Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment
Encyclopedia
The Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment is a program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
in the United States to investigate spheromak
plasma
.
A spheromak device produces a plasma in magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium mainly through self-induced plasma currents
, as opposed to a tokamak
device which depends on large externally-generated magnetic fields. The series of experiments examines the potential for a spheromak device to contain fusion
fuel. According to a 1999 abstract,
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , just outside Livermore, California, is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center founded by the University of California in 1952...
in the United States to investigate spheromak
Spheromak
A spheromak is an arrangement of plasma formed into a toroidal shape similar to a smoke ring. The spheromak contains large internal electrical currents and their associated magnetic fields arranged so the magnetohydrodynamic forces within the spheromak are nearly balanced, resulting in long-lived ...
plasma
Plasma (physics)
In physics and chemistry, plasma is a state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles are ionized. Heating a gas may ionize its molecules or atoms , thus turning it into a plasma, which contains charged particles: positive ions and negative electrons or ions...
.
A spheromak device produces a plasma in magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium mainly through self-induced plasma currents
Electric current
Electric current is a flow of electric charge through a medium.This charge is typically carried by moving electrons in a conductor such as wire...
, as opposed to a tokamak
Tokamak
A tokamak is a device using a magnetic field to confine a plasma in the shape of a torus . Achieving a stable plasma equilibrium requires magnetic field lines that move around the torus in a helical shape...
device which depends on large externally-generated magnetic fields. The series of experiments examines the potential for a spheromak device to contain fusion
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...
fuel. According to a 1999 abstract,
- The Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment, SSPX , will study spheromak physics with particular attention to energy confinement and magnetic fluctuations in a spheromak sustained by electrostatic helicity injection.
See also
- MagnetohydrodynamicsMagnetohydrodynamicsMagnetohydrodynamics is an academic discipline which studies the dynamics of electrically conducting fluids. Examples of such fluids include plasmas, liquid metals, and salt water or electrolytes...
- Magnetic helicityMagnetic helicityIn plasma physics, magnetic helicity is the extent to which a magnetic field "wraps around itself". It is a generalization of the topological concept of linking number to the differential quantities required to describe the magnetic field...
- Magnetic reconnectionMagnetic reconnectionMagnetic reconnection is a physical process in highly conducting plasmas in which the magnetic topology is rearranged and magnetic energy is converted to kinetic energy, thermal energy, and particle acceleration...
- TurbulenceTurbulenceIn fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic and stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time...
External links
- Science@Livermore - Press release
- Fusion Energy Program publications
- The Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment: A Short Overview
- Romero-Talamas, Investigations of Spheromak plasma dynamics, Ph.D. thesis
- Selected abstracts: