ARC physics basis–magnetohydrodynamics.
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| Title: | ARC physics basis–magnetohydrodynamics. |
|---|---|
| Source: | Journal of Plasma Physics. Apr2026, Vol. 92 Issue 2, p1-32. 32p. |
| Subjects: | Magnetohydrodynamic instabilities, Magnetohydrodynamics, Plasma stability, Fusion reactors, Plasma instabilities, Coils (Magnetism) |
| Abstract: | ARC is designed to produce ${400}\,\textrm {MW}$ of net electricity and prove the commercial feasibility of a fusion power plant. In order to achieve this goal ARC has to operate with optimal core performance in a stationary scenario that minimises wear on the first wall and divertor. This requires avoiding or mitigating magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities which have the potential to not only degrade the plasma core but also lead to deleterious transient heat loads on plasma facing components. Therefore, this work aims at characterising the MHD stability of the high performance ARC scenario and inform the design of error field correction coils. Firstly, simulations of vertical displacement events show that an in-vessel coil is not needed and instead the poloidal shaping coils can be used to control vertical stability. These simulations also inform the demands on the corresponding coil power supplies. Stability analysis of the ideal kink mode with or without a conducting wall and kinetic effects suggests that the ARC baseline scenario operates deeply in the stable region. Using RDCON, tearing modes at the $m/n=2/1$ and $3/2$ surfaces (with poloidal mode number $m$ , and toroidal mode number $n$) are shown to be linearly stable, and including thermal transport effects in the rational surfaces lead to further stabilisation. However, other transient plasma instabilities can seed neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs). The marginally stable width of NTMs in ARC strongly depends on the internal inductance and can fall below ${0.1}{\,\,\%}$ of the normalised poloidal flux. Furthermore, an empirical cross-machine model of the $n=1$ error field leading to a disruption predicts a critical error field larger than SPARC but smaller than ITER. Three-dimensional coils can be designed with the Generalised Purturbed Equilbium Code based on a simple model that calculates the maximum correctable error field that is limited by the neoclassical toroidal viscosity torque. Broad scans of different coil geometries identify a set of 2 rows of off-midplane coils to be a suitable solution. It is also determined that such a set of three-dimensional coils is capable of correcting $n=2$ error fields to some degree and creating strong enough $n=2$ or $n=3$ edge resonant perturbation fields for the suppression of edge-localised modes at reasonable coil currents. The final design of the first ARC will be further informed by results from SPARC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of Plasma Physics is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Engineering Source |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: egs DbLabel: Engineering Source An: 193589749 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: ARC physics basis–magnetohydrodynamics. – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Plasma+Physics%22">Journal of Plasma Physics</searchLink>. Apr2026, Vol. 92 Issue 2, p1-32. 32p. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Magnetohydrodynamic+instabilities%22">Magnetohydrodynamic instabilities</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Magnetohydrodynamics%22">Magnetohydrodynamics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Plasma+stability%22">Plasma stability</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Fusion+reactors%22">Fusion reactors</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Plasma+instabilities%22">Plasma instabilities</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Coils+%28Magnetism%29%22">Coils (Magnetism)</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: ARC is designed to produce ${400}\,\textrm {MW}$ of net electricity and prove the commercial feasibility of a fusion power plant. In order to achieve this goal ARC has to operate with optimal core performance in a stationary scenario that minimises wear on the first wall and divertor. This requires avoiding or mitigating magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities which have the potential to not only degrade the plasma core but also lead to deleterious transient heat loads on plasma facing components. Therefore, this work aims at characterising the MHD stability of the high performance ARC scenario and inform the design of error field correction coils. Firstly, simulations of vertical displacement events show that an in-vessel coil is not needed and instead the poloidal shaping coils can be used to control vertical stability. These simulations also inform the demands on the corresponding coil power supplies. Stability analysis of the ideal kink mode with or without a conducting wall and kinetic effects suggests that the ARC baseline scenario operates deeply in the stable region. Using RDCON, tearing modes at the $m/n=2/1$ and $3/2$ surfaces (with poloidal mode number $m$ , and toroidal mode number $n$) are shown to be linearly stable, and including thermal transport effects in the rational surfaces lead to further stabilisation. However, other transient plasma instabilities can seed neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs). The marginally stable width of NTMs in ARC strongly depends on the internal inductance and can fall below ${0.1}{\,\,\%}$ of the normalised poloidal flux. Furthermore, an empirical cross-machine model of the $n=1$ error field leading to a disruption predicts a critical error field larger than SPARC but smaller than ITER. Three-dimensional coils can be designed with the Generalised Purturbed Equilbium Code based on a simple model that calculates the maximum correctable error field that is limited by the neoclassical toroidal viscosity torque. Broad scans of different coil geometries identify a set of 2 rows of off-midplane coils to be a suitable solution. It is also determined that such a set of three-dimensional coils is capable of correcting $n=2$ error fields to some degree and creating strong enough $n=2$ or $n=3$ edge resonant perturbation fields for the suppression of edge-localised modes at reasonable coil currents. The final design of the first ARC will be further informed by results from SPARC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Plasma Physics is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1017/S0022377826101421 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 32 StartPage: 1 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Magnetohydrodynamic instabilities Type: general – SubjectFull: Magnetohydrodynamics Type: general – SubjectFull: Plasma stability Type: general – SubjectFull: Fusion reactors Type: general – SubjectFull: Plasma instabilities Type: general – SubjectFull: Coils (Magnetism) Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: ARC physics basis–magnetohydrodynamics. Type: main BibRelationships: IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 04 Text: Apr2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00223778 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 92 – Type: issue Value: 2 Titles: – TitleFull: Journal of Plasma Physics Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
