Guido Ciraolo

TOKAM-3D: A 3D fluid code for transport and turbulence in the edge plasma of Tokamaks

We present a new code aiming at giving a global and coherent approach for transport and turbulence issues in the edge plasma of Tokamaks. The TOKAM-3D code solves 3D fluid drift equations in full-torus geometry including both closed field lines and SOL physics. No scale separation is assumed so that interactions between large scale flows and turbulence are coherently treated. Moreover, the code can be run in transport regimes ranging from purely anomalous diffusion to fully established turbulence. Specific numerical schemes have been developed which can solve the model equations whether the presence of a limiter in the plasma is taken into account or not. Example cases giving an overview of the field of application of the code as well as verification results are also presented.

WEST Physics Basis

With WEST (Tungsten Environment in Steady State Tokamak) (Bucalossi et al 2014 Fusion Eng. Des. 89 907-12), the Tore Supra facility and team expertise (Dumont et al 2014 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 56 075020) is used to pave the way towards ITER divertor procurement and operation. It consists in implementing a divertor configuration and installing ITER-like actively cooled tungsten monoblocks in the Tore Supra tokamak, taking full benefit of its unique long-pulse capability. WEST is a user facility platform, open to all ITER partners. This paper describes the physics basis of WEST: the estimated heat flux on the divertor target, the planned heating schemes, the expected behaviour of the L-H threshold and of the pedestal and the potential W sources. A series of operating scenarios has been modelled, showing that ITER-relevant heat fluxes on the divertor can be achieved in WEST long pulse H-mode plasmas.

Numerical modelling for divertor design of the WEST device with a focus on plasma?wall interactions

In the perspective of operating tungsten monoblocks in WEST, the ongoing major upgrade of the Tore Supra tokamak, a dedicated modelling effort has been carried out to simulate the interaction between the edge plasma and the tungsten wall. A new transport code, SolEdge2D–EIRENE, has been developed with the ability to simulate the plasma up to the first wall. This is especially important for steady state operation, where thermal loads on all the plasma facing components, even remote from the plasma, are of interest. Moreover, main chamber tungsten sources are thought to dominate the contamination of the plasma core. We present here in particular new developments aimed at improving the description of the interface between the plasma and the wall, namely a way to treat sheath physics in a more faithful way using the output of 1D particle in cell simulations. Moreover, different models for prompt redeposition have been implemented and are compared. The latter is shown to play an important role in the balance between divertor and main chamber sources.

Transition to supersonic flows in the edge plasma

With a proper choice of a single dimensionless control parameter one describes the transition between subsonic and supersonic flows as a bifurcation. The bifurcation point is characterized by specific properties of the control parameter: the control parameter has a vanishing derivative in space and takes the maximum possible value equal to 1. This method is then applied to the sheath plasma with constant temperatures, allowing one to recover the Bohm boundary condition as well as the location of the point where the bifurcation takes place. This analysis is extended to fronts, rarefaction waves and divertor plasmas. Two cases are found, those where departure from quasineutrality is mandatory to generate a maximum in the variation of the control parameter (sheath and fronts) and those where the physics of the quasineutral plasma can generate such a maximum (rarefaction waves and supersonic flow in divertors). The conditions that are required to recover the Bohm condition, when modelling the wall using the penalization technique, are also addressed and generalized.

DEMO reactor design using the new modular system code SYCOMORE

A demonstration power plant (DEMO) will be the next step for fusion energy following ITER. Some of the key design questions can be addressed by simulations using system codes. System codes aim to model the whole plant with all its subsystems and identify the impact of their interactions on the design choices. The SYCOMORE code is a modular system code developed to address key questions relevant to tokamak fusion reactor design. SYCOMORE is being developed within the European Integrated Tokamak Modelling framework and provides a global view (technology and physics) of the plant. It includes modules to address plasma physics, divertor physics, breeding blankets, shield design, magnet design and the power balance of plant. The code is coupled to an optimization framework which allows one to specify figures of merit and constraints to obtain optimized designs. Examples of pulsed and steady-state DEMO designs obtained using SYCOMORE are presented. Sensitivity to design assumptions is also studied, showing that the operational domain around working points can be narrow for some cases.

Multi-scale self-organisation of edge plasma turbulent transport in 3D global simulations

The 3D global edge turbulence code TOKAM3X is used to study the properties of edge particle turbulent transport in circular limited plasmas, including both closed and open flux surfaces. Turbulence is driven by an incoming particle flux from the core plasma and no scale separation between the equilibrium and the fluctuations is assumed. Simulations show the existence of a complex self-organization of turbulence transport coupling scales ranging from a few Larmor radii up to the machine scale. Particle transport is largely dominated by small scale turbulence with fluctuations forming quasi field-aligned filaments. Radial particle transport is intermittent and associated with the propagation of coherent structures on long distances via avalanches. Long range correlations are also found in the poloidal and toroidal direction. The statistical properties of fluctuations vary with the radial and poloidal directions, with larger fluctuation levels and intermittency found in the outboard scrape-off layer (SOL). Radial turbulent transport is strongly ballooned, with 90% of the flux at the separatrix flowing through the low-field side. One of the main consequences is the existence of quasi-sonic asymmetric parallel flows driving a net rotation of the plasma. Simulations also show the spontaneous onset of an intermittent E × B rotation characterized by a larger shear at the separatrix. Strong correlation is found between the turbulent particle flux and the E × B flow shear in a phenomenology reminiscent of H-mode physics. The poloidal position of the limiter is a key player in the observed dynamics.

Localized control for non-resonant Hamiltonian systems

We present a method of localized control of chaos in Hamiltonian systems. The aim is to modify the perturbation locally using a small control term which makes the controlled Hamiltonian more regular. We provide an explicit expression for the control term which is able to recreate invariant (KAM) tori without modifying other parts of phase space. We apply this method of localized control to a forced pendulum model, to the delta-kicked rotor (standard map) and to a non-twist Hamiltonian.

Gyromap for a two-dimensional Hamiltonian fluid model derived from Braginskii’s closure for magnetized plasmas

We consider a plasma described by means of a two-dimensional fluid model across a constant but non-uniform magnetic field B=B(x,y)z∧. The dynamical evolution of the density and the vorticity takes into account the interchange instability and magnetic field inhomogeneities. First, in order to describe the finite Larmor radius effects, we apply the gyromap to build a Hamiltonian model with ion temperature from a cold-ion model. Second, we show that the gyromap is justified using Braginskii’s closure for the stress tensor as well as an apt ordering on the fluctuating quantities.

Magnetic geometry and particle source drive of supersonic divertor regimes

We present a comprehensive picture of the mechanisms driving the transition from subsonic to supersonic flows in tokamak plasmas. We demonstrate that supersonic parallel flows into the divertor volume are ubiquitous at low density and governed by the divertor magnetic geometry. As the density is increased, subsonic divertor plasmas are recovered. On detachment, we show the change in particle source can also drive the transition to a supersonic regime. The comprehensive theoretical analysis is completed by simulations in ITER geometry. Such results are essential in assessing the divertor performance and when interpreting measurements and experimental evidence. The generation of large-scale flows in laboratory plasma is a highly non-linear problem. In a standard fashion it is considered that the flows remain subsonic away from the wall, the occurrence of supersonic flows being singular. We show here that the geometrical features of key configurations for fusion plasma can lead to supersonic flows.

Multiparticle collision simulations of two-dimensional one-component plasmas: Anomalous transport and dimensional crossovers

By means of hybrid multiparticle collsion-particle-in-cell (MPC-PIC) simulations we study the dynamical scaling of energy and density correlations at equilibrium in moderately coupled two-dimensional (2D) and quasi-one-dimensional (1D) plasmas. We find that the predictions of nonlinear fluctuating hydrodynamics for the structure factors of density and energy fluctuations in 1D systems with three global conservation laws hold true also for 2D systems that are more extended along one of the two spatial dimensions. Moreover, from the analysis of the equilibrium energy correlators and density structure factors of both 1D and 2D neutral plasmas, we find that neglecting the contribution of the fluctuations of the vanishing self-consistent electrostatic fields overestimates the interval of frequencies over which the anomalous transport is observed. Such violations of the expected scaling in the currents correlation are found in different regimes, hindering the observation of the asymptotic scaling predicted by the theory.