33 research outputs found
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Pellet imaging techniques on ASDEX
As part of a USDOE/ASDEX collaboration, a detailed examination of pellet ablation in ASDEX with a variety of diagnostics has allowed a better understanding of a number of features of hydrogen ice pellet ablation in a plasma. In particular, fast gated photos with an intensified Xybion CCD video camera allow in-situ velocity measurements of the pellet as it penetrates the plasma. With time resolution of typically 100 nanoseconds and exposures every 50 microseconds, the evolution of each pellet in a multi-pellet ASDEX tokamak plasma discharge can be followed. When the pellet cloud track has striations, the light intensity profile through the cloud is hollow (dark near the pellet), whereas at the beginning or near the end of the pellet trajectory the track is typically smooth (without striations) and has a gaussian-peaked light emission profile. New, single pellet Stark broadened D{sub {alpha}}D{sub {beta}}, and D{sub {gamma}} spectra, obtained with a tangentially viewing scanning mirror/spectrometer with Reticon array readout, are consistent with cloud densities of 2 {times} 10{sup 17}cm{sup {minus}3} or higher in the regions of strongest light emission. A spatially resolved array of D{sub {alpha}} detectors shows that the light variations during the pellet ablation are not caused solely by a modulation of the incoming energy flux as the pellet crosses rational q-surfaces, but instead are a result of a dynamic, non-stationary, ablation process. 20 refs., 4 figs
Towards a new image processing system at Wendelstein 7-X: From spatial calibration to characterization of thermal events
Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) is the most advanced fusion experiment in the stellarator line and is aimed at proving that the stellarator concept is suitable for a fusion reactor. One of the most important issues for fusion reactors is the monitoring of plasma facing components when exposed to very high heat loads, through the use of visible and infrared (IR) cameras. In this paper, a new image processing system for the analysis of the strike lines on the inboard limiters from the first W7-X experimental campaign is presented. This system builds a model of the IR cameras through the use of spatial calibration techniques, helping to characterize the strike lines by using the information given by real spatial coordinates of each pixel. The characterization of the strike lines is made in terms of position, size, and shape, after projecting the camera image in a 2D grid which tries to preserve the curvilinear surface distances between points. The description of the strike-line shape is made by means of the Fourier Descriptors
Experimental confirmation of efficient island divertor operation and successful neoclassical transport optimization in Wendelstein 7-X
We present recent highlights from the most recent operation phases of Wendelstein 7-X, the most advanced stellarator in the world. Stable detachment with good particle exhaust, low impurity content, and energy confinement times exceeding 100Â ms, have been maintained for tens of seconds. Pellet fueling allows for plasma phases with reduced ion-temperature-gradient turbulence, and during such phases, the overall confinement is so good (energy confinement times often exceeding 200Â ms) that the attained density and temperature profiles would not have been possible in less optimized devices, since they would have had neoclassical transport losses exceeding the heating applied in W7-X. This provides proof that the reduction of neoclassical transport through magnetic field optimization is successful. W7-X plasmas generally show good impurity screening and high plasma purity, but there is evidence of longer impurity confinement times during turbulence-suppressed phases.EC/H2020/633053/EU/Implementation of activities described in the Roadmap to Fusion during Horizon 2020 through a Joint programme of the members of the EUROfusion consortium/ EUROfusio
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Laser intracavity absorption as a plasma diagnostic aid
Trace levels of lithium are detected on 100 ..mu..sec timescales using an electrooptically tuned cw dye laser, in conjunction with a high resolution 0.03 A spectrometer/optical multichannel analyzer. The spectra of Li/sup 7/ resonance lines at 6708 A are analyzed for their Zeeman splitting patterns, after unfolding the effects of intracavity absorption (ICA) on the lineshape. For these timescales, a sensitivity to approx.1 x 10/sup 7/ lithium atoms/cc at a level of ..delta..I/I approx.10% has been observed, corresponding to enhancement factors over single pass absorption of approx.1000X. Intracavity enhancement of the line structure in the wings of the line, and a weak blue shift asymmetry have also been observed, but always in the presence of a central absorption feature. The 0.1 A instantaneous laser linewidth is usually scanned over a 1 A range, at frequencies up to 30 kHz. Ultimately this detection system will enclose a hot, dense fusion plasma ... intersecting an 80 keV, 10 mA neutral lithium beam to probe the plasma internal magnetic field structure, in a non-intrusive fashion
Harmonic launching of ion Bernstein waves via mode transformation
Ion Bernstein wave excitation and propagation via finite ion-Larmor-radium mode-transformation are investigated theoretically and experimentally. It is shown that in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies omega less than or equal to 4..cap omega../sub i/, with modest ion temperatures (T/sub i/ less than or equal to 10 eV), the finite-Larmor-radius effect removes the wave singularity at lower-hybrid resonance layer, enabling an externally initiated electron plasma wave to transform continuously into an ion Bernstein wave. In an ACT-1 hydrogen plasma (T/sub e/ approx. = 2.5 eV, T/sub i/ less than or equal to 2.0 eV), externally excited ion Bernstein waves have been observed for omega less than or equal to 2..cap omega../sub i/ as well as for omega less than or equal to 3..cap omega../sub i/. The finite ion-Larmor-radius mode transformation process resulting in strong ion Bernstein wave excitation has been experimentally verified. Detailed measurements of the wave dispersion relation and of the wave-packet trajectory show excellent agreement with theory. The dependence of the excited ion Bernstein wave on the antenna phasing, the plasma density, and on the neutral pressure (T/sub i/) is also investigated