27 research outputs found
Overview of ASDEX Upgrade results
The ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) programme is directed towards physics input to critical
elements of the ITER design and the preparation of ITER operation, as well as addressing
physics issues for a future DEMO design. Since 2015, AUG is equipped with a new pair of
3-strap ICRF antennas, which were designed for a reduction of tungsten release during ICRF
operation. As predicted, a factor two reduction on the ICRF-induced W plasma content could
be achieved by the reduction of the sheath voltage at the antenna limiters via the compensation
of the image currents of the central and side straps in the antenna frame. There are two main
operational scenario lines in AUG. Experiments with low collisionality, which comprise
current drive, ELM mitigation/suppression and fast ion physics, are mainly done with freshly
boronized walls to reduce the tungsten influx at these high edge temperature conditions. Full
ELM suppression and non-inductive operation up to a plasma current of Ip = 0.8 MA could
be obtained at low plasma density. Plasma exhaust is studied under conditions of high neutral
divertor pressure and separatrix electron density, where a fresh boronization is not required.
Substantial progress could be achieved for the understanding of the confinement degradation
by strong D puffing and the improvement with nitrogen or carbon seeding. Inward/outward
shifts of the electron density profile relative to the temperature profile effect the edge stability
via the pressure profile changes and lead to improved/decreased pedestal performance.
Seeding and D gas puffing are found to effect the core fueling via changes in a region of high
density on the high field side (HFSHD).
The integration of all above mentioned operational scenarios will be feasible and
naturally obtained in a large device where the edge is more opaque for neutrals and higher
plasma temperatures provide a lower collisionality. The combination of exhaust control
with pellet fueling has been successfully demonstrated. High divertor enrichment values of
nitrogen EN 10 have been obtained during pellet injection, which is a prerequisite for the
simultaneous achievement of good core plasma purity and high divertor radiation levels.
Impurity accumulation observed in the all-metal AUG device caused by the strong neoclassical
inward transport of tungsten in the pedestal is expected to be relieved by the higher
neoclassical temperature screening in larger devices.European Commission (EUROfusion 633053
Overview of the JET results in support to ITER
The 2014–2016 JET results are reviewed in the light of their significance for optimising
the ITER research plan for the active and non-active operation. More than 60 h of plasma
operation with ITER first wall materials successfully took place since its installation in
2011. New multi-machine scaling of the type I-ELM divertor energy flux density to ITER
is supported by first principle modelling. ITER relevant disruption experiments and first
principle modelling are reported with a set of three disruption mitigation valves mimicking
the ITER setup. Insights of the L–H power threshold in Deuterium and Hydrogen are given,
stressing the importance of the magnetic configurations and the recent measurements of
fine-scale structures in the edge radial electric. Dimensionless scans of the core and pedestal
confinement provide new information to elucidate the importance of the first wall material on
the fusion performance. H-mode plasmas at ITER triangularity (H = 1 at βN ~ 1.8 and n/nGW
~ 0.6) have been sustained at 2 MA during 5 s. The ITER neutronics codes have been validated
on high performance experiments. Prospects for the coming D–T campaign and 14 MeV
neutron calibration strategy are reviewed.European Commission (EUROfusion 633053
Beam-Ion Acceleration during Edge Localized Modes in the ASDEX Upgrade Tokamak
The acceleration of beam ions during edge localized modes (ELMs) in a tokamak is observed for the first
time through direct measurements of fast-ion losses in low collisionality plasmas. The accelerated beamion
population exhibits well-localized velocity-space structures which are revealed by means of tomographic
inversion of the measurement, showing energy gains of the order of tens of keV. This suggests that
the ion acceleration results from a resonant interaction between the beam ions and parallel electric fields
arising during the ELM. Orbit simulations are carried out to identify the mode-particle resonances
responsible for the energy gain in the particle phase space. The observation motivates the incorporation of a
kinetic description of fast particles in ELM models and may contribute to a better understanding of the
mechanisms responsible for particle acceleration, ubiquitous in astrophysical and space plasmas.H2020 Marie- Sklodowska Curie programme (Grant No. 708257)Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. FIS2015-69362-
Dynamic modelling of local fuel inventory and desorption in the whole tokamak vacuum vessel for auto-consistent plasma-wall interaction simulations
An extension of the SolEdge2D-EIRENE code package, named D-WEE, has been developed to add the dynamics of thermal desorption of hydrogen isotopes from the surface of plasma facing materials. To achieve this purpose, D-WEE models hydrogen isotopes implantation, transport and retention in those materials. Before launching auto-consistent simulation (with feedback of D-WEE on SolEdge2D-EIRENE), D-WEE has to be initialised to ensure a realistic wall behaviour in terms of dynamics (pumping or fuelling areas) and fuel content. A methodology based on modelling is introduced to perform such initialisation. A synthetic plasma pulse is built from consecutive SolEdge2D-EIRENE simulations. This synthetic pulse is used as a plasma background for the D-WEE module. A sequence of plasma pulses is simulated with D-WEE to model a tokamak operation. This simulation enables to extract at a desired time during a pulse the local fuel inventory and the local desorption flux density which could be used as initial condition for coupled plasma-wall simulations. To assess the relevance of the dynamic retention behaviour obtained in the simulation, a confrontation to post-pulse experimental pressure measurement is performed. Such confrontation reveals a qualitative agreement between the temporal pressure drop obtained in the simulation and the one observed experimentally. The simulated dynamic retention during the consecutive pulses is also studied.EURATOM 63305
Physics and operation oriented activities in preparation of the JT-60SA tokamak exploitation
The JT-60SA tokamak, being built under the Broader Approach agreement jointly by Europe
and Japan, is due to start operation in 2020 and is expected to give substantial contributions
to both ITER and DEMO scenario optimisation. A broad set of preparation activities for
an efficient start of the experiments on JT-60SA is being carried out, involving elaboration
of the Research Plan, advanced modelling in various domains, feasibility and conception
studies of diagnostics and other sub-systems in connection with the priorities of the scientific
programme, development and validation of operation tools. The logic and coherence of this
approach, as well as the most significant results of the main activities undertaken are presented
and summarised.EURATOM 63305
Improved ERO modelling of beryllium erosion at ITER upper first wall panel using JET-ILW and PISCES-B experience
ERO is a 3D Monte-Carlo impurity transport and plasma-surface interaction code. In 2011 it was applied for the ITER first wall (FW) life time predictions [1] (critical blanket module BM11). After that the same code was significantly improved during its application to existing fusion-relevant plasma devices: the tokamak JET equipped with an ITER-like wall and linear plasma device PISCES-B. This has allowed testing the sputtering data for beryllium (Be) and showing that the “ERO-min” fit based on the large (50%) deuterium (D) surface content is well suitable for plasma-wetted areas (D plasma). The improved procedure for calculating of the effective sputtering yields for each location along the plasma-facing surface using the recently developed semi-analytical sheath approach was validated. The re-evaluation of the effective yields for BM11 following the similar revisit of the JET data has indicated significant increase of erosion and motivated the current re-visit of ERO simulations.EURATOM 63305
Overview of progress in European medium sized tokamaks towards an integrated plasma-edge/wall solution
Integrating the plasma core performance with an edge and scrape-off layer (SOL) that leads
to tolerable heat and particle loads on the wall is a major challenge. The new European
medium size tokamak task force (EU-MST) coordinates research on ASDEX Upgrade
(AUG), MAST and TCV. This multi-machine approach within EU-MST, covering a wide
parameter range, is instrumental to progress in the field, as ITER and DEMO core/pedestal
and SOL parameters are not achievable simultaneously in present day devices. A two prong
approach is adopted. On the one hand, scenarios with tolerable transient heat and particle
loads, including active edge localised mode (ELM) control are developed. On the other hand,
divertor solutions including advanced magnetic configurations are studied. Considerable
progress has been made on both approaches, in particular in the fields of: ELM control with
resonant magnetic perturbations (RMP), small ELM regimes, detachment onset and control,
as well as filamentary scrape-off-layer transport. For example full ELM suppression has now
been achieved on AUG at low collisionality with n = 2 RMP maintaining good confinement
HH(98,y2) 0.95. Advances have been made with respect to detachment onset and control.
Studies in advanced divertor configurations (Snowflake, Super-X and X-point target divertor)
shed new light on SOL physics. Cross field filamentary transport has been characterised in a
wide parameter regime on AUG, MAST and TCV progressing the theoretical and experimental
understanding crucial for predicting first wall loads in ITER and DEMO. Conditions in the
SOL also play a crucial role for ELM stability and access to small ELM regimes.European Commission (EUROfusion 633053
Investigation of deuterium trapping and release in the JET divertor during the third ILW campaign using TDS
Selected set of samples from JET ITER-Like Wall (JET-ILW) divertor tiles exposed in 2015–2016 has been analysed using Thermal Desorption Spectrometry (TDS). The deuterium (D) amounts obtained with TDS were compared with Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA). The highest amount of D was found on the top part of inner divertor which has regions with the thickest deposited layers as for divertor tiles removed in 2014. This area resides deep in the scrape-off layer and plasma configurations for the second (ILW-2, 2013–2014) and the third (ILW-3, 2015–2016) JET-ILW campaigns were similar. Agreement between TDS and NRA is good on the apron of Tile 1 and on the upper vertical region whereas on the lower vertical region of Tile 1 the NRA results are clearly smaller than the TDS results. Inner divertor Tile 3 has somewhat less D than Tiles 0 and 1, and the D amount decreases towards the lower part of the tile. The D retention at the divertor inner and outer corner regions is not symmetric as there is more D retention poloidally at the inner than at the outer divertor corner. In most cases the TDS spectra for the ILW-3 samples are different from the corresponding ILW-2 spectra because HD and D2 release occurs at higher temperatures than from the ILW-2 samples indicating that the low energy traps have been emptied during the plasma operations and that D is either in the energetically deep traps or located deeper in the sample.EURATOM 63305
Investigation of deuterium trapping and release in the JET ITER-like wall divertor using TDS and TMAP
Selected set of samples from JET TER-Like Wall (JET-ILW) divertor tiles exposed both in 20132014 and 20112014 has been analysed using Thermal Desorption Spectrometry (TDS). The deuterium (D) amounts ob tained with TIS were compared with ion Beam Analysis (TBA) and Secondary ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) data. The hig amount of D was found on the top part of inner divertor which has regions with the thickest deposited layers. This area resides deep in the scrape-off layer. Changes in plasma configurations between the first 20112012 and the second 20132014 JET-IL W campaign altered the material migration towards the inner and the outer divertor come increasing the amount of deposition in the shadowed areas of the divertor base tiles. Retention on the outer divertor tiles is clearly smaller than on the inner divertor tiles. Experimental TDS spectra for samples from the top part of inner divertor and from the outer strike point region were modelled using TMAP program. Experimental deuterium profiles obtained with SIMS have been used and the detrapping and the activation energies have been adjusted Analysis of the results of the TMAP simulations enabled to determine the nature of traps in different samplesEURATOM 633053Finnish FundingAgency forTechnology and Innovation 4433/31/201
Implementation of synthetic fast-ion loss detector and imaging heavy ion beam probe diagnostics in the 3D hybrid kinetic-MHD code MEGA
A synthetic fast-ion loss (FIL) detector and an imaging Heavy Ion Beam Probe (i-HIBP) have been implemented in the 3D hybrid kinetic-magnetohydrodynamic code MEGA. First synthetic measurements from these two diagnostics have been obtained for neutral beam injection-driven Alfvén Eigenmode (AE) simulated with MEGA. The synthetic FILs show a strong correlation with the AE amplitude. This correlation is observed in the phase-space, represented in coordinates (P, E), being toroidal canonical momentum and energy, respectively. FILs and the energy exchange diagrams of the confined population are connected with lines of constant E, a linear combination of E and P. First i-HIBP synthetic signals also have been computed for the simulated AE, showing displacements in the strike line of the order of ∼1 mm, above the expected resolution in the i-HIBP scintillator of ∼100 μm.This work received funding from the European Starting Grant (ERC) from project 3D-FIREFLUC and from the Spanish Ministry of Science under Grant No. FPU19/02267. This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 and 2019-2020 under grant agreement No 633053. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission