Engineering topics

Meneghini, O

Publications and source records attributed to Meneghini, O.

9 records

DOE OSTI2012

Lower hybrid current drive at high density in the multi-pass regime

Assessing the performance of lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) at high density is critical for developing non-inductive current drive systems on future steady-state experiments. Excellent LHCD efficiency has been observed during fully non-inductive operation ({eta}=2.0-2.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 19} AW{sup -1}m{sup -2} at n{sub e}=0.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 20} m{sup -3}) on Alcator C-Mod [I. H. Hutchinson et al., Phys. Plasmas 1, 1511 (1994)] under conditions (n{sub e}, magnetic field and topology, and LHCD frequency) relevant to ITER [S. Shiraiwa et al., Nucl. Fusion 51, 103024 (2011)]. To extend these results to advanced tokamak regimes with higher bootstrap current fractions on C-Mod, it is necessary to increase n{sub e} to 1.0-1.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 20} m{sup -3}. However, the number of current-carrying, non-thermal electrons generated by LHCD drops sharply in diverted configurations at densities that are well below the density limit previously observed on limited tokamaks. In these cases, changes in scrape off layer (SOL) ionization and density profiles are observed during LHCD, indicating that significant power is transferred from the LH waves to the SOL. Fokker-Planck simulations of these discharges utilizing ray tracing and full wave propagation codes indicate that LH waves in the high density, multi-pass absorption regime linger in the plasma edge, and SOL region, where absorption near or outside the LCFS results in the loss of current drive efficiency. Modeling predicts that non-thermal emission increases with stronger single-pass absorption. Experimental data show that increasing T{sub e} in high density LH discharges results in higher non-thermal electron emission, as predicted by the models.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2011

Experimental Investigation of RF Sheath Rectification in ICRF and LH Heated Plasmas on Alcator C-Mod

Radio frequency (RF) rectification of the plasma sheath is being actively studied on C-Mod as a likely mechanism that leads to prohibitively high molybdenum levels in the plasma core of ion cyclotron RF (ICRF) heated discharges. We installed emissive, ion sensitive, Langmuir, and 3-D B-dot probes to quantify the plasma potentials ({Phi}{sub P}) in ICRF and lower hybrid (LH) heated discharges. Two probe sets were mounted on fixed limiter surfaces and one set of probes was mounted on a reciprocating (along the major radius) probe. Initial results showed that RF rectification is strongly dependent on the local plasma density and not on the local RF fields. The RF sheaths had a threshold-like appearance at the local density of {approx}10{sup 16} m-{sup 3}. Radial probe scans revealed that the RF sheaths peaked in the vicinity of the ICRF limiter surface, agreeing with a recent theory. The highest {Phi}{sub P}'s were observed on magnetic field lines directly mapped to the active ICRF antenna. Measurements in LH heated plasmas showed a strong {Phi}{sub P} dependence on the parallel index of refraction n{sub ||} of the launched LH waves: {Phi}{sub P} is greater at lower n{sub ||}. Little dependence was observed on the local plasma density.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2011

Lower Hybrid Wave Induced SOL Emissivity Variation at High Density on the Alcator C-Mod Tokamak

Lower Hybrid Current Drive (LHCD) in the Alcator C-Mod tokamak provides current profile control for the generation of Advanced Tokamak (AT) plasmas. Non-thermal electron bremsstrahlung emission decreases dramatically at n-bar{sub e}>1{center_dot}10{sup 20}[m{sup -3}] for diverted discharges, indicating low current drive efficiency. It is suggested that Scrape-Off-Layer (SOL) collisional absorption of LH waves is the cause for the absence of non-thermal electrons at high density. VUV and visible spectroscopy in the SOL provide direct information on collision excitation processes. Deuterium Balmer-, Lyman- and He-I transition emission measurements were used for initial characterization of SOL electron-neutral collisional absorption. Data from Helium and Deuterium LHCD discharges were characterized by an overall increase in the emissivity as well as an outward radial shift in the emissivity profile with increasing plasma density and applied LHCD power. High-temperature, high-field (T{sub e} = 5keV,B{sub t} = 8T) helium discharges at high density display increased non-thermal signatures as well as reduced SOL emissivity. Variations in emissivity due to LHCD were seen in SOL regions not magnetically connected to the LH Launcher, indicating global SOL effects due to LHCD.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2011

Lower hybrid current drive in a high density diverted tokamak

Experimental observations of LHCD at high density (n-bar{sub e}>10{sup 20}m{approx}{sup 3}) on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak are presented in this paper. Bremsstrahlung emission from relativistic fast electrons in the core plasma drops sharply in single null discharges well below the density limit previously observed on limited tokamaks ({omega}/{omega}{sub LH}{approx}2). Modeling and experimental evidence suggest that the absence of LH driven fast electrons at high density may be due to collisional absorption in the scrape off layer. Experiments show that the expected current drive density dependence is recovered for inner wall limited discharges across the range of densities scanned (0.5x10{sup 20} m{sup -3}<n-bar{sub e}<1.5x10{sup 20} m{sup -3}). Increasing T{sub e} in the periphery of the plasma (0.8<r/a<1.0) also results in a modest increase in non-thermal electron emission at high n-bar{sub e}. Ray tracing/Fokker-Planck simulations of these discharges predict the observed sensitivity to plasma position when the effects of collisional absorption in the SOL are included in the model.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2011

Progress in LHCD modeling and experiments towards the AT regime on Alcator C-Mod

Electron internal transport barrier (ITB) formation is observed during fully non-inductive LHCD discharges on Alcator C-Mod. The formation is characterized by an abrupt increase of the central electron temperature after a few current penetration time has passed following LHCD turn-on. The ITB phase is often terminated by m = 2 mode activity. Kinetic equilibrium reconstruction and TRANSP/LSC analysis show shear reversal in the q profile during the ITB phase. TRANSP/LSC predictive analysis suggests that f{sub Bs}{approx}60% is possible if a similar temperature gradient is maintained at r/a{approx}0.5 with H-factor of 1.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2011

Observation of Co and Counter Rotation Produced by Lower Hybrid Waves in Alcator C-Mod

Lower hybrid waves launched uni-directionally into tokamak plasmas impart momentum to the electrons. This momentum can be transferred to the ions, leading to substantial counter current rotation. Observations of LH-induced counter rotation have been previously reported [1], and the initial rate of increase has been found to be consistent with the calculated rate of wave momentum injection [2]. However, in recent experiments in Alcator C-Mod it has been found that application of LH waves to relatively low current (I{sub p}{approx}0.4-0.6 MA) plasmas can result in a co-current change of rotation, which implies a different mechanism than that described above. This appears to be linked to the so-called intrinsic rotation commonly observed in Alcator C-Mod and other tokamaks [3]. In addition to the change in direction at low current, some dependence on the magnetic configuration (USL vs. LSN) has been observed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2011

Full wave effects on the lower hybrid wave spectrum and driven current profile in tokamak plasmas

A numerical modeling of current profile modification by lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) using a fullwave/Fokker-Planck simulation code is presented. A MHD stable LHCD discharge on Alcator C-Mod was analyzed, and the current profile from full wave simulations was found to show better agreement with the experiment than a ray-tracing code. Comparison of full wave and ray-tracing simulation shows that, although ray-tracing can reproduce the stochastic wave spectrum broadening, the full wave calculation predicts even wider spectrum broadening, and the wave spectrum fills all of the kinematically allowed domain. This is the first demonstration of LHCD current profile modeling using a full wave simulation code in a multi-pass absorption regime, showing the clear impact of full wave effects on the LHCD driven current profile.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2011

Investigation of lower hybrid physics through power modulation experiments on Alcator C-Mod

Lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) is an attractive tool for off-axis current profile control in magnetically confined tokamak plasmas and burning plasmas (ITER), because of its high current drive efficiency. The LHCD system on Alcator C-Mod operates at 4.6 GHz, with {approx} 1 MW of coupled power, and can produce a wide range of launched parallel refractive index (n) spectra. A 32 chord, perpendicularly viewing hard x-ray camera has been used to measure the spatial and energy distribution of fast electrons generated by lower hybrid (LH) waves. Square-wave modulation of LH power on a time scale much faster than the current relaxation time does not significantly alter the poloidal magnetic field inside the plasma and thus allows for realistic modeling and consistent plasma conditions for different n spectra. Inverted hard x-ray profiles show clear changes in LH-driven fast electron location with differing n. Boxcar binning of hard x-rays during LH power modulation allows for {approx} 1 ms time resolution which is sufficient to resolve the build-up, steady-state, and slowing-down phases of fast electrons. Ray-tracing/Fokker-Planck modeling in combination with a synthetic hard x-ray diagnostic shows quantitative agreement with the x-ray data for high n cases. The time histories of hollow x-ray profiles have been used to measure off-axis fast electron transport in the outer half of the plasma, which is found to be small on a slowing down time scale.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2011

Progress Toward Attractive Stellarators

The quasi-axisymmetric stellarator (QAS) concept offers a promising path to a more compact stellarator reactor, closer in linear dimensions to tokamak reactors than previous stellarator designs. Concept improvements are needed, however, to make it more maintainable and more compatible with high plant availability. Using the ARIES-CS design as a starting point, compact stellarator designs with improved maintenance characteristics have been developed. While the ARIES-CS features a through-the-port maintenance scheme, we have investigated configuration changes to enable a sector-maintenance approach, as envisioned for example in ARIES AT. Three approaches are reported. The first is to make tradeoffs within the QAS design space, giving greater emphasis to maintainability criteria. The second approach is to improve the optimization tools to more accurately and efficiently target the physics properties of importance. The third is to employ a hybrid coil topology, so that the plasma shaping functions of the main coils are shared more optimally, either with passive conductors made of high-temperature superconductor or with local compensation coils, allowing the main coils to become simpler. Optimization tools are being improved to test these approaches.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗