ITER Edge Localized Modes Research Articles

Toroidal modeling of runaway electron loss due to 3D fields in ITER

Mitigation of runaway electrons (REs) by three-dimensional (3D) magnetic field perturbations is numerically investigated for the ITER 15 MA baseline D–T scenario, utilizing the MARS-F code (Liu et al Phys. Plasmas 7 3681) with a drift orbit test particle tracing module. Considered are two types of 3D fields: the n = 3 (n is the toroidal mode number) resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) utilized for the purpose of controlling the edge localized modes in ITER, and perturbations generated by the n = 1 magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities in a post-disruption plasma. The RMP field, applied to a pre-disruption plasma, is found to be moderately effective in mitigating the RE seeds in ITER when vacuum field model is assumed. Up to ∼40% loss fraction is possible at 90 kA-turn coil current. The mitigation efficiency is however substantially reduced, down to less than 5%, when the plasma response is taken into account. This is due to strong screening of the resonant magnetic field components by the plasma response resulting in much less field line stochasticity. On the other hand, the MARS-F modeling, based on the DINA-simulated post-disruption equilibria, shows that the n = 1 resistive kink instabilities develop in these plasmas, as the edge safety factor q a evolves and drops below integer numbers. RE mitigation by these MHD instabilities is sensitive to the eigenmode structure. The best mitigation is achieved as q a drops below 3, when a global kink instability occurs that encompasses both internal and external components. This global instability is found to be capable of mitigating over 80% MeV-level passing RE orbits at a field perturbation |δB|/B 0 that is comparable to that observed in DIII-D experiments, and full mitigation if the perturbation amplitude is doubled. The ‘wetted’ area on the ITER limiting surface, due to MHD instability induced RE loss, generally increases with the perturbation amplitude (together with increasing loss fraction). At the highest perturbation level assumed in this study, the wetted area reaches ∼60% of the total limiting surface area. The lost RE orbits mainly strike the outer divertor region of the limiting surface, with some fraction also hitting a wide area along the inboard side of the surface.

Predicting operational windows of ELMs suppression by resonant magnetic perturbations in the DIII-D and KSTAR tokamaks

A newly developed plasma response model, combining the nonlinear two-fluid MHD code TM1 and toroidal MHD code GPEC run in ideal mode, quantitatively predicts the narrow isolated q95 windows (Δq95 ∼ 0.1) of edge-localized mode (ELM) suppression by n = 1, 2, and 3 resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) in both DIII-D and KSTAR tokamaks across a wide range of plasma parameters. The key physics that unites both experimental observations and our simulations is the close alignment of essential resonant q-surfaces and the location of the top of the pedestal prior to an ELM. This alignment permits an applied RMP to produce field penetration due to the lower E × B rotation at the pedestal top rather than being screened. The model successfully predicts that narrow magnetic islands form when resonant field penetration occurs at the top of pedestal, and these islands are easily screened when q95 moves off resonance, leading to very narrow windows of ELM suppression (typically Δq95 ∼ 0.1). Furthermore, the observed reduction in the pedestal height is also well captured by the calculated classical collisional transport across the island. We recover observed q95, βN and plasma shape dependence of ELM suppression due to the effect of magnetic islands on pedestal transport and peeling-ballooning-mode stability. Importantly, experiments do occasionally observe wide windows of ELM suppression (Δq95 > 0.5). Our model reveals that at low pedestal-top density multiple islands open, leading to wide operational windows of ELM suppression consistent with experiment. The model indicates that wide q95 windows of ELM suppression can be achieved at substantially higher pedestal pressure with less confinement degradation in DIII-D by operating at higher toroidal mode number (n = 4) RMPs. This can have significant implications for the operation of the ITER ELM control coils for maintaining high confinement together with ELM suppression.

Influence of plasma heat loads relevant to ITER transient events on deuterium retention in tungsten

Deuterium (D) retention in Tungsten (W) under plasma heat loads relevant to edge localized modes in ITER was experimentally investigated at the QSPA-T plasma gun facility. Samples were exposed to 1.0 ms D plasma pulses with different heat loads in the range of 0.4−3.7 MJm−2 (heat flux factor P√t = 13.3−123 MJm−2s−0.5). A significant D retention was observed already after one pulse. Moreover, the D retention grew up continuously with increasing the power load, although the surface was melted at highest loads (above 1.4 MJ m−2). The D retention was higher than that in the case of stationary plasma irradiation at 600–700 K, indicating possible significant contribution of ELM’s-like events to the total D retention. All stages of the experiments (irradiation, storage time and TDS) have been simulated using the TMAP 7 code.

Impact of ELM control techniques on tungsten sputtering in the DIII-D divertor and extrapolations to ITER

The free-streaming plus recycling model (FSRM) has recently been developed to understand and predict tungsten gross erosion rates from the divertor during edge localized modes (ELMs). In this work, the FSRM was tested against the experimental measurements of W sputtering during ELMs, conducted via fast neutral tungsten (WI) spectroscopy. Good agreement is observed using a variety of controlling techniques, including gas puffing, neutral beam heating, and plasma shaping to modify the pedestal stability boundary and, thus, the ELM behavior. ELM mitigation by pellet pacing was observed to strongly reduce W sputtering by flushing C impurities from the pedestal and reducing the divertor target electron temperature. No reduction of W sputtering was observed during the application of resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs), in contrast to the prediction of the FSRM. Potential sources of this discrepancy are discussed. Finally, the framework of the FSRM is utilized to predict intra-ELM W sputtering rates in ITER. It is concluded that W erosion during ELMs in ITER will be caused mainly by free-streaming fuel ions, but free-streaming seeded impurities (N or Ne) may increase the erosion rate significantly if present in the pedestal at even the 1% level. Impurity recycling is not expected to cause significant W erosion in ITER due to the very low target electron temperature.

Cracking and surface roughening of beryllium–tungsten alloy due to transient heating

A controlled beryllium–tungsten (Be–W) alloy was created in a beryllium-seeded deuterium plasma in the PISCES-B facility and irradiated by a pulsed laser in order to investigate how transient surface heating from plasma instabilities will affect the performance of mixed materials in ITER. Standardized wavelength dispersive x-ray spectroscopy was used to measure the depth profiles of beryllium and tungsten atomic concentrations, revealing beryllium penetration of ∼100 μm in ITER comparable grade tungsten with 5000 s of plasma exposure at 1123 K and ion flux 8 × 1022 m−2 s−1. The deep Be penetration into W is a concern for the lifetime of the ITER divertor, which may form mixed Be–W material. Pulsed laser heating was used to investigate the thermo-mechanical response of Be–W alloy and pure W using temporal shape mimicking that expected for edge-localized modes in ITER, with up to 1.9 MJ m−2 of absorbed energy density. Transient heating creates a lower surface roughness than pure W, but cracks appear in the alloy layer surface at lower absorbed energy density and lower pulse number.

Structural analysis for the joint of the ITER ELM coil

The joint is an important component of the Edge Localized Modes (ELM) coils in fusion reactor, which is used to connect the ELM coils. Like the ELM coils, the joints work in an environment with high radiation levels, high temperature and high magnetic field. These joints are mainly subject to nuclear heat from the plasma and cyclic electromagnetic (EM) loads induced by the interaction of ELM coil current with magnetic fields. Take the joint of ITER ELM coil for example. In order to assure the structural integrity of joints under these loads, it is necessary to estimate the strength and fatigue of the joints. As a local model, the joint without ELM coil is investigated by the sub-model method. Results show that the finite element sub-model method is feasible and rapid for the joint design. The maximum magnetic flux intensity occurs in the axial direction for the joint local reference, which parallels with the current and corresponds to the toroidal direction of the ITER. The two areas at the top of the Inconel sleeve appear high temperature. For the joint, the conductor, jacket and sleeve can meet the static and fatigue criteria and the joint design is valid and feasible. The thermal load from the nuclear heat is the key factor for the joint design.

Brackets Without Welding for ITER ELM Coils

A nonwelded bracket design is proposed and evaluated for the ITER edge localized mode coil fixture on the vacuum vessel. The main benefits are a lower stress concentration under thermal load, a broad choice of higher strength material, and assembly flexibility. Concerns about possible excessive temperatures are assessed and verified. The bracket is shown under 500 °C with a steady-state full-powered plasma operation.

Non-axisymmetric ideal equilibrium and stability of ITER plasmas with rotating RMPs

The magnetic perturbations produced by the resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) coils will be rotated in ITER so that the spiral patterns due to strike point splitting which are locked to the RMP also rotate. This is to ensure even power deposition on the divertor plates. VMEC equilibria are calculated for different phases of the RMP rotation. It is demonstrated that the off harmonics rotate in the opposite direction to the main harmonic. This is an important topic for future research to control and optimize ITER appropriately. High confinement mode (H-mode) is favourable for the economics of a potential fusion power plant and its use is planned in ITER. However, the high pressure gradient at the edge of the plasma can trigger periodic eruptions called edge localized modes (ELMs). ELMs have the potential to shorten the life of the divertor in ITER (Loarte et al 2003 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 45 1549) and so methods for mitigating or suppressing ELMs in ITER will be important. Non-axisymmetric RMP coils will be installed in ITER for ELM control. Sampling theory is used to show that there will be significant a harmonic sideband. There are nine coils toroidally in ITER so . This results in a significant n = 6 component to the applied field and a significant n = 5 component to the applied field. Although the vacuum field has similar amplitudes of these harmonics the plasma response to the various harmonics dictates the final equilibrium. Magnetic perturbations with toroidal mode number n = 3 and n = 4 are applied to a 15 MA, burning ITER plasma. We use a three-dimensional ideal magnetohydrodynamic model (VMEC) to calculate ITER equilibria with applied RMPs and to determine growth rates of infinite n ballooning modes (COBRA). The case shows little change in ballooning mode growth rate as the RMP is rotated, however there is a change with rotation for the case.

Rapid Thermal-Hydraulic Analysis and Design Optimization of ITER Upper ELM Coils

ITER edge localized mode (ELM) coils are important components of the in-vessel coils (IVCs) and they are designed for mitigating or suppressing ELMs. The coils located on the vacuum vessel (VV) and behind the blanket are subjected to high temperature due to the nuclear heat from the plasma, the Ohmic heat induced by the working current and the thermal radiation from the environment. The water serves as coolant to remove the heat deposited into the coils. Based on the results of nuclear analysis, the thermal-hydraulic analysis is performed for the preliminary design of upper ELM coils using a rapid evaluation method based on 1D treatment. The thermal-hydraulic design and operating parameters including the water flow velocity are optimized. It is found that the rapid evaluation method based on 1D treatment is feasible and reliable. According to the rapid analysis method, the thermal hydraulic parameters of two water flow schemes are computed and proved similar to each other, providing an effective basis for the coil design. Finally, considering jointly the pressure drop requirement and the cooling capacity, the flow velocity is optimized to 5 m/s.

Effect of ITER ELM Conductor Manufacturing Process on the Properties of the Inconel 625 Jacket

Nickel based alloy Inconel 625 is proposed as the jacket material for the ITER edge localized mode (ELM) conductor. Based on some investigation works finished in the Institute of Plasma Physics (ASIPP), the ELM conductor manufacturing process involves a compaction procedure of cold rolling and a joining procedure of argon-arc welding for the jackets. The effects of the fabrication processes on the physical and mechanical properties of the Inconel 625 steel have been investigated by observing the metallurgical structure and tensile performance. The test results show that the Inconel 625 jacket has high strength and good ductility after the ELM conductor fabrication, which conclude that the results are accordant with the ITER requirements.

Mechanical Performance of the ITER ELM Coils' Bracket Material of Inconel 625

The effects of edge localized modes (ELMs) in ITER Tokamak device are being designed to be addressed by the ELM coils. The designed ELM coils include nine toroidal sectors of three (upper, midplane, and lower) six-turn stainless steel jacketed mineral insulated coils. They will be mounted to the vacuum vessel wall behind the blanket shield modules, and fixed by a series of brackets. Mechanical performance of the brackets should achieve the design requirements to resist with the special challenges, such as the nuclear radiation (~ 3000 MGy), high temperature (~ 200°C), as well as bearing the additional loads from ELM coils. Inconel 625 is designed to manufacture the ITER ELM coils' brackets. This paper focuses on the mechanical performance of Inconel 625 materials after forging and heat treatment, especially the fatigue performances. The tensile properties and the fatigue crack growth rate of Inconel 625 after forging and heat treatment have been tested at room temperature. The test results show that the mechanical properties of the Inconel 625 material fit the design requirement.

Plasma exposure of different tungsten grades with plasma accelerators under ITER-relevant conditions

This paper presents the results of tungsten irradiation experiments performed with three plasma facilities: the QSPA Kh-50 quasi-steady-state plasma accelerator, the PPA pulsed plasma gun and the magneto-plasma compressor. Targets made of different kinds of tungsten (sintered, rolled and deformed) were irradiated with powerful plasma streams at heat fluxes relevant to edge-localized modes in ITER. The irradiated targets were analyzed and two different meshes of cracks were identified. It has been shown that the major cracks do not depend on the tungsten grade. This has been attributed to ductile-to-brittle transition effects. Meshes of inter-granular micro-cracks were detected for energy loads above the melting threshold and these were probably caused by the re-solidification process. The blister-like and cellular-like structures were observed on sample surfaces exposed to helium and hydrogen plasmas.

Tungsten Melt Losses under QSPA Kh-50 Plasma Exposures Simulating ITER ELMs and Disruptions

Experimental simulations of ITER transient events with surface heat load parameters relevant to edge-localized-mode (ELM) impacts and disruptions have been performed with a quasi-stationary plasma accelerator Kh-50. In the ELM simulation experiments with heat loads exceeding the tungsten melting threshold, both droplet splashing and solid dust ejection are observed. The erosion products emitted from the exposed tungsten surfaces in the form of droplets and solid dust have been clearly distinguished by variation of impacting heat load with performed analysis of particle ejection start time, their velocities, and changes in the luminosity of the particle traces in front of the target surface recorded with a charge-coupled device. Droplets are emitted during plasma exposure, and dust generation dominates after the end of the plasma pulse, at the time of the following material cooling. The contributions of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities to droplet splashing from the melt layer are discussed. Decrease of droplet velocity with increasing surface heat load is observed. This decrease could be attributed to the growing size of the droplets for higher energy loads.

Structural and Fracture Mechanics Analysis for the Bracket of ITER Upper ELM Coil

The brackets are the important components of ITER edge localized modes (ELM) coils to connect the coils and rails. In order to assure the structural integrity and security of the bracket, the maximum tresca stress and stress intensity factor are examined from the viewpoints of structural and fracture mechanics. Based on the finite element method, the global upper ELM coils with simplified and detailed bracket are investigated. Since it is difficult to perform in-service inspection due to inaccessibility of in-vessel coils, it is important to estimate the allowable initial defect. Assuming an initial crack in the maximum first principal stress region on the bracket, the fracture mechanics analyses under different loads are performed. Results show that the bracket design is valid and feasible and the calculation method of finite element for stress intensity factor is feasible and reliable. Assuming the initial crack of 7 mm depth, the bracket can meet the crack growth criteria. The stress intensity factor of the bracket is mainly caused by electromagnetic (EM) load and the thermal load can reduce the stress intensity factor under EM load. The thermal load can make the crack grow on the surface of the bracket and the EM load can cause the crack to extend in the inner of the bracket.

Monte Carlo simulations of tungsten redeposition at the divertor target

Recent modeling of controlled edge-localized modes (ELMs) in ITER with tungsten (W) divertor target plates by the SOLPS code package predicted high electron temperatures (>100 eV) and densities (>1 × 1021 m−3) at the outer target. Under certain scenarios W sputtered during ELMs can penetrate into the core in quantities large enough to cause deterioration of the discharge performance, as was shown by coupled SOLPS5.0/STRAHL/ASTRA runs. The net sputtering yield, however, was expected to be dramatically reduced by the ‘prompt redeposition’ during the first Larmor gyration of W1+ (Fussman et al 1995 Proc. 15th Int. Conf. on Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research (Vienna: IAEA) vol 2, p 143). Under high ne/Te conditions at the target during ITER ELMs, prompt redeposition would reduce W sputtering by factor p−2 ∼ 104 (with p ≡ τionωgyro ∼ 0.01). However, this relation does not include the effects of multiple ionizations of sputtered W atoms and the electric field in the magnetic pre-sheath (MPS, or ‘Chodura sheath’) and Debye sheath (DS). Monte Carlo simulations of W redeposition with the inclusion of these effects are described in the paper. It is shown that for p ≪ 1, the inclusion of multiple W ionizations and the electric field in the MPS and DS changes the physics of W redeposition from geometrical effects of circular gyro-orbits hitting the target surface, to mainly energy considerations; the key effect is the electric potential barrier for ions trying to escape into the main plasma. The overwhelming majority of ions are drawn back to the target by a strong attracting electric field. It is also shown that the possibility of a W self-sputtering avalanche by ions circulating in the MPS can be ruled out due to the smallness of the sputtered W neutral energies, which means that they do not penetrate very far into the MPS before ionizing; thus the W ions do not gain a large kinetic energy as they are accelerated back to the surface by the MPS/DS electric field; this leads to modest self-sputtering yields. The results of these simulations are applicable to a wide range of plasma conditions at the target plates that can be encountered in various magnetic confinement fusion devices.

Structural Design Study for ITER Upper ELM Coils

ITER ELM coils are important parts of in-vessel coils and they are mounted on the vacuum vessel and behind the blanket module. They consist of three sets of coils, referred to as the upper, mid, and lower coils. In order to verify the structural design feasibility and find the better structure for upper edge localized modes (ELM) coil, two different variants of coil support structures are studied under the electromagnetic load, thermal and other loads. Results show that besides the bracket of variant 2 does not meet the fatigue criteria, the conductor, jacket and bracket of the two structures can meet the static, fatigue and crack threshold criteria and both of them are valid and feasible. In addition, the better structure is chosen for upper ELM coil.

Structural analysis and optimization for ITER upper ELM coil

ITER ELM coils are used to mitigate or suppress Edge Localized Modes (ELM), which are located between the vacuum vessel (VV) and shielding blanket modules and subject to high radiation levels, high temperature and high magnetic field. These coils shall have high heat transfer performance to avoid high thermal stress, sufficient strength and excellent fatigue to transport and bear the alternating electromagnetic force due to the combination of the high magnetic field and the AC current in the coil. Therefore these coils should be designed and analyzed to confirm the temperature distribution, strength and fatigue performance in the case of conservative assumption. To verify the design structural feasibility of the upper ELM coil under EM and thermal loads, thermal, static and fatigue structural analysis have been performed in detail using ANSYS. In addition, design optimization has been done to enhance the structural performance of the upper ELM coil.

3D vacuum magnetic field modelling of the ITER ELM control coil during standard operating scenarios

In-vessel, non-axisymmetric, control coils have proven to be an important option for mitigating and suppressing edge-localized modes (ELMs) in high performance operating regimes on a growing number of tokamaks. Additionally, an in-vessel non-axisymmetric ELM control coil is being considered in the ITER baseline design. In preparing for the initial operation of this coil set, a comprehensive study was carried out to characterize the linear superposition of the 3D vacuum magnetic field, produced by the ELM coil, on a series of equilibria representing nine standard ITER operating scenarios. Here, the spatial phase angle of toroidally distributed currents, specified with a cosine waveform, in the upper and lower rows of the ITER ELM coil (IEC) set is varied in 2° steps while holding the current in the equatorial row of coils constant. The peak current in each of the three toroidal rows of window-frame coils making up the IEC is scanned between 5 kAt and 90 kAt in 5 kAt steps and the width of the edge region covered by overlapping vacuum field magnetic islands is calculated. This width is compared to a vacuum field ELM suppression correlation criterion found in DIII-D. A minimum coil current satisfying the DIII-D criterion, along with an associated set of phase angles, is identified for each ITER operating scenario. These currents range from 20 kAt to 75 kAt depending on the operating scenario being used and the toroidal mode number (n) of the cosine waveform. Comparisons between the scaling of the divertor footprint area in cases with n = 3 perturbation fields versus those with n = 4 show significant advantages when using n = 3. In addition, it is found that the DIII-D correlation criterion can be satisfied in the event that various combinations of individual IEC window-frame coils need to be turned off due to malfunctioning components located inside the vacuum vessel. Details of these results for both the full set of 27 window-frame coils and various reduced sets, using either n = 3 and n = 4 perturbation fields, are discussed.

Reduction of edge-localized mode intensity using high-repetition-rate pellet injection in tokamak H-mode plasmas.

High repetition rate injection of deuterium pellets from the low-field side (LFS) of the DIII-D tokamak is shown to trigger high-frequency edge-localized modes (ELMs) at up to 12× the low natural ELM frequency in H-mode deuterium plasmas designed to match the ITER baseline configuration in shape, normalized beta, and input power just above the H-mode threshold. The pellet size, velocity, and injection location were chosen to limit penetration to the outer 10% of the plasma. The resulting perturbations to the plasma density and energy confinement time are thus minimal (<10%). The triggered ELMs occur at much lower normalized pedestal pressure than the natural ELMs, suggesting that the pellet injection excites a localized high-n instability. Triggered ELMs produce up to 12× lower energy and particle fluxes to the divertor, and result in a strong decrease in plasma core impurity density. These results show for the first time that shallow, LFS pellet injection can dramatically accelerate the ELM cycle and reduce ELM energy fluxes on plasma facing components, and is a viable technique for real-time control of ELMs in ITER.

ELM control strategies and tools: status and potential for ITER

Operating ITER in the reference inductive scenario at the design values of Ip = 15 MA and QDT = 10 requires the achievement of good H-mode confinement that relies on the presence of an edge transport barrier whose pedestal pressure height is key to plasma performance. Strong gradients occur at the edge in such conditions that can drive magnetohydrodynamic instabilities resulting in edge localized modes (ELMs), which produce a rapid energy loss from the pedestal region to the plasma facing components (PFC). Without appropriate control, the heat loads on PFCs during ELMs in ITER are expected to become significant for operation in H-mode at Ip = 6–9 MA; operation at higher plasma currents would result in a very reduced life time of the PFCs.Currently, several options are being considered for the achievement of the required level of ELM control in ITER; this includes operation in plasma regimes which naturally have no or very small ELMs, decreasing the ELM energy loss by increasing their frequency by a factor of up to 30 and avoidance of ELMs by actively controlling the edge with magnetic perturbations. Small/no ELM regimes obtained by influencing the edge stability (by plasma shaping, rotational shear control, etc) have shown in present experiments a significant reduction of the ELM heat fluxes compared to type-I ELMs. However, so far they have only been observed under a limited range of pedestal conditions depending on each specific device and their extrapolation to ITER remains uncertain. ELM control by increasing their frequency relies on the controlled triggering of the edge instability leading to the ELM. This has been presently demonstrated with the injection of pellets and with plasma vertical movements; pellets having provided the results more promising for application in ITER conditions. ELM avoidance/suppression takes advantage of the fact that relatively small changes in the pedestal plasma and magnetic field parameters seem to have a large stabilizing effect on large ELMs. Application of edge magnetic field perturbation with non-axisymmetric fields is found to affect transport at the plasma edge and thus prevent the uncontrolled rise of the plasma pressure gradients and the occurrence of type-I ELMs. This paper compiles a brief overview of various ELM control approaches, summarizes their present achievements and briefly discusses the open issues regarding their application in ITER.