High performance double-null plasmas under radiating divertor and mantle scenarios on DIII-D

Abstract

Experiments to combine a radiating divertor or mantle with high power, high βN plasma operation have successfully reduced the divertor heat flux by 40% but have also encountered several challenging problems. For example, injecting either neon or argon seed impurities have led both to significant fuel dilution of the core plasma and to the emergence of harmful tearing mode activity which compromised plasma beta and energy confinement time. Increased divertor closure resulted in more effective control over the injected seed impurity inventory, although it was also observed that small radial variations in the placement of the outer separatrix strike point within the DIII-D ‘closed’ divertor could lead to clear differences in the impurity build-up inside the core plasma. Active particle pumping of argon seed impurities through the divertor leg on the high-field side of a double-null divertor configuration showed little effect on seed impurity inventory and only modest control over the deuterium fuel inventory. Typically, 80% or greater of injected argon was removed by the corresponding cryo-pump on the low-field (outboard) side of that divertor, with the remaining argon being removed by the outboard cryo-pump from the opposite divertor. For single-null divertor cases, the contribution of the inner (high-field) cryo-pump to impurity and main-ion control appears to be complicated by the levels of divertor recycling and degree of divertor detachment. In general, divertor design that impedes the escape of seed impurities, plasma shaping that allows a higher stability limit, and electron cyclotron deposition profiles that prevent tearing mode onset and impede impurity accumulation in the core are under consideration for addressing the issues presented in this paper.