L. Aho-Mantila

Advances in the physics basis for the European DEMO design

In the European fusion roadmap, ITER is followed by a demonstration fusion power reactor (DEMO), for which a conceptual design is under development. This paper reports the first results of a coherent effort to develop the relevant physics knowledge for that (DEMO Physics Basis), carried out by European experts. The program currently includes investigations in the areas of scenario modeling, transport, MHD, heating & current drive, fast particles, plasma wall interaction and disruptions.

Experimental Validation of a Filament Transport Model in Turbulent Magnetized Plasmas

In a wide variety of natural and laboratory magnetized plasmas, filaments appear as a result of interchange instability. These convective structures substantially enhance transport in the direction perpendicular to the magnetic field. According to filament models, their propagation may follow different regimes depending on the parallel closure of charge conservation. This is of paramount importance in magnetic fusion plasmas, as high collisionality in the scrape-off layer may trigger a regime transition leading to strongly enhanced perpendicular particle fluxes. This work reports for the first time on an experimental verification of this process, linking enhanced transport with a regime transition as predicted by models. Based on these results, a novel scaling for global perpendicular particle transport in reactor relevant tokamaks such as ASDEX-Upgrade and JET is found, leading to important implications for next generation fusion devices.

Progress at JET in integrating ITER-relevant core and edge plasmas within the constraints of an ITER-like wall

This paper reports the progress made at JET-ILW on integrating the requirements of the reference ITER baseline scenario with normalized confinement factor of 1, at a normalized pressure of 1.8 together with partially detached divertor whilst maintaining these conditions over many energy confinement times. The 2.5 MA high triangularity ELMy H-modes are studied with two different divertor configurations with D-gas injection and nitrogen seeding. The power load reduction with N seeding is reported. The relationship between an increase in energy confinement and pedestal pressure with triangularity is investigated. The operational space of both plasma configurations is studied together with the ELM energy losses and stability of the pedestal of unseeded and seeded plasmas. The achievement of stationary plasma conditions over many energy confinement times is also reported.

Migration and deposition of 13C in the full-tungsten ASDEX Upgrade tokamak

The migration of carbon in low-density, low-confinement plasmas of ASDEX Upgrade was studied by injecting 13C into the main chamber of the torus at the end of the 2007 experimental campaign. A selection of standard tungsten-coated lower-divertor and main-chamber tiles as well as a complete set of lower-divertor tiles with an uncoated poloidal marker stripe were removed from one poloidal cross section and analysed using secondary ion mass spectrometry. The poloidal deposition profiles of 13C on both the tungsten-coated tiles and on the uncoated graphite areas of the marker tiles were measured and compared. For the W-coated lower-divertor tiles, 13C was deposited mainly on the high-field side tiles, while barely detectable amounts of 13C were observed on low-field side samples. In contrast, on the uncoated marker stripes the deposition was equally pronounced in the high-field and low-field side divertor. The marker-tile results are in agreement with those obtained from graphite tiles after the 2003 and 2005 13C experiments in ASDEX Upgrade. In the case of W-coated tiles, the 13C measurements were complemented by determining the total amount of deposited carbon (12C) on the tiles, which also shows strong deposition at the inner parts of the lower divertor. The estimated deposition of 13C on W at the divertor areas was less than 1.5% of the injected amount of 13C atoms. The 13C analyses of the main-chamber tiles and small silicon samples mounted in remote areas revealed significant deposition in the upper divertor, in upper parts of the heat shield, in the limiter region close to the injection valve, and below the roof baffle. Approximately 8% of the injected 13C is estimated to have accumulated in these regions. Possible reasons for the different deposition patterns on W and on graphite in different regions of the torus are discussed.

Outer divertor of ASDEX Upgrade in low-density L-mode discharges in forward and reversed magnetic field: II. Analysis of local impurity migration

Part I (Aho-Mantila L. et al 2012 Nucl. Fusion 52 103006) presented a detailed analysis of outer divertor plasma conditions in low-density L-mode discharges in ASDEX Upgrade. In this paper, we analyse the local migration of carbon that originates from 13CH4 injected into these plasmas from the vertical outer target. Notable changes are observed in the local carbon deposition patterns when reversing the magnetic field in the experiments. Kinetic impurity-following simulations are performed using the 3D ERO code package with 2D background plasma solutions calculated with the SOLPS5.0 code package. The modelling shows that the measured changes are due to the changes in plasma collisionality, dissociation and ionization rates, and E × B drift of the impurities. These conditions affect the direction and rate of impurity migration inside and out of the divertor, having wider consequences on the global migration of impurities in a divertor tokamak. It is further shown that the migration pathways are largely determined by carbon ions and, hence, relevant for impurities in general. Neutral carbon and hydrocarbons are deposited only in the near vicinity of the injection, where they affect the local re-deposition efficiency. In this limited region, a perturbation of the local plasma conditions by the methane puff appears likely, yielding a significant uncertainty for interpreting the deposition efficiencies. The local deposition is largely influenced by the magnetic presheath electric field, the structure of which is the main uncertainty in the SOLPS5.0-ERO simulations.

Recent progress towards a quantitative description of filamentary SOL transport

A summary of recent results on filamentary transport, mostly obtained with the ASDEX-Upgrade tokamak (AUG), is presented and discussed in an attempt to produce a coherent picture of scrape-off laye ...

ASCOT simulations of electron energy distribution at the divertor targets in an ASDEX Upgrade H-mode discharge

Electron energy distribution at the divertor targets was calculated with the Monte Carlo code ASCOT for an ASDEX Upgrade H-mode discharge. The scrape-off layer (SOL) plasma background was obtained from the edge fluid code SOLPS. The orbit-following of test particles was performed assuming a fixed Maxwellian plasma background, accounting for the effects of the magnetic geometry, Coulomb interaction with the background and a prescribed electric potential. The energies recorded from the electrons impinging on the divertor targets indicated that, close to the plates, there should be strong deviations from the thermal Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution. In addition, details of the magnetic geometry and parallel plasma temperature and density profiles were observed to significantly impact the target energy distributions. The obtained discrepancy between the Monte Carlo and fluid results indicates a lack of self-consistency in fluid modelling due to kinetic effects in a medium-collisionality SOL.

Experimental analysis and WallDYN simulations of the global nitrogen migration in ASDEX Upgrade L-mode discharges

This work presents ASDEX Upgrade experiments, where the nitrogen deposition and re-erosion on divertor manipulator samples and the effect of its transport through the plasma were studied. These results are compared to WallDYN-DIVIMP simulations based on SOLPS plasma backgrounds and employing an improved WallDYN model, which includes the effusion of nitrogen from saturated surfaces. On one hand, this allows the WallDYN code and the new saturation model with a comprehensive data set to be benchmarked, on the other hand the simulations help in the interpretation of the experimental results. Both, experimental results and simulations, show that the N content in the region of the outer strike line reaches its steady-state value within one discharge. The simulations also reproduce the experimentally observed nitrogen content in samples exposed to N2-seeded discharges. With respect to the boron deposition, the nitrogen deposition in a non-seeded discharge and the re-erosion of nitrogen discrepancies to the WallDYN-DIVIMP simulations are observed. Based on SDTrimSP simulations, these are attributed to the missing depth resolution of the WallDYN surface model. A detailed comparison of spectroscopic measurements to WallDYN simulations, based on a novel synthetic spectroscopy diagnostic for WallDYN, shows that the nitrogen fluxes in the plasma are well described by the simulations. From a comparison of several WallDYN-DIVIMP simulations employing customized onion-skin model plasma backgrounds the physical processes controlling the nitrogen concentration in the core plasma and the applicability of onion-skin model plasma backgrounds are discussed. From these simulations the private flux zone with the gas valve, the outer baffle and the high field side main wall are identified as the main sources for the nitrogen content of the core plasma.

Modelling of 13CH4 injection and local carbon deposition at the outer divertor of ASDEX Upgrade

Numerical modelling of 13CH4 injection into the outer divertor plasma of the full tungsten, vertical target of ASDEX Upgrade is presented. The SOLPS5.0 code package is used to calculate a realistic scrape-off layer plasma background corresponding to L-mode discharges in the attached divertor plasma regime. The ERO code is then used for detailed modelling of the hydrocarbon break-up, re-deposition and re-erosion processes. The deposition patterns observed at two different poloidal locations are shown to strongly reflect the cross-field gradients in divertor plasma density and temperature, as well as the local plasma collisionality. Experimental results with forward and reversed BT, accompanied by numerical modelling, also point towards a significant poloidal hydrocarbon E×B drift in the divertor region.

Assessment of SOLPS5.0 divertor solutions with drifts and currents against L-mode experiments in ASDEX Upgrade and JET

The divertor solutions obtained with the plasma edge modelling tool SOLPS5.0 are discussed. The code results are benchmarked against carefully analysed L-mode discharges at various density levels w ...