self-heating effect by alpha particles is taken into account. Numerical results show that the self-heating of alpha particles to DT plasma mainly occurs in the vicinity of O-point of the FRC target. The plasma ignition region is divided into two parts: the low-density ignition region near the central axis and the high-density ignition region in the O-point area. Before FRC plasma target expansion, the energy of alpha particles is well confined nearby the O-point by compressed magnetics. The DT plasma volume burning exists in a short time (approximately 0.1 µs) after a maximum convergence ratio of solid liner and the compressed strong magnetic field degrades the propagation of FRC plasma burning.