Methods and apparatus for mitigating plasma disruption in fusion devices

Abstract

Exemplary pellets can be used for magnetic fusion devices for mitigating plasma disruption. In some embodiments, the pellets may be cryogenically cooled that may cause a rise in the electrical conductivity of the pellets. A high conductivity of the pellet can screen out the plasma's magnetic field from the interior of the pellet. The screening out of the plasma's magnetic field can slow the ablation rate of the pellet which may allow for deeper pellet penetration and a better suited spatial profile of deposited material for proper mitigation of the plasma disruption. In some other embodiments,the pellets may not be cryogenically cooled.

Description

technical field [0001] This patent document relates to systems, devices and processes for thermonuclear fusion technology. Background technique [0002] A tokamak is a device that uses a magnetic field, for example in the shape of a torus, to spatially confine plasma so that the high temperature plasma required for controlled thermonuclear fusion power generation is generated. Magnetic fields are used for confinement in tokamak devices, in part because solid materials cannot withstand the extremely high temperatures of the plasmas used for thermonuclear fusion. In a tokamak, stable plasma equilibrium is achieved by creating magnetic field lines that move around a ring in a helical shape. Such a helical field can be produced by adding an annular field in a circle propagating around the ring and a poloidal field propagating in a circle orthogonal to the annular field. In an embodiment, the toroidal field may be generated by electromagnets surrounding the toroid, and the pol...

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Problems solved by technology

This quenching can induce energetic escape electrons that escape the spatially confined plasma and can potentially lead to a rapid loss of plasma confinement

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