Generalized parallel heat transport equations in collisional to weakly collisional plasmas

A new set of two-fluid heat transport equations that is valid from collisional to weakly collisional limits is derived. Starting from gyrokinetic equations in flux coordinates, a set of moment equations describing plasma energy transport along the field lines of a space- and time-dependent magnetic field is derived. No restrictions on the anisotropy of the ion distribution function or collisionality are imposed. In the highly collisional limit, these equations reduce to the classical heat conduction equation (e.g., Spitzer and Härm or Braginskii), while in the weakly collisional limit, they describe a saturated heat flux (flux limited). Numerical examples comparing these equations with conventional heat transport equations show that in the limit where the ratio of the mean free path λ to the scale length of the temperature gradient L_T approaches zero, there is no significant difference between the solutions of the new and conventional heat transport equations. As λ/L_T→1, the conventional heat conduction equation contains a significantly larger error than (λ/L_T)². The error is found to be O(λ/L)², where L is the smallest of the scale lengths of the gradient in the magnetic field, or the macroscopic plasma parameters (e.g., velocity scale length, temperature scale length, and density scale length). The accuracy of the flux-limited model depends significantly on the value of the flux limit parameter which, in general, is not known. The new set of equations shows that the flux-limited parameter is a function of the magnetic field and plasma parameter profiles.