Molecular Beam Injection Research Articles

Overview of recent HL-2A experiments

Since the last Fusion Energy Conference, significant progress has been made in the following areas. The first high coupling efficiency low-hybrid current drive (LHCD) with a passive–active multi-junction (PAM) antenna was successfully demonstrated in the H-mode on the HL-2A tokamak. Double critical impurity gradients of electromagnetic turbulence were observed in H-mode plasmas. Various ELM mitigation techniques have been investigated, including supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI), impurity seeding, resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) and low-hybrid wave (LHW). The ion internal transport barrier was observed in neutral beam injection (NBI) heated plasmas. Neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) driven by the transient perturbation of local electron temperature during non-local thermal transport events have been observed, and a new type of non-local transport triggered by the ion fishbone was found. A long-lasting runaway electron plateau was achieved after argon injection and the runaway current was successfully suppressed by SMBI. It was found that low-n Alfvénic ion temperature gradient (AITG) modes can be destabilized in ohmic plasmas, even with weak magnetic shear and low-pressure gradients. For the first time, the synchronization of geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) and magnetic fluctuations was observed in edge plasmas, revealing frequency entrainment and phase lock. The spatiotemporal features of zonal flows were also studied using multi-channel correlation Doppler reflectometers.

Favourable scenarios established by SMBI for the realization of the ELMy H-mode at HL-2A**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11375057 and 11175061) and the National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Science Program, China (Grant Nos. 2010GB102003 and 2014GB108003).

The ELMy H-mode plasmas realized with the supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI) are studied in relation to the energy confinement and the heating power for the L–H transition ( in the HL-2A tokamak. A database is assembled for this study based on the ELMy H-mode discharges during the experimental campaigns in the period 2009–2013 at the HL-2A tokamak. The statistical results show that the SMBI is favourable for reaching the H-mode by reducing the heating power at the L–H transition and for the H-mode performance by improving the energy confinement compared with the ordinary gas puffing (GP). The reduction of is about 20% when the density is low, and the energy confinement enhancement factor of 1.5 is achieved with the SMBI. Note that in the database the density dependence of is non-monotonic with the at which the is minimum. Most of data are on the low density branch where the increases with the decrease in density. The minimum of the in HL-2A is comparable to the ITPA multi-machine threshold power scaling . The physics behind the reduction of the with the SMBI is also investigated in relation to the change of the density gradient at the plasma edge, the gas fuelling efficiency, and the recycling.

Suppression of runaway current generation by supersonic molecular beam injection during disruptions on J-TEXT

The suppression of disruption-generated runaway electrons (REs) by supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI) has been investigated on the J-TEXT tokamak. Experimental results demonstrate that the hydrogen injected by SMBI during plasma current flattop phase can provoke magnetic perturbations, which increase RE losses rapidly. The effective radial diffusion coefficient of REs due to SMBI is estimated as Dr ≈ 16 m2 s−1. Based on this benefit, the SMBI has been used to explore the suppression of disruption-generated REs. In J-TEXT, RE current is created with rapid argon injection by a massive gas injection valve. It is found that hydrogen SMBI before disruption efficiently suppresses the generation of RE current.

Simulations of the effects of density and temperature profile on SMBI penetration depth based on the HL-2A tokamak configuration**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation for Young Scientists of China (Grant No. 11605143), the Undergraduate Training Programs for Innovation and Entrepreneurship of Sichuan Province, China (Grant No. 05020732), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11575055), the

Using the trans-neut module of the BOUT++ code, we study how the fueling penetration depth of supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI) is affected by plasma density and temperature profiles. The plasma densities and temperatures in L-mode are initialized to be a set of linear profiles with different core plasma densities and temperatures. The plasma profiles are relaxed to a set of steady states with different core plasma densities or temperatures. For a fixed gradient, the steady profiles are characterized by the core plasma density and temperature. The SMBI is investigated based on the final steady profiles with different core plasma densities or temperatures. The simulated results suggest that the SMB injection will be blocked by dense core plasma and high-temperature plasma. Once the core plasma density is set to be () it produces a deeper penetration depth. When is increased from 1.4 to 3.9 at intervals of 0.8, keeping a constant core temperature of = 725 eV at the radial position of , the penetration depth gradually decreases. Meanwhile, when the density is fixed at and the core plasma temperature is set to 365 eV, the penetration depth increases. The penetration depth decreases as is increased from 365 eV to 2759 eV. Sufficiently large or causes most of the injected molecules to stay in the scrape-off-layer (SOL) region, lowering the fueling efficiency.

Development of pellet injection system for KSTAR

KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research) has used a gas puffing system as a main fueling method since 2008. Up to date total fueling efficiency of the gas puff is less than 30%. A pellet injection is a more effective technique to control a plasma density than the gas puffing system and a supersonic molecular beam injection. Therefore, we have developed the pellet injection system for KSTAR. The pellet injection system for KSTAR consists of a pellet injector which injects pellets of a deuterium (diameter of 2mm, length of 1.5–2mm) at a velocity above 200m/s with an injection frequency of 1–20Hz, a 2-stage differential pumping system, a guide tube, a control system and so on. It is planned to inject pellets through a high field side and increase the plasma performance.

Simulations of fast component and slow component of SMBI on HL-2A tokamak**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11575055, 11375053, and 11472519), the Chinese National Fusion Project for ITER (Grant Nos. 2013GB111005, 2013GB107001, 2014GB108004, 2014GB110004, and 2015GB110001), and the International S&T Cooperation Program of China (Grant No. 2015DFA61760).

It is very important to improve the penetration depth and fueling efficiency of supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI) especially for the next generation fusion devices such as ITER. Two components, a fast component (FC) and a slow component (SC), have been observed in the HL-2A SMBI experiments for several years, and the FC can penetrate much more deeply than the common SMBIs which draws a great deal of attention for a better fueling method. It is the first time to the FC and SC of SMBI have been simulated and interpreted in theory and simulation in this paper with the trans-neut module of the BOUT++ code. The simulation results of the FC and SC are clear and distinguishable in the same way as the observation in experiment. For the major mechanism of the FC and SC, it is found that although the difference in the injection velocity has some effect on the penetration depth difference between the FC and SC, it is mainly caused by the self-blocking effect of the first ionized SMB. We also discuss the influence of the initial plasma density on the FC and SC, and the variation of the SC penetration depth with its injection velocity.

Divertor heat flux mitigation by using supersonic molecular beam injection in the HL-2A tokamak

Reduction in the power load deposited onto the divertor target plates is achieved with supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI) fuelling. The largest reduction in the heat flux profiles occurs at the outboard divertor separatrix strike point, while the heat flux far from the strike point almost keeps constant. Most of this reduction in the divertor heat flux is accompanied by an enhanced plasma radiation. Especially, a partially detached divertor regime is observed with multi-pulse SMBI. Moreover, the divertor heat flux is also mitigated strongly with SMBI in ELMy H-mode plasmas. During this mitigation period, the large-scale fluctuations are suppressed while the small-scale fluctuations increase. These results demonstrate that SMBI technique can be considered as one of the technique tools for mitigating the power load deposited onto the divertor target.

Design and Integration of SMBI System for SST-1 Tokamak

Supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI) is one of the most effective fuelling methods for injecting neutral particles at very high velocity into the plasma core. Due to higher speed and lower divergence, the beam penetrates several centimetres into the plasma and hence increases the fuelling efficiency. For SST-1 Tokamak, two types of SMBI systems are proposed. One will be installed in the low field side (LFS) while other will be integrated in the high field side (HFS). This paper describes the design, fabrication and implementation of SMBI system in SST-1 Tokamak.

Initial results in SST-1 after up-gradation

SST-1 Tokamak has recently completed the 1st phase of up-gradation with successful installation and integration of all its First Wall components. The First Wall of SST-1 comprises of ∼ 3800 high heat flux compatible graphite tiles being assembled and installed on 132 CuCrZr heat sink back plates engraved with ∼ 4 km of leak tight baking and cooling channels in five major sub groups equipped with ∼ 400 sensors and weighing ∼ 6000 kg in total in thirteen isolated galvanic and six isolated hydraulic circuits. The phase-1 up-gradation spectrum also includes addition of Supersonic Molecular Beam Injection (SMBI) both on the in-board and out-board side, installation of fast reciprocating probes, adding some edge plasma probe diagnostics in the SOL region, installation and integration of segmented and up-down symmetric radial coils aiding/controlling plasma rotations, introduction of plasma position feedback and density controls etc. Post phase-I up-gradation spanning from Nov 2014 till June 2016, initial plasma experiments in up-graded SST-1 have begun since Aug 2016 after a brief engineering validation period in SST-1. The first experiments in SST-1 have revealed interesting aspects on the ‘eddy currents in the First Wall support structures’ influencing the ‘magnetic Null evolution dynamics’ and the subsequent plasma start-up characteristics after the ECH pre-ionization, the influence of the first walls on the ‘field errors’ and the resulting locked modes observed, the magnetic index influencing the evolution of the equilibrium of the plasma column, low density supra-thermal electron induced discharges and normal ohmic discharges etc. Presently; repeatable ohmic discharges regimes in SST-1 having plasma currents in excess of 65 KA (qa ∼ 3.8, BT = 1.5 T) with a current ramp rates ∼ 1.2 MA/s over a duration of ∼ 300 ms with line averaged densities ∼ 0.8 × 1019 and temperatures ∼ 200 eV with copious MHD signatures have been experimentally established. Further elongation of the plasma duration up to one second or more with position and density feedback as well as coupling of Lower Hybrid waves are currently being persuaded in SST-1 apart from increasing the core plasma parameters with further optimizations and with wall conditioning.

Effects of width and density of supersonic molecule beam on penetration depth of tokamak

The penetration depth and the fueling efficiency of the supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI) are affected by both the intrinsic parameters of the SMBI and the parameters of background plasma. The purpose of the present paper is to explore the possible methods of improving the fueling efficiency of SMBI by varying the beam parameters. The penetration depths and the transport processes of SMBI with different beam densities and different beam widths are studied using the trans-neut module of the three-dimensional (3D) edge turbulence simulation code BOUT++. In our present study, the number of the injected molecules per unit time the injection speed and the injected flux are kept constant throughout the SMB fueling process, but the beam density and beam width are adjusted. The simulation is based on the real magnetic configuration of the HL-2A tokamak. Our results indicate that the deeper injection depth can be obtained with a supersonic molecular beam (SMB) with smaller density and larger width. However, the injection depth decreases when the beam density or the beam width increases. The residence time of the beam front can be lengthened by increasing the beam density and widening the beam width. If the beam density increases or the beam width enlarges, not only the injection depth decreases, but also the residence time shortens. The front of the atom density exhibits the behaviors analogous to that of the SMB, namely, both its depth and its residence time decreases with beam density increasing and beam width decreasing. At the same time, the dissociation rate has a larger range in the spatiotemporal coordinate. The global growth of dissociation rate is inhibited by the molecular dissociation localization. However, the localization of the molecular dissociation accelerates the local growth of the dissociation rate, and the global growth of the molecular dissociation rate is promoted. When the promoting effect is dominant, under the condition of constant flux and fixed injection speed, the smaller molecular injection width will lead to the shallower molecular penetration depth. The simulation results suggest that if we attempt to promote the fueling efficiency and to increase the injection depth of SMBI, we should utilize the SMBI with a smaller density and larger beam width. Of course, the concrete influences of the SMBI on injection depth and fueling efficiency should be studied further by varying other relevant parameters of the SMB and the backgroud plasma.

Application of the Magnetic Surface Based PARK-Matrix Method in the HCOOH Laser Interferometry System on HL-2A**supported by the National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Science Program of China (No. 2014GB109001), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11505053 and 11275059)

A new electron density profile reconstruction procedure based on the PARK-matrix method has been firstly exploited for the multi-chord formic acid (HCOOH, λ=432.5 μm) laser interferometry system on the HL-2A tokamak. According to the geometric coordinates of the magnetic surfaces reconstructed by the CF (current fitting) code and the assumption that the electron density between two adjacent magnetic surfaces is a constant, the local electron density is calculated layer by layer, and the electron density profile ne(Z) can be determined, as well as the density profile ne(R). The simulation result indicates that the error of the PARK-matrix method is acceptable for the four-chord HCOOH laser interferometer. In the applications, it shows that the reconstructed electron density profile agrees well with the microwave reflectometry measurement, and the sawtooth reversion radius is consistent with that deduced from the soft X-ray signals. Meanwhile, the electron density profiles with electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) and supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI) are also reconstructed and analyzed.

Impact of fuelling and impurity on pedestal dynamics and instabilities in the HL-2A tokamak

In recent experiments of the HL-2A tokamak, the effect on the pedestal dynamics by the plasma fuelling with supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI) has been intensively investigated. Experimental results in several tokamaks suggested that SMBI is a promising technique for ELM mitigation. In addition to the fuelling, the impact of impurities on the pedestal dynamics and instabilities has been investigated in HL-2A. Experimental results have shown that during the H-mode phase, a broadband electromagnetic (EM) turbulence was driven by peaked impurity density profile at the edge plasma region, and governed by double critical gradients of the impurity density. The absolute value of the threshold in positive gradient region is much lower than that in the negative region. This strong asymmetry in the critical gradients has been predicted by theoretical simulation. The results reveal that pedestal dynamics and heat loads can be actively controlled by exciting or changing pedestal instabilities.

A novel multi-channel quadrature Doppler backward scattering reflectometer on the HL-2A tokamak.

A novel 16-channel fixed frequency Doppler backward scattering (DBS) reflectometer system has been developed on the HL-2A tokamak. This system is based on the filter-based feedback loop microwave source (FFLMS) technique, which has lower phase noise and lower power variation compared with present tunable frequency generation and comb frequency array generation techniques [J. C. Hillesheim et al. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 80, 083507 (2009) and W. A. Peebles et al. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 81, 10D902 (2010)]. The 16-channel DBS system is comprised of four × four-frequency microwave transmitters and direct quadrature demodulation receivers. The working frequencies are 17-24 GHz and 31-38 GHz with the frequency interval of 1 GHz. They are designed to measure the localized intermediate wave-number (k⊥ρ ∼ 1-2, k⊥ ∼ 2-9 cm-1) density fluctuations and the poloidal rotation velocity profile of turbulence. The details of the system design and laboratory tests are presented. Preliminary results of Doppler spectra measured by the multi-channel DBS reflectometer systems are obtained. The plasma rotation and turbulence distribution during supersonic molecular beam injection are analyzed.

Important role of pedestal ion temperature in the ELM mitigation by supersonic molecular beam injection

Edge localized mode (ELM) is successfully mitigated by helium and deuterium supersonic molecular beam injections (SMBIs) on HL-2A. During the ELM mitigation by SMBIs, gradients of ion temperature (Ti) and electron density are softened in the pedestal. It has been observed that the averaged gradient of the Ti decreases around 44% and the well depth of radial electric field (Er) is reduced by the SMBI during ELM mitigation. Furthermore, at least 20% decrements of Ti have to be attained to achieve a noticeable increase (decrease) of the ELM frequency (amplitude). In addition, the duration of ELM mitigation with helium SMBI is much longer than that with deuterium, likely due to the higher level of recycling neutral gas compared to that of deuterium; in the case of ELM mitigation by helium SMBI, the recovery duration of the density gradient is much shorter (10–20 ms) than that of Ti (up to 40 ms or longer), indicating the importance of the Ti in the ELM mitigation by SMBI. Finally, it has been observed that the Ti is reduced before the beginning of the ELM mitigation, suggesting that the mechanism of the ELM mitigation by SMBI is closely related to the cooling effect.

Operation results of the KSTAR far infrared interferometer.

The 2015 KSTAR experimental campaign was the first year of routine measurement with a far infrared interferometer (FIRI) utilizing 118.87 μm CH3OH lasers at maximum 200 mW CW beam power. By using rtEFIT reconstruction, the path lengths of interferometers can be calculated and so the line-averaged electron densities n¯e from the FIRI and a millimeter-wave interferometer were in excellent agreement. In this way, the number of successfully diagnosed discharges is counted: 1003 shots or 83.7% of sustained discharges, defined as shots of plasma current IP ≥ 0.3 MA with pulse lengths tf ≥ 2.0 s, have good-quality FIRI data within a few fringe jump errors. In addition, real-time H-mode density feedback control based on the FIRI was also successfully achieved with supersonic molecular beam injection as an actuator. Both constant density and controlled linear increment with a ramp-up rate of 1.0 × 1019 m-3 s-1 were achieved.

The supersonic molecular beam injector as a reliable tool for plasma fueling and physics experiment on HL-2A.

On HL-2A tokamak, supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI) has been developed as a routine refueling method. The key components of the system are an electromagnetic valve and a conic nozzle. The valve and conic nozzle are assembled to compose the simplified Laval nozzle for generating the pulsed beam. The appurtenance of the system includes the cooling system serving the cooled SMBI generation and the in situ calibration component for quantitative injection. Compared with the conventional gas puffing, the SMBI features prompt response and larger fueling flux. These merits devote the SMBI a good fueling method, an excellent plasma density feedback control tool, and an edge localized mode mitigation resource.

Supersonic molecular beam injection effects on tokamak plasma applied non-axisymmetric magnetic perturbation

The change of tokamak plasma behavior by supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI) was investigated by applying a three-dimensional magnetic perturbation that could suppress edge localized modes (ELMs). From the time trace of decreasing electron temperature and with increasing plasma density keeping the total confined energy constant, the SMBI seems to act as a cold pulse on the plasma. However, the ELM behaviors were changed drastically (i.e., the symptom of ELM suppression has disappeared). The plasma collisionality in the edge-pedestal region could play a role in the change of the ELM behaviors.

Interplay between Plasma Turbulence and Particle Injection in 3D Global Simulations

AbstractThe impact of a 3D localized particle source on the edge plasma in 3D global turbulence simulations is investigated using the TOKAM3X fluid code. Results apply to advanced fueling methods such as Supersonic Molecular Beam Injection (SMBI) or pellets injection. The fueling source is imposed as a volumetric particle source in the simulations so that the physics leading to the ionization of particles and its localization are not taken into account. As already observed in experiments, the localized particle source strongly perturbs both turbulence and the large scale organization of the edge plasma. The localized increase of the pressure generated by the source drives sonic parallel flows in the plasma, leading to a poloidal redistribution of the particles on the time scale of the source duration. However, the particle deposition also drives localized transverse pressure gradients which impacts the stability of the plasma with respect to interchange processes. The resulting radial transport occurs on a sufficiently fast time scale to compete with the parallel redistribution of particles, leading to immediate radial losses of a significant proportion of the injected particles. Low Field Side (LFS) and High Field Side (HFS) injections exhibit different dynamics due to their interaction with curvature. In particular, HFS particle deposition drives an inward flux leading to differences in the particle deposition efficiency (higher for HFS than LFS). These results demonstrate the importance of taking into account plasma transport in a self‐consistent manner when investigating fueling methods. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Infrared Imaging Bolometer for the HL-2A Tokamak**supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 10805016 and 11175061), and the Chinese National Fusion Project for ITER (No. 2014GB109001)

An infrared imaging bolometer diagnostic has been upgraded recently to be adapted for the complications of the signal-to-noise ratio arising from the low level of plasma radiation and high reflectivity of low energy photon (<6.2 eV). It utilizes a platinum foil, blackened on both sides with graphite spray, as the bolometer detector. The advantage of the blackened foil is the light absorption extending into the infrared. After a careful calibration of the foil, the incident power density distribution on the foil is determined by solving the heat diffusion equation with a numerical technique. The local plasma radiated power density is reconstructed with a minimum fisher information regularization method by assuming plasma emission toroidal symmetry. Comparisons of the results and the profiles measured by an ordinary bolometric detector demonstrate that this method is good enough to provide the plasma radiated power pattern. The typical plasma radiated power density distribution before and after high mode (H-mode) transition is firstly reconstructed with the infrared imaging bolometer. Moreover, during supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI), an enhanced radiation region is observed at the edge of the plasma.

Density limits investigation and high density operation in EAST tokamak

Increasing the density in a tokamak is limited by the so-called density limit, which is generally performed as an appearance of disruption causing loss of plasma confinement, or a degradation of high confinement mode which could further lead to a H → L transition. The L-mode and H-mode density limit has been investigated in EAST tokamak. Experimental results suggest that density limits could be triggered by either edge cooling or excessive central radiation. The L-mode density limit disruption is generally triggered by edge cooling, which leads to the current profile shrinkage and then destabilizes a 2/1 tearing mode, ultimately resulting in a disruption. The L-mode density limit scaling agrees well with the Greenwald limit in EAST. The observed H-mode density limit in EAST is an operational-space limit with a value of . High density H-mode heated by neutral beam injection (NBI) and lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) are analyzed, respectively. The constancy of the edge density gradients in H-mode indicates a critical limit caused perhaps by e.g. ballooning induced transport. The maximum density is accessed at the H → L transition which is generally caused by the excessive core radiation due to high Z impurities (Fe, Cu). Operating at a high density () is favorable for suppressing the beam shine through NBI. High density H-mode up to could be sustained by 2 MW 4.6 GHz LHCD alone, and its current drive efficiency is studied. Statistics show that good control of impurities and recycling facilitate high density operation. With careful control of these factors, high density up to 0.93 stable H-mode operation was carried out heated by 1.7 MW LHCD and 1.9 MW ion cyclotron resonance heating with supersonic molecular beam injection fueling.