1. |
- Abel, I, et al.
(author)
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Overview of the JET results with the ITER-like wall
- 2013
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 1741-4326 .- 0029-5515. ; 53:10, s. 104002-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Following the completion in May 2011 of the shutdown for the installation of the beryllium wall and the tungsten divertor, the first set of JET campaigns have addressed the investigation of the retention properties and the development of operational scenarios with the new plasma-facing materials. The large reduction in the carbon content (more than a factor ten) led to a much lower Z(eff) (1.2-1.4) during L- and H-mode plasmas, and radiation during the burn-through phase of the plasma initiation with the consequence that breakdown failures are almost absent. Gas balance experiments have shown that the fuel retention rate with the new wall is substantially reduced with respect to the C wall. The re-establishment of the baseline H-mode and hybrid scenarios compatible with the new wall has required an optimization of the control of metallic impurity sources and heat loads. Stable type-I ELMy H-mode regimes with H-98,H-y2 close to 1 and beta(N) similar to 1.6 have been achieved using gas injection. ELM frequency is a key factor for the control of the metallic impurity accumulation. Pedestal temperatures tend to be lower with the new wall, leading to reduced confinement, but nitrogen seeding restores high pedestal temperatures and confinement. Compared with the carbon wall, major disruptions with the new wall show a lower radiated power and a slower current quench. The higher heat loads on Be wall plasma-facing components due to lower radiation made the routine use of massive gas injection for disruption mitigation essential.
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2. |
- Romanelli, F, et al.
(author)
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Overview of the JET results
- 2011
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 1741-4326 .- 0029-5515. ; 51:9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Since the last IAEA Conference JET has been in operation for one year with a programmatic focus on the qualification of ITER operating scenarios, the consolidation of ITER design choices and preparation for plasma operation with the ITER-like wall presently being installed in JET. Good progress has been achieved, including stationary ELMy H-mode operation at 4.5 MA. The high confinement hybrid scenario has been extended to high triangularity, lower ρ*and to pulse lengths comparable to the resistive time. The steady-state scenario has also been extended to lower ρ*and ν*and optimized to simultaneously achieve, under stationary conditions, ITER-like values of all other relevant normalized parameters. A dedicated helium campaign has allowed key aspects of plasma control and H-mode operation for the ITER non-activated phase to be evaluated. Effective sawtooth control by fast ions has been demonstrated with3He minority ICRH, a scenario with negligible minority current drive. Edge localized mode (ELM) control studies using external n = 1 and n = 2 perturbation fields have found a resonance effect in ELM frequency for specific q95values. Complete ELM suppression has, however, not been observed, even with an edge Chirikov parameter larger than 1. Pellet ELM pacing has been demonstrated and the minimum pellet size needed to trigger an ELM has been estimated. For both natural and mitigated ELMs a broadening of the divertor ELM-wetted area with increasing ELM size has been found. In disruption studies with massive gas injection up to 50% of the thermal energy could be radiated before, and 20% during, the thermal quench. Halo currents could be reduced by 60% and, using argon/deuterium and neon/deuterium gas mixtures, runaway electron generation could be avoided. Most objectives of the ITER-like ICRH antenna have been demonstrated; matching with closely packed straps, ELM resilience, scattering matrix arc detection and operation at high power density (6.2 MW m-2) and antenna strap voltages (42 kV). Coupling measurements are in very good agreement with TOPICA modelling. © 2011 IAEA, Vienna.
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3. |
- Bergkvist, Tommy, et al.
(author)
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Non-linear study of fast particle excitation of global Alfvén eigenmodes during ICRH
- 2005
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 45, s. 485-493
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- High-power ion–cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) can produce centrally peaked fast ion distributions with wide non-standard drift orbits exciting Alfvén eigenmodes (AEs). The dynamics of the AE excitation depends not only on the anisotropy and the peaking of the fast ion distribution but also on the decorrelation of the AE interactions and the renewal of the fast ions resonant with the AE by ion–cyclotron interactions. A method of self-consistently including the evolution of the distribution function of fast ions during excitation of AEs and ICRH has been developed and implemented in the SELFO code. Numerical simulations of the AE dynamics and ICRH give a variation of the AE amplitude consistent with the experimentally observed splitting of the mode frequency. The experimentally observed fast damping of the mode as the ICRH is switched off is also evident in the simulations.
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4. |
- Bergkvist, Tommy, et al.
(author)
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Nonlinear interaction between RF-heated high-energy ions and MHD-modes
- 2003
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In: RADIO FREQUENCY POWER IN PLASMAS. - 0735401586 ; , s. 459-462
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Excitation of global Alfven eigenmodes by fast ions during ICRH is frequently observed in tokamaks. The importance of the phasing of the ICRH antennae for the excitation of these modes have been seen in experiments. The Alfven eigenmodes will drive the distribution function of the fast ions towards a state where the gradient in phase space is reduced. In general, the fast ions are displaced outwards, which can have a significant effect on the ICRH power deposition and lead to reduced heating efficiency. To calculate the effect on the heating profiles by the excitation of Alfven eigenmodes and the, effect on the resonating ions the Monte Carlo code FIDO, used for ICRH, has been upgraded to include particle interactions with MHD-waves. This allows self-consistent calculations of the mode amplitude and the distribution function during RF heating.
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5. |
- Hellsten, Torbjörn A. K., et al.
(author)
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On ion cyclotron emission in toroidal plasmas
- 2006
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 46:7, s. S442-S454
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A detailed study of ion cyclotron interactions in a toroidal plasma has been carried out in order to elucidate the role of toroidal effects on ion cyclotron emission. It is well known that non-relaxed distribution functions can give rise to excitation of magnetosonic waves by ion cyclotron interactions when the distribution function increases with respect to the perpendicular velocity. We have extended and clarified the conditions under which even collisionally relaxed distribution function can destabilize magnetosonic eigenmodes. In a toroidal plasma, cyclotron interactions at the plasma boundary with ions having barely co-current passing orbits and marginally trapped orbits can cause destabilisation by the strong inversion of the distribution function along the characteristics of cyclotron interaction by neo-classical effects. The unstable interactions can further be enhanced by tangential interactions, which can also prevent the interactions from reaching the stable part of the characteristics, where they interact with trapped orbits. Conditions on the localization of the magnetosonic eigenmodes for unstable excitation are analysed by studying the anti-Hermitian part of the susceptibility tensor of thermonuclear alpha-particles. The pattern of positive and negative regions of the anti-Hermitian part of the susceptibility tensor of thermonuclear alpha-particles is, in general, consistent with the excitation of edge localized magnetosonic eigenmodes, even though the eigenmodes are usually not localized in the major radius and for distribution functions that have relaxed to steady state.
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6. |
- Hellsten, Torbjörn, et al.
(author)
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Effects of finite drift orbit width and RF-induced spatial transport on plasma heated by ICRH
- 2004
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 44:8, s. 892-908
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The effects of RF-induced transport and orbit topology of resonant ions are analysed for high power ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH). These effects are found to play important roles in the details of the high-energy part of the distribution function, and affect the driven current and momentum transfer to the background plasma. The finite drift orbit width broadens the power deposition and leads to losses of high-energy ions intercepted by the wall. RF-induced transport of resonant ions across magnetic flux surfaces appears due to the toroidal acceleration of resonant ions interacting with waves having a finite toroidal mode number. Heating with waves propagating parallel to the current leads to a drift of the turning points of trapped resonant ions towards the midplane. As the turning points meet, the orbits will de-trap, preferentially into co-current passing orbits, which may ultimately be displaced to the low field side of the magnetic axis. Ions with such orbits are a typical feature in plasmas heated with directed toroidal mode spectra of waves propagating parallel to the plasma current. These ions will be subjected to a strong RF diffusion partly caused by the focusing of the wave field and partly by the Doppler shifted cyclotron resonance, as it approaches tangency with the drift orbit. The resonance condition puts a limitation on the achievable energy for these ions, which is more severe than for corresponding trapped ions. This results in a rather flat tail up to a critical energy, above which the tail rapidly decays. Heating with waves propagating anti-parallel with the plasma current curtails the energy of the trapped ions due to a vertical outward drift of the turning points of the trapped ions. Heating with symmetric spectra, in particular with waves with low magnitude of the toroidal mode numbers, gives rise to high-energy trapped ions with wide orbits, of which the maximum energy is either restricted by the fact that the RF diffusion vanishes due to cancellation of the perpendicular acceleration over a gyro orbit or by the drift orbits being intercepted by the wall. In the steady state the main source for momentum transfer to the bulk plasma comes from the finite momentum of the wave for heating with asymmetric spectra. For heating with symmetric spectra the enhanced losses of high-energy trapped ions can produce a net counter-current torque on the plasma.
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7. |
- Hellsten, Torbjörn, 1947-, et al.
(author)
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Effects of Finite Orbit Width and RF-Induced Spatial Diffusion on Ion Cyclotron Emission
- 2005
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In: Radio Frequency Power in Plasmas. - Melville, New York : AIP Conference Proceedings. - 0735402760 ; , s. 50-53
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The theory of ion cyclotron emission, ICE, in tokamak plasmas has been revised by including the effects of finite orbit width and RF-induced spatial transport in the wave-particle interactions. Two mechanisms for excitation of edge localised magnetosonic modes are discussed. An inverted distribution function of suprathermal ions near the plasma edge is driving the modes. Counter current propagating waves can be excited by interacting with barely co passing ions. Co current propagating waves interacting at the inner leg only can drive the modes unstable by throwing the fast ions out of the plasma.
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8. |
- Hellsten, Torbjörn, 1947-, et al.
(author)
-
Fast Wave Current Drive and Direct Electron Heating in JET ITB Plasmas
- 2006
-
In: Proc 21st IAEA Fusion Energy Conference.
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Experiments with Fast Wave Current Drive, FWCD, and heating have been carried out in JET Internal Transport Barrier (ITB) discharges with strongly reversed magnetic shear. In order to maximize the current drive efficiency and increase the electron damping, and at the same time modifying the current profile in the transport barrier, hot low density ITB plasmas with strongly reversed magnetic shear, close to current hole, were created with Lower Hybrid Current Drive. It was difficult to strongly modify the central plasma current, even though the calculated current drive efficiency in terms of ampere per watts absorbed by the electrons was fairly high, 0.07A/W, because of: the strongly inductive nature of the plasma current due to the high electric conductivity; the interplay between the fast wave driven current and the bootstrap current, which, due to the dependence of the bootstrap current on the poloidal magnetic field, decreases the bootstrap current as the driven current increases; and parasitic absorption of the waves that decreased the power absorbed by the electrons. The power absorbed by the electrons was measured with a power modulation technique and the associated fast wave current drive calculated. Current diffusion simulations using the JETTO transport code, assuming neoclassical resistivity, were then carried out to calculate what changes to the plasma current profile could be expected from the current drive. The simulations showed a much slower response to the current drive compared to the measured central current densities suggesting a faster current penetration in the experiments than expected from neoclassical theory. Whereas the direct electron heating by fast magnetosonic waves using dipole spectra has proven to be an effective method to heat electrons in high-temperature ITB plasmas, even for a single pass damping of only a few percent, the heating in FWCD experiments with + 90o and - 90o antenna phasings were, for similar single pass damping as for the dipole, strongly degraded by parasitic losses, and with a heating efficiency of about half that of the dipole. Observations supporting that the losses are primarily caused by the presence of rectified RF-sheath potentials come from the large differences in performance and in Beryllium-II and Carbon-IV line radiation intensities between the dipole and ±90o phasings.
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9. |
- Hellsten, Torbjörn, et al.
(author)
-
Fast wave current drive in JET ITB-plasma
- 2005
-
In: AIP Conference Proceedings. - : AIP. - 0094-243X. ; , s. 273-278
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Fast wave current drive has been performed in JET plasmas with internal transport barriers, ITBs, and strongly reversed magnetic shear. Although the current drive efficiency of the power absorbed on the electrons is fairly high, only small effects are seen in the central current density. The main reasons are the parasitic absorption of RF power, the strongly inductive nature of the plasma and the interplay between the fast wave driven current and bootstrap current. The direct electron heating in the FWCD experiments is found to be strongly degraded compared to that with the dipole phasing.
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10. |
- Hellsten, Torbjörn, 1947-, et al.
(author)
-
ICE in toroidal plasmas
- 2005
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In: IAEA Technical Meeting on Fast Particles.
-
Conference paper (other academic/artistic)
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11. |
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12. |
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13. |
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14. |
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15. |
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16. |
- Jacquet, P., et al.
(author)
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Parasitic signals in the receiving band of the Sub-Harmonic Arc Detection system on JET ICRF Antennas
- 2011
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In: AIP Conf. Proc.. - : AIP. - 9780735409781 ; , s. 17-20
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- When testing the SHAD system on JET ICRF antennas, parasitic signals in the detection band (5-20MHz) were detected. We have identified emission from grid breakdown events in the Neutral Beam injectors, and Ion Cyclotron Emission from the plasma. Spurious signals in the band 4-10 MHz are also often observed at the onset of ELM events. Such parasitic signals could complicate the design and operation of SHAD in ICRF systems for fusion devices.
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17. |
- Johnson, Thomas, et al.
(author)
-
Modelling of ICRH induced current and rotation
- 2003
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In: RADIO FREQUENCY POWER IN PLASMAS. - 0735401586 ; , s. 479-482
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The scenario of He-3(He-4) minority ICRH has been studied with the SELFO code, revealing the importance of finite orbit width and orbit topology for ICRH induced currents and torques.
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18. |
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19. |
- Lamalle, P. U., et al.
(author)
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Expanding the operating space of ICRF on JET with a view to ITER
- 2006
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 46:2, s. 391-400
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper reports on ITER-relevant ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) physics investigated on JET in 2003 and early 2004. Minority heating of helium three in hydrogen plasmas-(He-3)H-was systematically explored by varying the 3 He concentration and the toroidal phasing of the antenna arrays. The best heating performance (a maximum electron temperature of 6.2 keV with 5 MW of ICRF power) was obtained with a preferential wave launch in the direction of the plasma current. A clear experimental demonstration was made of the sharp and reproducible transition to the mode conversion heating regime when the 3 He concentration increased above similar to 2%. In the latter regime the best heating performance (a maximum electron temperature of 8 keV with 5 MW of ICRF power) was achieved with dipole array phasing, i.e. a symmetric antenna power spectrum. Minority heating of deuterium in hydrogen plasmas-(D)H-was also investigated but was found inaccessible because this scenario is too sensitive to impurity ions with Z/A = 1/2 such as C6+, small amounts of which directly lead into the mode conversion regime. Minority heating of up to 3% of tritium in deuterium plasmas was systematically investigated during the JET trace tritium experimental campaign (TTE). This required operating JET at its highest possible magnetic field (3.9 to 4 T) and the ICRF system at its lowest frequency (23 MHz). The interest of this scenario for ICRF heating at these low concentrations and its efficiency at boosting the suprathermal neutron yield were confirmed, and the measured neutron and gammay ray spectra permit interesting comparisons with advanced ICRF code simulations. Investigations of finite Larmor radius effects on the RF-induced high-energy tails during second harmonic (omega = 2 omega(c)) heating of a hydrogen minority in D plasmas clearly demonstrated a strong decrease in the RF diffusion coefficient at proton energies similar to 1 MeV in agreement with theoretical expectations. Fast wave heating and current drive experiments in deuterium plasmas showed effective direct electron heating with dipole phasing of the antennas, but only small changes of the central plasma current density were observed with the directive phasings, in particular at low single pass damping. New investigations of the heating efficiency of ICRF antennas confirmed its strong dependence on the parallel wavenumber spectrum. Advances in topics of a more technological nature are also summarized: ELM studies using fast RF measurements, the successful experimental demonstration of a new ELM-tolerant antenna matching scheme and technical enhancements planned on the JET ICRF system for 2006, they being equally strongly driven by the preparation for ITER.
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20. |
- Laxåback, Martin, 1976-
(author)
-
Fast wave heating and current drive in tokamaks
- 2005
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis concerns heating and current drive in tokamak plasmas using the fast magnetosonic wave in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies. Fast wave heating is a versatile heating method for thermonuclear fusion plasmas and can provide both ion and electron heating and non-inductive current drive. Predicting and interpreting realistic heating scenarios is however difficult due to the coupled evolution of the cyclotron resonant ion velocity distributions and the wave field. The SELFO code, which solves the coupled wave equation and Fokker-Planck equation for cyclotron resonant ion species in a self-consistent manner, has been upgraded to allow the study of more advanced fast wave heating and current drive scenarios in present day experiments and in preparation for the ITER tokamak. Theoretical and experimental studies related to fast wave heating and current drive with emphasis on fast ion effects are presented. Analysis of minority ion cyclotron current drive in ITER indicates that the use of a hydrogen minority rather than the proposed helium-3 minority results in substantially more efficient current drive. The parasitic losses of power to fusion born alpha particles and beam injected ions are concluded to be acceptably low. Experiments performed at the JET tokamak on polychromatic ion cyclotron resonance heating and on fast wave electron current drive are presented and analysed. Polychromatic heating is demonstrated to increase the bulk plasma ion to electron heating ratio, in line with theoretical expectations, but the fast wave electron current drive is found to be severely degraded by parasitic power losses outside of the plasma. A theoretical analysis of parasitic power losses at radio frequency antennas indicates that the losses can be significantly increased in scenarios with low wave damping and with narrow antenna spectra, such as in electron current drive scenarios.
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21. |
- Laxåback, Martin, et al.
(author)
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Modelling of minority ion cyclotron current drive during the activated phase of ITER
- 2005
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 45:12, s. 1510-1523
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Neoclassical tearing modes, triggered by the long-period sawteeth expected in tokamaks with large non-thermal α-particle populations, may impose a severe β limit on experiments with large fusion yields and on reactors. Sawtooth destabilization by localized current drive could relax the β limit and improve plasma performance. 3He minority ion cyclotron current drive around the sawtooth inversion radius has been planned for ITER. Several ion species, including beam injected D ions and fusion born α particles, are however also resonant in the plasma and may represent a parasitic absorption of RF power. Modelling of minority ion cyclotron current drive in an ITER-FEAT-like plasma is presented, including the effects of ion trapping, finite ion drift orbit widths, wave-induced radial transport and the coupled evolution of wave fields and resonant ion distributions. The parasitic absorption of RF power by the other resonant species is concluded to be relatively small, but the 3He minority current drive is nevertheless negligible due to the strong collisionality of the 3He ions and the drag current by toroidally counter-rotating background ions and co-rotating electrons. H minority current drive is found to be a significantly more effective alternative.
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22. |
- Laxåback, Martin
(author)
-
Predictive analysis of high power ICRF heating in JET
- 2007
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In: RADIO FREQUENCY POWER IN PLASMAS. - : AIP. ; , s. 67-70
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- One aim of the 2007 JET shutdown is to increase the ICRF power by installing a new, internally matched, two-strap antenna and by adding external conjugate-T matching to two of the four A2 antennas for improved ELM-resilience. The new so-called ITER-like antenna is designed to deliver 7.2 MW to the plasma which, together with the A2 antenna improvements, effectively doubles the power available for ICRF heating. At the resulting power densities the resonant ion power partition, the collisional bulk plasma ion and electron heating fractions and profiles are all affected. With the increased power more resonant ions are accelerated to higher energies, leading to an increased electron heating fraction and, due to the wider ion orbits, broader heating profiles. The heating asymmetries with directed antenna spectra are enhanced, partly due to the higher power and thereby larger toroidal momentum transfer between wave and ions, and partly due to the reduced pitch-angle scattering of the higher-energy ions. Here, coupled wave field and resonant ion distribution function calculations are presented for JET Advanced Tokamak scenarios, where the low central current densities and associated broad fast ion orbits increase the impact of the power density, and analysed to determine to what extent the increased power density will affect the heating.
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23. |
- Laxåback, Martin, et al.
(author)
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Self-consistent simulations of ICRH in ITB plasmas
- 2001
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In: AIP Conf. Proc.. - : AIP. ; , s. 414-417
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The RF power partition and power deposition on resonant ion species during ICRH depend strongly on the distribution functions of the heated ions. The distribution functions in turn depend on RF interactions and Coulomb collisions with the background plasma. It has previously been found that the finite ion orbit width, as well as the RF induced transport of resonant ions, are important for describing the distribution functions. This is particularly important in ITB plasmas, where low central current density results in broad orbits. To simulate ICRH in ITB plasmas the SELFO code has been upgraded to self-consistently calculate the wave field and the distribution functions of several ion species, including beam injected ions. Simulations of hydrogen minority heating of a deuterium, JET-like, ITB plasma have been made for different antenna phasings, with and without NBI. The distribution functions of both hydrogen and deuterium have been simulated. Finite orbit width and RF induced particle transport effects are shown to have a large impact on the partition of RF power absorption between hydrogen and deuterium, and thereby on the power transfer to the background.
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24. |
- Lerche, E., et al.
(author)
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Optimizing ion-cyclotron resonance frequency heating for ITER : dedicated JET experiments
- 2011
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In: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 53:12, s. 124019-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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.
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25. |
- Mantsinen, M. J., et al.
(author)
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Fast ion distributions driven by polychromatic ICRF waves on JET
- 2005
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In: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 47:9, s. 1439-1457
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Experiments have been carried out on the JET tokamak to investigate fast He-3 and hydrogen minority ion populations accelerated by ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) waves launched with multiple frequencies (i.e. up to four frequencies separated by up to approximate to 15%). This 'polychromatic' heating is compared with single-frequency, 'monochromatic', ICRF heating of reference discharges with similar power levels. Information on the fast ion populations is provided by two-dimensional gamma-ray emission tomography and the measurements are compared with numerical modelling. Polychromatic heating with resonances in the plasma centre (R-res approximate to R-0) and on the low magnetic-field side (LFS) (R-res > R-0) is found to produce predominantly high-energy standard trapped ions, while resonances on the high magnetic-field side (R-res < R-0) increase the fraction of high-energy passing ions. Monochromatic heating with a central resonance produces stronger gamma-ray emission with the maximum emission in the midplane close to, and on the LFS of, the resonance, in agreement with the calculated radial distribution of fast ion orbits. Both the fast ion tail temperature and energy content are found to be lower with polychromatic waves. Polychromatic ICRF heating has the advantage of producing smaller-amplitude and shorter-period sawteeth, consistent with a lower fast ion pressure inside the q = 1 surface, and higher ion to electron temperature ratios.
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26. |
- Mayoral, M. L., et al.
(author)
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Hydrogen plasmas with ICRF inverted minority and mode conversion heating regimes in the JET tokamak
- 2006
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 46:7, s. S550-S563
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- During the initial operation of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), it is envisaged that activation will be minimized by using hydrogen (H) plasmas where the reference ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) heating scenarios rely on minority species such as helium (He-3) or deuterium (D). This paper firstly describes experiments dedicated to the study of He-3 heating in H plasmas with a sequence of discharges in which 5 MW of ICRF power was reliably coupled and the He-3 concentration, controlled in real-time, was varied from below 1% up to 10%. The minority heating (MH) regime was observed at low concentrations (up to 2%). Energetic tails in the He-3 ion distributions were observed with effective temperatures up to 300 keV and bulk electron temperatures up to 6 keV. At around 2%, a sudden transition was reproducibly observed to the mode conversion regime, in which the ICRF fast wave couples to short wavelength modes, leading to efficient direct electron heating and bulk electron temperatures up to 8 keV. Secondly, experiments performed to study D minority ion heating in H plasmas are presented. This MH scheme proved much more difficult since modest quantities of carbon
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27. |
- Mayoral, M L, et al.
(author)
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ICRF heating for the non-activated phase of ITER : From inverted minority to mode conversion regime
- 2005
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In: Radio Frequency Power in Plasmas. ; , s. 122-129
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the initial phase of ITER H plasmas will be used in order to avoid activating the machine. The reference ICRF heating scenarios rely on minority species such as Helium (3 He) or deuterium (D). These schemes' distinctive feature comes from the presence of the fast magnetosonic wave ion-ion hybrid resonance/cut-off pair, between the antennas and the minority cyclotron layer. In order to document these unusual heating schemes, ICRF experiments were carried out recently on JET. First, the use of He-3 ions in H plasmas was investigated with a sequence of discharges in which 5 MW of ICRF power was coupled to the plasma and the 3 He concentration was varied from below 1% up to 10%. The inverted minority heating regime was observed at low concentrations (up to similar to 2%). Energetic tails in the 3 He distribution were observed with effective temperatures up to 300 keV and central electron temperatures up to 6 keV. At around 2%, a sudden transition was reproducibly observed to the mode conversion regime, in which the ICRF fast wave couples to short wavelength modes, leading to efficient direct electron heating and central electron temperature up to 8 keV. All these experiments systematically used power modulation techniques to assess the radial profiles of the wave absorption by the electrons. Secondly, experiments to study the ICRF heating of D minority ions in H were performed. This heating scheme proved much more difficult since modest quantities of C6+ impurity, which has the same Z/A ratio than die D minority ions, led us directly into the mode conversion regime. This effect preventing any absorption by D ions at minority cyclotron layer, could make die (D)H scenario not suitable for the non-active phase of ITER.
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28. |
- Mayoral, M. -L, et al.
(author)
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Overview of Recent Results on Heating and Current Drive in the JET tokamak
- 2009
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In: RADIO FREQUENCY POWER IN PLASMAS. - : AIP. - 9780735407534 ; , s. 39-46
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this paper, significant results in the heating and current drive domains obtained at JET in the past few years following systems upgrade and dedicated experimental time, will be reviewed. Firstly, an overview of the new Ion Cyclotron Resonance Frequency (ICRF) heating capabilities will be presented i.e. results from the ITER-Like ICRF antenna (ILA), the use of External Conjugate-T and 3dB hybrid couplers to increase the ICRF power during ELMy H-mode, Furthermore, experiments to study the influence of the phasing of the ICRF antenna on power absorption and coupling will be described. Looking at Low Hybrid (I-H) issues for ITER, the effect of the location of gas injection on the LH coupling improvement at large launcher-separatrix distances will be discussed as the possibility to operate at ITER-relevant power densities. Experiments to characterise the LH power losses in the Scrape-Off-Layer (SOL) and to determine the LH wave absorption and current drive using power modulation will be shown. Finally, plasma rotation studies in the presence of ICRF heating with standard and enhanced JET toroidal field ripple will be presented.
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29. |
- Ongena, J., et al.
(author)
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Overview of recent results on Heating and Current Drive in JET
- 2007
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In: RADIO FREQUENCY POWER IN PLASMAS. - : AIP. ; , s. 249-256
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent progress on heating and current drive on JET is reported. Topics discussed are: high power coupling of ICRF/LH at ITER relevant antenna/launcher-separatrix distances, succesfull demonstration of 3 dB couplers for ELM tolerance of the ICRF system, influence of ICRF on LH operation, rotation studies in plasma without external momentum with standard and enhanced JET toriodal field ripple, studies of different ICRF heating schemes and of NTM avoidance schemes using Ion Cyclotron Current Drive. A brief outlook on future plans for experiments at JET is given.
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30. |
- Pamela, J., et al.
(author)
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Overview of JET results
- 2003
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In: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0029-5515 .- 1741-4326. ; 43:12, s. 1540-1554
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Scientific and technical activities on JET focus on the issues likely to affect the ITER design and operation. Our understanding of the ITER reference mode of operation, the ELMy H-mode, has progressed significantly. The extrapolation of ELM size to ITER has been re-evaluated. Neoclassical tearing modes have been shown to be meta-stable in JET, and their beta limits can be raised by destabilization (modification) of sawteeth by ion cyclotron radio frequency heating (ICRH). Alpha simulation experiments with ICRH accelerated injected 4 (He) beam ions provide a new tool for fast particle and magnetohydrodynamic studies, with up to 80-90% of plasma heating by fast 4 He ions. With or without impurity seeding, a quasi-steady-state high confinement (H-98 = 1), high density(n(e)/n(GW) = 0.9-1) and high beta (betaN = 2) ELMy H-mode has been achieved by operating near the ITER triangularity ( similar to 0.40-0.5) and safety factor (q(95) similar to 3), at Z(eff) similar to 1.5-2. In advanced tokamak (AT) scenarios, internal transport barriers (ITBs) are now characterized in real time with a new criterion, rhoT(*). Tailoring of the current profile with T lower hybrid current drive provides reliable access to a variety of q profiles, lowering access power for barrier formation. Rational q surfaces appear to be associated with ITB formation. Alfven cascades were observed in reversed shear plasmas, providing identification of q profile evolution. Plasmas with 'current holes' were observed and modelled. Transient high confinement AT regimes with H-89 = 3.3, beta(N) = 2.4 and ITER-relevant q < 5 were achieved with reversed magnetic shear. Quasi-stationary ITBs are developed with full non-inductive current drive, including similar to 50% bootstrap current. A record duration of ITBs was achieved, up to 11 s, approaching the resistive time. For the first time, pressure and current profiles of AT regimes are controlled by a real-time feedback system, in separate experiments. Erosion and co-deposition studies with a quartz micro-balance show reduced co-deposition. Measured divertor thermal loads during disruptions in JET could modify ITER assumptions.
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31. |
- Romanelli, F., et al.
(author)
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Fusion energy research for ITER and beyond
- 2011
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In: Green. - 1869-876X. ; 1:3-4, s. 249-261
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The achievement in the last two decades of controlled fusion in the laboratory environment is opening the way to the realization of fusion as a source of sustainable, safe and environmentally responsible energy. The next step towards this goal is the construction of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), which aims to demonstrate net fusion energy production on the reactor scale. This paper reviews the current status of magnetic confinement fusion research in view of the ITER project and provides an overview of the main remaining challenges on the way towards the realization of commercial fusion energy production in the second half of this century.
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32. |
- Romanelli, Francesco, et al.
(author)
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The role of JET for the preparation of the ITER exploitation
- 2011
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In: Fusion engineering and design. - : Elsevier BV. - 0920-3796 .- 1873-7196. ; 86:6-8, s. 459-464
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The JET programme is devoted to the consolidation of ITER design choices and the qualification of ITER integrated regimes of operation. During the experimental campaigns carried out in 2008 and 2009 attention focussed on the test of the ITER-like ICRH antenna, the ITER scenario preparation, the verification of the adequacy of the ITER poloidal field coil design and the test of disruption mitigation methods such as massive gas injection. From 2011 the new ITER-like wall with all beryllium and tungsten plasma facing components, the neutral beam power upgrade and the enhanced control and diagnostic capability will allow key questions on plasma-wall interactions, fuel retention and plasma impurity control with the foreseen ITER wall materials to be addressed. Finally, feasibility studies have confirmed the option of installing an ITER-technology based 170 GHz/10 MW electron cyclotron resonance heating system for the control of MHD activity and the development of advanced tokamak scenarios, and 32 in-vessel coils for ELM control capable of producing magnetic perturbation spectra with a Chirikov parameter above unity for plasma currents up to 5 MA. During the ITER construction phase, JET will be the only device of its class in operation and will therefore play a key role in the preparation of ITER operations - saving time and reducing risk from the ITER programme.
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33. |
- Salmi, A., et al.
(author)
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JET experiments to assess the clamping of the fast ion energy distribution during ICRF heating due to finite Larmor radius effects
- 2006
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In: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 48:6, s. 717-726
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Experiments have been performed on the JET tokamak with 2nd harmonic ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) of hydrogen in deuterium plasmas to assess the role of finite Larmor radius (FLR) effects on the resonant ion distribution function. More specifically, the clamping of high-energy resonant particle distribution due to weak wave-particle interaction at high energy is studied. The distributions of ICRH heated hydrogen ions have been measured with a high-energy neutral particle analyser in the range of 0.29-1.1 MeV. By changing the electron density the energy E*, around which the wave-particle interaction becomes weak, is varied. The dependence of the ion distribution on E* is experimentally observed for a number of discharges and FLR effects are clearly seen to affect the high energy tail shape. Experiments have been analysed with the combination of ICRH modelling codes PION and FIDO, including FLR effects, and good agreement with measurements have been found.
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