Energetic ion loss diagnostic for the Wendelstein 7-AS stellarator

A diagnostic to measure the loss of energetic ions from the Wendelstein 7-AS (W7-AS) stellarator has been built. It is capable of measuring losses of both neutral beam ions and energetic ions arising from ion cyclotron resonant heating. The probe can measure losses of both clockwise and counterclockwise-going energetic ions simultaneously, and accepts a wide range of pitch angles in both directions. Initial measurements by the diagnostic are reported

Solid State Neutral Particle Analyzer Array on NSTX

A Solid State Neutral Particle Analyzer (SSNPA) array has been installed on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). The array consists of four chords viewing through a common vacuum flange. The tangency radii of the viewing chords are 60, 90, 100, and 120 cm. They view across the three co-injection neutral beam lines (deuterium, 80 keV (typ.) with tangency radii 48.7, 59.2, and 69.4 cm) on NSTX and detect co-going energetic ions. A silicon photodiode used was calibrated by using a mono-energetic deuteron beam source. Deuterons with energy above 40 keV can be detected with the present setup. The degradation of the performance was also investigated. Lead shots and epoxy are used for neutron shielding to reduce handling any hazardous heavy metal. This method also enables us to make an arbitrary shape to be fit into the complex flight tube

Correlation between excitation of Alfven modes and degradation of ICRF heating efficiency in TFTR

Alfven modes are excited by energetic ions in TFTR during intense minority ICRF heating. There is a clear threshold in rf power above which the modes are destabilized. The net effect of these modes is the increase of the fast ion losses, with an associated saturation of the ion tail energy and of the efficiency of the heating. Typically, several modes are excited with progressive n-numbers, with frequencies in the neighborhood of 200 kHz. Results suggest that Energetic Particle Modes (EPM), mostly unseen by the Mirnov coils, are generated near the center and are responsible for the ion losses. Stronger global TAE modes, which are destabilized by the stream of displaced fast ions, appear responsible only for minor losses

Alpha particle losses from Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor deuterium-tritium plasmas

Because alpha particle losses can have a significant influence on tokamak reactor viability, the loss of deuterium-tritium alpha particles from the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) has been measured under a wide range of conditions. In TFTR, first orbit loss and stochastic toroidal field ripple diffusion are always present. Other losses can arise due to magnetohydrodynamic instabilities or due to waves in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies. No alpha particle losses have yet been seen due to collective instabilities driven by alphas. Ion Bernstein waves can drive large losses of fast ions from TFTR, and details of those losses support one element of the alpha energy channeling scenario

Measurements of escaping alphas in the TFTR DT experiments

Alpha particle loss to the wall of TFTR has been measured during the initial TFTR DT run period. These measurements were made with the same lost alpha scintillator detector system used previously for DD fusion products, except for a switch of the scintillator material from zinc sulfide (P31) to yttrium aluminate (P46) to insure a linear response up to the maximum alpha flux expected in DT. The alpha loss signals in DT are {approx} 100 times larger than the DD fusion product loss signals, as expected from the neutron rates and the relative sensitivity to DT vs. DD fusion products

C720

F. Robert Henderson et al., Increasing Eastern Bluebirds in Kansas, Kansas State University, November 1990

TF ripple loss of alpha particles in TFTR DT experiments

Quantitative evaluation of TF ripple loss of DT alpha particles is a central issue for reactor design because of potentially severe first wall heat load problems. DT experiments on TFTR allow experimental measurements to be compared to modeling of the underlying alpha physics, with code validation an important goal. Modeling of TF ripple loss of alphas in TFTR now includes neoclassical calculations of alpha losses arising from first orbit loss, stochastic ripple diffusion, ripple trapping and collisional effects. Recent Hamiltonian coordinate guiding center code (ORBIT) simulations for TFTR have shown that collisions enhance the stochastic TF ripple losses at TFTR. A faster way to simulate experiment has been developed and is discussed here which uses a simple stochastic domain model for TF ripple loss within the TRANSP analysis code

Effects of q(r) on the Alpha Particle Ripple Loss in TFTR

An experiment was done with TFTR DT plasmas to determine the effect of the q(r) profile on the alpha particle ripple loss to the outer midplane. The alpha particle loss measurements were made using a radially movable scintillator detector 20 degrees below the outer midplane. The experimental results were compared with TF ripple loss calculations done using a Monte Carlo guiding center orbit following code, ORBIT. Although some of the experimental results are consistent with the ORBIT code modeling, the variation of the alpha loss with the q(r) profiles is not well explained by this code. Quantitative interpretation of these measurements requires a careful analysis of the limiter shadowing effect, which strongly determines the diffusion of alphas into the detector aperture

Modeling the response of a fast ion loss detector using orbit tracing techniques in a neutral beam prompt-loss study on the DIII-D tokamak

A numerical model describing the expected measurements of neutral beam prompt-losses by anewly commissioned fast ion loss detector FILD in DIII-D is presented. This model incorporatesthe well understood neutral beam deposition profiles from all eight DIII-D beamlines to construct aprompt-loss source distribution. The full range of detectable ion orbit phase space available to theFILD is used to calculate ion trajectories that overlap with neutral beam injection footprints. Weightfunctions are applied to account for the level of overlap between these detectable orbits and thespatial and velocity pitch properties of ionized beam neutrals. An experimental comparison isperformed by firing each neutral beam individually in the presence of a ramping plasma current.Fast ion losses determined from the model are in agreement with measured losses.© 2010American Institute of Physics.US Department of Energy SC-G903402, DE-AC02-09CH11466, DE-FC02-04ER5469