| Field-Reversed Configurations (FRCs) can be used to fuel tokamaks by accelerating them to velocities high enough to penetrate the toroidal field, as demonstrated in the TRAP experiment at this laboratory1. In this thesis we examine in detail, using numerical and analytical models, the physics of the acceleration and compression phases of an FRC fueler. The sources of entropy increase are emphasized since the energy required to penetrate a tokamak is inversely proportional to the density of the FRC, which is reduced by entropy increases. Acceleration of the FRC in a segmented, stepped, accelerator was found to be highly non-isentropic, and methods of minimizing entropy increases were developed and simulated using the MOQUI code. The effects of acceleration on flux and particle lifetimes were also studied and large density gradients developed during acceleration were found to reduce lifetimes beyond the rs2 scaling one would expect for compressions used in acceleration. Finally, several fueling systems were tested and evaluated using the MOQUI code for the DIII-D, JET, and ITER tokamaks, and recommendations are made for optimized DIII-D and JET fuelers.; 1A. L. Hoffman, P. A. Gurevich, J. A. Grossnickle, and J. T. Slough, Inductive Field-Reversed Configuration Accelerator for Tokamak Fueling, Fusion Technology, 36, 109 (1999). |
