The Translation Confinement Sustainment experiment (TCS) was a plasma physics experiment at the University of Washington's Redmond Plasma Physics Laboratory from 2002 until 2009. The experiment studied magnetic plasma confinement to support controlled

nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles ( neutrons or protons). The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manife ...

experiments. Specifically, TCS pioneered the sustainment and heating of a

Field-Reversed Configuration A field-reversed configuration (FRC) is a type of plasma device studied as a means of producing nuclear fusion. It confines a plasma on closed magnetic field lines without a central penetration. In an FRC, the plasma has the form of a self-stabl ...

(FRC) by

Rotating Magnetic Field A rotating magnetic field is the resultant magnetic field produced by a system of coils symmetrically placed and supplied with polyphase currents. A rotating magnetic field can be produced by a poly-phase (two or more phases) current or by a singl ...

(RMF). The experiment was upgraded in 2006 to form the Translation Confinement Sustainment experiment -Upgraded (TCS-U).

Background

FRCs Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal ...

are of interest to the plasma physics community because of their confinement properties and their small size. While most large fusion experiments in the world are

tokamaks A tokamak (; russian: токамáк; otk, 𐱃𐰸𐰢𐰴, Toḳamaḳ) is a device which uses a powerful magnetic field to confine plasma in the shape of a torus. The tokamak is one of several types of magnetic confinement devices being ...

, FRCs are seen as a viable alternative because of their higher Beta, meaning the same power output could be produced from a smaller volume of plasma, and their good

plasma stability The stability of a plasma is an important consideration in the study of plasma physics. When a system containing a plasma is at equilibrium, it is possible for certain parts of the plasma to be disturbed by small perturbative forces acting on it ...

History

In the 1990s, the Large-S Experiment (LSX) had demonstrated that there exist kinetically stabilized regimes of operation in which FRC reactors could operate. However, the LSX used a method of forming FRCs called a theta-pinch, which does not allow FRCs to be further sustained and heated. The

US Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United States. ...

funded the TCS program as an extension of LSX, in order to demonstrate the RMF method of sustaining FRCs formed via the theta-pinch method. TCS was contemporary with other RMF-FRCs such as the STX, the PV Rotamak, and the PFRC.

References

{{reflist Physics experiments University of Washington projects Projects established in 2002 Projects disestablished in 2009