K. W. Hill

Simulations of deuterium-tritium experiments in TFTR

A transport code (TRANSP) is used to simulate future deuterium-tritium (DT) experiments in TFTR. The simulations are derived from 14 TFTR DD discharges, and the modelling of one supershot is discussed in detail to indicate the degree of accuracy of the TRANSP modelling. Fusion energy yields and alpha particle parameters are calculated, including profiles of the alpha slowing down time, the alpha average energy, and the Alfven speed and frequency. Two types of simulation are discussed. The main emphasis is on the DT equivalent, where an equal mix of D and T is substituted for the D in the initial target plasma, and for the D0 in the neutral beam injection, but the other measured beam and plasma parameters are unchanged. This simulation does not assume that alpha heating will enhance the plasma parameters or that confinement will increase with the addition of tritium. The maximum relative fusion yield calculated for these simulations is QDT ~ 0.3, and the maximum alpha contribution to the central toroidal β is βα(0) ~ 0.5%. The stability of toroidicity induced Alfven eigenmodes (TAE) and kinetic ballooning modes (KBM) is discussed. The TAE mode is predicted to become unstable for some of the simulations, particularly after the termination of neutral beam injection. In the second type of simulation, empirical supershot scaling relations are used to project the performance at the maximum expected beam power. The MHD stability of the simulations is discussed

Nondimensional transport scaling in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor: Is tokamak transport Bohm or gyro-Bohm?

General plasma physics principles state that power flow Q(r) through a magnetic surface in a tokamak should scale as Q(r)= {32π2Rr3Te2c nea/[eB (a2−r2)2]} F(ρ*,β,ν*,r/a,q,s,r/R,...) where the arguments of F are local, nondimensional plasma parameters and nondimensional gradients. This paper reports an experimental determination of how F varies with normalized gyroradius ρ*≡(2TeMi)1/2c/eBa and collisionality ν*≡(R/r)3/2qRνe(me/ 2Te)1/2 for discharges prepared so that other nondimensional parameters remain close to constant. Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) [D. M. Meade et al., in Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research, 1990, Proceedings of the 13th International Conference, Washington (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1991), Vol. 1, p. 9] L‐mode data show F to be independent of ρ* and numerically small, corresponding to Bohm scaling with a small multiplicative constant. By contrast, most theories predict gyro‐Bohm scaling: F∝ρ*. Bohm scaling implies that the largest scale size f...

Spatially resolved spectra from a new x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer for measurements of ion and electron temperature profiles (invited)

A new type of high-resolution x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer is being developed to measure ion and electron temperature profiles in tokamak plasmas. The instrument is particularly valuable for diagnosing plasmas with purely ohmic heating and rf heating, since it does not require the injection of a neutral beam—although it can also be used for the diagnosis of neutral-beam heated plasmas. The spectrometer consists of a spherically bent quartz crystal and a two-dimensional position-sensitive detector. It records spectra of helium-like argon (or krypton) from multiple sightlines through the plasma and projects a de-magnified image of a large plasma cross section onto the detector. The spatial resolution in the plasma is solely determined by the height of the crystal, its radius of curvature, and the Bragg angle. This new x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer may also be of interest for the diagnosis of ion temperature profiles in future large tokamaks, the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research tok...

First-wall conditioning for enhanced confinement discharges and the DT experiments in TFTR

The conditioning techniques applied to the TFTR first-wall configuration that will be in place for the DT experiments in 1990–1991 are reviewed. Of primary interest is the helium conditioning procedure that was developed to control hydrogenic recycling from the graphite, inner-wall bumper limiter. Operation of TFTR over the plasma density range for gas-fueled ohmic plasmas, ne = (2–5) × 1019m−3, typically results in hydrogenic recycling coefficients near unity. The use of the helium conditioning procedure produced recycling coefficients as low as 0.5, and decreased the minimum ohmic plasma density to ne = 0.5 × 1019m−3 at IP = 0.8 MA. Low density ohmic target plasmas with low recycling conditions are prerequisite conditions for the enhanced confinement (e.g., “supershot”), neutral-beam-heated discharges observed in TFTR during 1986–1987, which is the primary mode being considered for study in the DT experiments. The recycling changes induced by the helium conditioning procedure are believed to be the result of a plasma pumping effect in the graphite induced by He and C ion desorption of hydrogenic species from the near-surface (< 20 nm) layer of the limiter. The capacity of the conditioned limiter to pump gas-fueled, pellet-fueled, and neutral-beam-fueled discharges is compared. The helium conditioning technique is also beneficial for isotopic exchange and for minimizing the in-vessel tritium inventory.

Plasma-material interactions in TFTR

This paper presents a summary of plasma-material interactions which influence the operation of TFTR with high current (≤ 2.2 MA) ohmically heated, and high-power (∼ 10 MW) neutral-beam heated plasmas. The conditioning procedures which are applied routinely to the first-wall hardware are reviewed. Fueling characteristics during gas, pellet, and neutral-beam fueling are described. Recycling coefficients near unity are observed for most gas fueled discharges. Gas fueled discharges after helium discharge conditioning of the toroidal bumper limiter, and discharges fueled by neutral beams and pellets, show R<1. In the vicinity of the gas fueled density limit (at ne = 5–6 × 1019 m−3) values of Zeff are ≦1.5. Increases in Zeff of ≦1 have been observed with neutral beam heating of 10 MW. The primary low Z impurity is carbon with concentrations decreasing from ∼10% to <1% with increasing ne. Oxygen densities tend to increase with ne, and at the ohmic plasma density limit oxygen and carbon concentrations are comparable. Chromium getter experiments and He2+/D+ plasma comparisons indicate that the limiter is the primary source of carbon and that the vessel wall is a significant source of the oxygen impurity. Metallic impurities, consisting of the vacuum vessel metals (Ni, Fe, Cr) have significant (∼10−4 ne) concentrations only at low plasma densities (ne <1019 m−3). The primary source of metallic impurities is most likely ion sputtering from metals deposited on the carbon limiter surface.

Overview of TFTR transport studies

A review of TFTR plasma transport studies is presented. Parallel transport and the confinement of suprathermal ions are found to be relatively well described by theory. Cross-field transport of the thermal plasma, however, is anomalous with the momentum diffusivity being comparable to the ion thermal diffusivity and larger than the electron thermal diffusivity in neutral beam heated discharges. Perturbative experiments have studied nonlinear dependencies in the transport coefficients and examined the role of possible nonlocal phenomena. The underlying turbulence has been studied using microwave scattering, beam emission spectroscopy and microwave reflectometry over a much broader range in k perpendicular to than previously possible. Results indicate the existence of large-wavelength fluctuations correlated with enhanced transport.

Toroidal Alfvén eigenmode‐induced ripple trapping

Toroidal Alfven eigenmodes are shown to be capable of inducing ripple trapping of high‐energy particles in tokamaks, causing intense localized particle loss. The effect has been observed in TFTR [R. Hawryluk, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 33, 1509 (1991)].

Correlations of heat and momentum transport in the TFTR tokamak

Measurements of the toroidal rotation speed vφ(r) driven by neutral beam injection in tokamak plasmas and, in particular, simultaneous profile measurements of vφ, Ti, Te, and ne, have provided new insights into the nature of anomalous transport in tokamaks. Low‐recycling plasmas heated with unidirectional neutral beam injection exhibit a strong correlation among the local diffusivities, χφ≊χi>χe. Recent measurements have confirmed similar behavior in broad‐density L‐mode plasmas. These results are consistent with the conjecture that electrostatic turbulence is the dominant transport mechanism in the tokamak fusion test reactor tokamak (TFTR) [Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 1004 (1987)], and are inconsistent with predictions both from test‐particle models of strong magnetic turbulence and from ripple transport. Toroidal rotation speed measurements in peaked‐density TFTR ‘‘supershots’’ with partially unbalanced beam injection indicate that momentum transport decreases as the density profile becomes more peaked. In hi...

A spatially resolving x-ray crystal spectrometer for measurement of ion-temperature and rotation-velocity profiles on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak

A new spatially resolving x-ray crystal spectrometer capable of measuring continuous spatial profiles of high resolution spectra (lambda/d lambda>6000) of He-like and H-like Ar K alpha lines with good spatial (approximately 1 cm) and temporal (approximately 10 ms) resolutions has been installed on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak. Two spherically bent crystals image the spectra onto four two-dimensional Pilatus II pixel detectors. Tomographic inversion enables inference of local line emissivity, ion temperature (T(i)), and toroidal plasma rotation velocity (upsilon(phi)) from the line Doppler widths and shifts. The data analysis techniques, T(i) and upsilon(phi) profiles, analysis of fusion-neutron background, and predictions of performance on other tokamaks, including ITER, will be presented.

Soft x-ray measurements from the PDX tokamak

Temporally and spatially resolved profiles of the PDX soft x‐ray spectra have been measured during single tokamak pulses of circular divertor plasmas with a recently developed pulse‐height analyzer. This detection system incorporates an array of five vertically displaced sets of lithium‐drifted silicon detectors, each consisting of three independent channels optimized for rapid data collection in adjacent energy regions. Simultaneous measurements of x‐ray emission integrated along five chords of the plasma cross section can, thereby, be achieved. Abel inversion of these data yields temporally resolved radial profiles of the local electron temperature from the slope of the continuum, concentrations of high‐Z impurities from the characteristic line intensities, and a measure of Zeff from the continuum intensity. The techniques of x‐ray pulse‐height analysis, with illustrations featuring the results from the initial PDX circular plasma experiments, are discussed in detail. In addition, comparisons between ci...