| 1. |
- Lerche, E., et al.
(författare)
-
Optimizing ion-cyclotron resonance frequency heating for ITER : dedicated JET experiments
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 53:12, s. 124019-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the past years, one of the focal points of the JET experimental programme was on ion-cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) studies in view of the design and exploitation of the ICRH system being developed for ITER. In this brief review, some of the main achievements obtained in JET in this field during the last 5 years will be summarized. The results reported here include important aspects of a more engineering nature, such as (i) the appropriate design of the RF feeding circuits for optimal load resilient operation and (ii) the test of a compact high-power density antenna array, as well as RF physics oriented studies aiming at refining the numerical models used for predicting the performance of the ICRH system in ITER. The latter include (i) experiments designed for improving the modelling of the antenna coupling resistance under various plasma conditions and (ii) the assessment of the heating performance of ICRH scenarios to be used in the non-active operation phase of ITER.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
- Van Eester, D., et al.
(författare)
-
Minority and mode conversion heating in (He-3)-H JET plasmas
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 54:7, s. 074009-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Radio frequency (RF) heating experiments have recently been conducted in JET (He-3)-H plasmas. This type of plasmas will be used in ITER's non-activated operation phase. Whereas a companion paper in this same PPCF issue will discuss the RF heating scenario's at half the nominal magnetic field, this paper documents the heating performance in (He-3)-H plasmas at full field, with fundamental cyclotron heating of He-3 as the only possible ion heating scheme in view of the foreseen ITER antenna frequency bandwidth. Dominant electron heating with global heating efficiencies between 30% and 70% depending on the He-3 concentration were observed and mode conversion (MC) heating proved to be as efficient as He-3 minority heating. The unwanted presence of both He-4 and D in the discharges gave rise to 2 MC layers rather than a single one. This together with the fact that the location of the high-field side fast wave (FW) cutoff is a sensitive function of the parallel wave number and that one of the locations of the wave confluences critically depends on the He-3 concentration made the interpretation of the results, although more complex, very interesting: three regimes could be distinguished as a function of X[He-3]: (i) a regime at low concentration (X[He-3] < 1.8%) at which ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) heating is efficient, (ii) a regime at intermediate concentrations (1.8 < X[He-3] < 5%) in which the RF performance is degrading and ultimately becoming very poor, and finally (iii) a good heating regime at He-3 concentrations beyond 6%. In this latter regime, the heating efficiency did not critically depend on the actual concentration while at lower concentrations (X[He-3] < 4%) a bigger excursion in heating efficiency is observed and the estimates differ somewhat from shot to shot, also depending on whether local or global signals are chosen for the analysis. The different dynamics at the various concentrations can be traced back to the presence of 2 MC layers and their associated FW cutoffs residing inside the plasma at low He-3 concentration. One of these layers is approaching and crossing the low-field side plasma edge when 1.8 < X[He-3] < 5%. Adopting a minimization procedure to correlate the MC positions with the plasma composition reveals that the different behaviors observed are due to contamination of the plasma. Wave modeling not only supports this interpretation but also shows that moderate concentrations of D-like species significantly alter the overall wave behavior in He-3-H plasmas. Whereas numerical modeling yields quantitative information on the heating efficiency, analytical work gives a good description of the dominant underlying wave interaction physics.
|
|
| 6. |
- Kiptily, V. G., et al.
(författare)
-
Fast ions in mode conversion heating (He-3)-H plasmas in JET
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 54:7, s. 074010-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Fast ions were analysed in experiments focusing on fundamental He-3 minority and mode conversion (MC) in the ion cyclotron resonance range of frequencies (ICRF) in H plasmas and on second harmonic heating of He-3 ions at 2.65 T mimicking D-T plasma heating in ITER at half its nominal toroidal magnetic field. Gamma-ray spectrometry, neutral particle analysers and fast-ion loss diagnostics provided information on the generation of fast-ion populations and on the distribution of ICRH power among the species in various heating scenarios and for a large range of He-3 concentrations. In the scenario with the fundamental He-3 minority and MC wave heating at B-T(0) = 3.41 T and f approximate to 32 MHz, fast He-3 ions accelerated by ICRH in the MeV energy range were detected in discharges with low He-3 concentration. In the experiments with a He-3 concentration scan it was found that at a He-3 concentration of approximate to 2.2% the He-3 ion losses disappeared while a population of energetic D ions gradually built up due to a redistribution of the ICRH power between species on reaching the first MC regime. Under those conditions the ICRF-heated D beam ions effectively absorbed the wave power at their Doppler shifted resonance, which was close to the plasma centre. In discharges with second harmonic heating of He-3 ions at B-T(0) = 2.65 T and f approximate to 52 MHz, the confined energetic He-3 ions were found in the MeV energy range. There is some evidence that the D ions were also accelerated by ICRF. This paper also demonstrates that the synergy of the various fast ion diagnostics allows making a broad picture of the physics of the redistribution of the absorbed ICRH power in complicated heating scenarios of JET.
|
|
