Secondary electron emission detectors for neutral beam characterization on C-2W.

Abstract

Heating, current drive, and partial fueling from neutral beam injection are essential to sustainment of C-2W field-reversed configuration plasmas. C-2W has eight 2.1 MW neutral beams (16.8 MW of total electrical power), capable of providing a beam of 15 keV hydrogen neutrals for 30 ms. To maximize the effectiveness of neutral beam injection, duct losses must be minimized by maintaining beam alignment and optimizing beam current for minimum divergence. Each beam terminates on a vertical and horizontal array of secondary electron emission detectors (nine in the vertical, seven in the horizontal, and sharing one in the middle). The molybdenum detectors are spatially separated to characterize the beam size and alignment. With knowledge of the geometry of the vacuum ducts and horizontal and vertical beam profiles from test stand measurements, the focal length, divergence, and power loss were calculated. Through characterization, the set of neutral beams are optimized to inject up to 12 MW of power into the confinement vessel throughout the plasma discharge.