Potential Methods for Improving Pedestal Temperatures and Fusion Performance

The physics of the tokamak edge is very complicated, and the scaling of the H-mode transport barrier pedestal has significant uncertainties. Evidence from the largest tokamaks appears to support a model in which the H-mode pedestal width scales linearly with the poloidal gyroradius and the gradient scales with ideal MHD ballooning limits. However, there appears to be significant variability in the data from different tokamaks, including observations on DIII-D that indicate a regime where the pedestal is in second stability and the width is independent of poloidal gyroradius, which would give a more favorable scaling to reactor scales. An important question is the role of the bootstrap current in the pedestal, and another is how far can the improvements in edge stability be p shed with higher triangularity and elongation. Even with the more pessimistic model, where the pedestal width is proportional to the poloidal gyroradius, the results presented here suggest that pedestal temperatures, and thus the fusion performance, may be significantly improved by designs with stronger plasma shaping higher triangularity and elongation, moderate density peaking, and higher magnetic field (and thus reduced size), such as in ARIES-RS, FIRE, and some of the new ITER-RC designs

AEGIS-K code for linear kinetic analysis of toroidally axisymmetric plasma stability

(2006) 748 ] is extended to the kinetic calculation. A numerical method is developed to solve the gyrokinetic equation of lowest order for the response to the independent solutions of the electromagnetic perturbations, with the quasineutrality condition taken into account. A transform method is implemented to allow the pre-computed Z-function (i.e., the plasma dispersion function) to be used to reduce the integration dimension in the moment calculation and to assure the numerical accuracy in determining the wave-particle resonance effects. Periodic boundary condition along the whole banana orbit is introduced to treat the trapped particles, in contrast to the usual reflection symmetry conditions at the banana tips. Due to the adaptive feature, the AEGIS-K code is able to resolve the coupling between the kinetic resonances and the shear Alfvén continuum damping. Application of the AEGIS-K code to compute the resistive wall modes in ITER is discussed

Interpretative and predictive modelling of Joint European Torus collisionality scans

Transport modelling of Joint European Torus (JET) dimensionless collisionality scaling experiments in various operational scenarios is presented. Interpretative simulations at a fixed radial position are combined with predictive JETTO simulations of temperatures and densities, using the TGLF transport model. The model includes electromagnetic effects and collisions as well as □(→┬E ) X □(→┬B ) shear in Miller geometry. Focus is on particle transport and the role of the neutral beam injection (NBI) particle source for the density peaking. The experimental 3-point collisionality scans include L-mode, and H-mode (D and H and higher beta D plasma) plasmas in a total of 12 discharges. Experimental results presented in (Tala et al 2017 44th EPS Conf.) indicate that for the H-mode scans, the NBI particle source plays an important role for the density peaking, whereas for the L-mode scan, the influence of the particle source is small. In general, both the interpretative and predictive transport simulations support the experimental conclusions on the role of the NBI particle source for the 12 JET discharges

Shattered pellet injection experiments at JET in support of the ITER disruption mitigation system design

A series of experiments have been executed at JET to assess the efficacy of the newly installed shattered pellet injection (SPI) system in mitigating the effects of disruptions. Issues, important for the ITER disruption mitigation system, such as thermal load mitigation, avoidance of runaway electron (RE) formation, radiation asymmetries during thermal quench mitigation, electromagnetic load control and RE energy dissipation have been addressed over a large parameter range. The efficiency of the mitigation has been examined for the various SPI injection strategies. The paper summarises the results from these JET SPI experiments and discusses their implications for the ITER disruption mitigation scheme

Testing a prediction model for the H-mode density pedestal against JET-ILW pedestals

The neutral ionisation model proposed by Groebner et al (2002 Phys. Plasmas 9 2134) to determine the plasma density profile in the H-mode pedestal, is extended to include charge exchange processes in the pedestal stimulated by the ideas of Mahdavi et al (2003 Phys. Plasmas 10 3984). The model is then tested against JET H-mode pedestal data, both in a 'standalone' version using experimental temperature profiles and also by incorporating it in the Europed version of EPED. The model is able to predict the density pedestal over a wide range of conditions with good accuracy. It is also able to predict the experimentally observed isotope effect on the density pedestal that eludes simpler neutral ionization models

New H-mode regimes with small ELMs and high thermal confinement in the Joint European Torus

New H-mode regimes with high confinement, low core impurity accumulation, and small edge-localized mode perturbations have been obtained in magnetically confined plasmas at the Joint European Torus tokamak. Such regimes are achieved by means of optimized particle fueling conditions at high input power, current, and magnetic field, which lead to a self-organized state with a strong increase in rotation and ion temperature and a decrease in the edge density. An interplay between core and edge plasma regions leads to reduced turbulence levels and outward impurity convection. These results pave the way to an attractive alternative to the standard plasmas considered for fusion energy generation in a tokamak with a metallic wall environment such as the ones expected in ITER.& nbsp;Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing

Comparing pedestal structure in JET-ILW H-mode plasmas with a model for stiff ETG turbulent heat transport

A predictive model for the electron temperature profile of the H-mode pedestal is described, and its results are compared with the pedestal structure of JET-ILW plasmas. The model is based on a scaling for the gyro-Bohm normalized, turbulent electron heat flux qe/qe,gB resulting from electron temperature gradient (ETG) turbulence, derived from results of nonlinear gyrokinetic (GK) calculations for the steep gradient region. By using the local temperature gradient scale length L-Te in the normalization, the dependence of q(e)/q(e,g)B on the normalized gradients R/L-Te and R/(Lne) can be represented by a unified scaling with the parameter eta(e) = L-ne/L-Te, to which the linear stability of ETG turbulence is sensitive when the density gradient is sufficiently steep. For a prescribed density profile, the value of R/L-Te determined from this scaling, required to maintain a constant electron heat flux qe across the pedestal, is used to calculate the temperature profile. Reasonable agreement with measurements is found for different cases, the model providing an explanation of the relative widths and shifts of the T-e and n(e) profiles, as well as highlighting the importance of the separatrix boundary conditions. Other cases showing disagreement indicate conditions where other branches of turbulence might dominate.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue "H-mode transition and pedestal studies in fusion plasmas'