1. |
- Meyer, H., et al.
(author)
-
Overview of progress in European medium sized tokamaks towards an integrated plasma-edge/wall solution
- 2017
-
In: Nuclear Fusion. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 57:10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- 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 H-H(98,H-y2) approximate to 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.
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2. |
- Meyer, H., et al.
(author)
-
Overview of progress in European medium sized tokamaks towards an integrated plasma-edge/wall solution
- 2017
-
In: Nuclear Fusion. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 57:10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- 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 H-H(98,H-y2) approximate to 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.
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3. |
- Sias, G., et al.
(author)
-
A locked mode indicator for disruption prediction on JET and ASDEX upgrade
- 2019
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In: Fusion engineering and design. - : Elsevier BV. - 0920-3796 .- 1873-7196. ; 138, s. 254-266
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this paper is to present a signal processing algorithm that, applied to the raw Locked Mode signal, allows us to obtain a disruption indicator in principle exploitable on different tokamaks. A common definition of such an indicator for different machines would facilitate the development of portable systems for disruption prediction, which is becoming of increasingly importance for the next tokamak generations. Moreover, the indicator allows us to overcome some intrinsic problems in the diagnostic system such as drift and offset. The behavior of the proposed indicator as disruption predictor, based on crossing optimized thresholds of the signal amplitude, has been analyzed using data of both JET and ASDEX Upgrade experiments. A thorough analysis of the disruption prediction performance shows how the indicator is able to recover some missed and tardy detections of the raw signal. Moreover, it intervenes and corrects premature or even wrong alarms due to, e.g., drifts and/or offsets.
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4. |
- Blanken, T. C., et al.
(author)
-
Real-time plasma state monitoring and supervisory control on TCV
- 2019
-
In: Nuclear Fusion. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 59:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In ITER and DEMO, various control objectives related to plasma control must be simultaneously achieved by the plasma control system (PCS), in both normal operation as well as off-normal conditions. The PCS must act on off-normal events and deviations from the target scenario, since certain sequences (chains) of events can precede disruptions. It is important that these decisions are made while maintaining a coherent prioritization between the real-time control tasks to ensure high-performance operation. In this paper, a generic architecture for task-based integrated plasma control is proposed. The architecture is characterized by the separation of state estimation, event detection, decisions and task execution among different algorithms, with standardized signal interfaces. Central to the architecture are a plasma state monitor and supervisory controller. In the plasma state monitor, discrete events in the continuous-valued plasma state arc modeled using finite state machines. This provides a high-level representation of the plasma state. The supervisory controller coordinates the execution of multiple plasma control tasks by assigning task priorities, based on the finite states of the plasma and the pulse schedule. These algorithms were implemented on the TCV digital control system and integrated with actuator resource management and existing state estimation algorithms and controllers. The plasma state monitor on TCV can track a multitude of plasma events, related to plasma current, rotating and locked neoclassical tearing modes, and position displacements. In TCV experiments on simultaneous control of plasma pressure, safety factor profile and NTMs using electron cyclotron heating (ECI I) and current drive (ECCD), the supervisory controller assigns priorities to the relevant control tasks. The tasks are then executed by feedback controllers and actuator allocation management. This work forms a significant step forward in the ongoing integration of control capabilities in experiments on TCV, in support of tokamak reactor operation.
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5. |
- Cecconello, Marco, et al.
(author)
-
Discrepancy between estimated and measured fusion product rates on MAST using TRANSP/NUBEAM
- 2019
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 59:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Experimental evidence is presented of a discrepancy between the predicted and measured D-D fusion product rates on MAST Both the neutron and proton production rates, measured independently with a neutron camera and charged fusion product detector array, are approximately 40% lower than those predicted by TRANSP/NUBEAM codes. This deficit is scenario independent and cannot be explained by uncertainties in the typical plasma parameters suspected for such discrepancies, such as electron temperature, the plasma effective charge and the injected neutral beam power. Instead, a possible explanation is an overestimate of the neutron emissivity due to the guiding centre approximation used in NUBEAM to model the fast ion orbits.
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6. |
- Cecconello, Marco, et al.
(author)
-
Energetic ion behaviour in MAST
- 2015
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In: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 57:1, s. 014006-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent studies of fast ion transport resulting from a range of instabilities, including n = 1 internal kink modes (fishbones and long-lived modes), toroidal Alfven eigenmodes and sawteeth have been carried out at MAST. Strong correlations were found between relative changes in magnetic edge coils signals, edge D alpha signal a fast ion D alpha system, a prototype collimated neutron flux monitor and a recently installed prototype charged fusion product detector array, indicating both redistribution and loss of fast ions. Preliminary interpretation of these observations with a suite of stability, modelling and interpretative codes is discussed.
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7. |
- Cecconello, Marco, et al.
(author)
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Impurity transport driven by fishbones in MAST
- 2015
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 55:3
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In MAST, bursting toroidal Alfven eigenmodes and fishbones are observed to give rise to an asymmetric perturbation to the soft x-ray (SXR) emission close to the magnetic axis which grows and decays on the time scale of the fishbone evolution. As the fishbone nears its maximum amplitude, the SXR emission starts to increase (decrease) at radial positions smaller (larger) than the radial position of the magnetic axis. This trend in the SXR emission persists for a few milliseconds, until the fishbone starts to decay in amplitude and the slower overall trend of the SXR emission once again becomes dominant. A preliminary analysis suggests that the change in the SXR emission is due to the localized accumulation of high-Z impurities, sustained against parallel transport by the effects of fishbones on the fast ion population.
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8. |
- Chapman, I. T., et al.
(author)
-
Overview of MAST results
- 2015
-
In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 55:10
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST) programme is strongly focused on addressing key physics issues in preparation for operation of ITER as well as providing solutions for DEMO design choices. In this regard, MAST has provided key results in understanding and optimizing H-mode confinement, operating with smaller edge localized modes (ELMs), predicting and handling plasma exhaust and tailoring auxiliary current drive. In all cases, the high-resolution diagnostic capability on MAST is complemented by sophisticated numerical modelling to facilitate a deeper understanding. Mitigation of ELMs with resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) with toroidal mode number n(RMP) = 2, 3, 4, 6 has been demonstrated: at high and low collisionality; for the first ELM following the transition to high confinement operation; during the current ramp-up; and with rotating n(RMP) = 3 RMPs. n(RMP) = 4, 6 fields cause less rotation braking whilst the power to access H-mode is less with n(RMP) = 4 than n(RMP) = 3, 6. Refuelling with gas or pellets gives plasmas with mitigated ELMs and reduced peak heat flux at the same time as achieving good confinement. A synergy exists between pellet fuelling and RMPs, since mitigated ELMs remove fewer particles. Inter-ELM instabilities observed with Doppler backscattering are consistent with gyrokinetic simulations of micro-tearing modes in the pedestal. Meanwhile, ELM precursors have been strikingly observed with beam emission spectroscopy (BES) measurements. A scan in beta at the L-H transition shows that pedestal height scales strongly with core pressure. Gyro-Bohm normalized turbulent ion heat flux (as estimated from the BES data) is observed to decrease with increasing tilt of the turbulent eddies. Fast ion redistribution by energetic particle modes depends on density, and access to a quiescent domain with 'classical' fast ion transport is found above a critical density. Highly efficient electron Bernstein wave current drive (1 A W-1) has been achieved in solenoid-free start-up. A new proton detector has characterized escaping fusion products. Langmuir probes and a high-speed camera suggest filaments play a role in particle transport in the private flux region whilst coherence imaging has measured scrape-off layer (SOL) flows. BOUT++ simulations show that fluxes due to filaments are strongly dependent on resistivity and magnetic geometry of the SOL, with higher radial fluxes at higher resistivity. Finally, MAST Upgrade is due to begin operation in 2016 to support ITER preparation and importantly to operate with a Super-X divertor to test extended leg concepts for particle and power exhaust.
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9. |
- Eriksson, Jacob, et al.
(author)
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Finite Larmor radii effects in fast ion measurements as demonstrated using neutron emission spectrometry of JET plasmas heated with 3rd harmonic ICRF
- 2011
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In: 38th EPS Conference on Plasma Physics 2011 (EPS 2011): Europhysics Conference Abstracts. - 2914771681
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This paper demonstrates how the finite Larmor radii (FLR) of fast ions can affect fast ion measurements by studying data from the neutron time-of-flight spectrometer TOFOR. Neutron spectra were calculated from a model of the fast ion velocity distribution for a JET experiment with 3rd harmonic ICRF heating of deuterium beams. It was found that FLR effects need to be considered to get a good description of the data, if the Larmor radius of the fast ions are comparable to the width of the field of view of the instrument. This applies not only to results from neutron spectrometry but also to other types of fast ion diagnostics.
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10. |
- Harrison, J.R., et al.
(author)
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Overview of new MAST physics in anticipation of first results from MAST Upgrade
- 2019
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 1741-4326 .- 0029-5515. ; 59:11
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The mega amp spherical tokamak (MAST) was a low aspect ratio device (R/a = 0.85/0.65 ∼ 1.3) with similar poloidal cross-section to other medium-size tokamaks. The physics programme concentrates on addressing key physics issues for the operation of ITER, design of DEMO and future spherical tokamaks by utilising high resolution diagnostic measurements closely coupled with theory and modelling to significantly advance our understanding. An empirical scaling of the energy confinement time that favours higher power, lower collisionality devices is consistent with gyrokinetic modelling of electron scale turbulence. Measurements of ion scale turbulence with beam emission spectroscopy and gyrokinetic modelling in up-down symmetric plasmas find that the symmetry of the turbulence is broken by flow shear. Near the non-linear stability threshold, flow shear tilts the density fluctuation correlation function and skews the fluctuation amplitude distribution. Results from fast particle physics studies include the observation that sawteeth are found to redistribute passing and trapped fast particles injected from neutral beam injectors in equal measure, suggesting that resonances between the m = 1 perturbation and the fast ion orbits may be playing a dominant role in the fast ion transport. Measured D-D fusion products from a neutron camera and a charged fusion product detector are 40% lower than predictions from TRANSP/NUBEAM, highlighting possible deficiencies in the guiding centre approximation. Modelling of fast ion losses in the presence of resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) can reproduce trends observed in experiments when the plasma response and charge-exchange losses are accounted for. Measurements with a neutral particle analyser during merging-compression start-up indicate the acceleration of ions and electrons. Transport at the plasma edge has been improved through reciprocating probe measurements that have characterised a geodesic acoustic mode at the edge of an ohmic L-mode plasma and particle-in-cell modelling has improved the interpretation of plasma potential estimates from ball-pen probes. The application of RMPs leads to a reduction in particle confinement in L-mode and H-mode and an increase in the core ionization source. The ejection of secondary filaments following type-I ELMs correlates with interactions with surfaces near the X-point. Simulations of the interaction between pairs of filaments in the scrape-off layer suggest this results in modest changes to their velocity, and in most cases can be treated as moving independently. A stochastic model of scrape-off layer profile formation based on the superposition of non-interacting filaments is in good agreement with measured time-average profiles. Transport in the divertor has been improved through fast camera imaging, indicating the presence of a quiescent region devoid of filament near the X-point, extending from the separatrix to ψ n ∼ 1.02. Simulations of turbulent transport in the divertor show that the angle between the divertor leg on the curvature vector strongly influences transport into the private flux region via the interchange mechanism. Coherence imaging measurements show counter-streaming flows of impurities due to gas puffing increasing the pressure on field lines where the gas is ionised. MAST Upgrade is based on the original MAST device, with substantially improved capabilities to operate with a Super-X divertor to test extended divertor leg concepts. SOLPS-ITER modelling predicts the detachment threshold will be reduced by more than a factor of 2, in terms of upstream density, in the Super-X compared with a conventional configuration and that the radiation front movement is passively stabilised before it reaches the X-point. 1D fluid modelling reveals the key role of momentum and power loss mechanisms in governing detachment onset and evolution. Analytic modelling indicates that long legs placed at large major radius, or equivalently low at the target compared with the X-point are more amenable to external control. With MAST Upgrade experiments expected in 2019, a thorough characterisation of the sources of the intrinsic error field has been carried out and a mitigation strategy developed.
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11. |
- Jones, O. M., et al.
(author)
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Measurements and modelling of fast-ion redistribution due to resonant MHD instabilities in MAST
- 2015
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In: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 57:12
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The results of a comprehensive investigation into the effects of toroidicity-induced Alfven eigenmodes (TAE) and energetic particle modes on the NBI-generated fast-ion population in MAST plasmas are reported. Fast-ion redistribution due to frequency-chirping TAE in the range 50 kHz-100 kHz and frequency-chirping energetic particle modes known as fishbones in the range 20 kHz-50 kHz, is observed. TAE and fishbones are also observed to cause losses of fast ions from the plasma. The spatial and temporal evolution of the fast-ion distribution is determined using a fission chamber, a radially-scanning collimated neutron flux monitor, a fast-ion deuterium alpha spectrometer and a charged fusion product detector. Modelling using the global transport analysis code TRANSP, with ad hoc anomalous diffusion and fishbone loss models introduced, reproduces the coarsest features of the affected fast-ion distribution in the presence of energetic particle-driven modes. The spectrally and spatially resolved measurements show, however, that these models do not fully capture the effects of chirping modes on the fast-ion distribution.
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12. |
- Keeling, D. L., et al.
(author)
-
Mitigation of MHD induced fast-ion redistribution in MAST and implications for MAST-Upgrade design
- 2015
-
In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 55:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The phenomenon of the redistribution of neutral beam fast ions due to magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) activity in plasma has been observed on many tokamaks and more recently has been a focus of research on MAST (Turnyanskiy et al 2013 Nucl. Fusion 53 053016). n = 1 fishbone modes are observed to cause a large decrease in the neutron emission rate indicating the existence of a significant perturbation of the fast-ion population in the plasma. Theoretical work on fishbone modes states that the fast-ion distribution itself acts as the source of free energy driving the modes that cause the redistribution. Therefore a series of experiments have been carried out on MAST to investigate a range of plasma densities at two neutral-beam power levels to determine the region within this parameter space in which fishbone activity and consequent fast-ion redistribution is suppressed. Analysis of these experiments shows complete suppression of fishbone activity at high densities with increasing activity and fast-ion redistribution at lower densities and higher neutral-beam power, accompanied by strong evidence that the redistribution effect primarily affects a specific region in the plasma core with a weaker effect over a wider region of the plasma. The results also indicate the existence of correlations between gradients in the modelled fast-ion distribution function, the amplitude and growth rate of the fishbone modes, and the magnitude of the redistribution effect. The same analysis has been carried out on models of MAST-Upgrade baseline plasma scenarios to determine whether significant fast-ion redistribution due to fishbone modes is likely to occur in that device. A simple change to the neutral-beam injector geometry is proposed which is shown to have a significant mitigating effect in terms of the fishbone mode drive and is therefore expected to allow effective plasma heating and current drive over a wider range of plasma conditions in MAST-Upgrade.
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13. |
- Kirk, A., et al.
(author)
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Overview of recent physics results from MAST
- 2017
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 57:10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- New results from MAST are presented that focus on validating models in order to extrapolate to future devices. Measurements during start-up experiments have shown how the bulk ion temperature rise scales with the square of the reconnecting field. During the current ramp-up, models are not able to correctly predict the current diffusion. Experiments have been performed looking at edge and core turbulence. At the edge, detailed studies have revealed how filament characteristics are responsible for determining the near and far scrape off layer density profiles. In the core the intrinsic rotation and electron scale turbulence have been measured. The role that the fast ion gradient has on redistributing fast ions through fishbone modes has led to a redesign of the neutral beam injector on MAST Upgrade. In H-mode the turbulence at the pedestal top has been shown to be consistent with being due to electron temperature gradient modes. A reconnection process appears to occur during edge localized modes (ELMs) and the number of filaments released determines the power profile at the divertor. Resonant magnetic perturbations can mitigate ELMs provided the edge peeling response is maximised and the core kink response minimised. The mitigation of intrinsic error fields with toroidal mode number n > 1 has been shown to be important for plasma performance.
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14. |
- Klimek, Iwona, et al.
(author)
-
Determination of hydrogen/deuterium ratio with neutron measurements on MAST
- 2014
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In: Review of Scientific Instruments. - : AIP Publishing. - 0034-6748 .- 1089-7623. ; 85:11, s. 11E109-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- On MAST, compressional Alfven eigenmodes can be destabilized by the presence of a sufficiently large population of energetic particles in the plasma. This dependence was studied in a series of very similar discharges in which increasing amounts of hydrogen were puffed into a deuterium plasma. A simple method to estimate the isotopic ratio n(H)/n(D) using neutron emission measurements is here described. The inferred isotopic ratio ranged from 0.0 to 0.6 and no experimental indication of changes in radial profile of n(H)/n(D) were observed. These findings are confirmed by TRANSP/NUBEAM simulations of the neutron emission.
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15. |
- Klimek, Iwona, 1984-
(author)
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Modelling and Measurements of MAST Neutron Emission
- 2016
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Measurements of neutron emission from a fusion plasma can provide a wealth of information on the underlying temporal, spatial and energy distributions of reacting ions and how they are affected by a wide range of magneto-hydro-dynamic (MHD) instabilities.This thesis focuses on the interpretation of the experimental measurements recorded by neutron flux monitors with and without spectroscopic capabilities installed on the Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST). In particular, the temporally and spatially resolved measurements of the neutron rate measured by the neutron camera, which also possesses spectroscopic capabilities, are combined with the temporally resolved measurements of the total neutron rate provided by the absolutely calibrated fission chamber in order to study the properties of the fast ion distributions in different plasma scenarios.The first part of the thesis describes in detail the two forward modelling methods, which employ the set of interconnected codes developed to interpret experimental observations such as neutron count rate profiles and recoil proton pulse height spectra provided by the neutron camera. In the second part of the thesis the developed methods are applied to model the neutron camera observations performed in a variety of plasma scenarios. The first method, which involves only TRANSP/NUBEAM and LINE2 codes, was used to validate the neutron count rate profiles measured by the neutron camera in three different plasma scenarios covering the wide range of total neutron rate typically observed on MAST. In addition, the first framework was applied to model the changes in the total and local neutron rates caused by fishbone instability as well as to estimate the Hydrogen and Deuterium ion ratio. The second modelling method, which involves TRANSP/NUBEAM, LINE2, DRESS and NRESP, was used to validate the measured recoil proton pulse height spectra in a MHD-quiescent plasma scenario.
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16. |
- Klimek, Iwona, et al.
(author)
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TRANSP modelling of total and local neutron emission on MAST
- 2015
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 55:2
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The results of TRANSP simulations of neutron count rate profiles measured by a collimated neutron flux monitor-neutron camera (NC)-for different plasma scenarios on MAST are reported. In addition, the effect of various plasma parameters on neutron emission is studied by means of TRANSP simulation. The fast ion redistribution and losses due to fishbone modes, which belong to a wider category of energetic particle modes, are observed by the NC and modelled in TRANSP.
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17. |
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18. |
- McClements, K. G., et al.
(author)
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The effects of resonant magnetic perturbations on fast ion confinement in the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak
- 2015
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In: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 57:7
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The effects of resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) on the confinement of energetic (neutral beam) ions in the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST) are assessed experimentally using measurements of neutrons, fusion protons and fast ion D alpha (FIDA) light emission. In single null-diverted (SND) MAST pulses with relatively low plasma current (400 kA), the total neutron emission dropped by approximately a factor of two when RMPs with toroidal mode number n = 3 were applied. The measured neutron rate during RMPs was much lower than that calculated using the TRANSP plasma simulation code, even when non-classical (but axisymmetric) ad hoc fast ion transport was taken into account in the latter. Sharp drops in spatially-resolved neutron rates, fusion proton rates and FIDA emission were also observed. First principles-based simulations of RMP-induced fast ion transport in MAST, using the F3D-OFMC code, show similar losses for two alternative representations of the MAST first wall, with and without full orbit effects taken into account; for n = 6 RMPs in a 600 kA plasma, the additional loss of beam power due to the RMPs was found in the simulations to be approximately 11%.
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19. |
- Oliver, H. J. C., et al.
(author)
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Compressional Alfven and ion-ion hybrid waves in tokamak plasmas with two ion species
- 2014
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In: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 56:12, s. 125017-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Compressional Alfven and ion-ion hybrid waves excited by energetic beam ions are studied in plasmas with two ion species. In our experiment, a hydrogen-deuterium (H-D) plasma is used to produce instabilities similar to those likely to be present in the burning deuterium-tritium plasmas of future tokamaks. Modes are suppressed in the deuterium cyclotron frequency range with increasing hydrogen gas puffing. In plasmas with H/D concentrations of 2.57 or higher, short-lived modes with small and predominantly negative toroidal mode numbers are observed at frequencies omega/omega(beta D0) approximate to 2.25, where omega(beta D0) = omega(beta D0)(R-0) is the on-axis deuterium cyclotron frequency. These are the highest mode frequencies yet detected in the ion cyclotron range in a spherical tokamak. Modeling of the transparency regions and plasma resonances using the cold plasma dispersion relation explains the observed features. Mode conversion at ion-ion hybrid resonances and subsequent kinetic damping is believed to be responsible for mode suppression. The high frequency modes are present due to excitation by wave-particle resonances within the transparency region for high hydrogen concentrations. The absence of other wave-particle resonances explains significant features of our experiment. This technique has possible applications in plasma heating, current drive and real-time diagnosis of relative ion concentration in the plasma core.
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20. |
- Perez, R. V., et al.
(author)
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Investigating fusion plasma instabilities in the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak using mega electron volt proton emissions
- 2014
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In: Review of Scientific Instruments. - : AIP Publishing. - 0034-6748 .- 1089-7623. ; 85:11, s. 11D701-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The proton detector (PD) measures 3 MeV proton yield distributions from deuterium-deuterium fusion reactions within the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST). The PD's compact four-channel system of collimated and individually oriented silicon detectors probes different regions of the plasma, detecting protons (with gyro radii large enough to be unconfined) leaving the plasma on curved trajectories during neutral beam injection. From first PD data obtained during plasma operation in 2013, proton production rates (up to several hundred kHz and 1 ms time resolution) during sawtooth events were compared to the corresponding MAST neutron camera data. Fitted proton emission profiles in the poloidal plane demonstrate the capabilities of this new system.
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21. |
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22. |
- Sperduti, Andrea, et al.
(author)
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Validation of neutron emission and neutron energy spectrum calculations on a Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak with directional relativistic spectrum simulator
- 2021
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In: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 63:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The recently developed directional relativistic spectrum simulator (DRESS) code has been validated for the first time against numerical calculations and experimental measurements performed on the Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak . In this validation, the neutron emissivities and rates computed by DRESS are benchmarked against TRANSP/NUBEAM predictions while the neutron energy spectra provided by DRESS taking as input TRANSP/NUBEAM and ASCOT/BBNBI in Gyro-Orbit mode fast ion distributions are validated against proton pulse height spectra measured by the neutron flux monitor. Excellent agreement was found between DRESS and TRANSP/NUBEAM predictions of local and total neutron emission.
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23. |
- Tierens, W., et al.
(author)
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Validation of the ICRF antenna coupling code RAPLICASOL against TOPICA and experiments
- 2019
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 59:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this paper we validate the finite element code RAPLICASOL, which models radiofrequency wave propagation in edge plasmas near ICRF antennas, against calculations with the TOPICA code. We compare the output of both codes for the ASDEX Upgrade 2-strap antenna, and for a 4-strap WEST-like antenna. Although RAPLICASOL requires considerably fewer computational resources than TOPICA, we find that the predicted quantities of experimental interest (including reflection coefficients, coupling resistances, S- and Z-matrix entries, optimal matching settings, and even radiofrequency electric fields) are in good agreement provided we are careful to use the same geometry in both codes.
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24. |
- Weiszflog, Matthias, et al.
(author)
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Conceptual design of a neutron camera for MAST Upgrade
- 2014
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In: Review of Scientific Instruments. - : AIP Publishing. - 0034-6748 .- 1089-7623. ; 85:11, s. 11E121-
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper presents two different conceptual designs of neutron cameras for Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST) Upgrade. The first one consists of two horizontal cameras, one equatorial and one vertically down-shifted by 65 cm. The second design, viewing the plasma in a poloidal section, also consists of two cameras, one radial and the other one with a diagonal view. Design parameters for the different cameras were selected on the basis of neutron transport calculations and on a set of target measurement requirements taking into account the predicted neutron emissivities in the different MAST Upgrade operating scenarios. Based on a comparison of the cameras' profile resolving power, the horizontal cameras are suggested as the best option.
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