Quasi-Helically Symmetric Stellarator Optimization with Poloidal Field Coils
Abstract
Quasi-symmetry provides a pathway for improved neoclassical confinement in stellarators. Recent work has indicated that combining optimization of quasi-helical symmetry and minimization of the radial drift velocity can lead to configurations with improved neoclassical confinement and improved confinement of energetic particles. An effort is underway to develop coil configurations that both optimize the physics and meet engineering constraints. The FOCUS code was developed to flexibly explore the configuration space in coil optimization. In this work, the FOCUS code will be used to develop and analyze coil configurations for five-field period configurations with quasi-symmetry and enhanced energetic particle confinement. We will examine modular coil configurations with and without a set of poloidal field coils and analyze the effects of different coil configurations on Ideal MHD stability, neoclassical transport and energetic particle confinement. This work will include optimization of a coil set for a midscale stellarator experiment and the development of a coil set for a reactor scale device.
Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Grant DE-FG02-03ER54699 at the University of Montana and Grants DE-FG02-99ER54546 and DE-FG02-93ER54222 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.- Publication:
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APS Division of Plasma Physics Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020APS..DPPJ13084W