Fast Particle Heating
Author:
- 1 February 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Fusion Science and Technology
- Vol. 57 (2T) , 185-195
Abstract
The heating of plasmas by fast ions, with a focus on Neutral Beam Injection (NBI), is reviewed. First, the need of auxiliary heating and current drive systems in fusion machines is outlined. For the particular case of tokamaks, the limitations of ohmic heating are discussed. The different ways of generating fast particles in plasmas are presented. The principle of operation of neutral beam injectors is explained. Positive-ion (PNBI) and negativeion (NNBI) based concepts are discussed. Next, the physical processes by which the beam transfers energy to the plasma, namely ionisation and slowing-down are described. For both, an elementary theory is given, whereby simple approximations to the distribution functions of beam injected ions and of alpha particles in reactors are obtained. Applications of NBI to heating, current drive and rotation drive are reviewed and the prospects of NBI for ITER are commented.Keywords
This publication has 24 references indexed in Scilit:
- Expanding the operating space of ICRF on JET with a view to ITERNuclear Fusion, 2006
- Deuterium-tritium operation in magnetic confinement experiments: results and underlying physicsPlasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 1999
- Enhancement of reactivity by RFPlasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 1993
- Scalings for tokamak energy confinementNuclear Fusion, 1990
- Penetration of energetic neutral beams into fusion plasmasNuclear Fusion, 1989
- Distortion of the distribution function of weakly RF heated minority ions in a tokamak plasmaJournal of Plasma Physics, 1983
- Energetic ion distribution resulting from neutral beam injection in tokamaksJournal of Plasma Physics, 1976
- Intense, mixed-energy hydrogen beams for CTR injectionNuclear Fusion, 1975
- Ignition condition in Tokamak experiments and role of neutral injection heatingNuclear Fusion, 1973
- Penetration of fast hydrogen atoms into a fusion reactor plasmaNuclear Fusion, 1971