Kinetic modeling of high-Z tungsten impurity transport in ITER plasmas using the IMPGYRO code in the trace impurity limit

Abstract

In order to obtain a better understanding of tungsten (W) transport processes, we are developing the Monte-Carlo W transport code IMPGYRO. The code has the following characteristics which are important for calculating W transport: (1) the exact Larmor motion of W ions is computed so that the effects of drifts are automatically taken into account; (2) Coulomb collisions between W impurities and background plasma ions are modelled using the Binary Collision Model which provides more precise kinetic calculations of the friction and thermal forces. By using the IMPGYRO code, the W production/transport in the ITER geometry has been calculated under two different divertor operation modes (Case A: partially detached state and Case B: high recycling state) obtained from the SOLPS-ITER code suite calculation without the effect of drifts. The results of the W-density in the upstream SOL (scrape-off layer) strongly depend on the divertor operation mode. From the comparison of the W impurity transport between Case A and Case B, obtaining a partially detached state is shown to be effective to reduce W-impurities in the upstream SOL. The limitations of the employed model and the validity of the above results are discussed and future problems are summarized for further applications of IMPGYRO code to ITER plasmas.