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Optimization, Test and Diagnostics of Miniaturized Hall Thrusters
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Optimizing stellarators for turbulent transport
H E Mynick1, N Pomphrey, P Xanthopoulos
1Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08543, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|September 28, 2010
Summary
Researchers optimized stellarator designs to reduce turbulent transport, a major challenge in fusion energy. New methods significantly decreased ion temperature gradient turbulent transport in proof-of-principle configurations.
Area of Science:
- Plasma physics
- Fusion energy research
- Computational astrophysics
Background:
- Stellarator designs traditionally focus on minimizing neoclassical transport.
- Turbulent transport is typically the dominant energy loss mechanism in stellarators.
- Mitigating turbulent transport in complex 3D stellarator geometries has been computationally challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate that stellarators can be designed to mitigate turbulent transport.
- To introduce novel computational approaches for tackling turbulent transport in stellarators.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing advanced gyrokinetic codes capable of 3D nonlinear simulations.
- Employing sophisticated stellarator optimization codes.
- Developing and testing proof-of-principle stellarator configurations.
Main Results:
- Achieved a reduction in ion temperature gradient turbulent transport by a factor of 2-2.5 compared to the National Compact Stellarator Experiment baseline.
- Identified two initial stellarator configurations demonstrating reduced turbulent transport.
Conclusions:
- It is feasible to design stellarators that mitigate turbulent transport, in addition to neoclassical transport.
- The integration of advanced simulation and optimization tools enables the design of improved stellarator configurations for fusion energy.
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