D. Naujoks

First island divertor experiments on the W7-AS stellarator

1. Abstract In the past, under limiter conditions, it has been impossible to produce high-power, highdensity, quasi-stationary neutral beam injection (NBI) discharges in W7-AS. Such discharges tended to evince impurity accumulation, lack of density control and subsequent radiation collapse (Normal Confinement). Presently, W7-AS is operating with a modular, open island divertor similar to that foreseen for W7-X. The divertor enables access to a new NBI heated, high density (ne up to 4·10 20 m -3 ) operating regime (High Density H-mode). It is extant above a threshold density, and is characterized by flat density profiles, high energyand low impurity confinement times and edge-localized radiation. The HDH-mode shows strong similarity to ELM-free H-mode scenarios previously observed in W7-AS, but in contrast to these avoids impurity accumulation. These new features enable full density control and quasi steady-state operation over many confinement times (at present only technically limited by the availability of NBI) also under conditions of partial detachment from the divertor targets. In HDH-mode, even in attached discharges, the divertor target load is considerable reduced. This is mainly due to favourable upstream conditions (higher nes), edge localized radiation and increased power deposition width. The benefits of the HDH-mode do not restrict only to hydrogen plasmas. They also occur ‐ albeit in a modified manner ‐ in deuterium plasmas. Undoubtedly, there are clear isotope effects between hydrogen and deuterium discharges. The results obtained in W7-AS render good prospects for W7-X and support the island divertor concept as a serious candidate for devices with magnetic islands at the edge. 2. Results Fig. 1 summarizes the behaviour of the energy confinement time E =W/Pabs, the normalized radiated power Prad/Pabs, and separatrix density nes obtained from quasi-stationary discharges with Pabs=1.4 MW as a function of the line-averaged density ne. E-values in NC follow the scaling E ISS95 =0.26· a 0.4 ·Bt 0.83 ·a 2.21 ·R 0.65 ·ne 0.51 ·Pabs -0.59 , [2], whereas for the HDH-mode one finds E ~ 2· E ISS95 . P rad /P abs grows smoothly with ne until partial plasma detachment, where a jump in the normalized radiated power occurs. The separatrix density n es increases sharply at the NC HDH-mode transition point, then continues to climb with ne and saturates

Material transport by erosion and redeposition on surface probes in the scrape-off layer of JET

The material transport by erosion and redeposition at the plasma facing wall areas in high temperature plasma experiments has been studied using limiter-like carbon probes with well defined surface deposits and depth markers. The probes have been exposed in the scrape-off layer (SOL) of the Joint European Torus (JET) during single discharges. For the evaluation of these experiments a computer program, ERO, has been developed. The calculated erosion-deposition rates for carbon as a function of the distance to the last closed flux surface (LCFS) agree well with the experimental results. For a single 4He JET discharge, erosion yields of 530 A for the silicon deposit and 80 A for vanadium have been measured near the LCFS. A large amount of redeposited silicon (about 17% of the sputtered atoms) has been found on the probe surface in co-deposition with carbon on an area not favoured by the proposed model. This observation can be explained by an additional force on the impurity ions (e.g. the existence of a local electric field), which may cause the deposition

Molecular impurities in ASDEX UPGRADE plasma discharges

Abstract The introduction presents a historical review of the role of molecules in tokamak research starting from the first installations at the Kurchatov Institute. Molecular impurities were mostly considered as a transient conditioning problem, but with the use of carbon for wall and limiter elements, it was perpetuated. New results about the elementary processes involved in hydrogenic carbon erosion are reported and the existing data base is briefly discussed. Results from mass spectrometry are presented as well as data from optical spectroscopy including determination of CD 4 and CD fluxes from molecular band intensities. A typical yield of about 5% for hydrogenic chemical erosion is obtained. In combination, all these results show the impact of hydrogenic carbon erosion. They strongly suggest that with boronized walls it remains as the dominating process for the carbon fluxes in the SOL and even dominates the carbon concentration in the central plasma in spite of a high SOL screening action for hydrocarbons.

Transition From Construction to Operation Phase of the Wendelstein 7-X Stellarator

Assembly of the superconducting stellarator Wendelstein 7-X is well advanced, and commissioning of the device is being prepared. A first draft of the commissioning tasks has been developed and will be discussed in this paper.

Influence of magnetic field configurations on divertor plasma parameters in the W7-AS stellarator

Abstract The new island divertor in W7-AS enables quasi steady-state operation with NBI at very high density including scenarios with stable detachment from the targets. Experiments with reversed B-field indicate that the interaction zones on the targets are affected in first order by E×B drifts. Stable detachment is restricted to magnetic field configurations with sufficiently large separation between x-points and targets and not too small field line pitch inside the islands. It is always partial in the sense that it does not extend over the full target area. This inhomogeneity is ascribed to an in/out asymmetry of the electron temperature at the upstream separatrix position.

Non-linear erosion effects in plasma experiments

Abstract The erosion and the deposition behaviour of various materials (Be, C, Si, Mo, and W) exposed to a plasma, containing impurities, have been investigated by means of computer simulation with the program TRIDYN and analytical calculations. A strong dependence on the impurity concentration in the plasma, the exposure time and the kind of material has been found. Regions can be defined in this parameter field where erosion of the target material or deposition of the plasma impurities (such as carbon) dominates. Further, a transition from an erosion phase to a deposition phase (and also reversed) during the exposure was observed under certain conditions. These highly dynamical changes occur in a time scale of about some seconds and, thus, are of the same order of the discharge times in todays fusion experiments. The developed analytical model describes well the observed behaviour and can be used for the calculation of the target erosion in fusion experiments if diffusion and segregation effects do not play a role.

Core-edge studies with boundary island configurations on the W7-AS stellarator

Core, edge and scrape-off-layer plasma behaviour is studied principally under conditions of an a = 5/9 boundary island configuration - which is relevant for the upcoming W7-AS divertor campaign - but for now with ten inboard sector limiters. The major focus is on compatibility between good core confinement and attainment of high recycling at the limiter. At low input power Pin0.4 MW, operation at densities necessary to attain effective divertor action in the future invariably leads to a transition to the ELM-free H-mode accompanied by lower edge densities and increased core radiation until radiation collapse ensues. Thereby, enhancement factors in E of nearly two above the international stellarator confinement scaling are transiently achieved. The threshold density ethr, necessary to attain the H-mode increases with heating power, such that at 2 MW NBI heating power the H-mode is completely suppressed and peak densities at the limiter exceeding 1.5 × 1020 m-3 are realized. The efficacy of newly-installed control coils designed to manipulate the island geometry is tested. Their influence on the core plasma is verified. Due to geometrical effects associated with the mutual shadowing of the inboard limiters, statements regarding the influence on island physics must await the divertor configuration.

Divertor operation in stellarators: results from W7-AS and implications for future devices

The research on divertors for stellarators is at the beginning. Extensive studies are being prepared on large helical device (LHD) and W7-X. W7-AS is now being operated with an open island divertor (ID) which serves as a test bed for the W7-X diverter. The divertor enables access to a new NBI-heated, high-density operating regime with improved confinement properties. This regime-the high-density H-mode (HDH)-displays no evident mode activity, is extant above a threshold density and characterized by flat density profiles. high-energy- and low-impurity-confinement times and edge-localized radiation. Impurity accumulation, normally associated with ELM-free H-modes, is avoided. Quasi-steady-state discharges with n e up to 4 x 10 20 m -3 , edge radiation levels up to 90% and plasma partial detachment at the divertor targets can be simultaneously realized. The accessibility to other improved confinement modes in W7-AS (conventional H-mode anti OC-mode) is not restricted by the divertor. The results provide a promising basis for future experiments, in particular on W7-X, and recommend the ID as a serious candidate for solving the plasma exhaust problem in stellarators.

Experimental observation of Marfes in the W7-AS stellerator

In the new high-density H-mode of the W7-AS stellerator with island divertor several thermal instabilities were found. Marfes (multifaceted asymmetric radiation from the edge) were observed inboard crossing midplane. This phenomenon has much in common with the Marfe of a divertor tokamak. For some edge configurations of W7-AS, the Marfe is unstable. Simultaneously the plasma is poloidal symmetrically detached. Such a stationary poloidal symmetric detachment is already known from limiter tokamaks while the coexistent Marfe fluctuations are observed for the first time.

Transport of hydrocarbon molecules in the edge plasma of fusion experiments

The transport of emitted methane molecules has been analyzed with the 3D Monte Carlo code ERO. A D/XB coefficient is defined and allows a conversion of line-of-sight intensity of the integrated molecular CD band into the methane influx density by multiplication. This coefficient has been calculated for a wide range of plasma parameters (electron temperature and density). A strong dependence on the sticking probability of the different hydrocarbon molecules to the surface has been observed. The results are discussed in comparison with those obtained from a 0D reaction model where the transport is included by defining particle residence times. A calculation for ASDEX-Upgrade using a plasma background generated with the B2-Eirene code is presented.