Pinched plasma inside a neutral beam injector

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the feasibility of applying the sheared flow pinch concept from Zap Energy's reactor to neutral beam injectors (NBI). It concludes that while NBI accelerates ions and neutralizes them for plasma entry, compressing bare ions is significantly more challenging due to higher electrostatic repulsion compared to neutral plasma. Additionally, the efficiency of using microwaves for heating within an NBI context is questioned, as NBI's primary function is to add reactants and energy to tokamak plasma. The conversation emphasizes that RF heating is directly applied to the tokamak plasma using antennas.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of neutral beam injection (NBI) principles
  • Knowledge of plasma physics and electrostatic repulsion
  • Familiarity with RF heating techniques in tokamak systems
  • Basic concepts of kinetic energy transfer in plasma interactions
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the principles of neutral beam injection in fusion reactors
  • Study the mechanics of plasma compression and heating methods
  • Explore RF heating techniques used in tokamak reactors
  • Investigate the role of kinetic energy in plasma interactions and fusion processes
USEFUL FOR

Researchers in plasma physics, engineers working on fusion technology, and professionals involved in the design and optimization of neutral beam injectors.

Andrewtv848
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TL;DR
I was wondering if you could use a Z pinch as well as microwaves to heat a plasma inside a neutral beam injector?
Let me start this off with saying I am just a uneducated idiot, But after reading about Zap Energies sheared flow pinch reactor I was wondering if you could use a similar concept in a neutral beam injector? Like could you first compress and heat the plasma inside of a NBI using a pinch, then heat it using microwaves, accelerate it and neutralize it.
Its just a rough idea and I probably over looked something completely obvious but it would be nagging at me if I didn't ask.
thank you for your time,
Andrew
 
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Did you look at the basic articles with respect to this topic?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutral-beam_injection

Neutral beam injection actually accelerates the ions that it uses after it strips electrons from ions before the acceleration phase. Then once the ions are accelerated it reintroduces electrons so that the fast ions could enter the plasma without being deflected , because the charge on both protons and electrons is the same strength but the mass differs by a lot, so it is essential to accelerate the ions instead of electrons.
The gained kinetic energy then adds to the plasma energy by interactions.I don't believe your idea is meaningful because the NBI machine in of itself is a way to add reactants to the tokamak plasma while also adding energy to it.
+ to compress bare ions is much harder than to compress a plasma that is neutral also having electrons present because bare ions have higher electrostatic repulsion than if they are within a plasma that also has electrons.

On the microwaves part I'm not sure but I would believe that it wouldn't be efficient because the idea within a neutral beam injector is to cause the ion beam to gain linear momentum so that after recombination with electrons they can fly into the fusion plasma much like a car accelerates within the accelerating lane to flow within the highway traffic , only unlike a car on a highway the accelerated ions then interact with existing ones within the fusion plasma and share their energy.
RF heating is done directly to the tokamak plasma with antennas located on the inner sides of the tokamak chamber.
 

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