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- 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. |
- 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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7. |
- Kiptily, V. G., et al.
(author)
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Fusion Alpha-Particle Diagnostics for DT Experiments on the Joint European Torus
- 2014
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In: FUSION REACTOR DIAGNOSTICS. - : AIP Publishing LLC. ; , s. 87-92
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- JET equipped with ITER-like wall (a beryllium wall and a tungsten divertor) can provide auxiliary heating with power up to 35MW, producing a significant population of alpha-particles in DT operation. The direct measurements of alphas are very difficult and alpha-particle studies require a significant development of dedicated diagnostics. JET now has an excellent set of confined and lost fast particle diagnostics for measuring the alpha-particle source and its evolution in space and time, alpha-particle energy distribution, and alpha-particle losses. This paper describes how the above mentioned JET diagnostic systems could be used for alpha-particle measurements, and what options exist for keeping the essential alpha-particle diagnostics functioning well in the presence of intense DT neutron flux. Also, alpha-particle diagnostics for ITER are discussed.
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8. |
- Van Eester, D., et al.
(author)
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Enhancing the mode conversion efficiency in JET plasmas with multiple mode conversion layers
- 2011
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In: AIP Conf. Proc.. - : AIP. - 1551-7616 .- 0094-243X. - 9780735409781 ; , s. 301-308
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The constructive interference effect described by Fuchs et al. [1] shows that the mode conversion and thereby the overall heating efficiency can be enhanced significantly when an integer number of fast wave wavelengths can be folded in between the high field side fast wave cutoff and the ion-ion hybrid layer(s) at which the ion Bernstein or ion cyclotron waves are excited. This effect was already experimentally identified in ( 3He)-D plasmas [2] and was recently tested in ( 3He)-H JET plasmas. The latter is an 'inverted' scenario, which differs significantly from the ( 3He)-D scenarios since the mode-conversion layer is positioned between the low field side edge of the plasma and the ion-cyclotron layer of the minority 3He ions (whereas the order in which a wave entering the plasma from the low field side encounters these layers is inverted in a 'regular' scenario), and because much lower 3He concentrations are needed to achieve the mode-conversion heating regime. The presence of small amounts of 4He and D in the discharges gave rise to an additional mode conversion layer on top of the expected one associated with 3He-H, which made the interpretation of the results more complex but also more interesting: Three different regimes could be distinguished as a function of X[ 3He], and the differing dynamics at the various concentrations could be traced back to the presence of these two mode conversion layers and their associated fast wave cutoffs. Whereas (1-D and 2-D) numerical modeling yields quantitative information on the RF absorptivity, recent analytical work by Kazakov [3] permits to grasp the dominant underlying wave interaction physics.
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9. |
- Van Eester, D., et al.
(author)
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Minority and mode conversion heating in (He-3)-H JET plasmas
- 2012
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In: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 54:7, s. 074009-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Radio frequency (RF) heating experiments have recently been conducted in JET (He-3)-H plasmas. This type of plasmas will be used in ITER's non-activated operation phase. Whereas a companion paper in this same PPCF issue will discuss the RF heating scenario's at half the nominal magnetic field, this paper documents the heating performance in (He-3)-H plasmas at full field, with fundamental cyclotron heating of He-3 as the only possible ion heating scheme in view of the foreseen ITER antenna frequency bandwidth. Dominant electron heating with global heating efficiencies between 30% and 70% depending on the He-3 concentration were observed and mode conversion (MC) heating proved to be as efficient as He-3 minority heating. The unwanted presence of both He-4 and D in the discharges gave rise to 2 MC layers rather than a single one. This together with the fact that the location of the high-field side fast wave (FW) cutoff is a sensitive function of the parallel wave number and that one of the locations of the wave confluences critically depends on the He-3 concentration made the interpretation of the results, although more complex, very interesting: three regimes could be distinguished as a function of X[He-3]: (i) a regime at low concentration (X[He-3] < 1.8%) at which ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) heating is efficient, (ii) a regime at intermediate concentrations (1.8 < X[He-3] < 5%) in which the RF performance is degrading and ultimately becoming very poor, and finally (iii) a good heating regime at He-3 concentrations beyond 6%. In this latter regime, the heating efficiency did not critically depend on the actual concentration while at lower concentrations (X[He-3] < 4%) a bigger excursion in heating efficiency is observed and the estimates differ somewhat from shot to shot, also depending on whether local or global signals are chosen for the analysis. The different dynamics at the various concentrations can be traced back to the presence of 2 MC layers and their associated FW cutoffs residing inside the plasma at low He-3 concentration. One of these layers is approaching and crossing the low-field side plasma edge when 1.8 < X[He-3] < 5%. Adopting a minimization procedure to correlate the MC positions with the plasma composition reveals that the different behaviors observed are due to contamination of the plasma. Wave modeling not only supports this interpretation but also shows that moderate concentrations of D-like species significantly alter the overall wave behavior in He-3-H plasmas. Whereas numerical modeling yields quantitative information on the heating efficiency, analytical work gives a good description of the dominant underlying wave interaction physics.
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10. |
- Lerche, E., et al.
(author)
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Experimental investigation of ion cyclotron range of frequencies heating scenarios for ITER's half-field hydrogen phase performed in JET
- 2012
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In: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 54:7, s. 074008-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Two ion cyclotron range of frequencies ( ICRF) heating schemes proposed for the half-field operation phase of ITER in hydrogen plasmas-fundamental H majority and second harmonic He-3 ICRF heating-were recently investigated in JET. Although the same magnetic field and RF frequencies (f approximate to 42 MHz and f approximate to 52 MHz, respectively) were used, the density and particularly the plasma temperature were lower than those expected in the initial phase of ITER. Unlike for the well-performing H minority heating scheme to be used in He-4 plasmas, modest heating efficiencies (n = P-absorbed/P-launched < 40%) with dominant electron heating were found in both H plasma scenarios studied, and enhanced plasma-wall interaction manifested by high radiation losses and relatively large impurity content in the plasma was observed. This effect was stronger in the He-3 ICRF heating case than in the H majority heating experiments and it was verified that concentrations as high as similar to 20% are necessary to observe significant ion heating in this case. The RF acceleration of the heated ions was modest in both cases, although a small fraction of the 3He ions reached about 260 keV in the second harmonic He-3 heating experiments when 5MW of ICRF power was applied. Considerable RF acceleration of deuterium beam ions was also observed in some discharges of the He-3 heating experiments (where both the second and third harmonic ion cyclotron resonance layers of the D ions are inside the plasma) whilst it was practically absent in the majority hydrogen heating scenario. While hints of improved RF heating efficiency as a function of the plasma temperature and plasma dilution (with He-4) were confirmed in the H majority case, the He-3 concentration was the main handle on the heating efficiency in the second harmonic He-3 heating scenario.
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