Fusion Reactors, Field Magnets Coils

In the Tokamak fusion reactor depicted in Fig. 21.9, electric current to the poloidal coils on the primary magnetic transformer generates the axial current in the secondary plasma composed of deuterium and tritium ions. These ions are heated to ignition temperature and then the reaction becomes self-sustaining. The toroidal field coil suspends the plasma away from the metal conducting walls. Contact with the wall would both cool the plasma below ignition temperature and contaminate the plasma with heavy ions. The relevant reactions are given below. 

Major components of a tokamak fusion reactor are shown here. Giant coils of superconducting metal create powerful magnetic fields that confine the superhot plasma—a hot gas of charged particles—in a magnetic bottle. ... 

One 45-kA conductor model has been constructed and its use for large energy storage magnets and poloidal field coils in fusion reactors is under investigation. 

The plasma in a fusion reactor must not touch the walls of its vacuum vessel, which would he vaporized. In the Tokamak fusion test reactor, the plasma is contained within a magnetic field shaped like a doughnut. The magnetic field is generated hy D-shaped coils around the vacuum vessel. 

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