Non-linear effects in electron cyclotron current drive applied for the stabilization of neoclassical tearing modes

Due to the smallness of the volumes associated with the flux surfaces around the O-point of a magnetic island, the electron cyclotron power density applied inside the island for the stabilization of neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) can exceed the threshold for non-linear effects as derived previously by Harvey et al (1989 Phys. Rev. Lett. 62 [http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.62.426] 426 ). We study the non-linear electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) efficiency through bounce-averaged, quasi-linear Fokker–Planck calculations in the magnetic geometry as created by the islands. The calculations are performed for the parameters of a typical NTM stabilization experiment on ASDEX Upgrade. A particular feature of these experiments is that the rays of the EC wave beam propagate tangential to the flux surfaces in the power deposition region. The calculations show significant non-linear effects on the ECCD efficiency, when the ECCD power is increased from its experimental value of 1 MW to a larger value of 4 MW. The nonlinear effects are largest in the case of locked islands or when the magnetic island rotation period is longer than the collisional time scale. The non-linear effects result in an overall reduction of the current drive efficiency for this case with absorption of the EC power on the low-field side of the electron cyclotron resonance layer. As a consequence of the non-linear effects, also the stabilizing effect of the ECCD on the island is reduced from linear expectations

Estimation of the thermal diffusion coefficient in fusion plasmas taking frequency measurement uncertainties into account

In this paper, the estimation of the thermal diffusivity from perturbative experiments in fusion plasmas is discussed. The measurements used to estimate the thermal diffusivity suffer from stochastic noise. Accurate estimation of the thermal diffusivity should take this into account. It will be shown that formulas found in the literature often result in a thermal diffusivity that has a bias (a difference between the estimated value and the actual value that remains even if more measurements are added) or have an unnecessarily large uncertainty. This will be shown by modeling a plasma using only diffusion as heat transport mechanism and measurement noise based on ASDEX Upgrade measurements. The Fourier coefficients of a temperature perturbation will exhibit noise from the circular complex normal distribution (CCND). Based on Fourier coefficients distributed according to a CCND, it is shown that the resulting probability density function of the thermal diffusivity is an inverse non-central chi-squared distribution. The thermal diffusivity that is found by sampling this distribution will always be biased, and averaging of multiple estimated diffusivities will not necessarily improve the estimation. Confidence bounds are constructed to illustrate the uncertainty in the diffusivity using several formulas that are equivalent in the noiseless case. Finally, a different method of averaging, that reduces the uncertainty significantly, is suggested. The methodology is also extended to the case where damping is included, and it is explained how to include the cylindrical geometry

Dual array 3D electron cyclotron emission imaging at ASDEX Upgrade

In a major upgrade, the (2D) electron cyclotron emission imaging diagnostic (ECEI) at ASDEX Upgrade has been equipped with a second detector array, observing a different toroidal position in the plasma, to enable quasi-3D measurements of the electron temperature. The new system will measure a total of 288 channels, in two 2D arrays, toroidally separated by 40 cm. The two detector arrays observe the plasma through the same vacuum window, both under a slight toroidal angle. The majority of the field lines are observed by both arrays simultaneously, thereby enabling a direct measurement of the 3D properties of plasma instabilities like edge localized mode filaments

Estimation of the thermal diffusion coefficient in fusion plasmas taking frequency measurement uncertainties into account

In this paper, the estimation of the thermal diffusivity from perturbative experiments in fusion plasmas is discussed. The measurements used to estimate the thermal diffusivity suffer from stochastic noise. Accurate estimation of the thermal diffusivity should take this into account. It will be shown that formulas found in the literature often result in a thermal diffusivity that has a bias (a difference between the estimated value and the actual value that remains even if more measurements are added) or have an unnecessarily large uncertainty. This will be shown by modeling a plasma using only diffusion as heat transport mechanism and measurement noise based on ASDEX Upgrade measurements. The Fourier coefficients of a temperature perturbation will exhibit noise from the circular complex normal distribution (CCND). Based on Fourier coefficients distributed according to a CCND, it is shown that the resulting probability density function of the thermal diffusivity is an inverse non-central chi-squared distribution. The thermal diffusivity that is found by sampling this distribution will always be biased, and averaging of multiple estimated diffusivities will not necessarily improve the estimation. Confidence bounds are constructed to illustrate the uncertainty in the diffusivity using several formulas that are equivalent in the noiseless case. Finally, a different method of averaging, that reduces the uncertainty significantly, is suggested. The methodology is also extended to the case where damping is included, and it is explained how to include the cylindrical geometry

Radiative type-III ELMy H-mode in all-tungsten ASDEX Upgrade

The type-III ELMy H-mode might be the solution for an integrated ITER operation scenario fulfilling the fusion power amplification factor (output fusion power to input heating power) of Q = 10 with simultaneous acceptable steady-state and transient power loads to the plasma-facing components. This highly radiative type-III ELMy H-mode is achieved by nitrogen seeding. Experiments on the tokamak ASDEX Upgrade, in which all plasma-facing components are coated with tungsten, showed favourable confinement conditions ( H 98( y ,2) = 1) at high plasma pressure ( β N = 2.4). The power load to the plasma-facing components is as low as ≈3 MW m −2 during the peak heat loads due to edge localized modes (ELMs) at high radiative power fractions of f rad ≈ 0.75. In those high-density discharges the central impurity concentration is very low as a result of hollow nitrogen density profiles and minimal erosion of tungsten. The tungsten erosion is not only suppressed in between ELMs, when the divertor is detached, but also during the type-III ELM activity. Such low impurity concentrations in the plasma core might lead to even higher fusion amplification factors in ITER than 10. This is a demonstration of the compatibility of the radiating type-III ELMy H-mode with a tungsten divertor and main chamber wall, with sufficient confinement and favourable power exhaust characteristics. Together with previous results in all-carbon devices this demonstration strengthens the case for a potential application of a Q = 10 scenario on ITER

Kalman Filter density reconstruction in ICRH discharges on ASDEX Upgrade

Plasma density is one of the key quantities that need to be controlled in real-time as it scales directly with fusion power and, if left uncontrolled, density limits can be reached leading to a disruption. On ASDEX Upgrade (AUG), the real-time measurements are the line-integrated density, measured by the interferometers, and the average density derived from the bremsstrahlung measured by spectroscopy. For control, these measurements are used to reconstruct the radial density profile using an extended Kalman filter (EKF). However, in discharges where ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) is used, the measurements from the interferometers are corrupted and the reconstructed density is false. In this paper, the existing EKF implementation is improved, implemented and experimentally verified on AUG. The new EKF includes a new particle transport model in the prediction model RAPDENS as well as a new representation of ionization and recombination. Furthermore, an algorithm was introduced that is capable of detecting the corrupt diagnostics; this algorithm is based on the rate of change of the innovation residual. The changes to the RAPDENS observer resulted in better density reconstruction in ICRH discharges where corrupt measurement occur. The new version has been implemented on the real-time control system at AUG and functions properly in ICRH discharges

Conversion of the dominantly ideal perturbations into a tearing mode after a sawtooth crash

Forced magnetic reconnection is a topic of common interest in astrophysics, space science, and magnetic fusion research. The tearing mode formation process after sawtooth crashes implies the existence of this type of magnetic reconnection and is investigated in great detail in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak. The sawtooth crash provides a fast relaxation of the core plasma temperature and can trigger a tearing mode at a neighbouring resonant surface. It is demonstrated for the first time that the sawtooth crash leads to a dominantly ideal kink mode formation at the resonant surface immediately after the sawtooth crash. Local measurements show that this kink mode transforms into a tearing mode on a much longer timescale (10(-3)s - 10(-2)s) than the sawtooth crash itself (10(-4)s). The ideal kink mode formed after the sawtooth crash provides the driving force for magnetic reconnection and its amplitude is one of the critical parameters for the length of the transition phase from a ideal into an resistive mode. Nonlinear two fluid MHD simulations confirm these observations. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC

Characterization of Alfvén eigenmodes using NBI during current ramp-up in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak

Alfvén cascades (ACs) and beta-induced Alfvén eigenmodes (BAEs) have been studied in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak during the current ramp-up phase of neutral beam heated (NBI) discharges using principally reflectometry, but also soft x-ray (SXR) and electron cyclotron emission imaging (ECEI). ACs have been observed on the tokamak high-field side and low-field side in reflectometer signals even in the absence of a cutoff. Under this condition it is shown that the response is not due to an interferometry effect but due to backscatter. The radial structure of BAEs and ACs has been obtained by cross-correlating the reflectometer with SXR, ECEI and magnetic signals. The reflectometer signals reveal a variety of Alfvén eigenmodes with different characteristics depending on the plasma heating scheme. Here, discharges with similar plasma parameters but varying NBI sources and/or additional electron cyclotron resonance heating were performed. It is shown that the bursting behaviour of ACs for q mi

The role of temperature fluctuations in the dynamics of type-I and type-II edge localized modes at ASDEX Upgrade

Two-dimensional temperature measurements using the electron cyclotron emission imaging diagnostic at ASDEX Upgrade revealed a variety of temperature fluctuations associated with type-I and type-II edge localized modes (ELMs). The characteristics and dynamics of these modes, and their role in the ELM cycle, are presented. During type-I ELMs, different phases of distinct mode activity have been identified. At the onset of the ELM crash, a short lived mode is observed in the pedestal region. During the actual crash phase, multiple filamentary structures are observed just outside the separatrix. A third type of fluctuation, the inter-ELM mode, is often observed in between type-I crashes. The occurrence of this mode tends to lengthen the ELM period. During type-I ELM suppression with magnetic perturbation coils, smaller crash events become more frequent, replacing the large type-I crashes. In type-II ELMs, temperature crashes are absent altogether, and a continuous broadband fluctuation in the 20–60 kHz range, showing beat wave like behaviour, is observed. The similarities between the characteristics of this mode and the inter-ELM mode suggest that it is the same instability. In type-I ELMs it delays the next crash, in type-II ELMs it might be responsible for the complete absence of crash events

Concept for a multi-purpose EU-DEMO pellet launching system

Pellets - mm-size solid bodies produced from frozen fuel - are mainly destined for fuelling purposes in the fusion reactor EU-DEMO. However, pellets have been proven capable tools for further tasks too, e.g. ELM frequency control and the efficient delivery of seeding gases have been already demonstrated. Here, a concept is presented for a single pellet launcher based on a stop-cylinder centrifuge accelerator equipped with multiple pellet sources. The sources can deliver pellets with different sizes and composition, finally combined into one single compound pellet train. Thus, the pellet launching system (PLS) is capable to control simultaneously different plasma parameters with a minimized cross talk between these different actuations. Currently, a new PLS is under development for the new large superconducting tokamak device JT-60SA which can be potentially regarded as a prototype for the envisaged EU-DEMO system. Its initial configuration will be capable to control plasma density and ELM pacing simultaneously; optionally a source for doped pellets can be added. Status and recent achievements of this systems are reported. At the full metal wall mid-size tokamak ASDEX Upgrade (AUG), work is ongoing developing a versatile control strategy and corresponding tools. Capable to inject pellets with high speed through a guiding tube from the torus inboard side, AUG represents a fully reactor relevant configuration. While all demonstrations have been performed with a single pellet source hence bound to actuation prioritizing one actuation parameter, all tools developed can be expanded straightforwardly to multi-purpose control. For example, one novel tool optimizes real-time feedback pellet flux control taking into account the discrete nature of the pellets. As well, a solution is worked to handle the issue of missed-out pellets. Such failed pellets are considered unavoidable due to the fragile nature of the solid fuel but identified as significant hazard for reactor burn control