An emerging understanding of H-mode discharges in tokamaks

A remarkable degree of consistency of experimental results from tokamaks throughout the world has developed with regard to the phenomenology of the transition from L-mode to H-mode confinement in tokamaks. The transition is initiated in a narrow layer at the plasma periphery where density fluctuations are suppressed and steep gradients of temperature and density form in a region with large first and second radial derivatives in the [upsilon][sub E][sup [yields]] = (E [times] B)/B[sup 2] flow velocity. These results are qualitatively consistent with theories which predict suppression of fluctuations by shear or curvature in [upsilon]E. The required [upsilon]E flow is generated very rapidly when the magnitude of the heating power or of an externally imposed radial current exceed threshold values and several theoretical models have been developed to explain the observed changes in the [upsilon]E flow. After the transition occurs, the altered boundary conditions enable the development of improved confinement in the plasma interior on a confinement time scale. The resulting H-mode discharge has typically twice the confinement of L-mode discharges and regimes of further improved confinement have been obtained in some H-mode scenarios

H-mode pedestal characteristics in ITER shape discharges on DIII-D

Characteristics of the H-mode pedestal are studied in Type 1 ELM discharges with ITER cross-sectional shape and aspect ratio. The scaling of the width of the edge step gradient region, {delta}, which is most consistent with the data is with the normalized edge pressure, ({beta}{sub POL}{sup PED}){sup 0.4}. Fits of {delta} to a function of temperature, such as {rho}{sub POL}, are ruled out in divertor pumping experiments. The edge pressure gradient is found to scale as would be expected from infinite n ballooning mode theory; however, the value of the pressure gradient exceeds the calculated first stable limit by more than a factor of 2 in some discharges. This high edge pressure gradient is consistent with access to the second stable regime for ideal ballooning for surfaces near the edge. In lower q discharges, including discharges at the ITER value of q, edge second stability requires significant edge current density. Transport simulations give edge bootstrap current of sufficient magnitude to open second stable access in these discharges. Ideal kink analysis using current density profiles including edge bootstrap current indicate that before the ELM these discharges may be unstable to low n, edge localized modes

A model for microinstability destabilization and enhanced transport in the presence of shielded 3-D magnetic perturbations

A mechanism is presented that suggests shielded 3-D magnetic perturbations can destabilize microinstabilities and enhance the associated anomalous transport. Using local 3-D equilibrium theory, shaped tokamak equilibria with small 3-D deformations are constructed. In the vicinity of rational magnetic surfaces, the infinite-n ideal MHD ballooning stability boundary is strongly perturbed by the 3-D modulations of the local magnetic shear associated with the presence of nearresonant Pfirsch-Schluter currents. These currents are driven by 3-D components of the magnetic field spectrum even when there is no resonant radial component. The infinite-n ideal ballooning stability boundary is often used as a proxy for the onset of virulent kinetic ballooning modes (KBM) and associated stiff transport. These results suggest that the achievable pressure gradient may be lowered in the vicinity of low order rational surfaces when 3-D magnetic perturbations are applied. This mechanism may provide an explanation for the observed reduction in the peak pressure gradient at the top of the edge pedestal during experiments where edge localized modes have been completely suppressed by applied 3-D magnetic fields

Kinetic modeling of H-mode pedestal with effects from anomalous transport and MHD stability

Scaling of the H-mode pedestal in tokamak plasmas with type I ELMs and dependence of the pedestal properties and the resulting divertor head load width with the plasma elongation and plasma current are investigated using the kinetic neoclassical XGC0 code for DIII-D and Alcator C-Mod tokamaks. The simulations in this study use realistic diverted geometry and are self-consistent with the inclusion of kinetic neoclassical physics, theory-based anomalous transport models with the E×B flow shearing effects, as well as an MHD ELM triggering criterion. Scalings for the pedestal width and height are developed as a function of the scanned plasma parameters. The nonlinear interplay between anomalous and neoclassical effects motivates the development of a self-consistent simulation model that includes neoclassical and anomalous effects simultaneously. It is demonstrated that the divertor heat load width depend on the plasma currents. In the development of this dependence, effects of neutral collisions and anomalous transport are taken into account. Changes in the neoclassical divertor heat load fluxes associated with the introduction of the neutral collision and anomalous transport effects are described.За допомогою кінетичного неокласичного коду XGC0 для розрядів в токамаках DIII-D і Alcator C-Mod досліджено скейлінг п’єдесталу в плазмі, що перебуває в режимі поліпшеного утримання, з прикордонними локалізованими модами (ПЛМ) першого типу, властивості п’єдесталу і потоку тепла на дивертор в залежності від витягнутості плазми та струму плазми. У розрахунках використовуються: реалістична геометрія дивертора, кінетична модель для неокласичних ефектів, модель аномального транспорту, яка враховує ефекти шира (ExB)-потоків, і умови збудження ПЛМ-нестійкостей. У результаті розрахунків отримані скейлінгі для ширини і висоти п’єдесталу як функції параметрів плазми. Нелінійна взаємодія неокласичних ефектів і ефектів, пов'язаних з аномальним транспортом, є мотивацією для розробки самоузгодженої чисельної моделі, яка одночасно включає ефекти аномального і неокласичного транспорту. Показано, що потоки тепла на дивертор залежать від плазмових струмів. Також представлено результати дослідження залежності напівширини профілів тепла на дивертор від ефектів, пов'язаних з аномальним транспортом і зіткненнями з нейтральними частинками.С помощью кинетического неоклассического кода XGC0 для разрядов в токамаках DIII-D и Alcator C-Mod исследованы скэйлинг пьедестала в плазме, находящейся в режиме улучшенного удержания, с приграничными локализованными модами (ПЛМ) первого типа, и зависимость свойств пьедестала и потока тепла на дивертор от вытянутости плазмы и тока плазмы. В расчетах используются: реалистичная геометрия дивертора, кинетическая модель для неоклассических эффектов, модель аномального транспорта, которая учитывает эффекты шира (ExB)-потоков, и условия возбуждения ПЛМ-неустойчивостей. В результате расчетов получены скэйлинги для ширины и высоты пьедестала как функции параметров плазмы. Нелинейное взаимодействие неоклассических эффектов и эффектов, связанных с аномальным транспортом, является мотивацией разработки самосогласованной численной модели, которая одновременно включает эффекты аномального и неоклассического транспорта. Показано, что потоки тепла на дивертор зависят от плазменных токов. Также представлены результаты исследования зависимости полуширины профилей тепла на дивертор от эффектов, связанных с аномальным транспортом и столкновениями с нейтральными частицами

Scaling studies of the H-mode pedestal

The structure and scaling of the H-mode pedestal are examined for discharges in the DIII-D tokamak. For typical conditions, the pedestal values of the ion and electron temperatures T{sub i} and T{sub e} are comparable. Measurements of main ion and C{sup 6+} profiles indicate that the ion pressure gradient in the barrier is 50%--100% of the electron pressure gradient for deuterium plasmas. The magnitude of the pressure gradient in the barrier often exceeds the predictions of infinite-n ballooning mode theory by a factor of two. Moreover, via the bootstrap current, the finite pressure gradient acts to entirely remove ballooning stability limits for typical discharges. For a large dataset, the width of the pressure barrier {delta} is best described by the dimensionless scaling {delta}/R {proportional_to} ({beta}{sub pol}{sup ped}){sup 0.4} where ({beta}{sub pol}{sup ped}) is the pedestal value of poloidal beta and R is the major radius. Scalings based on the poloidal ion gyroradius or the edge density gradient do not adequately describe overall trends in the data set and the propagation of the pressure barrier observed between edge-localized modes. The width of the T{sub i} barrier is quite variable and is not a good measure of the width of the pressure barrier

A global fitting code for multichordal neutral beam spectroscopic data

Knowledge of the heat deposition profile is crucial to all transport analysis of beam heated discharges. The heat deposition profile can be inferred from the fast ion birth profile which, in turn, is directly related to the loss of neutral atoms from the beam. This loss can be measured spectroscopically be the decrease in amplitude of spectral emissions from the beam as it penetrates the plasma. The spectra are complicated by the motional Stark effect which produces a manifold of nine bright peaks for each of the three beam energy components. A code has been written to analyze this kind of data. In the first phase of this work, spectra from tokamak shots are fit with a Stark splitting and Doppler shift model that ties together the geometry of several spatial positions when they are fit simultaneously. In the second phase, a relative position-to-position intensity calibration will be applied to these results to obtain the spectral amplitudes from which beam atom loss can be estimated. This paper reports on the computer code for the first phase. Sample fits to real tokamak spectral data are shown