High-β, large current amplification sustained spheromak equilibria with Mercier stable pressure profiles and plasma shaping

High-β sustained spheromak configurations are of interest for fusion energy applications due to the potential for high fusion power densities with modest magnetic flux densities generated primarily by internal plasma currents instead of external coil sets. For a sustained spheromak making use of magnetic helicity injection current drive (HICD), both high current amplification and efficient power coupling are needed for attractive fusion operating points with low recirculating power and reasonable engineering requirements. Driven resonant current amplification is studied in sustained spheromak equilibria with both hollow and uniform λ-profiles and Mercier stable pressure profiles. Both current profile and plasma shaping are used in a variety of flux conserver geometries to optimize sustained spheromak equilibria with high-β and large current amplification. Additionally, preliminary stability analyses of optimized equilibria will be provided. Lastly, an example use case of this framework to optimize the design of a next-generation Proof-Of-Concept (POC) sustained spheromak experiment will be presented.