Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment

Cross section of the SSPX vacuum vessel

The Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment (SSPX) is a program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States established to investigate spheromak plasma.[1]

A spheromak device produces a plasma in magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium mainly through self-induced plasma currents, as opposed to a tokamak device which depends on large externally generated magnetic fields.[2] The series of experiments examines the potential for a spheromak device to contain fusion fuel. According to a 1999 abstract,

The Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment, SSPX , will study spheromak physics with particular attention to energy confinement and magnetic fluctuations in a spheromak sustained by electrostatic helicity injection.[3]

See also

  • Magnetohydrodynamics
  • Magnetic helicity
  • Magnetic reconnection
  • Turbulence

References

  1. ^ Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment - SSPX Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine MFEScience. 2008-03-27.
  2. ^ Experiment mimics nature's way with plasmas LLNL. 2008-03-27.
  3. ^ (ICP/04) Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment Archived 2008-11-21 at the Wayback Machine IAEA. 2008-03-27.

External links

  • Science@Livermore - Press release
  • Fusion Energy Program publications
  • The Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment: A Short Overview at the Wayback Machine (archived September 17, 2006)
  • Romero-Talamas, Investigations of Spheromak plasma dynamics, Ph.D. thesis
  • Selected abstracts:
    • Romero-Talamas, Spheromak formation and sustainment studies
    • Wang, Large-amplitude electron density
    • Hooper, Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment
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