Compression of low-temperature spheromak plasmas has been studied with the aid of a zero-dimensional two-fluid computer code. The major direct effect of compression is to raise the current and plasma densities, keeping their ratios constant. Above critical pre-compression values of the electron temperature, Te, and the product of electron density and particle confinement time, neτp, the rising plasma density shifts the impurity ions to higher ionization states, with correspondingly lower radiative losses. High post-compression temperatures may thus be achieved. In oxygen radiation-dominated plasmas with pre-compression values above the critical ones, and with constant τp, the electron temperature can be increased by up to a factor of seven for a compression of a factor of two. This can be compared with a factor-of-four temperature rise expected for adiabatic compression. If the energy balance is dominated by particle confinement losses rather than radiation losses, the effect of compression is to raise the temperature as Te ∼ C6/5, for constant τp.
Effectiveness of adiabatic heating combining minor radius compression and major radius compression of a toroidal plasma