Energy Confinement in Shaped TCV Plasmas with Electron Cyclotron Heating

The effects of plasma shape on confinement and sawtooth stability are studied for positive and negative discharge triangularity and for different elongations with 1.5 MW centrally deposited ECH powe

Preliminary Confinement Studies during ECRH in TCV

Within the range of plasma shapes and plasma currents investigated, the electron confinement time, Tau_E increases with density, elongation and negative triangularity (-0.4<delta<+0.4), similar to Ohmic heating (in these low density discharges). In addition, TauEe increases with q_a up to q_a~5 after which it decreases. There is little dependence of TauEe on the heating location provided it is inside the q= I surface. As the heating location is moved outside the q=l surface, TauEe decreases. This may be the explanation of the observed decrease in TauEe at high q_a. The power-induced degradation exponent found is generally as expected: alpaha_P = -0.5

EFFECT OF LOCALISED ELECTRON CYCLOTRON HEATING ON ENERGY CONFINEMENT AND MHD IN TCV

Within the range of plasma shapes and plasma currents investigated, the electron confinement time, tau_Ee, increases with safety factor, density and negative triangularity similar to the Ohmic heating case. There is little dependence of tau_Ee on the heating location provided power deposition occurs inside the q=1 surface; as power deposition moves out of the inversion surface, tau_Ee decreases. The power-induced energy confinement degradation exponent (tau_Ee~PaP) is as usual: alpha_P ~-0.5. As a general trend, central relaxations decrease in amplitude with increasing qa, P_EC, or negative delta, in a situation where the confinement time increases