Efficient code simulation strategies for B2-EIRENE

Abstract

Plasma edge simulation codes are crucial for the interpretation of present experiments as well as for the assessment of new concepts and next generation nuclear fusion devices. These codes are most often based on a combined Finite Volume (FV) / Monte Carlo (MC) numerical approach to simulate coupled plasma and neutral particle transport. In this paper we apply recently derived error reduction analysis to assess numerical errors in a partially detached ITER case. We show that also for this strongly coupled FV/MC simulation case, statistical averaging over iterations provides an accurate means to achieve well reproducible and statistically accurate results. Moreover, the error reduction analysis with respect to numerical parameters provide a framework to achieve increased accuracy for a given computational cost. We also show how significant code speed-up can be achieved for a desirable accuracy compared to presently used simulation strategies.