Showing papers in "Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion in 2017"

Performance and properties of the first plasmas of Wendelstein 7-X

Abstract: The optimized, superconducting stellarator Wendelstein 7-X went into operation and delivered first measurement data after 15 years of construction and one year commissioning. Errors in the magnet assembly were confirmend to be small. Plasma operation was started with 5 MW electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) power and five inboard limiters. Core plasma values of keV, keV at line-integrated densities were achieved, exceeding the original expectations by about a factor of two. Indications for a core-electron-root were found. The energy confinement times are in line with the international stellarator scaling, despite unfavourable wall conditions, i.e. large areas of metal surfaces and particle sources from the limiter close to the plasma volume. Well controlled shorter hydrogen discharges at higher power (4 MW ECRH power for 1 s) and longer discharges at lower power (0.7 MW ECRH power for 6 s) could be routinely established after proper wall conditioning. The fairly large set of diagnostic systems running in the end of the 10 weeks operation campaign provided first insights into expected and unexpected physics of optimized stellarators.

Fluid theory and simulations of instabilities, turbulent transport and coherent structures in partially-magnetized plasmas of \mathbf{E}\times \mathbf{B} discharges

Abstract: Partially-magnetized plasmas with magnetized electrons and non-magnetized ions are common in Hall thrusters for electric propulsion and magnetron material processing devices. These plasmas are usually in strongly non-equilibrium state due to presence of crossed electric and magnetic fields, inhomogeneities of plasma density, temperature, magnetic field and beams of accelerated ions. Free energy from these sources make such plasmas prone to various instabilities resulting in turbulence, anomalous transport, and appearance of coherent structures as found in experiments. This paper provides an overview of instabilities that exist in such plasmas. A nonlinear fluid model has been developed for description of the Simon-Hoh, lower-hybrid and ion-sound instabilities. The model also incorporates electron gyroviscosity describing the effects of finite electron temperature. The nonlinear fluid model has been implemented in the BOUT++ framework. The results of nonlinear simulations are presented demonstrating turbulence, anomalous current and tendency toward the formation of coherent structures.

The role of the density profile in the ASDEX-Upgrade pedestal structure

Abstract: Experimental evidence for the impact of a region of high density localised in the high-field side scrape-off layer (the HFSHD) on plasma confinement is shown in various dedicated experiments on ASD ...

Indirect drive ignition at the National Ignition Facility

Abstract: This paper reviews scientific results from the pursuit of indirect drive ignition on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) and describes the program's forward looking research directions In indirect drive on the NIF, laser beams heat an x-ray enclosure called a hohlraum that surrounds a spherical pellet X-ray radiation ablates the surface of the pellet, imploding a thin shell of deuterium/tritium (DT) that must accelerate to high velocity (v > 350 km s−1) and compress by a factor of several thousand Since 2009, substantial progress has been made in understanding the major challenges to ignition: Rayleigh Taylor (RT) instability seeded by target imperfections; and low-mode asymmetries in the hohlraum x-ray drive, exacerbated by laser-plasma instabilities (LPI) Requirements on velocity, symmetry, and compression have been demonstrated separately on the NIF but have not been achieved simultaneously We now know that the RT instability, seeded mainly by the capsule support tent, severely degraded DT implosions from 2009–2012 Experiments using a 'high-foot' drive with demonstrated lower RT growth improved the thermonuclear yield by a factor of 10, resulting in yield amplification due to alpha particle heating by more than a factor of 2 However, large time dependent drive asymmetry in the LPI-dominated hohlraums remains unchanged, preventing further improvements High fidelity 3D hydrodynamic calculations explain these results Future research efforts focus on improved capsule mounting techniques and on hohlraums with little LPI and controllable symmetry In parallel, we are pursuing improvements to the basic physics models used in the design codes through focused physics experiments

Plasma detachment in linear devices

Abstract: Plasma detachment research in linear devices, sometimes called divertor plasma simulators, is reviewed. Pioneering works exploring the concept of plasma detachment were conducted in linear devices. Linear devices have contributed greatly to the basic understanding of plasma detachment such as volume plasma recombination processes, detached plasma structure associated with particle and energy transport, and other related issues including enhancement of convective plasma transport, dynamic response of plasma detachment, plasma flow reversal, and magnetic field effect. The importance of plasma detachment research using linear devices will be highlighted aimed at the design of future DEMO.

Experimental studies of high-confinement mode plasma response to non-axisymmetric magnetic perturbations in ASDEX Upgrade

Abstract: The interaction of externally applied small non-axisymmetric magnetic perturba16 tions (MP) with tokamak high-confinement mode (H-mode) plasmas is reviewed and illus17 trated by recent experiments in ASDEX Upgrade. The plasma response to the vacuum MP 18 field is amplified by stable ideal kink modes with low toroidal mode number n driven by the 19 H-mode edge pressure gradient (and associated bootstrap current) which is experimentally 20 evidenced by an observable shift of the poloidal mode number m away from field alignment 21 (m = qn, with q being the safety factor) at the response maximum. A torque scan experiment 22 demonstrates the importance of the perpendicular electron flow for shielding of the resonant 23 magnetic perturbation, as expected from a two-fluid MHD picture. Two significant effects of 24 MP occur in H-mode plasmas at low pedestal collisionality, νped ≤ 0.4: (a) a reduction of the 25 global plasma density by up to 50% and (b) a reduction of the energy loss associated with edge 26 localised modes (ELMs) by a factor of up to 10. A comprehensive database of ELM mitigation 27 pulses at low ν∗ in ASDEX Upgrade shows that the degree of ELM mitigation correlates with 28 the reduction of pedestal pressure which in turn is limited and defined by the onset of ELMs, 29 i. e. a modification of the ELM stability limit by the magnetic perturbation. 30 PACS numbers: 52.55.Fa, 52.55.Tn, 52.65.Kj 31 2

Electron–positron cascades in multiple-laser optical traps

Abstract: We present an analytical and numerical study of multiple-laser QED cascades induced with linearly polarised laser pulses. We analyse different polarisation orientations and propose a configuration that maximises cascade multiplicity and favours laser absorption. We generalise the analytical estimate for the cascade growth rate previously calculated in the field of two colliding linearly polarised laser pulses and account for multiple laser interaction. The estimate is verified by a comprehensive numerical study of four-laser QED cascades across a range of different laser intensities with QED PIC module of OSIRIS. We show that by using four linearly polarised 30 fs laser pulses, one can convert more than 50% of the total energy to gamma-rays at laser intensity . In this configuration, the laser conversion efficiency is higher compared with the case with two colliding lasers.

A new scaling for divertor detachment

Abstract: The ITER design, and future reactor designs, depend on divertor 'detachment,' whether partial, pronounced or complete, to limit heat flux to plasma-facing components and to limit surface erosion due to sputtering. It would be valuable to have a measure of the difficulty of achieving detachment as a function of machine parameters, such as input power, magnetic field, major radius, etc. Frequently the parallel heat flux, estimated typically as proportional to P sep/R or P sep B/R, is used as a proxy for this difficulty. Here we argue that impurity cooling is dependent on the upstream density, which itself must be limited by a Greenwald-like scaling. Taking this into account self-consistently, we find the impurity fraction required for detachment scales dominantly as power divided by poloidal magnetic field. The absence of any explicit scaling with machine size is concerning, as P sep surely must increase greatly for an economic fusion system, while increases in the poloidal field strength are limited by coil technology and plasma physics. This result should be challenged by comparison with 2D divertor codes and with measurements on existing experiments. Nonetheless, it suggests that higher magnetic field, stronger shaping, double-null operation, 'advanced' divertor configurations, as well as alternate means to handle heat flux such as metallic liquid and/or vapor targets merit greater attention.

Tractable flux-driven temperature, density, and rotation profile evolution with the quasilinear gyrokinetic transport model QuaLiKiz

Abstract: Quasilinear turbulent transport models are a successful tool for prediction of core tokamak plasma profiles in many regimes. Their success hinges on the reproduction of local nonlinear gyrokinetic fluxes. We focus on significant progress in the quasilinear gyrokinetic transport model QuaLiKiz (Bourdelle et al 2016 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 58 014036), which employs an approximated solution of the mode structures to significantly speed up computation time compared to full linear gyrokinetic solvers. Optimisation of the dispersion relation solution algorithm within integrated modelling applications leads to flux calculations x 10(6-7) faster than local nonlinear simulations. This allows tractable simulation of flux-driven dynamic profile evolution including all transport channels: ion and electron heat, main particles, impurities, and momentum. Furthermore, QuaLiKiz now includes the impact of rotation and temperature anisotropy induced poloidal asymmetry on heavy impurity transport, important for W-transport applications. Application within the JETTO integrated modelling code results in 1 s of JET plasma simulation within 10 h using 10 CPUs. Simultaneous predictions of core density, temperature, and toroidal rotation profiles for both JET hybrid and baseline experiments are

Runaway electron generation and control

Abstract: We present an overview of FTU experiments on runaway electron (RE) generation and control carried out through a comprehensive set of real-time (RT) diagnostics/control systems and newly installed RE diagnostics. An RE imaging spectrometer system detects visible and infrared synchrotron radiation. A Cherenkov probe measures RE escaping the plasma. A gamma camera provides hard x-ray radial profiles from RE bremsstrahlung interactions in the plasma. Experiments on the onset and suppression of RE show that the threshold electric field for RE generation is larger than that expected according to a purely collisional theory, but consistent with an increase due to synchrotron radiation losses. This might imply a lower density to be targeted with massive gas injection for RE suppression in ITER. Experiments on active control of disruption-generated RE have been performed through feedback on poloidal coils by implementing an RT boundary-reconstruction algorithm evaluated on magnetic moments. The results indicate that the slow plasma current ramp-down and the simultaneous reduction of the reference plasma external radius are beneficial in dissipating the RE beam energy and population, leading to reduced RE interactions with plasma facing components. RE active control is therefore suggested as a possible alternative or complementary technique to massive gas injection.

National direct-drive program on OMEGA and the National Ignition Facility

Abstract: A major advantage of the laser direct-drive (DD) approach to ignition is the increased fraction of laser drive energy coupled to the hot spot and relaxed hot-spot requirements for the peak pressure and convergence ratios relative to the indirect-drive approach at equivalent laser energy. With the goal of a successful ignition demonstration using DD, the recently established national strategy has several elements and involves multiple national and international institutions. These elements include the experimental demonstration on OMEGA cryogenic implosions of hot-spot conditions relevant for ignition at MJ-scale energies available at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) and developing an understanding of laser-plasma interactions and laser coupling using DD experiments on the NIF. DD designs require reaching central stagnation pressures in excess of 100 Gbar. The current experiments on OMEGA have achieved inferred peak pressures of 56 Gbar (Regan et al 2016 Phys. Rev. Lett. 117 025001). Extensive analysis of the cryogenic target experiments and two- and three-dimensional simulations suggest that power balance, target offset, and target quality are the main limiting factors in target performance. In addition, cross-beam energy transfer (CBET) has been identified as the main mechanism reducing laser coupling. Reaching the goal of demonstrating hydrodynamic equivalence on OMEGA includes improving laser power balance, target position, and target quality at shot time. CBET must also be significantly reduced and several strategies have been identified to address this issue.

Hermes : Global plasma edge fluid turbulence simulations

Abstract: The transport of heat and particles in the relatively collisional edge regions of magnetically confined plasmas is a scientifically challenging and technologically important problem. Understanding and predicting this transport requires the self-consistent evolution of plasma fluctuations, global profiles and flows, but the numerical tools capable of doing this in realistic (diverted) geometry are only now being developed. Here a 5-field reduced 2-fluid plasma model for the study of instabilities and turbulence in magnetised plasmas is presented, built on the BOUT++ framework. This cold ion model allows the evolution of global profiles, electric fields and flows on transport timescales, with flux-driven cross-field transport determined self-consistently by electromagnetic turbulence. Developments in the model formulation and numerical implementation are described, and simulations are performed in poloidally limited and diverted tokamak configurations.

Progress in understanding disruptions triggered by massive gas injection via 3D non-linear MHD modelling with JOREK

Abstract: 3D non-linear MHD simulations of a D 2 massive gas injection (MGI) triggered disruption in JET with the JOREK code provide results which are qualitatively consistent with experimental observations and shed light on the physics at play. In particular, it is observed that the gas destabilizes a large m/n = 2/1 tearing mode, with the island O-point coinciding with the gas deposition region, by enhancing the plasma resistivity via cooling. When the 2/1 island gets so large that its inner side reaches the q = 3/2 surface, a 3/2 tearing mode grows. Simulations suggest that this is due to a steepening of the current profile right inside q = 3/2. Magnetic field stochastization over a large fraction of the minor radius as well as the growth of higher n modes ensue rapidly, leading to the thermal quench (TQ). The role of the 1/1 internal kink mode is discussed. An I p spike at the TQ is obtained in the simulations but with a smaller amplitude than in the experiment. Possible reasons are discussed.

Capsule modeling of high foot implosion experiments on the National Ignition Facility

Abstract: This paper summarizes the results of detailed, capsule-only simulations of a set of high foot implosion experiments conducted on the National Ignition Facility (NIF). These experiments span a range of ablator thicknesses, laser powers, and laser energies, and modeling these experiments as a set is important to assess whether the simulation model can reproduce the trends seen experimentally as the implosion parameters were varied. Two-dimensional (2D) simulations have been run including a number of effects—both nominal and off-nominal—such as hohlraum radiation asymmetries, surface roughness, the capsule support tent, and hot electron pre-heat. Selected three-dimensional simulations have also been run to assess the validity of the 2D axisymmetric approximation. As a composite, these simulations represent the current state of understanding of NIF high foot implosion performance using the best and most detailed computational model available. While the most detailed simulations show approximate agreement with the experimental data, it is evident that the model remains incomplete and further refinements are needed. Nevertheless, avenues for improved performance are clearly indicated.

Making ICRF power compatible with a high-Z wall in ASDEX Upgrade

Abstract: A comparison of the ASDEX Upgrade 3-strap ICRF antenna data with the linear electro-magnetic TOPICA calculations is presented The comparison substantiates a reduction of the local electric field at the radially protruding plasma-facing elements of the antenna as a relevant approach for minimizing tungsten (W) sputtering in conditions when the slow wave is strongly evanescent The measured reaction of the time-averaged RF current at the antenna limiters to the antenna feeding variations is less sensitive than predicted by the calculations This is likely to have been caused by temporal and spatial fluctuations in the 3D plasma density distribution affected by local non-linear interactions The 3-strap antenna with the W-coated limiters produces drastically less W sputtering compared to the W-coated 2-strap antennas This is consistent with the non-linear asymptotic SSWICH-SW calculations for RF sheaths

Computation of Alfvèn eigenmode stability and saturation through a reduced fast ion transport model in the TRANSP tokamak transport code

Abstract: Alfvenic instabilities (AEs) are well known as a potential cause of enhanced fast ion transport in fusion devices. Given a specific plasma scenario, quantitative predictions of (i) expected unstable AE spectrum and (ii) resulting fast ion transport are required to prevent or mitigate the AE-induced degradation in fusion performance. Reduced models are becoming an attractive tool to analyze existing scenarios as well as for scenario prediction in time-dependent simulations. In this work, a neutral beam heated NSTX discharge is used as reference to illustrate the potential of a reduced fast ion transport model, known as kick model, that has been recently implemented for interpretive and predictive analysis within the framework of the time-dependent tokamak transport code TRANSP. Predictive capabilities for AE stability and saturation amplitude are first assessed, based on given thermal plasma profiles only. Predictions are then compared to experimental results, and the interpretive capabilities of the model further discussed. Overall, the reduced model captures the main properties of the instabilities and associated effects on the fast ion population. Additional information from the actual experiment enables further tuning of the model's parameters to achieve a close match with measurements.

Real-time control of divertor detachment in H-mode with impurity seeding using Langmuir probe feedback in JET-ITER-like wall

Abstract: Burning plasmas with 500 MW of fusion power on ITER will rely on partially detached divertor operation to keep target heat loads at manageable levels. Such divertor regimes will be maintained by a ...

Numerical simulations of blobs with ion dynamics

Abstract: The transport of particles and energy into the scrape-off layer (SOL) region at the outboard midplane of medium-sized tokamaks, operating in low confinement mode, is investigated by applying the first-principle HESEL (hot edge-sol-electrostatic) model. HESEL is a four-field drift-fluid model including finite electron and ion temperature effects, drift wave dynamics on closed field lines, and sheath dynamics on open field lines. Particles and energy are mainly transported by intermittent blobs. Therefore, blobs have a significant influence on the corresponding profiles. The formation of a 'shoulder' in the SOL density profile can be obtained by increasing the collisionality or connection length, thus decreasing the efficiency of the SOL's ability to remove plasma. As the ion pressure has a larger perpendicular but smaller parallel dissipation rate compared to the electron pressure, ion energy is transported far into the SOL. This implies that the ion temperature in the SOL exceeds the electron temperature by a factor of 2–4 and significantly broadens the power deposition profile.

The effect of tangential drifts on neoclassical transport in stellarators close to omnigeneity

Abstract: In general, the orbit-averaged radial magnetic drift of trapped particles in stellarators is non-zero due to the three-dimensional nature of the magnetic field. Stellarators in which the orbit-averaged radial magnetic drift vanishes are called omnigeneous, and they exhibit neoclassical transport levels comparable to those of axisymmetric tokamaks. However, the effect of deviations from omnigeneity cannot be neglected in practice, and it is more deleterious at small collisionalities. For sufficiently low collision frequencies (below the values that define the 1/ν regime), the components of the drifts tangential to the flux surface become relevant. This article focuses on the study of such collisionality regimes in stellarators close to omnigeneity when the gradient of the non-omnigeneous perturbation is small. First, it is proven that closeness to omnigeneity is required to actually preserve radial locality in the drift-kinetic equation for collisionalities below the 1/ν regime. Then, using the derived radially local equation, it is shown that neoclassical transport is determined by two layers located at different regions of phase space. One of the layers corresponds to the so-called √ν regime and the other to the so-called superbanana-plateau regime. The importance of the superbanana-plateau layer for the calculation of the tangential electric field is emphasized, as well as the relevance of the latter for neoclassical transport in the collisionality regimes considered in this paper. In particular, the role of the tangential electric field is essential for the emergence of a new subregime of superbanana-plateau transport when the radial electric field is small. A formula for the ion energy flux that includes the √ν regime and the superbanana-plateau regime is given. The energy flux scales with the square of the size of the deviation from omnigeneity. Finally, it is explained why below a certain collisionality value the formulation presented in this article ceases to be valid.

Disruption mitigation by injection of small quantities of noble gas in ASDEX Upgrade

Abstract: The most recent experiments of disruption mitigation by massive gas injection in ASDEX Upgrade have concentrated on small-relatively to the past-quantities of noble gas injected, and on the search for the minimum amount of gas necessary for the mitigation of the thermal loads on the divertor and for a significant reduction of the vertical force during the current quench. A scenario for the generation of a long-lived runaway electron beam has been established; this allows the study of runaway current dissipation by moderate quantities of argon injected. This paper presents these recent results and discusses them in the more general context of physical models and extrapolation, and of the open questions, relevant for the realization of the ITER disruption mitigation system.

Effect of magnetic islands on profiles, flows, turbulence and transport in nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations

Abstract: Neoclassical tearing modes have deleterious effects on plasma confinement and, if they grow large enough, they can lead to discharge termination. Therefore, they impose a major barrier in the development of operating scenarios of present-day tokamaks. Gyrokinetics offers a path toward studying multi-scale interactions with turbulence and the effect on plasma confinement. As a first step toward this goal, we have implemented static magnetic islands in nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations with the GENE code. We investigate the effect of the islands on profiles, flows, turbulence and transport and the scaling of these effects with respect to island size. We find a clear threshold island width, below which the islands have little or no effect while beyond this point the islands significantly perturb flows, increase turbulence and transport. Additionally, we study the effect of radially asymmetric islands on shear flows for the first time. We find that island induced shear flows can regulate turbulent fluctuation levels in the vicinity of the island separatrices. Throughout this work, we focus on experimentally relevant quantities, such as rms levels of density and electron temperature fluctuations, as well as amplitude and phasing of turbulence modulation. These simulations aim to provide guidelines for interpreting experimental results by comparing qualitative trends in the simulations with those obtained in tokamak experiments.

On thermionic emission from plasma-facing components in tokamak-relevant conditions

Abstract: The first results of particle-in-cell simulations of the electrostatic sheath and magnetic pre-sheath of thermionically emitting planar tungsten surfaces in fusion plasmas are presented. Plasma con ...

On the effects of ion-neutral interactions in solar plasmas

Abstract: Solar photosphere and chromosphere are composed of weakly ionized plasma for which collisional coupling decreases with height. This implies a breakdown of some hypotheses underlying magnetohydrodynamics at low altitudes and gives rise to non-ideal MHD effects such as ambipolar diffusion, Hall effect, etc. Recently, there has been progress in understanding the role of these effects for the dynamics and energetics of the solar atmosphere. There are evidences that such phenomena as wave propagation and damping, magnetic reconnection, formation of stable magnetic field concentrations, magnetic flux emergence, etc. can be affected. This paper reviews the current state-of-the-art of multi-fluid MHD modeling of the coupled solar atmosphere.

Time-dependent coupling of electron energy distribution function, vibrational kinetics of the asymmetric mode of CO2 and dissociation, ionization and electronic excitation kinetics under discharge and post-discharge conditions

Abstract: A time-dependent self-consistent model based on the coupling of the Boltzmann equation for the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) with the non-equilibrium vibrational kinetics of the asymmetric mode, as well as a simplified global model, have been implemented for a pure CO2 plasma. The simplified time-dependent global model takes into account dissociation and ionization as well as the reverse of these processes. It also takes into account the excitation/de-excitation of an electronic excited state at 10.5 eV. The model has been applied to describe the discharge and post-discharge conditions typically met in an atmospheric-pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) and in a moderate-pressure microwave discharge. The reported results show the strong coupling between the excited state and the electron energy distribution kinetics due to superelastic (vibrational and electronic) collisions. Moreover, the dissociation rate from a pure vibrational mechanism can become competitive with the corresponding rate from the direct electron impact mechanism at high values of vibrational temperature.

Spectral and temporal characteristics of target current and electromagnetic pulse induced by nanosecond laser ablation

Abstract: The current balancing the target charging and the emission of transient electromagnetic pulses (EMP) driven by the interaction of a focused 1.315 μm iodine 300 ps PALS laser with metallic and plastic targets were measured with the use of inductive probes. It is experimentally proven that the duration of return target currents and EMPs is much longer than the duration of laser-target interaction. The laser-produced plasma is active after the laser-target interaction. During this phase, the target acts as a virtual cathode and the plasma-target interface expands. A double exponential function is used in order to obtain the temporal characteristics of EMP. The rise time of EMPs fluctuates in the range up to a few tens of nanoseconds. Frequency spectra of EMP and target currents are modified by resonant frequencies of the interaction chamber.