Power requirements for current drive
- 1 March 1988
- journal article
- research article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Physics of Fluids
- Vol. 31 (3) , 591-595
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.866841
Abstract
General formulas for the efficiency of current drive in toroidal plasmas are derived using entropy arguments. The highest possible efficiency for current drive in which a high‐energy electron tail is formed is shown to be p=Erj, with p and j the power and current densities and Er≊0.09n14 V/m with n14 the electron density in units of 1014/cm.3 The electric field required to maintain the current in a runaway discharge is also shown to equal Er. If the plasma current is carried by near‐Maxwellian electrons, waves that have a low phase velocity, compared to the energy of the electrons with which they interact, can drive a current with Ohmic efficiency, p=ηj2. Such waves were first discussed in the context of current drive by Fisch [Rev. Mod. Phys. 5 9, 175 (1987)].Keywords
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