Bili Ling

Imaging x-ray crystal spectrometer on EAST

A high-resolution imaging x-ray crystal spectrometer is described for implementation on the EAST tokamak to provide spatially and temporally resolved data on the ion temperature, electron temperature and poloidal plasma rotation. These data are derived from observations of the satellite spectra of helium-like argon, Ar XVII, which is the dominant charge state for electron temperatures in the range from 0.4 to 3.0 keV and which is accessible to EAST. Employing a novel design, which is based on the imaging properties of spherically bent crystals, the spectrometers will provide spectrally and spatially resolved images of the plasma for all experimental conditions, which include ohmically heated discharges as well as plasmas with rf and neutral-beam heating. The experimental setup and initial experimental results are presented.

Experimental investigations of LHW?plasma coupling and current drive related to achieving H-mode plasmas in EAST

Aimed at high-confinement (H-mode) plasmas in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), the effect of local gas puffing from electron and ion sides of a lower hybrid wave (LHW) antenna on LHW?plasma coupling and high-density experiments with lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) are investigated in EAST. Experimental results show that gas puffing from the electron side is more favourable to improve coupling compared with gas puffing from the ion side. Investigations indicate that LHW?plasma coupling without gas puffing is affected by the density near the LHW grill (grill density), hence leading to multi-transition of low?high?low (L?H?L) confinement, with a correspondingly periodic characteristic behaviour in the plasma radiation. High-density experiments with LHCD suggest that strong lithiation gives a significant improvement on current drive efficiency in the higher density region than 2???1019?m?3. Studies indicate that the sharp decrease in current drive efficiency is mainly correlated with parametric decay instability.Using lithium coating and gas puffing from the electron side of the LHW antenna, an H-mode plasma is obtained by LHCD in a wide range of parameters, whether LHW is deposited inside the half-minor radius or not, implying that a central and large driven current is not a necessary condition for the H-mode plasma. H-mode is investigated with CRONOS.

Plasma density behavior with new graphite limiters in the Hefei Tokamak-7

A new set of actively cooled toroidal double-ring graphite limiters has been developed in the Hefei Tokamak-7 (HT-7) [X. Gao et al., Phys. Plasmas 7, 2933 (2000)] for long pulse operation. The extension of operational region and density behavior with graphite (C) limiters have been studied in this paper. Extended high-density region at the high plasma current low-qa was obtained. The density profile with the C limiter was studied to compare with the previous molybdenum (Mo) limiter. The critical density of multifaceted asymmetric radiation from the edge (MARFE) onset is observed in the region of Zeff1∕2fGW=0.9∼1.2, where fGW=n¯e∕nGW. (Here n¯e is the maximum line average electron density and nGW is the Greenwald density.) Under the same injected power, the critical density of MARFE onset with the new C limiter is much higher than the previous Mo limiter.

Lower hybrid current drive experiments and improved performance on the HT-7 superconducting tokamak

The feedback control system to control plasma current and position on the HT-7 superconducting tokamak was greatly improved in early 1998. Lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) experiments with the improved control system were performed to sustain long pulse discharges and to improve plasma confinement. Partial non-inductive current drive and full non-inductive current drive for several seconds by means of LHCD were demonstrated. It was observed that plasma confinement could be considerably improved by LHCD. Experimental evidence suggests that this improvement during the LHCD phase could be due to the modification of the current profile in the outer region of the plasma. MHD modes (especially m = 2) seem unstable with such a current profile. The EFIT code was modified for the reconstruction of the magnetic surfaces in HT-7 and a test computation was performed.

Operation with 1 MA Plasma Current in EAST

Discharge with a plasma current of 1 MA at a line-averaged density of 1.8 × 1019 m-3 was realized in EAST, a fully superconducting tokamak. The key issues to achieve the discharge with 1 MA plasma current include both early shaping and LHCD assistance during start-up phase to extend the voltage margin of poloidal field (PF) coils for easier plasma control, an optimization of the control methodology for PF coils to avoid over-current fault and a very good wall condition. A better wall condition was achieved mainly by extensive Lithium coating. Both stationary H-mode and diverted plasma discharge of 100 s were also obtained.

Turbulence and transport studies in the edge plasma of the HT-7 tokamak

The edge fluctuations and transport in the HT-7 tokamak are investigated using a Langmuir probe array in ohmic and IBW heated discharges. The normalized fluctuation levels are in the range 15-60% and 5-20% for electron density and temperature, respectively, and have the non-Boltzmann relation ef/Te > e/ne > e/Te in the SOL of the ohmically heated plasmas. The fluctuation spectra show typical broadband features as observed in other tokamaks. In IBW heated plasmas, the particle confinement is greatly improved and the poloidal velocity shear in the SOL is strongly modified in a manner that is equivalent to an additional poloidal velocity in the electron diamagnetic direction produced by the IBW. A decorrelation in the fluctuations and the suppression of turbulent transport by the effect of the poloidal shear are found to be common mechanisms that are observed from the radial profiles of the fluctuating quantities in all these discharges. Electrostatically driven turbulent transport can account for a significant part of global particle losses in both ohmic and IBW heated plasmas.

Enhancement of runaway production in lower hybrid current driven plasma with IBW heating in the HT-7 tokamak

Runaway production is observed to be enhanced in lower hybrid current driven (LHCD) plasmas during ion Bernstein wave (IBW) heating as compared with the LHCD only plasma in the HT-7 tokamak. The distortion of the electron distribution function is the effect of the quasilinear diffusions of two types of waves. IBWs modified the distribution function of the electrons by helping to fill the so-called lower hybrid wave (LHW) spectral gap for low parallel velocity. Thus the LHW was significantly coupled to the fast electrons produced by the IBW, and partial LHW power was absorbed on the first pass without significant n?-upshift. The synergy interaction of two types of waves results in high electron parallel energy and enhanced quasilinear diffusion, which is favorable for the production of runaway electrons. This is directly related to the improvement of plasma performance in the operation mode of simultaneous injection of LHW and IBW power.

Extension of operational limits on EAST

The first plasma has been achieved successfully in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). Boronization by the glow discharge (GDC) method was studied in experiments. The plasma performance was obviously improved by GDC boronization. Extension of the operational region and improvement in the plasma performance were obtained. Sawtooth discharges were observed by means of soft x-ray signals, electron cyclotron emission signals and line averaged electron density after boronization. Lower qa and more stable operation were also achieved following GDC boronization. The plasma current ramp-up rate was also improved as a result of decreased impurity content and low averaged loop voltage due to boronization. PLEASE NOTE: THERE HAS BEEN A RETRACTION PUBLISHED FOR THIS ARTICLE.

Overview of the latest HT-7 experiments

An overview of the progress with experiments in the HT-7 during 2003?4 is presented. The H-mode, negative reversed shear and high li operational scenarios were investigated for quasi-steady-state high performance plasma discharges. Ion Bernstein wave (IBW) heating at 30?MHz produced a typical edge H-mode plasma. Transport in both electron and ion channels were reduced in the outer half portion of the plasma. H-mode was produced in off-axis lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) plasmas by launching a lower hybrid wave (LHW) with a greater parallel refractive index, , of 3.1. The improved confinement status in such plasma discharges could be sustained for more than 400?E. A high inductance, li, plasma was created using a fast plasma current ramp down and sustained by central LHCD and IBW heating for a duration of >1?s with a strongly peaked electron temperature profile. The highest central electron temperature obtained was 4.5?keV. An increase in the energy confinement time with li was observed. It was found that the IBW heating could improve the plasma confinement at the same li if part of the LHW power was replaced by IBW. Stationary internal transport barriers with normalized performance H89?N > 1?3 were obtained with combined injection of LHW and IBW for a duration of several hundred energy confinement times in the weak negative magnetic shear (RS). Increasing the total injection power to 1?MW did not degrade the plasma confinement significantly in the RS operational scenario. Long pulse discharges were performed, using three feedback controls for the plasma current and position, the central line-averaged electron density and the magnetic swing flux of the transformer. The longest plasma discharge, with a duration of 240?s, Te(0) ~ 1?keV and the central electron density > 0.8 ? 1019?m?3 was achieved in 2004. The wall saturation and refreshment (wall pumping) were first observed in such long pulse discharges. A fully LHW current driven plasma without using ohmic current in the central solenoid coils was sustained for 80?s. The main limitation for the pulse length was due to the recycling, which caused an uncontrollable rise in the electron density.

Recent progress on steady-state high-performance plasma research in the Hefei Tokamak-7

High performance discharges under steady-state condition in the Hefei Tokamak-7 (HT-7) have been investigated. Lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) was used both for sustaining plasma current and current density profile control. The experiments demonstrated that features of ion Bernstein wave heating in controlling the electron pressure profile can be integrated into LHCD plasmas and the assist localization of LHCD. This local synergy effect was used to tailor the current density profile in a negative shear configuration and to control the internal transport barrier (ITB) under steady-state conditions. The high performance with a stationary ITB at the footprint of the minimum q and β N H 89 >2 was sustained for >220 τ E or >20 τ CR . The fraction of noninductive plasma current was larger than 80% in such discharges with considerable bootstrap current. The duration at H 89 >1.2 and β N ∼1 has been extended to nearly 8 s, longer than 400 τ E . More than 90% of the plasma current was sustained by LHCD and boots...