Overview of the latest HT-7 experiments

Abstract

An overview of the progress with experiments in the HT-7 during 2003–4 is presented. The H-mode, negative reversed shear and high li operational scenarios were investigated for quasi-steady-state high performance plasma discharges. Ion Bernstein wave (IBW) heating at 30 MHz produced a typical edge H-mode plasma. Transport in both electron and ion channels were reduced in the outer half portion of the plasma. H-mode was produced in off-axis lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) plasmas by launching a lower hybrid wave (LHW) with a greater parallel refractive index, , of 3.1. The improved confinement status in such plasma discharges could be sustained for more than 400τE. A high inductance, li, plasma was created using a fast plasma current ramp down and sustained by central LHCD and IBW heating for a duration of >1 s with a strongly peaked electron temperature profile. The highest central electron temperature obtained was 4.5 keV. An increase in the energy confinement time with li was observed. It was found that the IBW heating could improve the plasma confinement at the same li if part of the LHW power was replaced by IBW. Stationary internal transport barriers with normalized performance H89βN > 1–3 were obtained with combined injection of LHW and IBW for a duration of several hundred energy confinement times in the weak negative magnetic shear (RS). Increasing the total injection power to 1 MW did not degrade the plasma confinement significantly in the RS operational scenario. Long pulse discharges were performed, using three feedback controls for the plasma current and position, the central line-averaged electron density and the magnetic swing flux of the transformer. The longest plasma discharge, with a duration of 240 s, Te(0) ∼ 1 keV and the central electron density > 0.8 × 1019 m−3 was achieved in 2004. The wall saturation and refreshment (wall pumping) were first observed in such long pulse discharges. A fully LHW current driven plasma without using ohmic current in the central solenoid coils was sustained for 80 s. The main limitation for the pulse length was due to the recycling, which caused an uncontrollable rise in the electron density.