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Results for “PLASMA HEATING”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

PLASMA HEATING INSIDE INTERPLANETARY CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS BY ALFVÉNIC FLUCTUATIONS DISSIPATION

Nonlinear cascade of low-frequency Alfvénic fluctuations (AFs) is regarded as one of the candidate energy sources that heat plasma during the non-adiabatic expansion of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). However, AFs inside ICMEs were seldom reported in the literature. In this study, we investigate AFs inside ICMEs using observations from Voyager 2 between 1 and 6 au. It has been found that AFs with a high degree of Alfvénicity frequently occurred inside ICMEs for almost all of the identified ICMEs (30 out of 33 ICMEs) and for 12.6% of the ICME time interval. As ICMEs expand and move outward, the percentage of AF duration decays linearly in general. The occurrence rate of AFs inside ICMEs is much less than that in ambient solar wind, especially within 4.75 au. AFs inside ICMEs are more frequently presented in the center and at the boundaries of ICMEs. In addition, the proton temperature inside ICME has a similar “W”-shaped distribution. These findings suggest significant contribution of AFs on local plasma heating inside ICMEs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Simulation of neutron emission in neutral beam injection heated plasmas with the real-time code RABBIT

In plasmas heated with deuterium beams a deficit of the expected fusion neutron rate is an indicator of the deterioration of the fast-ion confinement, caused, for instance, by magnetohydrodynamic instabilities. The capability of predicting this deficit during the discharge relies on the availability of real-time estimates of the neutron rate from NBI codes which must be fast and accurate at the same time. Therefore, the recently developed real-time RABBIT code for NBI simulations has been extended to output the distribution function and calculate the neutron emission. After the description of this newly installed diagnostics in RABBIT, benchmarks with NUBEAM, a massively used and validated Monte Carlo NBI solver, are discussed on ASDEX-Upgrade and JET cases. A first application for control-room intershot analysis on DIII-D is presented, and the results are compared on a large database with a slower NUBEAM analysis. Further application possibilities, e.g. for real-time control of Alfvén eigenmodes, are outlined.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

THE NONLINEAR OHM'S LAW: PLASMA HEATING BY STRONG ELECTRIC FIELDS AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE IONIZATION BALANCE IN PROTOPLANETARY DISKS

The ionization state of the gas plays a key role in the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) of protoplanetary disks. However, the ionization state can depend on the gas dynamics, because electric fields induced by MHD turbulence can heat up plasmas and thereby affect the ionization balance. To study this nonlinear feedback, we construct an ionization model that includes plasma heating by electric fields and impact ionization by heated electrons, as well as charging of dust grains. We show that when plasma sticking onto grains is the dominant recombination process, the electron abundance in the gas decreases with increasing electric field strength. This is a natural consequence of electron-grain collisions whose frequency increases with the electron's random velocity. The decreasing electron abundance may lead to a self-regulation of MHD turbulence. In some cases, not only the electron abundance but also the electric current decreases with increasing field strength in a certain field range. The resulting N-shaped current-field relation violates the fundamental assumption of the non-relativistic MHD that the electric field is uniquely determined by the current density. At even higher field strengths, impact ionization causes an abrupt increase of the electric current as expected by previous studies. We find that this discharge current is multi-valued (i.e., the current-field relation is S-shaped) under some circumstances, and that the intermediate branch is unstable. The N/S-shaped current-field relations may yield hysteresis in the evolution of MHD turbulence in some parts of protoplanetary disks.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Plasma heating power dissipation in low temperature hydrogen plasmas

A theoretical framework for power dissipation in low temperature plasmas in corona equilibrium is developed. The framework is based on fundamental conservation laws and reaction cross sections and is only weakly sensitive to plasma parameters, e.g., electron temperature and density. The theory is applied to low temperature atomic and molecular hydrogen laboratory plasmas for which the plasma heating power dissipation to photon emission, ionization, and chemical potential is calculated. The calculated photon emission is compared to recent experimental results.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Heat flux viscosity in collisional magnetized plasmas

Momentum transport in collisional magnetized plasmas due to gradients in the heat flux, a “heat flux viscosity,” is demonstrated. Even though no net particle flux is associated with a heat flux, in a plasma there can still be momentum transport owing to the velocity dependence of the Coulomb collision frequency, analogous to the thermal force. This heat-flux viscosity may play an important role in numerous plasma environments, in particular, in strongly driven high-energy-density plasma, where strong heat flux can dominate over ordinary plasma flows. The heat flux viscosity can influence the dynamics of the magnetic field in plasmas through the generalized Ohm's law and may therefore play an important role as a dissipation mechanism allowing magnetic field line reconnection. The heat flux viscosity is calculated directly using the finite-difference method of Epperlein and Haines [Phys. Fluids 29, 1029 (1986)], which is shown to be more accurate than Braginskii's method [S. I. Braginskii, Rev. Plasma Phys. 1, 205 (1965)], and confirmed with one-dimensional collisional particle-in-cell simulations. The resulting transport coefficients are tabulated for ease of application.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

PROPINQUITY OF CURRENT AND VORTEX STRUCTURES: EFFECTS ON COLLISIONLESS PLASMA HEATING

Intermittency of heating in weakly collisional plasma turbulence is an active subject of research, with significant potential impact on understanding of the solar wind, solar corona, and astrophysical plasmas. Recent studies suggest a role of vorticity in plasma heating. In magnetohydrodynamics small-scale vorticity is generated near current sheets and this effect persists in kinetic plasma, as demonstrated here with hybrid and fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations. Furthermore, vorticity enhances local kinetic effects, with a generalized resonance condition selecting sign-dependent enhancements or reductions of proton heating and thermal anisotropy. In such plasmas heating is correlated with vorticity and current density, but more strongly with vorticity. These results help explain several prior results that find kinetic effects and energization near to, but not centered on, current sheets. Evidently intermittency in kinetic plasma involves multiple physical quantities, and the associated coherent structures and nonthermal effects are closely related.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Results of high heat flux tests of tungsten divertor targets under plasma heat loads expected in ITER and tokamaks (review)

Heat loads on the tungsten divertor targets in the ITER and the tokamak power reactors reach ~10MW m{sup −2} in the steady state of DT discharges, increasing to ~0.6–3.5 GW m{sup −2} under disruptions and ELMs. The results of high heat flux tests (HHFTs) of tungsten under such transient plasma heat loads are reviewed in the paper. The main attention is paid to description of the surface microstructure, recrystallization, and the morphology of the cracks on the target. Effects of melting, cracking of tungsten, drop erosion of the surface, and formation of corrugated and porous layers are observed. Production of submicron-sized tungsten dust and the effects of the inhomogeneous surface of tungsten on the plasma–wall interaction are discussed. In conclusion, the necessity of further HHFTs and investigations of the durability of tungsten under high pulsed plasma loads on the ITER divertor plates, including disruptions and ELMs, is stressed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Confinement in electron heated plasmas in Wendelstein 7-X and ASDEX Upgrade; the necessity to control turbulent transport

In electron (cyclotron) heated plasmas, in both ASDEX Upgrade (L-mode) and Wendelstein 7-X, clamping of the ion temperature occurs at $T_\mathrm{i}$ ~ 1.5 keV independent of magnetic configuration. The ions in such plasmas are heated through the energy exchange power as ${n}_{\mathrm{e}}^{2}({T}_{\mathrm{e}}-{T}_{\mathrm{i}})/{T}_{\mathrm{e}}^{3/2}$, which offers a broad ion heating profile, similar to that offered by alpha heating in future thermonuclear fusion reactors. However, the predominant electron heating may put an additional constraint on the ion heat transport, as the ratio $T_\mathrm{e}T_\mathrm{i}$ > 1 can exacerbates ITG/TEM core turbulence. Therefore, in practical terms the strongly 'stiff' core transport translates into Ti-clamping in electron heated plasmas. Due to this clamping, electron heated L-mode scenarios, with standard gas fueling, in either tokamaks or stellarators may struggle to reach high normalized ion temperature gradients required in a compact fusion reactor. The comparison shows that core heat transport in neoclassically optimized stellarators is driven by the same mechanisms as in tokamaks. The absence of a strong H-mode temperature edge pedestal in stellarators, sofar (which, like in tokamaks, could lift the clamped temperature-gradients in the core), puts a strong requirement on reliable and sustainable core turbulence suppression techniques in stellarators.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Plasma heating via adiabatic magnetic compression-expansion cycle

Heating of collisionless plasmas in closed adiabatic magnetic cycle comprising of a quasi static compression followed by a non quasi static constrained expansion against a constant external pressure is proposed. Thermodynamic constraints are derived to show that the plasma always gains heat in cycles having at least one non quasi static process. The turbulent relaxation of the plasma to the equilibrium state at the end of the non quasi static expansion is discussed and verified via 1D Particle in Cell (PIC) simulations. Applications of this scheme to heating plasmas in open configurations (mirror machines) and closed configurations (tokamak, reverse field pinche) are discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Exploring Plasma Heating in the Current Sheet Region in a Three-dimensional Coronal Mass Ejection Simulation

We simulate a coronal mass ejection using a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic code that includes coronal heating, thermal conduction, and radiative cooling in the energy equation. The magnetic flux distribution at 1 Rs is produced by a localized subsurface dipole superimposed on a global dipole field, mimicking the presence of an active region within the global corona. Transverse electric fields are applied near the polarity inversion line to introduce a transverse magnetic field, followed by the imposition of a converging flow to form and destabilize a flux rope, producing an eruption. We examine the quantities responsible for plasma heating and cooling during the eruption, including thermal conduction, radiation, adiabatic effects, coronal heating, and ohmic heating. We find that ohmic heating is an important contributor to hot temperatures in the current sheet region early in the eruption, but in the late phase, adiabatic compression plays an important role in heating the plasma there. Thermal conduction also plays an important role in the transport of thermal energy away from the current sheet region throughout the reconnection process, producing a “thermal halo” and widening the region of high temperatures. We simulate emission from solar telescopes for this eruption and find that there is evidence for emission from heated plasma above the flare loops late in the eruption, when the adiabatic heating is the dominant heating term. These results provide an explanation for hot supra-arcade plasma sheets that are often observed in X-rays and extreme ultraviolet wavelengths during the decay phase of large flares.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Plasma heating technology

The operational environment for plasma heating systems presents unprecedented challenges for the success of magnetic fusion. This chapter discusses the current state of ion cyclotron and electron cyclotron heating systems and the research and development priorities needed to establish working solutions for these systems. While much progress has been made, there is much more work to be done to make fusion energy commercially viable. Research and development priorities include radiation-resistant structural and plasma facing materials, advanced manufacturing methods, new cooling methods, first-wall integrated actuators, improvements in power source efficiency, higher frequency gyrotrons, and improved overall system reliability.

Caughman, John↗
DOE OSTI2017

Quasi-optical simulation of the electron cyclotron plasma heating in a mirror magnetic trap

The resonance microwave plasma heating in a large-scale open magnetic trap is simulated taking into account all the basic wave effects during the propagation of short-wavelength wave beams (diffraction, dispersion, and aberration) within the framework of the consistent quasi-optical approximation of Maxwell’s equations. The quasi-optical method is generalized to the case of inhomogeneous media with absorption dispersion, a new form of the quasi-optical equation is obtained, the efficient method for numerical integration is found, and simulation results are verified on the GDT facility (Novosibirsk).

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Saturation of the two-plasmon parametric decay instability in experiments on the electron cyclotron plasma heating due to the extraordinary pump wave depletion

The saturation level of the low-threshold parametric two-plasmon instability of the extraordinary pump wave decay to two upper hybrid plasmons is analyzed under conditions when the only efficient saturation mechanism is the pump depletion. A closed system of differential equations describing both the instability excitation and saturation is derived. The system is solved numerically and an analytic expression is obtained for the anomalous absorption coefficient of the pump wave caused by the development of this instability. The saturation level of the two-plasmon decay instability and the related anomalous absorption efficiency are estimated from data obtained in experiments on the electron cyclotron resonance heating of the plasma by an extraordinary wave in the TEXTOR tokamak.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Plasma Heating in Solar Microflares: Statistics and Analysis

In this paper we present the results of an analysis of 481 weak solar flares, from A0.01 class flares to the B GOES class, that were observed during the period of extremely low solar activity from 2009 April to July. For all flares we measured the temperature of the plasma in the isothermal and two-temperature approximations and tried to fit its relationship with the X-ray class using exponential and power-law functions. We found that the whole temperature distribution in the range from A0.01 to X-class cannot be fit by one exponential function. The fitting for weak flares below A1.0 is significantly steeper than that for medium and large flares. The power-law approximation seems to be more reliable: the corresponding functions were found to be in good agreement with experimental data both for microflares and for normal flares. Our study predicts that evidence of plasma heating can be found in flares starting from the A0.0002 X-ray class. Weaker events presumably cannot heat the surrounding plasma. We also estimated emission measures for all flares studied and the thermal energy for 113 events.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Structure of Plasma Heating in Gyrokinetic Alfvénic Turbulence

Here, we analyze plasma heating in weakly collisional kinetic Alfvén wave turbulence using high resolution gyrokinetic simulations spanning the range of scales between the ion and the electron gyroradii. Real space structures that have a higher than average heating rate are shown not to be confined to current sheets. This novel result is at odds with previous studies, which use the electromagnetic work in the local electron fluid frame, i.e., J∙(E+v e ×B) , as a proxy for turbulent dissipation to argue that heating follows the intermittent spatial structure of the electric current. Furthermore, we show that electrons are dominated by parallel heating while the ions prefer the perpendicular heating route. We comment on the implications of the results presented here.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Two-slope soft X-ray spectra observed in experiments on electron cyclotron resonance plasma heating in the L-2M stellarator

In experiments on the generation and electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) of plasma in the L-2M stellarator, non-Maxwellian two-slope soft X-ray (SXR) spectra were observed. The temperatures of the thermal and epithermal components of the spectra were measured as functions of the heating power and plasma density. A hypothesis based on the experimental results is suggested to explain the formation mechanism of two-slope SXR spectra in the ECRH experiments at the L-2M stellarator. The measured SXR spectra are compared with the results of numerical simulations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Effect of magnetic field ripple on parallel electron transport during microwave plasma heating in the Proto-MPEX linear plasma device

The Prototype Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment (Proto-MPEX) is a linear plasma device located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop the plasma source concept for the Materials Plasma Exposure eXperiment (MPEX). Recent experiments have demonstrated the heating of electrons in a high-density deuterium plasma (n e ~ 5 × 10 19 m -3 ) via electron Bernstein waves and source plasma production via helicon waves in this linear configuration. Moreover, experimental observations suggest that the magnetic ripple adversely affects the parallel transport of the heated electrons toward the target where material samples are to be exposed to the plasma. In order to understand the transport process during microwave application, a test-particle Monte-Carlo (MC) code has been developed that incorporates the effects of Coulomb collisions, magnetic mirror adiabatic trapping and electron cyclotron interaction via a quasilinear RF heating operator. MC calculations indicate that the absence of 2nd turning points along the trajectory of cyclotron heated electrons significantly reduces adiabatic trapping and maximizes power transport to the Target surface. Thermalization of cyclotron heating electrons is analyzed with the MC code and it is found that for conditions relevant to ProtoMPEX, a significant fraction of the absorbed heating power is coupled to the Target surface via ballistic fast electrons; however, under certain conditions, up to 60% of the absorbed RF power can be dissipated via thermalization of the fast electrons on the background plasma. Results are compared with experimental measurements. Finally, the implications of the results are discussed in the context of the upcoming MPEX device.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Plasma Heating due to Cyclic Diffusion across a Separatrix

We observe plasma heating due to collisional diffusion across a separatrix when a magnesium ion column in a Penning-Malmberg trap is cyclically pushed back and forth across a partial trapping barrier. The barrier is an externally applied axisymmetric “squeeze” potential, which creates a velocity separatrix between trapped and passing particles. Weak ion-ion collisions then cause separatrix crossings, leading to irreversible heating. Furthermore, the heating rate scales as the square root of the oscillation rate times the collision frequency and thus can be dominant for low-collisionality plasmas. The particle velocity distribution function is measured with coherent laser induced fluorescence and shows passing and trapped particles having an out-of-phase response to the forced plasma oscillations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗