Chen Zhong-Yong

Runaway Electron Beam Instability in Slide-Away Discharges in the HT-7 Tokamak

Slide-away discharges are achieved by decreasing the plasma density or ramping down the plasma current in runaway discharges in the HT-7 tokamak. In the case of plasma current ramp down, the ratio of the electron plasma frequency to the electron cyclotron frequency is higher than in the stationary pulses when the discharge goes into a slide-away regime. The instability regime is characterized by relaxations in the electron cyclotron emission due to relativistic anomalous Doppler effect which transfers energy from parallel to perpendicular motion. The triggering of relativistic anomalous Doppler effect at higher density by ramping down of plasma current may provide a alternative runaway energy control scenario.

Ohmic Radio-Frequency Synergy Current Drive and Transformer Recharging Experiments in the HT-7 Tokamak

Lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) experiments for investigating the interaction between lower hybrid (LH) wave and residual dc electric field were performed in extensive plasma parameter ranges in the HT-7 superconducting tokamak. The experimental results are well fitted to the Karney–Fisch theory on the efficiency of LH waves energy converted to poloidal magnetic field energy. The fraction of absorbed LH power is about 0.75 for the HT-7 machine, and the upshift of the LH-wave parallel refraction index during LHCD experiments have been derived by the optimizing fitting parameters. The LH wave is also used for the transformer recharging when the plasma current is maintained unchanged. The highest efficiency about 7% has been achieved in HT-7 machine.

Hard X-Ray PHA System on the HT-7 Tokamak

A new hard X-ray pulse-height analysis (PHA) system has been established on HT-7 tokamak for long pulse steady-state operation. This PHA system consists of hard X-ray diagnostics and multi-channel analysers (MCA). The hard X-ray diagnostics consists of a vertical X-ray detector array (CdTe) and a horizontal X-ray detector array (NaI). The hard X-ray diagnostics can provide the profile of power deposition and the distribution function of fast electron during radio frequency (RF) current drive. The MCA system is the electronic part of the PHA system, which has been modularized and linked to PC through LAN. Each module of MCA can connect with 8 X-ray detectors. The embedded Ethernet adapter in the MCA module makes the data communication between PC and MCA very convenient. A computer can control several modules of MCA through certain software and a hub. The RAM in MCA can store 1024 or more spectra for each detector and therefore the PHA system can be applied in the long pulse discharge of several minutes.

Experimental characteristics of a lower hybrid wave multi-junction coupler in the HT-7 tokamak

A phase-controlled lower hybrid wave (LHW) multi-junction (MJ) coupler (3(rows)×4(columns)×4 (subwaveguides)) has been developed in the HT-7 tokamak. Simulations show that it is more effective for driving plasma current than an ordinary phase-controlled LHW antenna (3(rows)× 12(columns)) (traditional coupler). The plasma–wave coupling experiments show that the reflection coefficient (RC) is below 10%, implying that the MJ grill can launch the wave into the plasma effectively. The effect of power spectrum launched by the MJ coupler on RC indicates that an optimal condition is requisite for a better coupling in the lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) experiments. Studies indicate that the drive efficiency of the MJ antenna is higher than that of the traditional one, which is mainly ascribed to the discrepancy in impurity concentration, plasma temperature, and spectrum directivity. An improved confinement with an electron internal transport barrier is obtained by LHCD. The analysis shows that the modified negative (low) magnetic shear and the change of radial electric field profile due to LHCD are possible factors responsible for the eITB formation.

New Soft x-ray PHA Diagnostic in the HT-7 Tokamak

A soft x-ray Pulse Height Analysis (PHA) diagnostic with the recently introduced Silicon Drift Detector (SDD) and a new MCA system has been installed in HT-7 for the measurements of electron temperature. With the SDD detector, the x-ray emission can be detected in the energy range from 1 keV up to 20 keV. The extremely low anode capacity of SDD allows very high counting rates of x-ray above 200 kHz and short shaping times below 0.25 μs to be measurede. In routine operation a counting rate of 120 kHz has been normally obtained with an energy resolution of better than 180 eV at 5.9 keV. The assembly is equipped with six SDD detectors measuring the soft x-ray emission integrated along six chords of the upper half plasma cross section. The preliminary results from the new soft x-ray PHA diagnostic are also presented in this paper.

The Electron Temperature Estimation Using Soft X-Ray Imaging in HT-7 Tokamak

In order to estimate the electron temperature soft x-ray imaging diagnostics using a double filter technique has been developed in the HT-7 tokamak. The chosen thicknesses of the Be foil are 12.5 μm and 70 μm, respectively. In this article both the main design of the diagnostic configuration and the method to estimate the electron temperature are presented. The results agree with those estimated from the soft x-ray pulse height analyzer (PHA). The main causes of systematic error have also been investigated.

Fast electron dynamics in lower hybrid current drive experiment on HT-7 tokamak

The dynamic behaviour of fast electron in lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) experiments is a crucial issue in the sense of enhancing plasma performance. A new hard x-ray diagnostic system on HT-7 allows the investigation of the lower hybrid wave dynamics. The behaviour of fast electron is studied in several kinds of LHCD experiments, including long pulse discharges, high performance discharges and counter-LHCD experiments.

Investigation of Toroidal Acceleration and Potential Acceleration Forces in EAST and J-TEXT Plasmas

Fudi WANG1), Bo LYU1), Xiayun PAN1,2), Zhifeng CHENG3), Jun CHEN1,2), Guangming CAO1), Yuming WANG1), Xiang HAN1), Hao LI1), Bin WU1), Zhongyong CHEN3), Manfred BITTER4), Kenneth HILL4), John RICE5), Shigeru MORITA6), Yadong LI1), Ge ZHUANG3), Minyou YE2), Baonian WAN1), Yuejiang SHI7,2) and EAST Team 1)Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China 2)School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China 3)College of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China 4)Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, MS37-B332, Princeton, NJ 08543-0451, USA 5)Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA 6)National Institute for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu 509-5292, Japan 7)Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea (Received 25 November 2014 / Accepted 4 May 2015)

Electron Heating of LHCD Plasma in HT-7 Tokamak

Electron heating via lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) has been investigated in HT-7 superconducting tokamak. Experiments show that the central electron temperature Te0, the volume averaged electron temperature and the peaking factor of the electron temperature QTe = Te0/ increase with the lower hybrid wave (LHW) power. Simultaneously the electron heating efficiency and the electron temperature as the function of the central line-averaged electron density (ne) and the plasma current (Ip) have also been investigated. The experimental results are in a good agreement with those of the classical collision theory and the LHW power deposition theory.

Measurements of Boundary Plasma in Synergy Discharges of IBW and LHCD on the HT-7 Tokamak

By applying ion Bernstein wave (IBW) heating into the lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) plasma, improved confinements have been obtained in the HT-7 tokamak. The central electron temperature was doubled and the storage energy was increased significantly. The core electron density and temperature were broadened and their profiles near the edge were steepened. A transport barrier has been formed in the vicinity of the limiter radial location. An enhanced shear in poloidal phase velocity was found in the same region with reduction of the fluctuation levels and the coherences between fluctuations. The results suggest that the improved confinement in the IBW and LHCD plasma is at least partially due to the modification of shear in poloidal velocity and then the suppression of fluctuations and fluctuation induced fluxes via de-correlation effect.