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- 2018
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 1741-4326 .- 0029-5515. ; 58:1
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Research review (peer-reviewed)
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2. |
- Stroth, U., et al.
(author)
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Progress from ASDEX Upgrade experiments in preparing the physics basis of ITER operation and DEMO scenario development
- 2022
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 1741-4326 .- 0029-5515. ; 62:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An overview of recent results obtained at the tokamak ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) is given. A work flow for predictive profile modelling of AUG discharges was established which is able to reproduce experimental H-mode plasma profiles based on engineering parameters only. In the plasma center, theoretical predictions on plasma current redistribution by a dynamo effect were confirmed experimentally. For core transport, the stabilizing effect of fast ion distributions on turbulent transport is shown to be important to explain the core isotope effect and improves the description of hollow low-Z impurity profiles. The L-H power threshold of hydrogen plasmas is not affected by small helium admixtures and it increases continuously from the deuterium to the hydrogen level when the hydrogen concentration is raised from 0 to 100%. One focus of recent campaigns was the search for a fusion relevant integrated plasma scenario without large edge localised modes (ELMs). Results from six different ELM-free confinement regimes are compared with respect to reactor relevance: ELM suppression by magnetic perturbation coils could be attributed to toroidally asymmetric turbulent fluctuations in the vicinity of the separatrix. Stable improved confinement mode plasma phases with a detached inner divertor were obtained using a feedback control of the plasma β. The enhanced D α H-mode regime was extended to higher heating power by feedback controlled radiative cooling with argon. The quasi-coherent exhaust regime was developed into an integrated scenario at high heating power and energy confinement, with a detached divertor and without large ELMs. Small ELMs close to the separatrix lead to peeling-ballooning stability and quasi continuous power exhaust. Helium beam density fluctuation measurements confirm that transport close to the separatrix is important to achieve the different ELM-free regimes. Based on separatrix plasma parameters and interchange-drift-Alfvén turbulence, an analytic model was derived that reproduces the experimentally found important operational boundaries of the density limit and between L- and H-mode confinement. Feedback control for the X-point radiator (XPR) position was established as an important element for divertor detachment control. Stable and detached ELM-free phases with H-mode confinement quality were obtained when the XPR was moved 10 cm above the X-point. Investigations of the plasma in the future flexible snow-flake divertor of AUG by means of first SOLPS-ITER simulations with drifts activated predict beneficial detachment properties and the activation of an additional strike point by the drifts.
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- Kiptily, V. G., et al.
(author)
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Observation of alpha-particles in recent D-T experiments on JET
- 2024
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 64:8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The fusion reaction between deuterium and tritium, D(T,n)4 He is the main source of energy in future thermonuclear reactors. Alpha-particles (4 He-ions) born with an average energy of 3.5 MeV transferring energy to the thermal plasma during their slowing down, should provide the self-sustained D-T plasma burn. The adequate confinement of alpha-particles is essential to provide efficient heating of the bulk plasma and steady burning of a reactor plasma. That is why the fusion-born alpha-particle studies have been a priority task in the second D-T experiments (DTE2) on the Joint European Torus (JET) to understand the main mechanisms of their slowing down, redistribution and losses and to develop optimal plasma scenarios. JET with Be-wall and W-divertor, enhanced auxiliary heating systems and improved energetic-particle diagnostic capabilities, producing significant population of alpha-particles, provided the possibility for comprehensive studying of the alpha-particle behaviour. Selected results of the confined and lost alpha-particle measurements, evidence of alpha-particle self-heating and assessments of the fusion performance are presented in this paper giving an opportunity for further modelling and extrapolation to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor and burning plasma reactors.
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4. |
- Nocente, M., et al.
(author)
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Generation and observation of fast deuterium ions and fusion-born alpha particles in JET D-He-3 plasmas with the 3-ion radio-frequency heating scenario
- 2020
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 60:12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Dedicated experiments to generate energetic D ions and D-(3) He fusion-born alpha particles were performed at the Joint European Torus (JET) with the ITER-like wall (ILW). Using the 3-ion D-(D-NBI)-(3) He radio frequency (RF) heating scenario, deuterium ions from neutral beam injection (NBI) were accelerated in the core of mixed D-(3) He plasmas to higher energies with ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) waves, in turn leading to a core-localized source of alpha particles. The fast-ion distribution of RF-accelerated D-NBI ions was controlled by varying the ICRF and NBI power (P-ICRF approximate to 4-6 MW, P-NBI approximate to 3-20 MW), resulting in rather high D-D neutron (approximate to 1x10(16) s(-1)) and D-(3) He alpha rates (approximate to 2x10(16) s(-1)) at moderate input heating power. Theory and TRANSP analysis shows that large populations of co-passing MeV-range D ions were generated using the D-(D-NBI)-(3) He 3-ion ICRF scenario. This important result is corroborated by several experimental observations, in particular gamma-ray measurements. The developed experimental scenario at JET provides unique conditions for probing several aspects of future burning plasmas, such as the contribution from MeV range ions to global confinement, but without introducing tritium. Dominant fast-ion core electron heating with T-i approximate to T-e and a rich variety of fast-ion driven Alfven eigenmodes (AEs) were observed in these D-(3) He plasmas. The observed AE activities do not have a detrimental effect on the thermal confinement and, in some cases, may be driven by the fusion born alpha particles. A strong continuous increase in neutron rate was observed during long-period sawteeth (>1 s), accompanied by the observation of reversed shear AEs, which implies that a non monotonic q profile was systematically developed in these plasmas, sustained by the large fast-ion populations generated by the 3-ion ICRF scenario.
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5. |
- Kiptily, V. G., et al.
(author)
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Excitation of Alfven eigenmodes by fusion-born alpha-particles in D-He-3 plasmas on JET
- 2022
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In: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing Ltd. - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 64:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Alfven eigenmode (AE) instabilities driven by alpha-particles have been observed in D-He-3 fusion experiments on the Joint European Torus (JET) with the ITER-like wall. For the efficient generation of fusion alpha-particles from D-He-3 fusion reaction, the three-ion radio frequency scenario was used to accelerate the neutral beam injection 100 keV deuterons to higher energies in the core of mixed D-He-3 plasmas at high concentrations of He-3. A large variety of fast-ion driven magnetohydrodynamic modes were observed, including the elliptical Alfven eigenmodes (EAEs) with mode numbers n = -1 and axisymmetric modes with n = 0 in the frequency range of EAEs. The simultaneous observation of these modes indicates the presence of rather strong alpha-particle population in the plasma with a 'bump-on-tail' shaped velocity distribution. Linear stability analysis and Fokker-Planck calculations support the observations. Experimental evidence of the AEs excitation by fusion-born alpha-particles in the D-He-3 plasma is provided by neutron and gamma-ray diagnostics as well as fast-ion loss measurements. We discuss an experimental proposal for the planned full-scale D-T plasma experiments on JET based on the physics insights gained from these experiments.
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6. |
- Schneider, M., et al.
(author)
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Modelling third harmonic ion cyclotron acceleration of deuterium beams for JET fusion product studies experiments
- 2016
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 56:11, s. 112022-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent JET experiments have been dedicated to the studies of fusion reactions between deuterium (D) and Helium-3 (He-3) ions using neutral beam injection (NBI) in synergy with third harmonic ion cyclotron radio-frequency heating (ICRH) of the beam. This scenario generates a fast ion deuterium tail enhancing DD and (DHe)-He-3 fusion reactions. Modelling and measuring the fast deuterium tail accurately is essential for quantifying the fusion products. This paper presents the modelling of the D distribution function resulting from the NBI+ICRF heating scheme, reinforced by a comparison with dedicated JET fast ion diagnostics, showing an overall good agreement. Finally, a sawtooth activity for these experiments has been observed and interpreted using SPOT/RFOF simulations in the framework of Porcelli's theoretical model, where NBI+ICRH accelerated ions are found to have a strong stabilizing effect, leading to monster sawteeth.
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7. |
- Panontin, E., et al.
(author)
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Comparison of unfolding methods for the inference of runaway electron energy distribution from gamma-ray spectroscopic measurements
- 2021
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In: Journal of Instrumentation. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 1748-0221. ; 16:12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Unfolding techniques are employed to reconstruct the 1D energy distribution of runaway electrons from Bremsstrahlung hard X-ray spectrum emitted during plasma disruptions in tokamaks. Here we compare four inversion methods: truncated singular value decomposition, which is a linear algebra technique, maximum likelihood expectation maximization, which is an iterative method, and Tikhonov regularization applied to chi(2) and Poisson statistics, which are two minimization approaches. The reconstruction fidelity and the capability of estimating cumulative statistics, such as the mean and maximum energy, have been assessed on both synthetic and experimental spectra. The effect of measurements limitations, such as the low energy cut and few number of counts, on the final reconstruction has also been studied. We find that the iterative method performs best as it better describes the statistics of the experimental data and is more robust to noise in the recorded spectrum.
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8. |
- Tuboltsev, Yu. V., et al.
(author)
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A CAMAC-USB crate controller
- 2010
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In: Instruments and experimental techniques (New York). - 0020-4412 .- 1608-3180. ; 53:1, s. 79-83
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- 79-83A controller providing communication between a computer and a CAMAC crate via the USB bus is described. For this purpose, the controller includes a DLP-USB245M module, which allows a programmer to work with the controller through a virtual COM port and, at the same time, provides all the advantages of the USB standard. We consider versions of interactions of the DLP-USB module with controller registers on a programmable logic array and on the microcontroller.
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