Non-inductively driven tokamak plasmas at near-unity βt in the P egasus toroidal experiment

• Published in: Physics of plasmas 2018-05, Vol.25 (5)
• Main Authors: Reusch, J. A., Bodner, G. M., Bongard, M. W., Burke, M. G., Fonck, R. J., Pachicano, J. L., Perry, J. M., Pierren, C., Rhodes, A. T., Richner, N. J., Rodriguez Sanchez, C., Schlossberg, D. J., Weberski, J. D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1070-664X; 1089-7674
• DOI: 10.1063/1.5017966

A major goal of the spherical tokamak (ST) research program is accessing a state of low internal inductance ℓi, high elongation κ, and high toroidal and normalized beta (βt and βN) without solenoidal current drive. Local helicity injection (LHI) in the Pegasus ST [Garstka et al., Nucl. Fusion 46, S603 (2006)] provides non-solenoidally driven plasmas that exhibit these characteristics. LHI utilizes compact, edge-localized current sources for plasma startup and sustainment. It results in hollow current density profiles with low ℓi. The low aspect ratio (R0/a∼1.2) of Pegasus allows access to high κ and high normalized plasma currents (IN=Ip/aBT>14). Magnetic reconnection during LHI provides auxiliary ion heating. Together, these features provide access to very high βt plasmas. Equilibrium analyses indicate that βt up to ∼100% is achieved. These high βt discharges disrupt at the ideal no-wall β limit at βN∼7.