Electron cyclotron current drive in the Wendelstein 7-AS stellarator

Abstract

High power electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) experiments in the W7-AS stellarator are analysed. In these net-current-free discharges, the ECCD and the bootstrap current are feedback controlled by an inductive current. Based on the measured density and temperature profiles, the neoclassical predictions of the bootstrap (with the ambipolar radial electric field taken into account) and the inductive current densities as well as the ECCD from the linear adjoint approach with trapped particles included are calculated. For stationary conditions, the current balance is checked. Launch-angle scans at fixed density as well as density scans at fixed launch-angle are described. Low-frequency MHD mode activity is obtained for strong co-ECCD, and for counter-ECCD a ‘ feature’ with complete loss of the central confinement is found.The linear ECCD prediction is in reasonable agreement with the current balance except for low-density discharges with highly peaked on-axis deposition, where the ECCD predicted from linear theory exceeds by a factor of about 2 the one from the current balance. Since the bootstrap current is well balanced by the inductive current without ECCD, the linear ECCD overestimate is compared with nonlinear Fokker–Planck (FP) simulations, where two different power loss models are used to reach steady state. These volume-averaged FP simulations cannot describe the ECCD degradation at the low densities.