Tokamak Start-Up with Electron-Cyclotron Heating

D. J. Holly, S. C. Prager, D. A. Shepard, and J. C. Sprott
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States of America
(Manuscript received 16 March 1981; Final manuscript received 8 September 1981)

ABSTRACT

Experiments are described in which the start-up voltage in a tokamak is reduced by about a factor of two by the use of a modest amount of electron cyclotron resonance heating power for pre-ionization. The solution of the zero-dimensional start-up equations indicates that the effect is due to the high initial density which increases the rate at which the conductivity increases in the neutral-dominated initial plasma. The effect extrapolates favourably to larger tokamaks. A 50% reduction in the start-up volt-second requirement and impurity reflux is also observed.

Ref: D. J. Holly, S. C. Prager, D. A. Shepard, and J. C. Sprott, Nuclear Fusion 21, 1483-1487 (1981)

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