Title:
Spontaneous multi-keV electron generation in a low-RF-power axisymmetric mirror machine
Abstract:
X-ray emission shows the existence of multi-keV electrons in low-temperature, low-power, capacitively-coupled RF-heated magnetic-mirror plasmas that also contain a warm (300 eV) minority electron population. Though these warm electrons are initially passing particles, we suggest that collisionless scattering -- mu non-conservation in the static vacuum field -- is responsible for a minority of them to persist in the mirror cell for thousands of transits during which time a fraction are energized to a characteristic temperature of 3 keV, with some electrons reaching energies above 30 keV. A heuristic model of the heating by a Fermi-acceleration-like mechanism is presented, with mu non-conservation in the static vacuum field as an essential feature.
Toroidal rotation is critical for fusion in tokamaks, since it stabilizes instabilities that can otherwise cause disruptions or degrade confinement. Unlike present-day devices, ITER might not have enough neutral-beam torque to easily avoid these instabilities. We must therefore understand how the plasma rotates intrinsically, that is, without applied torque. Experimentally, torque-free plasmas indeed rotate, with profiles that are often non-flat and even non-monotonic. The rotation depends on many plasma parameters including collisionality and plasma current, and exhibits sudden bifurcations (rotation reversals) at critical parameter values.Since toroidal angular momentum is conserved in axisymmetric systems, and since experimentally inferred momentum transport is much too large to be neoclassical, theoretical work has focused on rotation drive by nondiffusive turbulent momentum fluxes. In the edge, intrinsic rotation relaxes to a steady state in which the total momentum outflux from the plasma vanishes. Ion drift orbits, scrape-off-layer flows, separatrix geometry, and turbulence intensity gradient all play a role. In the core, nondiffusive and viscous momentum fluxes balance to set the rotation gradient at each flux surface. Although many mechanisms have been proposed for the nondiffusive fluxes, most are treated in one of two distinct but related gyrokinetic formulations. In a radially local fluxtube, appropriate for rho star <<1, the lowest-order gyrokinetic formulations exhibit a symmetry that prohibits nondiffusive momentum flux for nonrotating plasmas in an up- down symmetric magnetic geometry with no ExB shear. Many symmetry-breaking mechanisms have been identified, but none have yet been conclusively demonstrated to drive a strong enough flux to explain commonly observed experimental rotation profiles. Radially global gyrokinetic simulations naturally include many symmetry-breaking mechanisms, and have shown cases with experimentally relevant levels of nondiffusive flux. These promising early results motivate further work to analyze, verify, and validate.This article provides a pedagogical introduction to intrinsic rotation in axisymmetric devices. Intended for both newcomers to the topic and experienced practitioners, the article reviews a broad range of topics including experimental and theoretical results for both edge and core rotation, while maintaining a focus on the underlying concepts.
This dataset contains supplementary materials for Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 of Yiheng Tao's PhD dissertation (2022). The dissertation’s abstract is provided here:
Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) mitigates climate change by capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from large point sources, or CO2 from the ambient air, and subsequently reusing the captured CO2 or injecting it into deep geological formations for long-term and secure storage. Almost all current decarbonization pathways include large-scale CCUS, on the order of a billion tonnes (Gt) of CO2 captured and stored each year globally starting in 2030, yet the actual deployment has lagged far behind (around 0.04 Gt CO2 was captured in 2021). In this dissertation, I contribute to several aspects of largescale deployment of CCUS by (1) developing and applying efficient numerical models to simulate geological CO2 storage and (2) identifying key policies to address the bottlenecks of overall CCUS deployment. This dissertation concerns the United States, China, and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) region through research projects that are consistent with each location’s current development stage of CCUS.
Chapters 2 and 3 contain computational modeling studies. In Chapter 2, I develop a new series of vertical-equilibrium (VE) models in the dual-continuum modeling framework to simulate CO2 injection and migration in fractured geological formations. Those models are shown to be effective and efficient when properties of the formation allow for the VE assumption. In Chapter 3, I apply a VE model to simulate basin-scale CO2 injection in the Junggar Basin of Northwestern China. The results show that current regional emissions of more than 100 million tonnes of CO2 per year can be stored effectively, thereby confirming the great potential of the Junggar Basin for early CCUS deployment.
Chapters 4 and 5 contain policy analyses. In Chapter 4, I propose a dynamic system consisting of new CO2 pipelines and novel Allam-cycle power plants in the Central United States, and examine how government policies, including an extended Section 45Q tax credit, may improve the economic feasibility of this system. Lastly, in Chapter 5, I investigate and quantify CO2 emissions implications of power plant projects associated with the BRI. I also propose a “greenness ratio” to measure the level of environmental sustainability of BRI in the power sector.
The bitKlavier Grand consists of sample collections of a new Steinway D grand piano from nine different stereo mic images, with: 16 velocity layers, at every minor 3rd (starting at A0); Hammer release samples; Release resonance samples; Pedal samples. Release packages at 96k/24bit, 88.2k/24bit, 48k/24bit, 44.1k/16bit are available for various applications.
The bitKlavier Grand consists of sample collections of a new Steinway D grand piano from nine different stereo mic images, with: 16 velocity layers, at every minor 3rd (starting at A0); Hammer release samples; Release resonance samples; Pedal samples.
Release packages at 96k/24bit, 88.2k/24bit, 48k/24bit, 44.1k/16bit are available for various applications.
The bitKlavier Grand consists of sample collections of a new Steinway D grand piano from nine different stereo mic images, with: 16 velocity layers, at every minor 3rd (starting at A0); Hammer release samples; Release resonance samples; Pedal samples. Release packages at 96k/24bit, 88.2k/24bit, 48k/24bit, 44.1k/16bit are available for various applications.
The bitKlavier Grand consists of sample collections of a new Steinway D grand piano from nine different stereo mic images, with: 16 velocity layers, at every minor 3rd (starting at A0); Hammer release samples; Release resonance samples; Pedal samples. Release packages at 96k/24bit, 88.2k/24bit, 48k/24bit, 44.1k/16bit are available for various applications.
The bitKlavier Grand consists of sample collections of a new Steinway D grand piano from nine different stereo mic images, with: 16 velocity layers, at every minor 3rd (starting at A0); Hammer release samples; Release resonance samples; Pedal samples. Release packages at 96k/24bit, 88.2k/24bit, 48k/24bit, 44.1k/16bit are available for various applications.
The bitKlavier Grand consists of sample collections of a new Steinway D grand piano from nine different stereo mic images, with: 16 velocity layers, at every minor 3rd (starting at A0); Hammer release samples; Release resonance samples; Pedal samples. Release packages at 96k/24bit, 88.2k/24bit, 48k/24bit, 44.1k/16bit are available for various applications.
