Overview of the C-2W Experimental Program

TAE Technologies, Inc. (TAE) pursues an alternate approach to magnetically-confined fusion, relying on field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasmas. TAE’s current experimental device, C-2W [1], has made significant progress in FRC performance. The superior performance of C-2W to its predecessor, C-2U, is due to several factors. 1) NBs and edge-biasing systems, where higher total plasma energy is obtained by increasing NB injection power and applied-voltage on electrodes. 2) A feedback control system implemented to produce consistent FRC performance and reliable machine operation; the system controls magnet currents, electrode voltages/currents, fueling rates, and NB energy; it has also demonstrated stabilization of self-imposed axial instabilities. 3) C-2W divertors have demonstrated excellent electron heat confinement on open field via magnetic mirrors and a highly expanded field in the divertors (ratio > 30); the energy lost per electron ion pair, ??~6-8, is achieved, which is close to the ideal theoretical minimum. 4) A machine-learning framework for experimental optimization, which was developed in collaboration with Google.

[1] H. Gota et al., Nucl. Fusion 59, 112009 (2019)