Outboard Midplane Research Articles

Investigation of SOL parameters and divertor particle flux from electric probe measurements in KSTAR

The upstream scrape-off layer (SOL) profiles and downstream particle fluxes are measured with a fast reciprocating Langmuir probe assembly (FRLPA) at the outboard mid-plane and a fixed edge Langmuir probe array (ELPA) at divertor region, respectively in the KSTAR. It is found that the SOL has a two-layer structure in the outboard wall-limited (OWL) ohmic and L-mode: a near SOL (∼5mm zone) with a narrow feature and a far SOL with a broader profile. The near SOL width evaluated from the SOL profiles in the OWL plasmas is comparable to the scaling for the L-mode divertor plasmas in the JET and AUG. In the SOL profiles and the divertor particle flux profile during the ELMy H-modes, the characteristic e-folding lengths of electron temperature, plasma density and particle flux during an ELM phase are about two times larger than ones at the inter ELM.

SOL parameters, and particle and heat fluxes at divertor targets from electric probe measurements in KSTAR

The plasma parameters in the scrape-off layer (SOL) region and the particle flux at the divertor target are measured by using a fast reciprocating Langmuir probe assembly (FRLPA) and a fixed edge Langmuir probe array (ELPA) in the KSTAR. The e-folding lengths of the plasma density (n e ) and the electron temperature (T e ), λ ne and λ Te , are obtained from the radial profile measurement using the FRLPA at the outboard mid-plane during ohmic and H-mode discharges. Particle fluxes measured by using the ELPA at the divertor target are mapped to the outboard mid-plane, and the fluxes are quite well matched to the radial profile of the particle flux from the FRLPA measurement. Finally, the peak heat flux at the divertor target during edge localized modes (ELMs) can be estimated to be up to 1.0 MWm−2 for the neutral beam power of ~ 2.7 MW by using T e at the separatrix and λ Te from the FRLPA measurements. In this work, the experimental results from the probe measurements in the KSTAR are presented.

Onion skin model (OSM) analysis of EAST SOL plasmas

Two-dimensional maps of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) scrape-off layer (SOL) plasma conditions for ohmic, L-mode and H-mode discharges are reconstructed using an onion skin model (OSM) coupled in DIVIMP together with the Monte Carlo neutral transport code, EIRENE. The boundary conditions for OSM calculation are taken from the measurements of the Langmuir probe built into the divertor targets. The OSM-calculated values of the outboard mid-plane electron density, ne, and temperature, Te, are compared with the mid-plane measurements of ne and Te from a fast reciprocating probe. Some other characteristics of these SOL plasmas are also derived from the OSM solution, reflecting that the upstream plasma conditions are governed by the SOL collisionality to a large degree. Values of at the low-field side and the high-field side mid-plane are derived separately as a function of the distance to the separatrix for ohmic, L- and H-mode discharges, showing that increases with the distance to the separatrix at both sides and that the values of at the low-field side tends to be higher than that at the high-field side. is found to be larger than by a factor of 2–3 for all the discharges considered here. In addition, before the use of the OSM method of extracting and for EAST discharges, the reliability of this method is assessed by taking SOLPS-generated target n, T profiles as boundary conditions and by comparing the OSM-extracted cross-field transport coefficients with those input in the SOLPS modelling.

Implementation and first application of EMC3-EIRENE to EAST double-null divertor

The 3D edge Monte Carlo code coupled with EIRENE (EMC3-EIRENE) has been implemented on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) and, for the first time, applied to an axisymmetric double null divertor plasma. The code results are compared with Langmuir probe measurements. The cross-field transport coefficients for particle and energy, D⊥ and χ⊥, are determined by fitting the electron density and temperature profiles measured by a reciprocating probe on the outboard midplane. Good agreement between the simulation and probe profiles is obtained when D⊥ and χ⊥ are set to be 0.4 m2 s−1 and 2 m2 s−1, respectively. However, considerable discrepancies in density and temperature profiles are observed downstream. A parameter sensitivity study is carried out to identify the possible causes. Analyzing the numerical results in comparison with the measurements leads to the conclusion that the real separatrix at the outer midplane tends to be located ∼7 mm inward with respect to the last closed flux surface obtained from the equilibrium fitting code.

Toroidal mode number estimation of the edge-localized modes using the KSTAR 3-D electron cyclotron emission imaging system.

A new and more accurate technique is presented for determining the toroidal mode number n of edge-localized modes (ELMs) using two independent electron cyclotron emission imaging (ECEI) systems in the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) device. The technique involves the measurement of the poloidal spacing between adjacent ELM filaments, and of the pitch angle α* of filaments at the plasma outboard midplane. Equilibrium reconstruction verifies that α* is nearly constant and thus well-defined at the midplane edge. Estimates of n obtained using two ECEI systems agree well with n measured by the conventional technique employing an array of Mirnov coils.

Scaling of the scrape-off layer width during inter-ELM H modes on MAST as measured by infrared thermography

The power load to the divertor surfaces is a key concern for future devices such as ITER, due to the thermal limits on the material surface. One factor that characterizes the heat flux to the divertor is the fall off length in the scrape-off layer (SOL), which recent empirical scalings have shown could be as small as 1 mm. These predictions are based on a multi-machine scaling of the heat flux width fitted using an expression for the divertor heat flux profile which includes a term for the exponential decay in the SOL and diffusion about the last closed flux surface (LCFS) in the private flux region. This expression has been used to fit a database of inter-ELM H mode profiles at the upper divertor and extract the fall off length, λq, for a range of different plasma parameters in double null plasmas. The midplane separation between the primary and secondary LCFS (δrsep) of the double null plasma used in the study are in the range 2 ⩽ δrsep ⩽ 7 mm and no correlation is seen between the fall off length and the δrsep. The MAST data shows good agreement with the formula, with the fitted fall off length spanning a range of 5–11 mm in the data base generated. Regression of this data has shown that the fall off length has the strongest dependence on the plasma current (or equivalently, the poloidal magnetic field at the outboard midplane) to the power −0.71. The scaling with the smallest χ2 error utilizes the poloidal magnetic field at the outboard midplane (Bpol,omp) and the power crossing the SOL in the relation with χ2 = 3.46 and R2 = 0.56 as a goodness of fit. The equivalent scaling with plasma current is with χ2 = 3.84 and R2 = 0.55. The moderate goodness of fit suggests that additional plasma parameters are required to accurately reproduce the observed variation in λq.

Experimental investigation of the parallel structure of fluctuations in the scrape-off layer of Alcator C-Mod

The parallel structure of blob filaments in the scrape-off layer of Alcator C-Mod is investigated by combining electrostatic probe measurements with localized measurements of Dα or He I line emission. The spatially resolved emission measurements were made in the outboard midplane region, while probes sampled fluctuations both close to the magnetic X-point and at the outer divertor target. Time-delay correlation analysis reveals that blobs form highly elongated filaments along the ambient magnetic field from the midplane to the divertor target. Those filaments appear to be fairly unaffected by the strong magnetic shear region close to the X-point with maximum correlation amplitudes of approximately 75% between near-midplane and near-X-point fluctuations, as well as between near-midplane and divertor-target fluctuations. However, the filaments do not form at the same time everywhere within a flux tube, but appear, on average, first nearer the midplane and show diffusion along the magnetic field. This parallel propagation occurs on a time-scale that is much faster than expected from particle diffusion, but agrees with fundamental dispersion estimates.

Modulation of prompt fast-ion loss by applied n = 2 fields in the DIII-D tokamak

Energy and pitch angle resolved measurements of escaping neutral beam ions (E ≈ 80 keV) have been made during DIII-D L-mode discharges with applied, slowly rotating, n = 2 magnetic perturbations. Data from separate scintillator detectors (FILDs) near and well below the plasma midplane show fast-ion losses correlated with the internal coil (I-coil) fields. The dominant fast-ion loss signals are observed to decay within one poloidal transit time after beam turn-off indicating they are primarily prompt loss orbits. Also, during application of the rotating I-coil fields, outboard midplane edge density and bremsstrahlung emission profiles exhibit a radial displacement of up to δR ≈ 1 cm. Beam deposition and full orbit modeling of these losses using M3D-C1 calculations of the perturbed kinetic profiles and fields reproduce many features of the measured losses. In particular, the predicted phase of the modulated loss signal with respect to the I-coil currents is in close agreement with FILD measurements as is the relative amplitudes of the modulated losses for the co and counter-current beam used in the experiment. These simulations show modifications to the beam ion birth profile and subsequent prompt loss due to changes in the edge density; however, the dominant factor causing modulation of the losses to the fast-ion loss detectors is the perturbed magnetic field (δB/B ≈ 10−3 in the plasma). Calculations indicate total prompt loss to the DIII-D wall can increase with application of the n = 2 perturbation by up to 7% for co-current injected beams and 3% for counter-current injected beams depending on phase of the perturbation relative to the injected beam.

Statistical characterization of turbulence in the boundary plasma of EAST

In Ohmic heated low confinement mode (L-mode) discharges, the intermittent statistical characteristics of turbulent fluctuations have been investigated in the edge and the scrape-off layer (SOL) plasma on EAST (the experimental advanced superconducting tokamak) by fast reciprocating Langmuir probe measurements. Plasma structures (blobs and holes) are observed and found to originate together inside the edge shear layer where the skewness (S) of the ion-saturation current fluctuations is close to zero. The probability density functions of the density fluctuations in edge and SOL plasma show a well-defined parabolic relation between the S and the kurtosis (K). In edge plasma with holes, the geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) is identified with a dominant frequency fpeak ∼ 5–7 kHz both in floating potential fluctuations and ion-saturation current fluctuations. However, the GAM can only be detected in the floating potential fluctuations rather than the ion-saturation current fluctuations in the edge plasma with blobs. The ESEL (edge-SOL electrostatic) code based on interchange dynamics is used to simulate the experimental results on EAST. Reasonable agreement between the ESEL simulation and the EAST experiment is reached. Experimentally, the parallel SOL flow shows a remarkable dependence on the plasma density, which resembles the theoretical predicted Pfirsch–Schlüter flow but with a much higher magnitude at the outboard mid-plane of EAST.

Mitigation of edge localised modes with magnetic perturbations in ASDEX Upgrade

The first stage of a significant enhancement of the ASDEX Upgrade experiment with in-vessel coils for non-axisymmetric magnetic perturbations is now operational. First experiments have shown that ELM mitigation can be achieved using various perturbation field configurations with toroidal mode numbers n=1, 2, 4. The main access criteria is the plasma edge pedestal density to exceed a threshold, which takes the lowest value of about 60% of the Greenwald density for resonant |n|=1 perturbations. In H-mode plasmas, mode locking or error field-induced magnetic islands are generally not observed. Due to the low local shear of the plasma magnetic field in the vicinity of the perturbation coils around the outboard midplane, the magnetic perturbation is resonant simultaneously on several rational surfaces. It is hypothesised that the existence of image currents on these surfaces ensures good shielding of the error field in the confined plasma.

Comparison of scrape-off layer transport in inner and outer wall limited JET plasmas

The JET scrape-off layer has been characterized with a reciprocating probe in inner wall, IW, and outer wall, OW, limited plasmas. Broad SOL profiles are observed for IW limited plasmas with power e-folding length substantially larger (by a factor of ∼5–7.5) than in OW limited plasmas. The properties of the fluctuations in the SOL parameters indicate larger turbulent transport for IW limited plasmas. The striking differences observed between IW and OW limited plasmas on the power e-folding length, parallel flow, turbulent transport as well as the characteristics of the fluctuations support the existence of a poloidally localized region of enhanced radial transport near the outboard midplane. The dependence of the SOL power e-folding length on the main plasma parameters was also investigated for IW limited plasmas and a modest negative dependence on both the plasma current and the line-averaged density found.

Initial results of the high resolution edge Thomson scattering upgrade at DIII-D

Validation of models of pedestal structure is an important part of predicting pedestal height and performance in future tokamaks. The Thomson scattering diagnostic at DIII-D has been upgraded in support of validating these models. Spatial and temporal resolution, as well as signal to noise ratio, have all been specifically enhanced in the pedestal region. This region is now diagnosed by 20 view-chords with a spacing of 6 mm and a scattering length of just under 5 mm sampled at a nominal rate of 250 Hz. When mapped to the outboard midplane, this corresponds to ~3 mm spacing. These measurements are being used to test critical gradient models, in which pedestal gradients increase in time until a threshold is reached. This paper will describe the specifications of the upgrade and present initial results of the system.

Fusion Nuclear Science Facility-AT: A Material and Component Testing Device

A fusion nuclear science facility (FNSF) is a necessary complement to ITER, especially in the area of material and component testing needed for DEMO design development. FNSF-AT, which takes advantage of advanced tokamak (AT) physics, should have neutron wall loading of 1-2 MW/m2, continuous operation for periods of up to 2 weeks, a duty factor goal of 0.3 per year, and an accumulated fluence of 3-6 MW-yr/m2 (~30-60 dpa) in 10 years to enable the qualification of structural, blanket, and functional materials, components, and corresponding ancillary equipment necessary for the design and licensing of a DEMO. Base blankets with a ferritic steel structure and selected tritium blanket materials will be tested and used for the demonstration of tritium sufficiency. Additional test ports at the outboard midplane will be reserved for test blankets with advanced designs or exotic materials and electricity production for integrated high-fluence testing in a DT fusion spectrum. FNSF-AT will be designed using conservative implementations of all elements of AT physics to produce 150-300 MW of fusion power with modest energy gain (Q < 7) in a modest-sized normal conducting coil device. It will demonstrate and help to select the DEMO plasma-facing, structural, tritium-breeding, and functional materials and ancillary equipment including diagnostics. It will also demonstrate the necessary tritium fuel cycle, design and cooling of the first wall chamber, and divertor components. It will contribute to the knowledge on material qualification, licensing, operational safety, and remote maintenance necessary for DEMO design.

Poloidal asymmetry of parallel rotation measured in ASDEX Upgrade

The parallel flows in the H-mode edge of ASDEX Upgrade are investigated. Beam-based charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy (CXRS) provides the toroidal and poloidal impurity flow velocities at the outboard midplane, while a deuterium-puff based CXRS measurement provides the toroidal impurity flow velocities at the inboard midplane. In order to more easily compare these measurements to fundamental boundary conditions, a basic overview of flows on a flux surface is presented. The boundary conditions are given by the continuity equation and mean that the flow velocities on a flux surface must have a specific structure in order to provide zero divergence. At first, poloidal impurity density asymmetries and radial transport are neglected. Inside of the pedestal-top of the electron density profile the measurements agree with the postulated flow structure, while they do not agree at the pedestal itself. Here, an extension of the theoretical scheme, which allows for a poloidal impurity density asymmetry, suggests that the measured flow velocities could be explained by an excess impurity density at the inboard midplane. In detail, the inboard impurity density is postulated to be at the separatrix up to a factor of 6.5 higher than impurity density at the outboard midplane. Near the pedestal-top of the electron density, this asymmetry disappears. Radial transport is considered as an explanation for that asymmetry. A conclusive disentanglement of the driving mechanisms requires further investigation.

Electrostatic transport in L-mode scrape-off layer plasmas in the Tore Supra tokamak. I. Particle balance

Particle balance is investigated using a Mach probe at the top of the scrape-off layer of circular ohmically heated L-mode plasmas in the Tore Supra tokamak [G. Giruzzi etal., Nucl. Fusion 49, 104010 (2009)]. Contributions from both poloidal EXB flows and ionization sources are found to be small. As a result the local parallel flow is a response of the radial flux distribution between the two strike points of open field lines, and the density profile is determined by the field-line-integrated radial flux. By scanning the poloidal position of the strike point on a secondary limiter situated at the outboard midplane, an indirect poloidal mapping of the radial flux distribution is obtained. The radial flux is centered at the outboard midplane and is relatively well described by a Gaussian distribution of half poloidal width of about 50° at the last closed flux surface, decaying to about 30° in the far scrape-off layer. The turbulent radial flux measured locally with a rake probe shows a reasonable agreement with the poloidal mapping obtained by the Mach probe. It is shown than the radial convective velocity decays along radius at the plasma top but should increase with radius at the outboard midplane.

Electrostatic transport in L-mode scrape-off layer plasmas of Tore Supra tokamak. II. Transport by fluctuations

The turbulent transport of particles is investigated using rake probes at the top of the scrape-off layer (SOL) of circular ohmically heated L-mode plasmas in the Tore Supra tokamak [G. Giruzzi et al., Nucl. Fusion 49, 104010 (2009)]. Both radial and poloidal non-linear fluxes are estimated by means of two reciprocating arrays separated toroidally by 120°. The time average of the radial (poloidal) flux is positive (negative) through the whole SOL profile. The respective effective transport velocity are about 〈vr〉t≈30m s−1 and 〈vθ〉t≈−60m s−1 close to the last closed flux surface. Both components present a standard deviation about 10 times higher than their respective mean amplitude, and time-distributions highly skewed toward values of the same sign as their mean values. The existence of a nonlinear poloidal flux is associated with the local tilt of filament eddies due to electric and magnetic shear. At the last closed flux surface, where plasma filaments experience their early life, the orientation of the velocity field is consistent with structure dynamics which originate from the outboard midplane and spread along field lines toward the rest of the poloidal section. The localized tilt of the eddy structures corresponds to the effect of the magnetic shear. Further into the SOL, the orientation of the velocity field evolves along radius in agreement with a simple model of propagating filaments progressively tilted by an electric shear. The combined effects of electric and magnetic shear on the eddy tilting have potentially a crucial impact on the existence of a Reynolds stress 〈vrvθ〉t component, which is strongly poloidally asymmetric at the edge of tokamak plasmas.

Tokamak startup using outboard current injection on the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

Localized current injection near the outboard midplane is used to form 0.1 MA plasma discharges with no induction supplied from a central solenoid in the ultra-low aspect ratio Pegasus Toroidal Experiment. The discharges are initiated by driving open-field-line currents that perturb the vacuum magnetic field such that the magnetic topology transitions to a tokamak-like configuration. The plasma is subsequently driven via helicity injection from the edge current sources and poloidal field induction. Intermittent n = 1 MHD activity is observed during periods of strong edge current drive and each event leads to a rapid inward expansion of the plasma volume and a drop in the plasma inductance. The plasmas are sufficiently turbulent such that the equilibrium approaches the lowest energy state described by Taylor relaxation theory. In agreement with that theory, the maximum Ip scales with (ITFIinj/w)1/2, where ITF is the toroidal field rod current, Iinj is the injected edge current and w is the radial width of the average poloidal magnetic flux in the driven open flux region.

Role of subdominant stable modes in plasma microturbulence

In gyrokinetic simulations, thousands of degrees of freedom are available to contribute to the fluctuation spectrum. For wavevectors with a single linear instability, the unstable eigenmode accounts for only one of these degrees of freedom. Little has been known about the role of the remaining fluctuations in the turbulent dynamics. In this paper, these fluctuations are characterized as modes in mode decompositions of gyrokinetic distribution functions from nonlinear simulations. This analysis reveals the excitation of a hierarchy of damped modes at the same perpendicular scales as the driving instabilities. Two effects of these subdominant modes are described: First, these damped modes define a potent energy sink, creating a situation where energy drive and energy dissipation peak at the same perpendicular scales. Second, damped modes with tearing parity (even parity about the outboard midplane for A|| fluctuations) are driven to significant amplitudes and facilitate the development of magnetic stochasticity in electromagnetic gyrokinetic simulations.

Steady-state and time-dependent modelling of parallel transport in the scrape-off layer

The one-dimensional fluid code SOLF1D has been used for modelling of plasma transport in the scrape-off layer (SOL) along magnetic field lines, both in steady state and under transient conditions that arise due to plasma turbulence. The presented work summarizes results of SOLF1D with attention given to transient parallel transport which reveals two distinct time scales due to the transport mechanisms of convection and diffusion. Time-dependent modelling combined with the effect of ballooning shows propagation of particles along the magnetic field line with Mach number up to M ≈ 1 and supersonic transport when plasma–neutral interactions are not present. Asymmetric heat and particle fluxes are analysed for a case with poloidally asymmetric radial outflow (ballooning) and for a radial outflow with parallel momentum (rotation). In addition, parallel damping of the density and electron temperature calculated in SOLF1D is compared with the approximative model used in the turbulence code ESEL both for steady-state and turbulent SOL. Dynamics of the parallel transport are investigated for a simple transient event simulating the propagation of particles and energy to the targets from a blob passing across the flux tube at the outboard midplane and for more complex time-dependent data provided by ESEL.

Comparison of scrape-off layer turbulence simulations with experiments using a synthetic gas puff imaging diagnostic

A synthetic gas puff imaging (GPI) diagnostic has been added to the scrape-off layer turbulence (SOLT) simulation code, enabling comparisons with GPI data from the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) [M. Ono et al., Nucl. Fusion 40, 557 (2000)]. The edge and scrape-off layer are modeled in the radial and poloidal (bidirectional) dimensions of the outboard midplane region of NSTX. A low-confinement mode discharge is simulated by choosing reference parameters, including radial density and temperature profiles, to be consistent with those of the shot (no. 112825). NSTX and simulation GPI data are submitted to identical analyses. It is demonstrated that the level of turbulent fluctuations in the simulation may be adjusted to give synthetic GPI radial intensity profiles similar to those of the experiment; for a “best-case” simulation, SOLT and NSTX probability distribution functions of blob radial locations, widths, and GPI image velocities are compared. For the simulation, synthetic GPI image velocity and fluid convection (E×B) velocity are compared and contrasted.