M. Romanelli

Bio: M. Romanelli is an academic researcher from Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. The author has contributed to research in topics: Tokamak & Jet (fluid). The author has an hindex of 25, co-authored 130 publications receiving 2272 citations. Previous affiliations of M. Romanelli include Eindhoven University of Technology & European Atomic Energy Community.

Overview of the JET results in support to ITER

Abstract: The 2014-2016 JET results are reviewed in the light of their significance for optimising the ITER research plan for the active and non-active operation. More than 60 h of plasma operation with ITER first wall materials successfully took place since its installation in 2011. New multi-machine scaling of the type I-ELM divertor energy flux density to ITER is supported by first principle modelling. ITER relevant disruption experiments and first principle modelling are reported with a set of three disruption mitigation valves mimicking the ITER setup. Insights of the L-H power threshold in Deuterium and Hydrogen are given, stressing the importance of the magnetic configurations and the recent measurements of fine-scale structures in the edge radial electric. Dimensionless scans of the core and pedestal confinement provide new information to elucidate the importance of the first wall material on the fusion performance. H-mode plasmas at ITER triangularity (H = 1 at β N ∼ 1.8 and n/n GW ∼ 0.6) have been sustained at 2 MA during 5 s. The ITER neutronics codes have been validated on high performance experiments. Prospects for the coming D-T campaign and 14 MeV neutron calibration strategy are reviewed.

JINTRAC: A System of Codes for Integrated Simulation of Tokamak Scenarios

Abstract: Operation and exploitation of present and future Tokamak reactors require advanced scenario modeling in order to optimize engineering parameters in the design phase as well as physics performance during the exploitation phase. The simulation of Tokamak scenarios involves simultaneous modeling of different regions of the reactor, characterized by different physics and symmetries, in order to predict quantities such as particle and energy confinement, fusion yield, power deposited on wall, wall load from fast particles. JINTRAC is a system of 25 interfaced Tokamak-physics codes for the integrated simulation of all phases of a Tokamak scenario. JINTRAC predictions reflect the physics and assumptions implemented in each module and extensive comparison with experimental data is needed to allow validation of the models and improvement of Tokamak-physics understanding. © 2014 The Japan Society of Plasma Science and Nuclear Fusion Research.

Tungsten transport in JET H-mode plasmas in hybrid scenario, experimental observations and modelling

Abstract: The behaviour of tungsten in the core of hybrid scenario plasmas in JET with the ITER-like wall is analysed and modelled with a combination of neoclassical and gyrokinetic codes In these discharges, good confinement conditions can be maintained only for the first 2?3?s of the high power phase Later W accumulation is regularly observed, often accompanied by the onset of magneto-hydrodynamical activity, in particular neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs), both of which have detrimental effects on the global energy confinement The dynamics of the accumulation process is examined, taking into consideration the concurrent evolution of the background plasma profiles, and the possible onset of NTMs Two time slices of a representative discharge, before and during the accumulation process, are analysed with two independent methods, in order to reconstruct the W density distribution over the poloidal cross-section The same time slices are modelled, computing both neoclassical and turbulent transport components and consistently including the impact of centrifugal effects, which can be significant in these plasmas, and strongly enhance W neoclassical transport The modelling closely reproduces the observations and identifies inward neoclassical convection due to the density peaking of the bulk plasma in the central region as the main cause of the accumulation The change in W neoclassical convection is directly produced by the transient behaviour of the main plasma density profile, which is hollow in the central region in the initial part of the high power phase of the discharge, but which develops a significant density peaking very close to the magnetic axis in the later phase The analysis of a large set of discharges provides clear indications that this effect is generic in this scenario The unfavourable impact of the onset of NTMs on the W behaviour, observed in several discharges, is suggested to be a consequence of a detrimental combination of the effects of neoclassical transport and of the appearance of an island

Gyrokinetic projection of the divertor heat-flux width from present tokamaks to ITER

Abstract: The XGC1 edge gyrokinetic code is used to study the width of the heat-flux to divertor plates in attached plasma condition. The flux-driven simulation is performed until an approximate power balance is achieved between the heat-flux across the steep pedestal pressure gradient and the heat-flux on the divertor plates. The simulation results compare well against the empirical scaling λ q 1/ obtained from present tokamak devices, where λ q is the divertor heat-flux width mapped to the outboard midplane, γ = 1.19 as found by Eich et al (2013 Nucl. Fusion 53 093031), and B P is the magnitude of the poloidal magnetic field at the outboard midplane separatrix surface. This empirical scaling predicts λ q 1 mm when extrapolated to ITER, which would require operation with very high separatrix densities (n sep/n Greenwald > 0.6) (Kukushkin et al 2013 J. Nucl. Mater. 438 S203) in the Q = 10 scenario to achieve semi-detached plasma operation and high radiative fractions for acceptable divertor power fluxes. Using the same simulation code and technique, however, the projected λ q for ITER's model plasma is 5.9 mm, which could be suggesting that operation in the ITER Q = 10 scenario with acceptable divertor power loads may be obtained over a wider range of plasma separatrix densities and radiative fractions. The physics reason behind this difference is, according to the XGC1 results, that while the ion magnetic drift contribution to the divertor heat-flux width is wider in the present tokamaks, the turbulent electron contribution is wider in ITER. Study will continue to verify further this important projection. A high current C-Mod discharge is found to be in a mixed regime: While the heat-flux width by the ion neoclassical magnetic drift is still wider than the turbulent electron heat-flux width, the heat-flux magnitude is dominated by the narrower electron heat-flux.

Soft X ray tomography during ELMs and impurity injection in JET

Abstract: The soft X ray diagnostic at JET views the plasma from six directions with a total of 215 lines of sight. The good coverage of the plasma makes it possible to make detailed tomographic reconstructions of the soft X ray emission during various conditions. One of the tomography methods applied at JET is discussed: a grid based constrained optimization method that uses anisotropic smoothness on flux surfaces as regularization. This method has made it possible to study in detail the transport of heavy trace impurities injected into the plasma by laser blow-off. Impurity injection experiments in hot ion H mode and optimized shear plasmas are presented and discussed. The addition of a number of features to the algorithm, notably a non-negativity constraint, has made it possible to reconstruct very localized soft X ray emission from the wall during edge localized modes (ELMs). The detectors suffer damage from the neutrons produced in deuterium-deuterium (DD) fusion reactions. This damage influences the sensitivity of the detectors, which makes it necessary to cross-calibrate the cameras. A method based on tomographic reconstructions has been developed to achieve the cross-calibration.

Phd by thesis

Abstract: Deposits of clastic carbonate-dominated (calciclastic) sedimentary slope systems in the rock record have been identified mostly as linearly-consistent carbonate apron deposits, even though most ancient clastic carbonate slope deposits fit the submarine fan systems better. Calciclastic submarine fans are consequently rarely described and are poorly understood. Subsequently, very little is known especially in mud-dominated calciclastic submarine fan systems. Presented in this study are a sedimentological core and petrographic characterisation of samples from eleven boreholes from the Lower Carboniferous of Bowland Basin (Northwest England) that reveals a >250 m thick calciturbidite complex deposited in a calciclastic submarine fan setting. Seven facies are recognised from core and thin section characterisation and are grouped into three carbonate turbidite sequences. They include: 1) Calciturbidites, comprising mostly of highto low-density, wavy-laminated bioclast-rich facies; 2) low-density densite mudstones which are characterised by planar laminated and unlaminated muddominated facies; and 3) Calcidebrites which are muddy or hyper-concentrated debrisflow deposits occurring as poorly-sorted, chaotic, mud-supported floatstones. These

Chapter 4: Power and particle control

Abstract: Progress, since the ITER Physics Basis publication (ITER Physics Basis Editors et al 1999 Nucl. Fusion 39 2137–2664), in understanding the processes that will determine the properties of the plasma edge and its interaction with material elements in ITER is described. Experimental areas where significant progress has taken place are energy transport in the scrape-off layer (SOL) in particular of the anomalous transport scaling, particle transport in the SOL that plays a major role in the interaction of diverted plasmas with the main-chamber material elements, edge localized mode (ELM) energy deposition on material elements and the transport mechanism for the ELM energy from the main plasma to the plasma facing components, the physics of plasma detachment and neutral dynamics including the edge density profile structure and the control of plasma particle content and He removal, the erosion of low- and high-Z materials in fusion devices, their transport to the core plasma and their migration at the plasma edge including the formation of mixed materials, the processes determining the size and location of the retention of tritium in fusion devices and methods to remove it and the processes determining the efficiency of the various fuelling methods as well as their development towards the ITER requirements. This experimental progress has been accompanied by the development of modelling tools for the physical processes at the edge plasma and plasma–materials interaction and the further validation of these models by comparing their predictions with the new experimental results. Progress in the modelling development and validation has been mostly concentrated in the following areas: refinement in the predictions for ITER with plasma edge modelling codes by inclusion of detailed geometrical features of the divertor and the introduction of physical effects, which can play a major role in determining the divertor parameters at the divertor for ITER conditions such as hydrogen radiation transport and neutral–neutral collisions, modelling of the ion orbits at the plasma edge, which can play a role in determining power deposition at the divertor target, models for plasma–materials and plasma dynamics interaction during ELMs and disruptions, models for the transport of impurities at the plasma edge to describe the core contamination by impurities and the migration of eroded materials at the edge plasma and its associated tritium retention and models for the turbulent processes that determine the anomalous transport of energy and particles across the SOL. The implications for the expected performance of the reference regimes in ITER, the operation of the ITER device and the lifetime of the plasma facing materials are discussed.

Chapter 2: Plasma confinement and transport

Abstract: The understanding and predictive capability of transport physics and plasma confinement is reviewed from the perspective of achieving reactor-scale burning plasmas in the ITER tokamak, for both core and edge plasma regions. Very considerable progress has been made in understanding, controlling and predicting tokamak transport across a wide variety of plasma conditions and regimes since the publication of the ITER Physics Basis (IPB) document (1999 Nucl. Fusion 39 2137-2664). Major areas of progress considered here follow. (1) Substantial improvement in the physics content, capability and reliability of transport simulation and modelling codes, leading to much increased theory/experiment interaction as these codes are increasingly used to interpret and predict experiment. (2) Remarkable progress has been made in developing and understanding regimes of improved core confinement. Internal transport barriers and other forms of reduced core transport are now routinely obtained in all the leading tokamak devices worldwide. (3) The importance of controlling the H-mode edge pedestal is now generally recognized. Substantial progress has been made in extending high confinement H-mode operation to the Greenwald density, the demonstration of Type I ELM mitigation and control techniques and systematic explanation of Type I ELM stability. Theory-based predictive capability has also shown progress by integrating the plasma and neutral transport with MHD stability. (4) Transport projections to ITER are now made using three complementary approaches: empirical or global scaling, theory-based transport modelling and dimensionless parameter scaling (previously, empirical scaling was the dominant approach). For the ITER base case or the reference scenario of conventional ELMy H-mode operation, all three techniques predict that ITER will have sufficient confinement to meet its design target of Q = 10 operation, within similar uncertainties.

Physics of plasmas

Abstract: 1 The Equations of Gas Dynamics 2 Magnetoplasma Dynamics 3 Waves in Magnetoplasmas 4 Magnetoplasma Stability 5 Transport in Magnetoplasmas 6 Extensions of Theory Bibliography Index