Ohmic Plasma Heating by Magnetic Field – Aligned Currents in an Internal Ring Configuration

Abstract

This investigation concerns heating of a plasma being impermeable to neutral gas and situated in a magnetic bottle where the confining field is generated mainly by the current in a supported internal ring. The losses to the ring supports are considered in terms of a single-particle model. The reduction of these losses due to magnetic support shielding is investigated. Further, all transport processes are assumed to be of classical origin, but anomalous effects can be simulated by introducing certain numerical factors. The possibility of local concentration of the induced heating current resulting in a thermal instability is also investigated. Particular interest is focused on the relation between the heat loss to the supports and the threshold condition for this instability. The results of the present investigation have been derived from numerical solutions of a set of nonstationary macroscopic fluid equations.