Systems and methods for improved sustainment of a high performance FRC and high harmonic fast wave electron heating in a high performance FRC

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11929182-B2
Application number	US-202217692106-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 10, 2022
Priority date	Nov 15, 2016
Publication date	Mar 12, 2024
Grant date	Mar 12, 2024

Abstract

Systems and methods that facilitate forming and maintaining FRCs with superior stability as well as particle, energy and flux confinement and, more particularly, systems and methods that facilitate forming and maintaining FRCs with elevated system energies and improved sustainment utilizing neutral beam injection and high harmonic fast wave electron heating.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for maintaining and heating a field reversed configuration (FRC) plasma comprising the steps of: injecting a plurality of neutral beams into a FRC plasma within a confinement chamber at an angle toward the mid-plane of the confinement chamber, and launching a plurality of radio frequency range high harmonic fast waves from one or more antennas into the FRC plasma at an angle toward the mid-plane of the confinement chamber.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the launch angle is in a range of 15° to 25° from the mid-plane of the confinement chamber.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the launch angle is nearly and less than normal to a longitudinal axis of the confinement chamber.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more antennas is a phased array antenna with a plurality of straps.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of launching a plurality of radio frequency range high harmonic fast waves from into the FRC plasma including heating FRC plasma electrons from 150 eV to above about 1 keV.

6. The method of claim 1 , further includes maintaining the FRC plasma at or about a constant value without decay while injecting beams of fast neutral atoms into the FRC plasma in the confinement chamber and elevating the FRC plasma electron temperatures to above 1.0 keV.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of generating a magnetic field within the confinement chamber with quasi dc coils extending about the confinement chamber and a mirror magnetic field within opposing ends of the confinement chamber with quasi dc mirror coils extending about the opposing ends of the confinement chamber.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising the step of the forming the FRC plasma within the confinement chamber.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the step of the forming the FRC plasma includes forming a formation FRC plasma in opposing first and second formation sections coupled to the confinement chamber and accelerating the formation FRC plasma from the first and second formation sections towards the mid through plane of the confinement chamber where the two formation FRC plasmas merge to form the FRC plasma.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the step of forming the FRC includes one of forming a formation FRC while accelerating the formation FRC towards the mid through plane of the confinement chamber and forming a formation FRC then accelerating the formation FRC towards the mid through plane of the confinement chamber.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising the step of conditioning the internal surfaces of the confinement chamber and the internal surfaces of first and second formation sections, first and second divertors interposing the confinement chamber and the first and second formation sections, and first and second outer divertors coupled to the first and second formation sections with a gettering system.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the gettering system includes one of a Titanium deposition system and a Lithium deposition system.

13. The method of anyone of claim 7 , further comprising the step of generating one of a magnetic dipole field and a magnetic quadrupole field within the chamber with saddle coils coupled to the chamber.

14. The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of axially injecting plasma into the FRC plasma from axially mounted plasma guns.

15. The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of controlling the radial electric field profile in an edge layer of the FRC plasma.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the step of controlling the radial electric field profile in an edge layer of the FRC plasma includes applying a distribution of electric potential to a group of open flux surfaces of the FRC plasma with biasing electrodes.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising injecting compact toroid (CT) plasmas from first and second CT injectors into the FRC plasma at an angle towards the mid-plane of the confinement chamber, wherein the first and second CT injectors are diametrically opposed on opposing sides of the mid-plane of the confinement chamber.

Assignees

• Tae Tech Inc

Inventors

• Yang Xiaokang

Classifications

• G21B1/052 Primary

  reversed field configuration · CPC title

• H05H1/02

  Arrangements for confining plasma by electric or magnetic fields; Arrangements for heating plasma ({G21B1/00 takes precedence;} electron optics H01J) · CPC title

• H05H1/14 Primary

  wherein the containment vessel is straight and has magnetic mirrors · CPC title

• G21B1/11

  Details · CPC title

• H05H1/16

  using externally-applied electric and magnetic fields · CPC title