30 research outputs found
Influence of massive material injection on avalanche runaway generation during tokamak disruptions
In high-current tokamak devices such as ITER, a runaway avalanche can cause a
large amplification of a seed electron population. We show that disruption
mitigation by impurity injection may significantly increase the runaway
avalanche growth rate in such devices. This effect originates from the
increased number of target electrons available for the avalanche process in
weakly ionized plasmas, which is only partially compensated by the increased
friction force on fast electrons. We derive an expression for the avalanche
growth rate in partially ionized plasmas and investigate the effects of
impurity injection on the avalanche multiplication factor and on the final
runaway current for ITER-like parameters. For impurity densities relevant for
disruption mitigation, the maximum amplification of a runaway seed can be
increased by tens of orders of magnitude compared to previous predictions. This
motivates careful studies to determine the required densities and impurity
species to obtain tolerable current quench parameters, as well as more detailed
modeling of the runaway dynamics including transport effects.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure
Spatiotemporal evolution of runaway electrons from synchrotron images in Alcator C-Mod
In the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, relativistic runaway electron (RE) generation
can occur during the flattop current phase of low density, diverted plasma
discharges. Due to the high toroidal magnetic field (B = 5.4 T), RE synchrotron
radiation is measured by a wide-view camera in the visible wavelength range
(~400-900 nm). In this paper, a statistical analysis of over one thousand
camera images is performed to investigate the plasma conditions under which
synchrotron emission is observed in C-Mod. In addition, the spatiotemporal
evolution of REs during one particular discharge is explored in detail via a
thorough analysis of the distortion-corrected synchrotron images. To accurately
predict RE energies, the kinetic solver CODE [Landreman et al 2014 Comput.
Phys. Commun. 185 847-855] is used to evolve the electron momentum-space
distribution at six locations throughout the plasma: the magnetic axis and flux
surfaces q = 1, 4/3, 3/2, 2, and 3. These results, along with the
experimentally-measured magnetic topology and camera geometry, are input into
the synthetic diagnostic SOFT [Hoppe et al 2018 Nucl. Fusion 58 026032] to
simulate synchrotron emission and detection. Interesting spatial structure near
the surface q = 2 is found to coincide with the onset of a locked mode and
increased MHD activity. Furthermore, the RE density profile evolution is fit by
comparing experimental to synthetic images, providing important insight into RE
spatiotemporal dynamics
Interpretation of runaway electron synchrotron and bremsstrahlung images
The crescent spot shape observed in DIII-D runaway electron synchrotron
radiation images is shown to result from the high degree of anisotropy in the
emitted radiation, the finite spectral range of the camera and the distribution
of runaways. The finite spectral camera range is found to be particularly
important, as the radiation from the high-field side can be stronger by a
factor than the radiation from the low-field side in DIII-D. By
combining a kinetic model of the runaway dynamics with a synthetic synchrotron
diagnostic we see that physical processes not described by the kinetic model
(such as radial transport) are likely to be limiting the energy of the
runaways. We show that a population of runaways with lower dominant energies
and larger pitch-angles than those predicted by the kinetic model provide a
better match to the synchrotron measurements. Using a new synthetic
bremsstrahlung diagnostic we also simulate the view of the Gamma Ray Imager
(GRI) diagnostic used at DIII-D to resolve the spatial distribution of
runaway-generated bremsstrahlung.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figure
Effective Governance of Global Financial Markets:An Evolutionary Plan for Reform
Runaway electrons, which are generated in a plasma where the induced electric field exceeds a certain critical value, can reach very high energies in the MeV range. For such energetic electrons, radiative losses will contribute significantly to the momentum space dynamics. Under certain conditions, due to radiative momentum losses, a non-monotonic feature - a âbump' - can form in the runaway electron tail, creating a potential for bump-on-tail-type instabilities to arise. Here, we study the conditions for the existence of the bump. We derive an analytical threshold condition for bump appearance and give an approximate expression for the minimum energy at which the bump can appear. Numerical calculations are performed to support the analytical derivation
Effect of plasma elongation on current dynamics during tokamak disruptions
Plasma terminating disruptions in tokamaks may result in relativistic runaway
electron beams with potentially serious consequences for future devices with
large plasma currents. In this paper we investigate the effect of plasma
elongation on the coupled dynamics of runaway generation and resistive
diffusion of the electric field. We find that elongated plasmas are less likely
to produce large runaway currents, partly due to the lower induced electric
fields associated with larger plasmas, and partly due to direct shaping
effects, which mainly lead to a reduction in the runaway avalanche gain.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
Physics research on the TCV tokamak facility: from conventional to alternative scenarios and beyond
The research program of the TCV tokamak ranges from conventional to advanced-tokamak scenarios and alternative divertor configurations, to exploratory plasmas driven by theoretical insight, exploiting the deviceâs unique shaping capabilities. Disruption avoidance by real-time locked mode prevention or unlocking with electron-cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) was thoroughly documented, using magnetic and radiation triggers. Runaway generation with high-Z noble-gas injection and runaway dissipation by subsequent Ne or Ar injection were studied for model validation. The new 1 MW neutral beam injector has expanded the parameter range, now encompassing ELMy H-modes in an ITER-like shape and nearly non-inductive H-mode discharges sustained by electron cyclotron and neutral beam current drive. In the H-mode, the pedestal pressure increases modestly with nitrogen seeding while fueling moves the density pedestal outwards, but the plasma stored energy is largely uncorrelated to either seeding or fueling. High fueling at high triangularity is key to accessing the attractive small edge-localized mode (type-II) regime. Turbulence is reduced in the core at negative triangularity, consistent with increased confinement and in accord with global gyrokinetic simulations. The geodesic acoustic mode, possibly coupled with avalanche events, has been linked with particle flow to the wall in diverted plasmas. Detachment, scrape-off layer transport, and turbulence were studied in L- and H-modes in both standard and alternative configurations (snowflake, super-X, and beyond). The detachment process is caused by power âstarvationâ reducing the ionization source, with volume recombination playing only a minor role. Partial detachment in the H-mode is obtained with impurity seeding and has shown little dependence on flux expansion in standard single-null geometry. In the attached L-mode phase, increasing the outer connection length reduces the inâout heat-flow asymmetry. A doublet plasma, featuring an internal X-point, was achieved successfully, and a transport barrier was observed in the mantle just outside the internal separatrix. In the near future variable-configuration baffles and possibly divertor pumping will be introduced to investigate the effect of divertor closure on exhaust and performance, and 3.5 MW ECRH and 1 MW neutral beam injection heating will be added
Guiding-centre transformation of the radiation-reaction force in a non-uniform magnetic field
In this paper, we present the guiding-centre transformation of the radiation-reaction force of a classical point charge travelling in a non-uniform magnetic field. The transformation is valid as long as the gyroradius of the charged particles is much smaller than the magnetic field non-uniformity length scale, so that the guiding-centre Lie-transform method is applicable. Elimination of the gyromotion time scale from the radiation-reaction force is obtained with the Poisson-bracket formalism originally introduced by Brizard (Phys. Plasmas, vol.11, 2004, 4429-4438), where it was used to eliminate the fast gyromotion from the Fokker-Planck collision operator. The formalism presented here is applicable to the motion of charged particles in planetary magnetic fields as well as in magnetic confinement fusion plasmas, where the corresponding so-called synchrotron radiation can be detected. Applications of the guiding-centre radiation-reaction force include tracing of charged particle orbits in complex magnetic fields as well as the kinetic description of plasma when the loss of energy and momentum due to radiation plays an important role, e.g.for runaway-electron dynamics in tokamak
Pursuing excellence in local government Volume 1
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