A nearly one-and-one-half-dimensional confinement model for field-reversed configurations

A global confinement model is developed for a field-reversed configuration (FRC) using a quasistatic profile assumption and assuming a realistic two-dimensional equilibrium. Since the associated computational problem is modest, the model is useful as a fast tool for interpreting experimental results and extracting confinement trends. Its predictions compare well with a fully time-dependent 1 (1)/(2) -dimensional computation. The results are compared with results from a similar previous model that employed a crude ‘‘square-ends’’ equilibrium. Generic confinement relationships between resistivity and its profile, and the confinement of particles and poloidal flux are found.