Pellet Rocket Effect in Magnetic Confinement Fusion Plasmas
Journal article, 2025
Pellets of frozen material traveling into a magnetically confined fusion plasma are accelerated by the so-called pellet rocket effect. The nonuniform plasma heats the pellet ablation cloud asymmetrically, producing pressure-driven, rocketlike propulsion of the pellet. We present a semianalytical model of this process by perturbing a spherically symmetric ablation model. Predicted pellet accelerations match experimental estimates in current tokamaks (∼105 m/s2). Projections for ITER high-confinement scenarios (∼106 m/s2) indicate significantly shorter pellet penetration than expected without this effect, which could limit the effectiveness of disruption mitigation.
Author
Nico Guth
Max Planck Society
Chalmers, Physics, Subatomic, High Energy and Plasma Physics
Oskar Vallhagen
Chalmers, Physics, Subatomic, High Energy and Plasma Physics
Per Helander
Max Planck Society
Istvan Pusztai
Chalmers, Physics, Subatomic, High Energy and Plasma Physics
Sarah Newton
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
Chalmers, Physics, Subatomic, High Energy and Plasma Physics
Tünde-Maria Fülöp
University of Oxford
Merton College
Chalmers, Physics, Subatomic, High Energy and Plasma Physics
Physical Review Letters
0031-9007 (ISSN) 1079-7114 (eISSN)
Vol. 134 3 035101Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Fusion, Plasma and Space Physics
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.035101
PubMed
39927946