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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 649 records · Page 36
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

3-D effects on viscosity and generation of toroidal and poloidal flows in LHD

Three-dimensional effects on plasma flows have been experimentally studied in the large helical device with 3D configurations. Spontaneous toroidal flow without net driving force using the combination of perpendicular neutral beam injection (NBI) heating and balanced tangential NBI heating has been investigated with two magnetic configurations. Co- and counter-directed spontaneous flows have been observed depending on the collisionality. Toroidal flow shear changes the sign at 0.4<r{sub eff}<0.6 between co- and counter-flowing plasmas, where r{sub eff} is a averaged minor radius. The detailed flow structures have been also examined at the edge region with stochastic magnetic field. A poloidal flow driven by the positive radial electric field has been observed at the open field region just outside of the plasma boundary. At the stochastic region, a shear of poloidal flow has been observed, while no shear of toroidal flow has been observed. The toroidal flow shear changes only in the nested magnetic flux surface region. A difference of density fluctuation property has been observed between co- and counter-flowing plasmas, where toroidal flow shears are formed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Ideal ballooning modes in the tokamak scrape-off layer

A drift-reduced Braginskii fluid model is used to carry out a linear and non-linear study of ideal ballooning modes in the tokamak scrape-off layer. First, it is shown that the scrape-off layer finite connection length and boundary conditions modify the ideal stability limit with respect to the closed flux-surface result. Then, in a two-fluid description, it is found that magnetic induction effects can destabilize long wavelength resistive ballooning modes below marginal ideal stability. Non-linear simulations confirm a gradual transition from small scale quasi-electrostatic interchange turbulence to longer wavelength modes as the plasma beta is increased. The transition to global ideal ballooning modes occurs, roughly, at the linearly obtained stability threshold. The transport levels and the pressure gradient as a function of plasma beta obtained in non-linear simulations can be predicted using the non-linear flattening of the pressure profile from the linear modes as a turbulent saturation mechanism.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Characterization of heat loads from mitigated and unmitigated vertical displacement events in DIII-D

Experiments have been conducted on the DIII-D tokamak to study the distribution and repeatability of heat loads and vessel currents resulting from vertical displacement events (VDEs). For unmitigated VDEs, the radiated power fraction appears to be of order 50%, with the remaining power dominantly conducted to the vessel walls. Shot-to-shot scatter in heat loads measured at one toroidal location is not large (<±50%), suggesting that toroidal asymmetries in conducted heat loads are not large. Conducted heat loads are clearly observed during the current quench (CQ) of both mitigated and unmitigated disruptions. Significant poloidal asymmetries in heat loads and radiated power are often observed in the experiments but are not yet understood. Energy dissipated resistively in the conducting walls during the CQ appears to be small (<5%). The mitigating effect of neon massive gas injection (MGI) as a function of MGI trigger delay has also been studied. Improved mitigation is observed as the MGI trigger delay is decreased. For sufficiently early MGI mitigation, close to 100% radiated energy and a reduction of roughly a factor 2 in vessel forces is achieved.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Kinetic particle simulation of discharge and wall erosion of a Hall thruster

The primary lifetime limiting factor of Hall thrusters is the wall erosion caused by the ion induced sputtering, which is predominated by dielectric wall sheath and pre-sheath. However, so far only fluid or hybrid simulation models were applied to wall erosion and lifetime studies in which this non-quasi-neutral and non-equilibrium area cannot be treated directly. Thus, in this study, a 2D fully kinetic particle-in-cell model was presented for Hall thruster discharge and lifetime simulation. Because the fully kinetic lifetime simulation was yet to be achieved so far due to the high computational cost, the semi-implicit field solver and the technique of mass ratio manipulation was employed to accelerate the computation. However, other artificial manipulations like permittivity or geometry scaling were not used in order to avoid unrecoverable change of physics. Additionally, a new physics recovering model for the mass ratio was presented for better preservation of electron mobility at the weakly magnetically confined plasma region. The validity of the presented model was examined by various parametric studies, and the thrust performance and wall erosion rate of a laboratory model magnetic layer type Hall thruster was modeled for different operation conditions. The simulation results successfully reproduced the measurement results with typically less than 10% discrepancy without tuning any numerical parameters. It is also shown that the computational cost was reduced to the level that the Hall thruster fully kinetic lifetime simulation is feasible.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Destabilization of low-n peeling modes by trapped energetic particles

The kinetic effect of trapped energetic particles (EPs), arising from perpendicular neutral beam injection, on the stable low-n peeling modes in tokamak plasmas is investigated, through numerical solution of the mode's dispersion relation derived from an energy principle. A resistive-wall peeling mode with m/n=6/1, with m and n being the poloidal and toroidal mode numbers, respectively, is destabilized by trapped EPs as the EPs' pressure exceeds a critical value β{sub c}{sup *}, which is sensitive to the pitch angle of trapped EPs. The dependence of β{sub c}{sup *} on the particle pitch angle is eventually determined by the bounce average of the mode eigenfunction. Peeling modes with higher m and n numbers can also be destabilized by trapped EPs. Depending on the wall distance, either a resistive-wall peeling mode or an ideal-kink peeling mode can be destabilized by EPs.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Effect of two-temperature electrons distribution on an electrostatic plasma sheath

A magnetized collisionless plasma sheath containing two-temperature electrons is studied using a one-dimensional model in which the low-temperature electrons are described by Maxwellian distribution (MD) and high-temperature electrons are described by truncated Maxwellian distribution (TMD). Based on the ion wave approach, a modified sheath criterion including effect of TMD caused by high-temperature electrons energy above the sheath potential energy is established theoretically. The model is also used to investigate numerically the sheath structure and energy flux to the wall for plasmas parameters of an open divertor tokamak-like. Our results show that the profiles of the sheath potential, two-temperature electrons and ions densities, high-temperature electrons and ions velocities as well as the energy flux to the wall depend on the high-temperature electrons concentration, temperature, and velocity distribution function associated with sheath potential. In addition, the results obtained in the high-temperature electrons with TMD as well as with MD sheaths are compared for the different sheath potential.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Modification of plasma flows with gas puff in the scrape-off layer of ADITYA tokamak

The parallel Mach numbers are measured at three locations in the scrape-off layer (SOL) plasma of ADITYA tokamak by using Mach probes. The flow pattern is constructed from these measurements and the modification of flow pattern is observed by introducing a small puff of working gas. In the normal discharge, there is an indication of shell structure in the SOL plasma flows, which is removed during the gas puff. The plasma parameters, particle flux and Reynolds stress are also measured in the normal discharge and in the discharge with gas puff. It is observed that Reynolds stress and Mach number are coupled in the near SOL region and decoupled in the far SOL region. The coupling in the near SOL region gets washed away during the gas puff.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Tungsten injector for scrape-off layer impurity transport experiments in the Tore Supra tokamak

This paper describes the design and operation of a new tungsten (W) injection system for impurity transport experiments in the Tore Supra tokamak. The system is mounted on a reciprocating manipulator and injects a controlled amount of gaseous tungsten hexacarbonyl, W(CO){sub 6} at arbitrary depth in the scrape-off layer, using an inertially activated valve. Injected W(CO){sub 6} is dissociated in the plasma, forming a radially localized plume of W atoms. The injector does not require an external gas feed and can perform a large number of injections from an on-board reservoir of W(CO){sub 6}. Some examples of W injections in Tore Supra are included, demonstrating successful operation and discussing some technical issues of the injector prototype.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Determination of structure tilting in magnetized plasmas—Time delay estimation in two dimensions

Time delay estimation (TDE) is a well-known technique to investigate poloidal flows in fusion plasmas. The present work is an extension of the earlier works of Bencze and Zoletnik [Phys. Plasmas 12, 052323 (2005)] and Tal et al.[Phys. Plasmas 18, 122304 (2011)]. From the prospective of the comparison of theory and experiment, it seems to be important to estimate the statistical properties of the TDE based on solid mathematical groundings. This paper provides analytic derivation of the variance of the TDE using a two-dimensional model for coherent turbulent structures in the plasma edge and also gives an explicit method for determination of the tilt angle of structures. As a demonstration, this method is then applied to the results of a quasi-2D Beam Emission Spectroscopy measurement performed at the TEXTOR tokamak.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Experimental investigation of density behaviors in front of the lower hybrid launcher in experimental advanced superconducting tokamak

A triple Langmuir probe is mounted on the top of the Lower Hybrid (LH) antenna to measure the electron density near the LH grills in Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak. In this work, the LH power density ranges from 2.3 MWm{sup −2} to 10.3 MWm{sup −2} and the rate of puffing gas varies from 1.7 × 10{sup 20} el/s to 14 × 10{sup 20} el/s. The relation between the edge density (from 0.3 × n{sub e-cutoff} to 20 × n{sub e-cutoff}, where n{sub e-cutoff} is the cutoff density, n{sub e-cutoff} = 0.74 × 10{sup 17} m{sup −3} for 2.45 GHz lower hybrid current drive) near the LH grill and the LH power reflection coefficients is investigated. The factors, including the gap between the LH grills and the last closed magnetic flux surface, line-averaged density, LH power, edge safety factor, and gas puffing, are analyzed. The experiments show that injection of LH power is beneficial for increasing edge density. Gas puffing is beneficial for increasing grill density but excess gas puffing is unfavorable for coupling and current drive.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Passive runaway electron suppression in tokamak disruptions

Runaway electrons created in disruptions pose a serious problem for tokamaks with large current. It would be desirable to have a runaway electron suppression method which is passive, i.e., a method that does not rely on an uncertain disruption prediction system. One option is to let the large electric field inherent in the disruption drive helical currents in the wall. This would create ergodic regions in the plasma and increase the runaway losses. Whether these regions appear at a suitable time and place to affect the formation of the runaway beam depends on disruption parameters, such as electron temperature and density. We find that it is difficult to ergodize the central plasma before a beam of runaway current has formed. However, the ergodic outer region will make the Ohmic current profile contract, which can lead to instabilities that yield large runaway electron losses.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Comparison of edge turbulence imaging at two different poloidal locations in the scrape-off layer of Alcator C-Mod

This paper describes 2D imaging measurements of plasma turbulence made in the scrape-off layer of the Alcator C-Mod tokamak simultaneously at two different poloidal locations, one near the outer midplane and the other near the divertor X-point region. These images were made with radial and poloidal resolution using two gas puff imaging diagnostics not directly connected along a B field line. The turbulence correlation structure has a significantly different tilt angle with respect to the local flux surfaces for the midplane and X-regions, and a slightly different ellipticity and size. The time-averaged turbulence velocities can be different in the midplane and X-regions, even within the same flux surface in the same shot. The structures are partially consistent with a magnetic flux tube mapping model, and the velocities are compared with various models for turbulence flow.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Measurement of the edge plasma rotation on J-TEXT tokamak

A multi-channel high resolution spectrometer was developed for the measurement of the edge plasma rotation on J-TEXT tokamak. With the design of two opposite viewing directions, the poloidal and toroidal rotations can be measured simultaneously, and velocity accuracy is up to 1 km/s. The photon flux was enhanced by utilizing combined optical fiber. With this design, the time resolution reaches 3 ms. An assistant software “Spectra Assist” was developed for implementing the spectrometer control and data analysis automatically. A multi-channel monochromatic analyzer is designed to get the location of chosen ions simultaneously through the inversion analysis. Some preliminary experimental results about influence of plasma density, different magnetohydrodynamics behaviors, and applying of biased electrode are presented.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2013

Turbulent acceleration and heating in toroidal magnetized plasmas

It is shown that turbulence is responsible for a source of momentum, which cannot be recast as a divergence of a momentum flux. This process is similar to turbulent heating, with similar properties. The sum over all species vanishes up to polarization contributions. Hence, toroidal momentum is transferred from species to species, mediated by turbulence. As for momentum flux, symmetry breaking is needed. Flow shear is investigated as a source of symmetry breaking, leading to a source of momentum proportional to the shear rate. Turbulent acceleration is significant for ion species. It is found that it is proportional to the charge number Z, while turbulent heating scales as Z{sup 2}/A, where A is the mass number. It is maximum in the edge, where the E × B flow shear rate and turbulence intensity are maximum. When both are large enough, the turbulent torque may overcome the collisional friction between impurities and main ions, thus leading to different toroidal velocities.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Development of magnetohydrodynamic modes during sawteeth in tokamak plasmas

A dynamical analysis applied to a reduced resistive magnetohydrodynamics model is shown to explain the chronology of the nonlinear destabilization of modes observed in tokamak sawteeth. A special emphasis is put on the nonlinear self-consistent perturbation of the axisymmetric m = n = 0 mode that manifests through the q-profile evolution. For the very low fusion-relevant resistivity values, the q-profile is shown to remain almost unchanged on the early nonlinear timescale within the central tokamak region, which supports a partial reconnection scenario. Within the resistive region, indications for a local flattening or even a local reversed-shear of the q-profile are given. The impact of this ingredient in the occurrence of the sawtooth crash is discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Simulation of non-resonant internal kink mode with toroidal rotation in the National Spherical Torus Experiment

Plasmas in spherical and conventional tokamaks, with weakly reversed shear q profile and minimum q above but close to unity, are susceptible to an non-resonant (m,n) = (1,1) internal kink mode. This mode can saturate and persist and can induce a (2,1) seed island for Neoclassical Tearing Mode. [Breslau et al. Nucl. Fusion 51, 063027 (2011)]. The mode can also lead to large energetic particle transport and significant broadening of beam-driven current. Motivated by these important effects, we have carried out extensive nonlinear simulations of the mode with finite toroidal rotation using parameters and profiles of an NTSX plasma with a weakly reversed shear profile. The numerical results show that, at the experimental level, plasma rotation has little effect on either equilibrium or linear stability. However, rotation can significantly influence the nonlinear dynamics of the (1,1) mode and the induced (2,1) magnetic island. The simulation results show that a rotating helical equilibrium is formed and maintained in the nonlinear phase at finite plasma rotation. In contrast, for non-rotating cases, the nonlinear evolution exhibits dynamic oscillations between a quasi-2D state and a helical state. Furthermore, the effects of rotation are found to greatly suppress the (2,1) magnetic island even at a low level.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Geodesic acoustic modes in toroidally rotating tokamaks with an arbitrary β

Theoretical research on the geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) induced by the equilibrium toroidal rotation flow (ETRF) in the tokamak plasmas with an arbitrary β is performed by using the ideal magnetohydrodynamic model, where β is the ratio of the plasma pressure and magnetic field pressure. Two equations determining the poloidal displacement ξ{sub θ} and the divergence of the Lagrangian perturbation are obtained and suitable for arbitrary cross-section tokamaks with large-aspect-ratios. The dispersion relations are then derived for two different coupling patterns by assuming ξ{sub ±2}=0 and ξ{sub ±4}=0, respectively, where ξ{sub m}=(1/2π)∫ξ{sub θ}e{sup imθ}dθ with θ being the poloidal angle under the circular cross-section condition. In both patterns, the ETRF will increase the frequencies of the GAMs but β can decrease them. The GAM for ξ{sub ±2}=0 has a larger frequency than GAM for ξ{sub ±4}=0.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Parametric coupling of lower hybrid wave with gyrating ion beam driven ion cyclotron instability in a plasma

A lower hybrid wave, launched into a tokamak for supplementary heating in the presence of neutral beam turned gyrating ion beam, is seen to excite some prominent channels of parametric decay. The beam driven deuterium cyclotron mode is further destabilized by the lower hybrid pump through the nonlinear 4-wave coupling, involving higher and lower frequency lower hybrid sidebands, when ω{sub 0}/k{sub 0z}v{sub 0z}=(1−ω{sub LH}{sup 2}/ω{sub 0}{sup 2}) , where ω{sub LH} is the lower hybrid frequency, ω{sub 0} and k{sub 0z} are the frequency and parallel wave number of the pump wave, and v{sub 0z} is the velocity of ion beam parallel to the magnetic field. The growth rate increases with parallel wave number of the ion-cyclotron mode. The pump is also susceptible to parametric upconversion into an upper sideband shifted by the frequency of the negative energy deuterium cyclotron mode. For typical parameters, the growth rate of this channel is around one fiftieth of deuterium cyclotron frequency and falls off with the transverse wave number of the mode.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗