Blob motion and control in simple magnetized plasmas

The radial propagation of plasma blobs and possibilities of influencing it are investigated in the TORPEX toroidal experiment [Fasoli et al., Phys. Plasmas 13, 055902 (2006)]. The effect of changing the connection length and the neutral background pressure on blob velocity is measured and trends are found to agree with predictions from a previous study [Theiler et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 065001, (2009)]. Effects on blob motion due to a change in limiter material and geometry are also discussed. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3562944]