The IN-mode in the TCV tokamak

A new improved L-mode has been found in TCV with high confinement properties, high edge and global density and no edge temperature barrier. The ohmic IN-modes are presented. They have been obtained in two ways. One thanks to a transient H-mode, even though the plasma is limited, and another with a high reference density at t=0. H98y2~1, H89P=1.6 has been obtained with q95=2.7-3.5, kappa~1.5 and betaN~1.4

Status, scientific results and technical improvements of the NBH on TCV tokamak

The TCV tokamak contributes to physics understanding in fusion reactor research by a wide set of experimental tools, like flexible shaping and high power ECRH. A 1MW, 25 keV deuterium heating neutral beam (NB) has been installed in 2015 and it was operated from 2016 in SPC-TCV domestic and EUROfusion MST1 experimental campaigns ((similar to)50/50%). The rate of failures of the beam is less than 5%. Ion temperatures up to 3.5 keV have been achieved in ELMy H-mode, with a good agreement with ASTRA predictive simulations. The NB enables TCV to access ITER-like beta(N) values (1.8) and T-e/T-i (similar to)1, allowing investigations of innovative plasma features in ITER relevant ELMy H-mode. The advanced Tokamak route was also pursued, with stationary, fully non-inductive discharges sustained by ECCD and NBCD reaching beta(similar to)(N)1.4-1.7. Real-time control of the NB power has been implemented in 2018 and presented together with the statistics of NB operation on the TCV. During commissioning, the NB showed unacceptable heating of the TCV beam duct, indicating a higher power deposition than expected on duct walls. A high beam divergence has been found by dedicated measurement of 3-D beam power density distribution with an expressly designed device (IR measurement on tungsten target)

High density experiments in TCV ohmically heated and L-mode plasmas

Recent experiments have been performed on the Tokamak a configuration variable (TCV) to investigate the confinement properties of high density plasmas and the mechanism behind the density limit. In a limiter configuration with plasma elongation kappa = 1.3-1.4 and triangularity delta = 0.2-0.3 the operational density range has been extended up to 0.65 of the Greenwald density at I-p = 200 kA (q(95) = 3.7) and even to the Greenwald value at low plasma current I-p = 110 kA (q(95) = 7). A transition from the linear to the saturated ohmic confinement regime is observed at high density similar to 0.4n(GW). A further density increase leads to sawtooth stabilization and is accompanied by a decrease of the energy and particle confinement times. The development of the disruption at the density limit was preceded by sawtooth stabilization. It is shown that electron cyclotron heating leads to the prevention of sawtooth stabilization and then to the increase of the density limit value

Results from recent detachment experiments in alternative divertor configurations on TCV

Divertor detachment is explored on the TCV tokamak in alternative magnetic geometries. Starting from typical TCV single-null shapes, the poloidal flux expansion at the outer strikepoint is varied by a factor of 10 to investigate the X-divertor characteristics, and the total flux expansion is varied by 70% to study the properties of the super-X divertor. The effect of an additional X-point near the target is investigated in X-point target divertors. Detachment of the outer target is studied in these plasmas during Ohmic density ramps and with the ion ∇B drift away from the primary X-point. The detachment threshold, depth of detachment, and the stability of the radiation location are investigated using target measurements from the wall-embedded Langmuir probes and two-dimensional CIII line emissivity profiles across the divertor region, obtained from inverted, toroidally-integrated camera data. It is found that increasing poloidal flux expansion results in a deeper detachment for a given line-averaged density and a reduction in the radiation location sensitivity to core density, while no large effect on the detachment threshold is observed. The total flux expansion, contrary to expectations, does not show a significant influence on any detachment characteristics in these experiments. In X-point target geometries, no evidence is found for a reduced detachment threshold despite a 2-3 fold increase in connection length. A reduced radiation location sensitivity to core plasma density in the vicinity of the target X-point is suggested by the measurements

Scrape Off Layer (SOL) transport and filamentary characteristics in high density tokamak regimes

A detailed cross-device investigation on the role of filamentary dynamics in high density regimes has been performed within the EUROfusion framework comparing ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) and TCV tokamaks. Both devices have run density ramp experiments at different levels of plasma current, keeping toroidal field or q95 constant in order to disentangle the role of parallel connection length and the current. During the scan at constant toroidal field, in both devices SOL profiles tend to develop a clear Scrape Off Layer (SOL) density shoulder at lower edge density whenever current is reduced. The different current behavior is substantially reconciled in terms of edge density normalized to Greenwald fraction. During the scan at constant q95 AUG exhibits a similar behaviour whereas in TCV no signature of upstream profile modification has been observed at lower level of currents. The latter behaviour has been ascribed to the lack of target density roll-over. The relation between upstream density profile modification and detachment condition has been investigated. For both devices the relation between blob-size and SOL density e-folding length is found independent of the plasma current, with a clear increase of blob-size with edge density normalized to Greenwald fraction observed. ASDEX Upgrade has also explored the filamentary behaviour in H-Mode. The experiments on AUG focused on the role of neutrals, performing discharges with and without the cryogenic pumps, highlighting how large neutral pressure not only in the divertor but at the midplane is needed in order to develop a H-Mode SOL profile shoulder in AUG

Overview of the TCV tokamak experimental programme

The tokamak a configuration variable (TCV) continues to leverage its unique shaping capabilities, flexible heating systems and modern control system to address critical issues in preparation for ITER and a fusion power plant. For the 2019-20 campaign its configurational flexibility has been enhanced with the installation of removable divertor gas baffles, its diagnostic capabilities with an extensive set of upgrades and its heating systems with new dual frequency gyrotrons. The gas baffles reduce coupling between the divertor and the main chamber and allow for detailed investigations on the role of fuelling in general and, together with upgraded boundary diagnostics, test divertor and edge models in particular. The increased heating capabilities broaden the operational regime to include T (e)/T (i) similar to 1 and have stimulated refocussing studies from L-mode to H-mode across a range of research topics. ITER baseline parameters were reached in type-I ELMy H-modes and alternative regimes with \u27small\u27 (or no) ELMs explored. Most prominently, negative triangularity was investigated in detail and confirmed as an attractive scenario with H-mode level core confinement but an L-mode edge. Emphasis was also placed on control, where an increased number of observers, actuators and control solutions became available and are now integrated into a generic control framework as will be needed in future devices. The quantity and quality of results of the 2019-20 TCV campaign are a testament to its successful integration within the European research effort alongside a vibrant domestic programme and international collaborations