Plasma Heating with Strong Poloidal Ohmic Currents

D. J. Holly, S. C. Prager, and J. C. Sprott
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, U.S.A.
(Received 27 July 1982; accepted 14 July 1983)

ABSTRACT

The feasibility of using strong poloidal currents to heat plasmas has been examined experimentally in Tokapole II, operating as a toroidal octupole. The plasma resistivity ranges from that of Spitzer to about 1500 times Spitzer resistivity, as predicted by mirror-enhanced resistivity theory. This allows large powers (approximately 2 MW) to be coupled to the plasma at modest current levels. However, the confinement time is reduced by the heating, apparently due to a combination of the input power location (near the walls of the vacuum tank) and fluctuation-enhanced transport.

Ref: D. J. Holly, S. C. Prager, and J. C. Sprott, Phys. Fluids 26, 3435-3439 (1983)

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