Lecture

MHD Stability and Operational Limits

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In course

PHYS-424: Plasma II

This course completes the knowledge in plasma physics that students have acquired in the previous two courses, with a discussion of different applications, in the fields of magnetic confinement and controlled fusion, astrophysical and space plasmas, and so ...

Description

This lecture covers the MHD stability and operational limits in tokamak plasmas. It discusses the stability of the MHD equilibrium, conceptual examples of instabilities, and operational limits in tokamak plasmas. The instructor explains the importance of understanding whether the plasma configuration will survive small perturbations and the role of forces in restoring equilibrium. Various instabilities like sausage and kink instabilities are explored, along with the impact of wall effects on MHD instabilities. The lecture also delves into the performance and operational limits of modern fusion devices, including factors like plasma current, density, and pressure. It concludes with a summary of fusion performance, operational limits, and the control of instabilities.

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Instructor

Holger Reimerdes

Teaching & PhD PhD Students Martim Zurita, Marta Pedrini, Benjamin Yong Kwak Brown, Pierre Louis Sintre, Massimo Carpita, Richard Alexander David Ducker, Giuseppe Iunior Drago Past EPFL PhD Students Mirko Wensing, Claudia Colandrea, Guang-Yu Sun Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector Gustavo Paganini Canal, Joyeeta Sinha, Roberto Maurizio Courses Control and Operation of Tokamaks PHYS-748 This course treats the main issues in operation and control of a tokamak. Control-oriented models are de

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Plasma physics: Fusion power

Related concepts (32)

Plasma stability

The stability of a plasma is an important consideration in the study of plasma physics. When a system containing a plasma is at equilibrium, it is possible for certain parts of the plasma to be disturbed by small perturbative forces acting on it. The stability of the system determines if the perturbations will grow, oscillate, or be damped out. In many cases, a plasma can be treated as a fluid and its stability analyzed with magnetohydrodynamics (MHD).

Plasma (physics)

Plasma () is one of four fundamental states of matter, characterized by the presence of a significant portion of charged particles in any combination of ions or electrons. It is the most abundant form of ordinary matter in the universe, being mostly associated with stars, including the Sun. Extending to the rarefied intracluster medium and possibly to intergalactic regions, plasma can be artificially generated by heating a neutral gas or subjecting it to a strong electromagnetic field.

Fusion power

Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy. Devices designed to harness this energy are known as fusion reactors. Research into fusion reactors began in the 1940s, but as of 2023, no device has reached net power. Fusion processes require fuel and a confined environment with sufficient temperature, pressure, and confinement time to create a plasma in which fusion can occur.

Tokamak

A tokamak (ˈtoʊkəmæk; токамáк) is a device which uses a powerful magnetic field to confine plasma in the shape of a torus. The tokamak is one of several types of magnetic confinement devices being developed to produce controlled thermonuclear fusion power. , it was the leading candidate for a practical fusion reactor. Tokamaks were initially conceptualized in the 1950s by Soviet physicists Igor Tamm and Andrei Sakharov, inspired by a letter by Oleg Lavrentiev. The first working tokamak was attributed to the work of Natan Yavlinsky on the T-1 in 1958.

Magnetic confinement fusion

Magnetic confinement fusion is an approach to generate thermonuclear fusion power that uses magnetic fields to confine fusion fuel in the form of a plasma. Magnetic confinement is one of two major branches of fusion energy research, along with inertial confinement fusion. The magnetic approach began in the 1940s and absorbed the majority of subsequent development. Fusion reactions combine light atomic nuclei such as hydrogen to form heavier ones such as helium, producing energy.

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MHD Stability and Operational Limits

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