Compact Toroid Injection for Particle Fueling in C-2W

In TAE Technologies’ current experimental device, C-2W (also called “Norman”) [1], record-breaking, advanced beam-driven field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasmas are produced and sustained in steady-state utilizing variable energy neutral beams, advanced divertors, end bias electrodes, and an active plasma control system. Particle fueling is a crucial component of sustaining the FRC. The gas puff method distributes the excess gas around the FRC and interacts with the fast ions that move inside and outside separatrix radius. As an alternative particle fueling mechanism, the compact toroid injector (CTI) system has been in development since the C-2 device [2]. On C-2W, the CTI is installed on a quasi-axial port in the conical section of the confinement vessel. The injected CT moves along the confinement field lines and advances towards the X-point of the FRC rather than across the field as in the previous installation. Therefore, we expect that this will improve the CTI’s particle fueling efficiency. The details of the experimental setup and the first results of the quasi-axial injection will be presented and discussed.

[1] H. Gota et al., Nucl Fusion, 59, 11 (2019)

[2] T. Asai et al., Nucl Fusion, 57, 076018 (2017)