Direct electron heating at moderate harmonic number for compact ignition devices

Direct electron heating of compact ignition devices by radio-frequency power in the 300-400 MHz,range is discussed. The possible advantage of this approach to heating an ignition device, as opposed to resonant heating of an ion population, is the insensitivity to the exact value of the magnitude field. Heating with central power deposition during a toroidal field ramp is therefore possible

Mode conversion studies in TFTR

Mode converted Ion Bernstein Waves (IBW) have important potential applications in tokamak reactors. These applications include on or off axis electron heating and current drive and the channeling of alpha particle power for both current drive and increased reactivity. Efficient mode conversion electron heating with a low field side antenna, with both on and off axis power deposition, has been demonstrated for the first time in TFTR in D{sup 3}He-{sup 4}He plasmas. Up to 80% of the Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequency (ICRF) power is coupled to electrons at the mode conversion surface. Experiments during deuterium and tritium neutral beam injection (NBI) indicate that good mode conversion efficiency can be maintained during NBI if sufficient {sup 3}He is present. No evidence of strong alpha particle heating by the IBW is seen. Recent modeling indicates that if the mode converted IBW is preferentially excited off the horizontal midplane then the resultant high poloidal mode number wave may channel alpha particle power to either electrons or ions. In TFTR both the propagation of the IBW and its effect on the alpha particle population is being investigated. Experiments with 2 MW of ICRF power launched with {+-} 90{degree} antenna phasing for current drive show that electron heating and sawtooth activity depend strongly on the direction of the launched wave. The noninductively driven current could not be experimentally determined in these relatively high plasma current, short pulse discharges. Experiments at higher RF power and lower plasma current are planned to determine on and off axis current drive efficiency

Recent results from the TFTR ICRF DT Program

The first experiments to be performed with ICRF heating of DT plasmas are reported. ICRF heating of minority ions, tritium (second harmonic resonance), as well as direct electron heating are being performed during the DT phase of TFTR. RF power modulation and Fourier transform techniques are used to attempt to elucidate the competition between tritium second harmonic, direct electron, and {sup 3}He fundamental heating in DT plasmas. A significant fraction of the RF power has been found to couple to the tritium ions via second harmonic heating. Relevant RF coupling physics is investigated using {sup 3}He minority heating (43 MHz), H minority heating (64 MHz), and mode conversion (43 MHz, comparable densities of {sup 3}He and {sup 4}He) at a toroidal field of 4.5T

Evolution of toroidal Alfven eigenmode instability in TFTR

The nonlinear behavior of the Toroidal Alfven Eigenmode (TAE) driven unstable by energetic ions in TFTR is studied. The evolution of instabilities can take on several scenarios: a single mode or several modes can be driven unstable at the same time, the spectrum can be steady or pulsating and there can be negligible or anomalous loss associated with the instability. This paper presents a comparison between experimental results and recently developed nonlinear theory. The authors find many features observed in experiment are compatible with the consequences of the nonlinear theory. Examples include the structure of the saturated pulse that emerges from the onset of instability of a single mode and the decrease but persistence of TAE signals when the applied rf power is reduced or shut off

Military spending and economic growth in China: a regime-switching analysis

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.This article investigates the impact of military spending changes on economic growth in China over the period 1953 to 2010. Using two-state Markov-switching specifications, the results suggest that the relationship between military spending changes and economic growth is state dependent. Specifically, the results show that military spending changes affect the economic growth negatively during a slower growth-higher variance state, while positively within a faster growth-lower variance one. It is also demonstrated that military spending changes contain information about the growth transition probabilities. As a policy tool, the results indicate that increases in military spending can be detrimental to growth during slower growth-higher growth volatility periods. © 2014 © 2014 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis

New electron cyclotron emission diagnostic based upon the electron Bernstein wave

Most magnetically confined plasma devices cannot take advantage of standard Electron Cyclotron Emission (ECE) diagnostics to measure temperature. They either operate at high density relative to their magnetic field or they do not have sufficient density and temperature to reach the blackbody condition. The standard ECE technique measures the electromagnetic waves emanating from the plasma. Here we propose to measure electron Bernstein waves (EBW) to ascertain the local electron temperature in these plasmas. The optical thickness of EBW is extremely high because it is an electrostatic wave with a large k(subscript i). One can reach the blackbody condition with a plasma density approximately equal to 10(superscript 11) cm(superscript -3) and electron temperature approximately equal to 1 eV. This makes it attractive to most plasma devices. One serious issue with using EBW is the wave accessibility. EBW may be accessible by either direct coupling or mode conversion through an extremely narrow layer (approximately 1-2 mm) in low field devices

Magnetic Diagnostics for the Lithium Tokamak eXperiment

The Lithium Tokamak eXperiment (LTX) is a spherical tokamak with R0 = 0.4m, a = 0.26m, BTF ∼ 3.4kG, IP ∼ 400kA, and pulse length ∼ 0.25s. The focus of LTX is to investigate the novel, low-recycling Lithium Wall operating regime for magnetically confined plasmas. This regime is reached by placing an in-vessel shell conformal to the plasma last closed flux surface. The shell is heated and then coated with liquid lithium. An extensive array of magnetic diagnostics is available to characterize the experiment, including 80 Mirnov coils (single and double-axis, internal and external to the shell), 34 flux loops, 3 Rogowskii coils, and a diamagnetic loop. Diagnostics are specifically located to account for the presence of a secondary conducting surface and engineered to withstand both high temperatures and incidental contact with liquid lithium. The diagnostic set is therefore fabricated from robust materials with heat and lithium resistance and is designed for electrical isolation from the shell and to provide the data required for highly constrained equilibrium reconstructions