Evolution of 2D deuterium and impurity radiation profiles during transitions from attached to detached divertor operation in DIII-D

This paper presents the detailed evolution of conditions along both the inner and outer divertor legs during the transition from attached ELMing H-mode to partially detached divertor (PDD) operation in DIII-D. Visible emission profiles in a poloidal plane show that in ELMing H-mode prior to deuterium gas injection, CIII emission peaks in the inner SOL near the X-point and deuterium emission (from ionization and recombination) peaks at the inner target plate near the inner strike point (ISP). The spatial profiles of the recombination and ionization zones, determined by forming images of the ratio of intensities from simultaneous images of D{sub {alpha}} and D{sub {gamma}} emission, show that recombination dominates the inner leg emission near the target; ionization dominates in a poloidally narrow zone upstream in the inner leg. After deuterium injection, when the PDD transition begins, the profiles of carbon visible emission show first an increase in the inner SOL near the X-point, followed by increases in emission in the lower regions of the outer leg. Deuterium emission at the transition onset decreases at th4e ISP and increases across the private flux region below the X-point. As the transition to PDD conditions proceeds the deuterium emission increases in the private flux region; recombination dominates near the floor and ionization higher near the X-point. Carbon emission appears along both divertor legs and at the X-point. In the final quasi-steady PDD state, the recombination emission in the outer leg is near the separatrix and along the target plate; emission from collisional excitation dominates in the upper part of the outer leg just below the X-point, and carbon emission is localized at the X-point. These results suggest that transport of neutral deuterium between the inner and outer divertor legs through the private flux region plays an important role in the initiation of outer leg detachment in DIII-D

Doppler coherence imaging and tomography of flows in tokamak plasmas

This article describes the results of spatial heterodyne Doppler "coherence imaging" of carbon ion flows in the divertor region of the DIII-D tokamak. Spatially encoded interferometric projections of doubly ionized carbon emission at 465 nm have been demodulated and tomographically inverted to obtain the spatial distribution of the carbon ion parallel flow and emissivity. The operating principles of the new instruments are described, and the link between measured properties and line integrals of the flow field are established. An iterative simultaneous arithmetic reconstruction procedure is applied to invert the interferometric phase shift projections, and the reconstructed parallel flow field amplitudes are found to be in reasonable agreement with UEDGE modeling

DIII-D research advancing the physics basis for optimizing the tokamak approach to fusion energy

DIII-D physics research addresses critical challenges for the operation of ITER and the next generation of fusion energy devices. This is done through a focus on innovations to provide solutions for high performance long pulse operation, coupled with fundamental plasma physics understanding and model validation, to drive scenario development by integrating high performance core and boundary plasmas. Substantial increases in off-axis current drive efficiency from an innovative top launch system for EC power, and in pressure broadening for Alfven eigenmode control from a co-/counter-I (p) steerable off-axis neutral beam, all improve the prospects for optimization of future long pulse/steady state high performance tokamak operation. Fundamental studies into the modes that drive the evolution of the pedestal pressure profile and electron vs ion heat flux validate predictive models of pedestal recovery after ELMs. Understanding the physics mechanisms of ELM control and density pumpout by 3D magnetic perturbation fields leads to confident predictions for ITER and future devices. Validated modeling of high-Z shattered pellet injection for disruption mitigation, runaway electron dissipation, and techniques for disruption prediction and avoidance including machine learning, give confidence in handling disruptivity for future devices. For the non-nuclear phase of ITER, two actuators are identified to lower the L-H threshold power in hydrogen plasmas. With this physics understanding and suite of capabilities, a high poloidal beta optimized-core scenario with an internal transport barrier that projects nearly to Q = 10 in ITER at similar to 8 MA was coupled to a detached divertor, and a near super H-mode optimized-pedestal scenario with co-I (p) beam injection was coupled to a radiative divertor. The hybrid core scenario was achieved directly, without the need for anomalous current diffusion, using off-axis current drive actuators. Also, a controller to assess proximity to stability limits and regulate beta (N) in the ITER baseline scenario, based on plasma response to probing 3D fields, was demonstrated. Finally, innovative tokamak operation using a negative triangularity shape showed many attractive features for future pilot plant operation

Visible and Infrared Optical Design for the ITER Upper Ports

This document contains the results of an optical design scoping study of visible-light and infrared optics for the ITER upper ports, performed by LLNL under contract for the US ITER Project Office. ITER is an international collaboration to build a large fusion energy tokamak with a goal of demonstrating net fusion power for pulses much longer than the energy confinement time. At the time of this report, six of the ITER upper ports are planned to each to contain a camera system for recording visible and infrared light, as well as other diagnostics. the performance specifications for the temporal and spatial resolution of this system are shown in the Section II, Functional Specifications. They acknowledge a debt to Y. Corre and co-authors of the CEA Cadarache report ''ITER wide-angle viewing and thermographic and visible system''. Several of the concepts used in this design are derived from that CEA report. The infrared spatial resolution for optics of this design is diffraction-limited by the size of the entrance aperture, at lower resolution than listed in the ITER diagnostic specifications. The size of the entrance aperture is a trade-off between spatial resolution, optics size in the port, and the location of relay optics. The signal-to-noise ratio allows operation at the specified time resolutions

Toroidally Asymmetric Distributions of Hydrocarbon (CD) Emission and Chemical Sputtering Sources in DIII-D

Measurements in DIII-D show that the carbon chemical sputtering sources along the inner divertor and center post are toroidally periodic and highest at the upstream tile edge. Imaging with a tangentially viewing camera and visible spectroscopy were used to monitor the emission from molecular hydrocarbons (CH/CD) at 430.8 nm and deuterium neutrals in attached and partially detached divertors of low-confinement mode plasmas. In contrast to the toroidally periodic CD distribution, emission from deuterium neutrals was observed to be toroidally symmetric along the inner strike zone. The toroidal distribution of the measured tile surface temperature in the inner divertor correlates with that of the CD emission, suggesting larger parallel particle and heat fluxes to the upstream tile edge, either due to toroidal tile gaps or height steps between adjacent tiles

Stochastic Transport Modeling of Resonant Magnetic Perturbations in DIII-D

Three-dimensional two-fluid simulations of heat transport due to resonant magnetic perturbations of tokamaks have been computed by coupling the TRIP3D field line tracing code to the E3D edge transport code. The predicted electron temperature contours follow the new separatrix represented by the perturbed invariant manifold structure of the X-point in qualitative agreement with X-point TV observations. However, preliminary modeling predicts that the resulting stochastic heat transport is greater than that measured in low-collisionality ELM suppression experiments in DIII-D H-mode plasmas. While improved determination of transport coefficients is definitely required, possible explanations include plasma screening of resonant perturbations, invalid treatment of the edge as a fluid, or insufficient understanding of stochastic heat transport

On the acoustic diffraction by the edges of benthic shells

Author Posting. © Acoustical Society of America, 2004. This article is posted here by permission of Acoustical Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 116 (2004): 239-244, doi:10.1121/1.1675813.Recent laboratory measurements of acoustic backscattering by individual benthic shells have isolated the edge-diffracted echo from echoes due to the surface of the main body of the shell. The data indicate that the echo near broadside incidence is generally the strongest for all orientations and is due principally to the surface of the main body. At angles well away from broadside, the echo levels are lower and are due primarily to the diffraction from the edge of the shell. The decrease in echo levels from broadside incidence to well off broadside is shown to be reasonably consistent with the decrease in acoustic backscattering from normal incidence to well off normal incidence by a shell-covered seafloor. The results suggest the importance of the edge of the shell in off-normal-incidence backscattering by a shell-covered seafloor. Furthermore, when considering bistatic diffraction by edges, there are implications that the edge of the shell (lying on the seafloor) can cause significant scattering in many directions, including at subcritical angles.This research was supported by the U.S. Office of Naval Research (Grant No. N00014-02-1-0095) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Woods Hole, MA

Mitigation of plasma-wall interactions with low-Z powders in DIII-D high confinement plasmas

Experiments with low-Z powder injection in DIII-D high confinement discharges demonstrated increased divertor dissipation and detachment while maintaining good core energy confinement. Lithium (Li), boron (B), and boron nitride (BN) powders were injected in high-confinement mode plasmas ($I_p=$1 MA, $B_t=$2 T, $P_{NB}=$6 MW, $\langle n_e\rangle=3.6-5.0\cdot10^{19}$ m$^{-3}$) into the upper small-angle slot (SAS) divertor for 2-s intervals at constant rates of 3-204 mg/s. The multi-species BN powders at a rate of 54 mg/s showed the most substantial increase in divertor neutral compression by more than an order of magnitude and lasting detachment with minor degradation of the stored magnetic energy $W_{mhd}$ by 5%. Rates of 204 mg/s of boron nitride powder further reduce ELM-fluxes on the divertor but also cause a drop in confinement performance by 24% due to the onset of an $n=2$ tearing mode. The application of powders also showed a substantial improvement of wall conditions manifesting in reduced wall fueling source and intrinsic carbon and oxygen content in response to the cumulative injection of non-recycling materials. The results suggest that low-Z powder injection, including mixed element compounds, is a promising new core-edge compatible technique that simultaneously enables divertor detachment and improves wall conditions during high confinement operation