Trace impurity transport in multi-species plasmas with large particle fluxes

E. Litvinova Mitra, E. J. Kolmes, I. E. Ochs, M. E. Mlodik, T. Rubin, N. J. Fisch

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3 Scopus citations

Abstract

A burning fusion plasma has a large inwards flux of fuel and outwards flux of ash. Existing impurity transport theories do not account for a steady-state environment of such large fluxes. In this paper, we extend classical transport theory to account for a background of such fluxes. In a mainly two-ion species magnetized plasma, with oppositely directed density gradients maintained by oppositely directed sources of the two species, trace impurity ions are shown to align with the larger mass ions. This unexpected behavior is derived analytically and simulated numerically using the MITNS (Multiple-Ion Transport Numerical Solver) code. The result suggests a potential advantage of edge-fueled p-B11 fusion in extracting high-Z impurities, and possible applications in plasma-based separation methods.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number127284
JournalPhysics Letters, Section A: General, Atomic and Solid State Physics
Volume398
DOIs
StatePublished - May 17 2021

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Physics and Astronomy

Keywords

  • Impurity transport
  • Magnetized plasma
  • Multiple species plasma
  • Particle flux
  • Trace impurity

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