Fusion Variable Game: Challenge Your Score at Princeton Plasma Physics Lab!

[theCandyman]

I was reading about the undergraduate research opportunity at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and I ran across this fun flash game. It simulates a tokamak, and you can control the power used for heating, magnetic field intensity, and plasma density.

http://ippex.pppl.gov/tokamak/tokamak.htm

So far, mostly through entering numbers and optimizing each one and then readjusting the others, the highest score I have gotten is 102.80. I was going to go to Matlab and graph how each variable changes the score and the temperature, but I have found that adjusting one of the others just a little affects the plasma so that while I might make a change that would look like it helps, it may have the opposite effect.

Here is the set up for my highest score:
Auxiliary power: 7.58 [MW]
Plasma Density: 2.41 [10^20 / m^3]
Magnetic field: 14 [T]

I know that a higher one can be achieved, because the page claims that the highest score achieved was 148; 168 if you use a bug in the program.

In the help section it mentions that temperature and plasma density is dependent on the strength of the magnetic field, and I assumed that if the magnetic field increases, so do the limits for temperature and plasma density. I could gather a bunch of data from a bunch of points, but I would like to think there is an easier way to guess a good value. Anyone have suggestions?

 

[Astronuc]

The magnetic field applies pressure to the plasma, and the plasma pressure is based on nkT as one might guess. In addition, the energy losses due to bremstrahlung, cyclotron radiation, particle diffusion also increase with n, T, and cyclotron rad increases also with B.

One would have to know the energy loss terms in addition to the energy production term. There is a maximum point on the function described by the sum of these terms.

Is there a limit on magnitude of B?

Also, does it have neutral beam injection?

 

[theCandyman]

The limit of the magnetic field is 14 Tesla, there is not anything said about how the plasma is heated, only the option to adjust the power to heating.