Collisional alpha transport in a weakly non-quasisymmetric stellarator magnetic field

2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Catto
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Collision Frequency ◽  
Alpha Particles ◽  
Slowing Down ◽  
Tail Distribution ◽  
Strong Motivation ◽  
Particle Confinement ◽  
Background Ions

Alpha particle confinement is a serious concern in stellarators and provides strong motivation for optimizing magnetic field configurations. In addition to the collisionless confinement of trapped alphas in stellarators, excessive collisional transport of the trapped alpha particles must be avoided while they tangentially drift due to the magnetic gradient (the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D735}B$ drift). The combination of pitch angle scatter off the background ions and the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D735}B$ drift gives rise to two narrow boundary layers in the trapped region. The first is at the trapped–passing boundary and enables the finite trapped response to be matched to the vanishing passing response of the alphas. The second layer is a region that encompasses the somewhat more deeply trapped alphas with vanishing tangential $\unicode[STIX]{x1D735}B$ drift. Away from (and between) these boundary layers, collisions are ineffective and the alpha $\unicode[STIX]{x1D735}B$ drift simply balances the small radial drift of the trapped alphas. As this balance does not vanish as the trapped–passing boundary is approached, the first collisional boundary layer is necessary and gives rise to $\surd \unicode[STIX]{x1D708}$ transport, with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D708}$ the collision frequency. The vanishing of the tangential drift results in a separate, somewhat wider boundary layer, and significantly stronger superbanana plateau transport that is independent of collisionality. The constraint imposed by the need to avoid significant energy depletion loss in the slowing down tail distribution function sets the allowed departure of a stellarator from an optimal quasisymmetric configuration.

scholarly journals Characteristics of the near-tail dawn magnetopause and boundary layer

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 1481-1497 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Paschmann ◽  
S. Haaland ◽  
B. U. Ö. Sonnerup ◽  
H. Hasegawa ◽  
E. Georgescu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Dynamic Range ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Thickness Variation ◽  
Magnetic Shear ◽  
Important Conclusion ◽  
Average Value

Abstract. The paper discusses properties of the near-tail dawnside and boundary layer, as obtained from Cluster plasma and magnetic field measurements during a single skimming orbit on 4 and 5 July 2001 that included 24 well-defined crossings by all four spacecraft. As a result of variations of the interplanetary magnetic field, the magnetic shear across the local varied between ~0° and ~180°. Using an improved method, which takes into account acceleration and thickness variation, we have determined the orientation, speed, thickness and current for the 96 individual crossings. The orientations show clear evidence of surface waves. Magnetopause thicknesses range from ~100 to ~2500km, with an average of 753km. The speeds range from less than 10up to more than 300, with an average of 48. Both results are consistent with earlier ISEE and AMPTE results obtained for the dayside magnetopause. Importantly, scaling the thicknesses to the ion gyro radius or the ion inertial length did not reduce the large dynamic range. There is also no significant dependence of thickness on magnetic shear. Current densities range from ~0.01 up to ~0.3uA, with an average value of 0.05 . By including some extra crossings that did not involve all four spacecraft, we were able to apply the Walén test to a total of 60 by Cluster 1 and 3, and have classified 19 cases as rotational discontinuities (RDs), of which 12 and 7 were sunward and tailward of an X-line, respectively. Of these 60 crossings, 26 show no trace of a boundary layer. The only with substantial boundary layers are into the plasma mantle. Of the 26 without a boundary layer, 8 were identified as RDs. Since reconnection produces wedge-shaped boundary layers emanating from the X-line, RDs without may be considered close to the X-line, in which case the observed magnetic shear and Alfvén Mach number should be representative of the conditions at the X-line itself. It is therefore important that four of the eight cases had shear angles ≤100, i.e. the reconnecting fields were far from being anti-parallel, and that all eight cases had Alfvén Mach numbers MA>1 in the adjoining magnetosheath. Another important conclusion can be drawn from the without a that were tangential discontinuities (TDs). To observe TDs with no at such large distances from the subsolar point appears to rule out diffusion over large portions of the as an effective means for plasma transport across the magnetopause.

scholarly journals Boundary-layer Acceleration and Particle Mirroring in Pulsar Magnetospheres

1981 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 317 ◽  
Author(s):  
RR Burman
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Crab Pulsar ◽  
Number Density ◽  
Southern Boundary ◽  
Axis Of Rotation ◽  
Electron Positron ◽  
Electrons And Ions ◽  
Field Lines

Where the number density of a species becomes very small, inertial development of vorticity occurs; so a magnetospheric zone in which a species is contained must be enclosed by a vortical boundary layer. Where zones of corotating electrons and ions abut, there exists a large local non-corotational electric field, directed so as to force a merging of the electron and ion boundary layers. The poloidalaccelerations and azimuthal drift velocities generated in these layers are estimated here. Ions are accelerated to nonrelativistic or mildly relativistic poloidal speeds, then penetrate into the electron corotation zones where they are centrifugally decelerated as they travel approximately along magnetic field lines. They mirror between points above the stellar surface and the boundary layer, resumably moving to lower magnetic field lines until they reach the star. Electrons are accelerated to poloidal speeds that are relativistic for istances from the axis of rotation exceeding about 1/30 of the radius of the light cylinder. They enter the ion corotation zone where they are further accelerated as they travel approximately along outgoing portions of the closed magnetic field lines, and are then decelerated on ingoing portions. They mirror between the northern and southern boundary layers, presumably moving to lower magnetic field lines until they reach the star. The electrons in the outer parts of the ion.zone are very highly relativistic and emit gamma radiation which, in the case of the Crab pulsar, might create electron-positron pairs.

Reimagining full wave rf quasilinear theory in a tokamak

2021 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Catto ◽  
Elizabeth A. Tolman
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Collision Frequency ◽  
Velocity Space ◽  
Wave Number ◽  
Temporal Behaviour ◽  
Full Wave ◽  
Effective Collision Frequency ◽  
Space Boundary ◽  
Effective Collision

The velocity dependent resonant interaction of particles with applied radiofrequency (rf) waves during heating and current drive in the presence of pitch angle scattering collisions gives rise to narrow collisional velocity space boundary layers that dramatically enhance the role of collisions as recently shown by Catto (J. Plasma Phys., vol. 86, 2020, 815860302). The behaviour is a generalization of the narrow collisional boundary layer that forms during Landau damping as found by Johnston (Phys. Fluids, vol. 14, 1971, pp. 2719–2726) and Auerbach (Phys. Fluids, vol. 20, 1977, pp. 1836–1844). For a wave of parallel wave number ${k_{||}}$ interacting with weakly collisional plasma species of collision frequency $\nu$ and thermal speed ${v_{\textrm{th}}}$ , the effective collision frequency becomes of order $\nu {({k_{||}}{v_{th}}/\nu )^{2/3}} \gg \nu $ . The narrow boundary layers that arise because of the diffusive nature of the collisions allow a physically meaningful wave–particle interaction time to be defined that is the inverse of this effective collision frequency. The collisionality implied by the narrow boundary layer results in changes in the standard quasilinear treatment of applied rf fields in tokamaks while remaining consistent with causality. These changes occur because successive poloidal interactions with the rf are correlated in tokamak geometry and because the resonant velocity space dependent interactions are controlled by the spatial and temporal behaviour of the perturbed full wave fields rather than just the spatially local Landau and Doppler shifted cyclotron wave–particle resonance condition associated with unperturbed motion of the particles. The correlation of successive poloidal circuits of the tokamak leads to the appearance in the quasilinear operator of transit averaged resonance conditions localized in velocity space boundary layers that maintain negative definite entropy production.

Collisional alpha transport in a weakly rippled magnetic field

2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Catto
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Pitch Angle ◽  
High Field ◽  
Fusion Reactor ◽  
Alpha Particles ◽  
Boundary Layer Problem ◽  
Self Consistent ◽  
Consistent Manner ◽  
Layer Problem

To properly treat the collisional transport of alpha particles due to a weakly rippled tokamak magnetic field the tangential magnetic drift due to its gradient (the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D735}B$ drift) and pitch angle scatter must be retained. Their combination gives rise to a narrow boundary layer in which collisions are able to match the finite trapped response to the ripple to the vanishing passing response of the alphas. Away from this boundary layer collisions are ineffective. There the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D735}B$ drift of the alphas balances the small radial drift of the trapped alphas caused by the ripple. A narrow collisional boundary layer is necessary since this balance does not allow the perturbed trapped alpha distribution function to vanish at the trapped–passing boundary. The solution of this boundary layer problem allows the alpha transport fluxes to be evaluated in a self-consistent manner to obtain meaningful constraints on the ripple allowable in a tokamak fusion reactor. A key result of the analysis is that collisional alpha losses are insensitive to the ripple near the equatorial plane on the outboard side where the ripple is high. As the high field side ripple is normally very small, collisional $\sqrt{\unicode[STIX]{x1D708}}$ ripple transport is unlikely to be a serious issue.

On magnetohydrodynamic flows with aligned magnetic fields

1964 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. B. Glauert
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Flow Patterns ◽  
Basic Flow ◽  
Conducting Fluid ◽  
Magnetic Diffusivity ◽  
Magnetohydrodynamic Flows ◽  
Aligned Magnetic Field

The boundary layers due to finite viscosity and magnetic diffusivity are studied in relation to two models of the flow of a conducting fluid past a body in an aligned magnetic field. In each case it is deduced that the growth of the boundary layer may have substantial effects, such as to raise doubts about the validity of the assumed basic flow patterns.

The Departure from Equilibrium of Turbulent Boundary Layers

1968 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Shear Stress ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Stress Distribution ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Turbulent Boundary Layers ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Pressure Distributions ◽  
Momentum Integral ◽  
State Examination

SummaryRecently two authors, Nash and Goldberg, have suggested, intuitively, that the rate at which the shear stress distribution in an incompressible, two-dimensional, turbulent boundary layer would return to its equilibrium value is directly proportional to the extent of the departure from the equilibrium state. Examination of the behaviour of the integral properties of the boundary layer supports this hypothesis. In the present paper a relationship similar to the suggestion of Nash and Goldberg is derived from the local balance of the kinetic energy of the turbulence. Coupling this simple derived relationship to the boundary layer momentum and moment-of-momentum integral equations results in quite accurate predictions of the behaviour of non-equilibrium turbulent boundary layers in arbitrary adverse (given) pressure distributions.

scholarly journals Drift kinetic theory of alpha transport by tokamak perturbations

2021 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Tolman ◽  
Peter J. Catto
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Kinetic Theory ◽  
Alpha Particle ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Alpha Particles ◽  
Alpha Power ◽  
Mode Amplitude ◽  
Effective Collision Frequency ◽  
Perturbation Frequency ◽  
Particle Confinement

Upcoming tokamak experiments fuelled with deuterium and tritium are expected to have large alpha particle populations. Such experiments motivate new attention to the theory of alpha particle confinement and transport. A key topic is the interaction of alpha particles with perturbations to the tokamak fields, including those from ripple and magnetohydrodynamic modes like Alfvén eigenmodes. These perturbations can transport alphas, leading to changed localization of alpha heating, loss of alpha power and damage to device walls. Alpha interaction with these perturbations is often studied with single-particle theory. In contrast, we derive a drift kinetic theory to calculate the alpha heat flux resulting from arbitrary perturbation frequency and periodicity (provided these can be studied drift kinetically). Novel features of the theory include the retention of a large effective collision frequency resulting from the resonant alpha collisional boundary layer, correlated interactions over many poloidal transits and finite orbit effects. Heat fluxes are considered for the example cases of ripple and the toroidal Alfvén eigenmode (TAE). The ripple heat flux is small. The TAE heat flux is significant and scales with the square of the perturbation amplitude, allowing the derivation of constraints on mode amplitude for avoidance of significant alpha depletion. A simple saturation condition suggests that TAEs in one upcoming experiment will not cause significant alpha transport via the mechanisms in this theory. However, saturation above the level suggested by the simple condition, but within numerical and experimental experience, which could be accompanied by the onset of stochasticity, could cause significant transport.

Laminar boundary layers behind detonation waves

1983 ◽  
Vol 387 (1793) ◽  
pp. 331-349 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Detonation Waves ◽  
Planar Geometry ◽  
Laminar Boundary Layers ◽  
Spherical Detonation ◽  
Layer Flow

New solutions are presented for non-stationary boundary layers induced by planar, cylindrical and spherical Chapman-Jouguet (C-J) detonation waves. The numerical results show that the Prandtl number ( Pr ) has a very significant influence on the boundary-layer-flow structure. A comparison with available time-dependent heat-transfer measurements in a planar geometry in a 2H 2 + O 2 mixture shows much better agreement with the present analysis than has been obtained previously by others. This lends confidence to the new results on boundary layers induced by cylindrical and spherical detonation waves. Only the spherical-flow analysis is given here in detail for brevity.

scholarly journals Computational Modeling of Boundary Layer Flashback in a Swirling Stratified Flame Using a LES-Based Non-Adiabatic Tabulated Chemistry Approach

Entropy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 567
Author(s):  
Xudong Jiang ◽  
Yihao Tang ◽  
Zhaohui Liu ◽  
Venkat Raman
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Heat Loss ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Predictive Accuracy ◽  
Safety Issue ◽  
Combustion Model ◽  
Tabulated Chemistry ◽  
Lean Fuel ◽  
Flame Flashback

When operating under lean fuel–air conditions, flame flashback is an operational safety issue in stationary gas turbines. In particular, with the increased use of hydrogen, the propagation of the flame through the boundary layers into the mixing section becomes feasible. Typically, these mixing regions are not designed to hold a high-temperature flame and can lead to catastrophic failure of the gas turbine. Flame flashback along the boundary layers is a competition between chemical reactions in a turbulent flow, where fuel and air are incompletely mixed, and heat loss to the wall that promotes flame quenching. The focus of this work is to develop a comprehensive simulation approach to model boundary layer flashback, accounting for fuel–air stratification and wall heat loss. A large eddy simulation (LES) based framework is used, along with a tabulation-based combustion model. Different approaches to tabulation and the effect of wall heat loss are studied. An experimental flashback configuration is used to understand the predictive accuracy of the models. It is shown that diffusion-flame-based tabulation methods are better suited due to the flashback occurring in relatively low-strain and lean fuel–air mixtures. Further, the flashback is promoted by the formation of features such as flame tongues, which induce negative velocity separated boundary layer flow that promotes upstream flame motion. The wall heat loss alters the strength of these separated flows, which in turn affects the flashback propensity. Comparisons with experimental data for both non-reacting cases that quantify fuel–air mixing and reacting flashback cases are used to demonstrate predictive accuracy.

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