Abstract Details
Abstracts
Author: Ales Necas
Requested Type: Pre-Selected Invited
Submitted: 2017-03-20 12:40:26
Co-authors: T. Tajima, S. Nicks, M. Seggebruch, R. Magee, R. Clary, T. Roche
Contact Info:
Tri Alpha Energy
19631 Pauling
Foothill Ranch, CA 92610
USA
Abstract Text:
C-2U is a unique hybrid field-reversed configuration (FRC) where we successfully combine a high-beta (~1) FRC plasma with neutral beam injection (NBI), field line biasing, and mirror physics. The C-2U experiment at Tri Alpha Energy tested this hybrid concept by studying the evolution of advanced beam-driven FRC plasmas sustained by NBI for 5+ ms [1]. C-2U is an upgrade to the earlier C-2 [2] experiment with an improved NBI system which can deliver a total injected power of 10+ MW hydrogen beam, by far the largest ever used in a compact toroid plasma experiment. This increase in the beam power, combined with our earlier innovations in FRC stabilization, successfully produced high-performance, advanced beam-driven FRCs sustained for times significantly longer than the characteristic plasma decay times. This accomplishment represents a significant advance towards the scientific validation of the FRC-based approach to fusion. This presentation will provide an overview of the C-2U device and recent experimental advances as well as particle in cell 1D3V simulation of non-destructive beam-driven instabilities in high-beta using EPOCH [3].
[1] M.W. Binderbauer et al, Phys. Plasmas, 22(5), 56110 (2015).
[2] M.W. Binderbauer et. al, Phys. Rev. Lett 105, 045003 (2010)
[3] T. D. Arber et al., Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion 57,11(2015)
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