M. Jucker

Kinetic damping of resistive wall modes in ITER

Full drift kinetic modelling including finite orbit width effects has been used to assess the passive stabilisation of the resistive wall mode (RWM) that can be expected in the ITER advanced scenario. At realistic plasma rotation frequency, the thermal ions have a stabilising effect on the RWM, but the stability limit remains below the target plasma pressure to achieve Q = 5. However, the inclusion of damping arising from the fusion-born alpha particles, the NBI ions, and ICRH fast ions extends the RWM stability limit above the target β for the advanced scenario. The fast ion damping arises primarily from finite orbit width effects and is not due to resonance between the particle frequencies and the instability.

Ion cyclotron resonance heating with consistent finite orbit widths and anisotropic equilibria

Minority ion cyclotron resonance heating is studied using the self-consistent numerical model SCENIC. This model includes 3D geometries with full shaping and anisotropic pressure effects, warm contributions to the dielectric tensor and full orbit effects. It evolves the equilibrium, wave field and hot particle distribution function iteratively until a self-consistent solution is found. We will show applications to JET-like two-dimensional equilibria with minority heating scenarios. The effects due to different heating locations on the hot particle distribution function, the hot dielectric tensor and the equilibrium will be studied for symmetric wave injection. Finally, the RF-induced particle pinch is investigated using asymmetric wave injection.

Maintenance of the Stratospheric Structure in an Idealized General Circulation Model

This work explores the maintenance of the stratospheric structure in a primitive equation model that is forced by a Newtonian cooling with a prescribed radiative equilibrium temperature field. Models such as this are well suited to analyze and address questions regarding the nature of wave propagation and troposphere‐ stratosphere interactions. The focus lies on the lower to midstratosphere and the mean annual cycle, with its large interhemispheric variations in the radiative background state and forcing, is taken as a benchmark to be simulated with reasonable verisimilitude. A reasonably realistic basic stratospheric temperature structure is a necessary first step in understanding stratospheric dynamics. It is first shown that using a realistic radiative background temperature field based on radiative transfer calculations substantially improves the basic structure of the model stratospherecompared to previously used setups. Then, the physical processes that are needed to maintain the seasonal cycle of temperature in the lower stratosphere are explored. It is found that an improved stratosphere and seasonally varying topographically forced stationary waves are, in themselves, insufficient to produce a seasonal cycle of sufficient amplitude in the tropics, even if the topographic forcing is large. Upwelling associated with baroclinic wave activityis an important influenceon the tropicallowerstratosphereandthe seasonalvariation oftropospheric baroclinic activity contributes significantly to the seasonal cycle of the lower tropical stratosphere. Given a reasonably realistic basic stratospheric structure and a seasonal cycle in both stationary wave activity and tropospheric baroclinic instability, it is possible to obtain a seasonal cycle in the lower stratosphere of amplitude comparable to the observations.

Numerical modelling of electromagnetic turbulent transport of energetic ions in burning plasmas

We investigate the redistribution of the neutral beam driven current in the presence of small scale turbulence in the ITER steady-state scenario. Gyrokinetic simulations show that anomalous transport of beam ions can be larger than collisional estimates. The impact on the beam driven current in ITER is studied with a single particle following code. The results indicate that the current driven by the 1MeV neutral beam injection is not significantly redistributed by the microturbulent fields. The numerical investigation shows that a larger impact is expected for lower energy neutral beams.

Sawtooth control in ITER using ion cyclotron resonance heating

Numerical modelling of the effects of ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) on the stability of the internal kink mode suggests that ICRH should be considered as an essential sawtooth control tool in ITER. Sawtooth control using ICRH is achieved by directly affecting the energy of the internal kink mode rather than through modification of the magnetic shear by driving localized currents. Consequently, ICRH can be seen as complementary to the planned electron cyclotron current drive actuator, and indeed will improve the efficacy of current drive schemes. Simulations of the ICRH distribution using independent RF codes give confidence in numerical predictions that the stabilizing influence of the fusion-born alphas can be negated by appropriately tailored minority 3 He ICRH heating in ITER. Finally, the effectiveness of all sawtooth actuators is shown to increase as the q = 1 surface moves towards the manetic axis, whilst the passive stabilization arising from the alpha and NBI particles decreases. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)

Integrated modeling for ion cyclotron resonant heating in toroidal systems

An integrated model capable of self-consistent Ion Cyclotron Resonant Heating (ICRH) simulations has been developed. This model includes both full shaping and pressure effects, warm contributions to the dielectric tensor, pressure anisotropy and finite orbit width. It evolves the equilibrium, wave field and full hot particle distribution function until a self-consistent solution is found. This article describes the workings of the three codes VMEC, LEMan and VENUS and how they are linked for iterated computations in a code package we have named SCENIC. The package is thoroughly tested and it is demonstrated that a number of iterations have to be performed in order to find a consistent solution. Since the formulation of the problem can treat general 3D systems, we show a quasi-axisymmetric stellarator low power test case, and then concentrate on experimentally relevant Joint European Torus (JET) 2D configurations.

Exact canonical drift Hamiltonian formalism with pressure anisotropy and finite perturbed fields

A Hamiltonian formulation of the guiding center drift orbits is extended to pressure anisotropy and field perturbations in axisymmetric systems. The Boozer magnetic coordinates are shown to retain canonical properties in anisotropic pressure plasmas with finite electrostatic perturbations and electromagnetic perturbed fields that solely affect the parallel component of the magnetic vector potential. The equations of motion developed in the Boozer coordinate frame are satisfied by direct verification of the drift velocities. A numerical application illustrates the significance of retaining all second order terms.

Impact of pressure anisotropy on tokamak equilibria and the toroidal magnetic precession

Using a generalized anisotropic tokamak equilibrium and an exact guiding centre drift formulation, the effect of parallel and perpendicular anisotropy on the toroidal precession drift is investigated. Significant differences between parallel and perpendicular pressure anisotropy are observed. While the Shafranov shift is not sensitive to the ratio of the parallel and perpendicular pressures p ⊥ /p∥ , the deepening of the magnetic well is found to be sensitive to p ⊥ /p∥ . Here, the diamagnetic effect identified by Connor et al 1983 Nucl. Fusion 23 1702 is generalized and found to depend crucially on the deposition of the energetic ions on which the equilibrium depends, and leads to test particle precessional drifts that depend sensitively on pitch angle

Power requirements for electron cyclotron current drive and ion cyclotron resonance heating for sawtooth control in ITER

13 MW of electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) power deposited inside the q = 1 surface is likely to reduce the sawtooth period in ITER baseline scenario below the level empirically predicted to trigger neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs). However, since the ECCD control scheme is solely predicated upon changing the local magnetic shear, it is prudent to plan to use a complementary scheme which directly decreases the potential energy of the kink mode in order to reduce the sawtooth period. In the event that the natural sawtooth period is longer than expected, due to enhanced α particle stabilization for instance, this ancillary sawtooth control can be provided from >10MW of ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) power with a resonance just inside the q = 1 surface. Both ECCD and ICRH control schemes would benefit greatly from active feedback of the deposition with respect to the rational surface. If the q = 1 surface can be maintained closer to the magnetic axis, the efficacy of ECCD and ICRH schemes significantly increases, the negative effect on the fusion gain is reduced, and off-axis negative-ion neutral beam injection (NNBI) can also be considered for sawtooth control. Consequently, schemes to reduce the q = 1 radius are highly desirable, such as early heating to delay the current penetration and, of course, active sawtooth destabilization to mediate small frequent sawteeth and retain a small q = 1 radius. Finally, there remains a residual risk that the ECCD + ICRH control actuators cannot keep the sawtooth period below the threshold for triggering NTMs (since this is derived only from empirical scaling and the control modelling has numerous caveats). If this is the case, a secondary control scheme of sawtooth stabilization via ECCD + ICRH + NNBI, interspersed with deliberate triggering of a crash through auxiliary power reduction and simultaneous pre-emptive NTM control by off-axis ECCD has been considered, permitting long transient periods with high fusion gain. The power requirements for the necessary degree of sawtooth control using either destabilization or stabilization schemes are expected to be within the specification of anticipated ICRH and ECRH heating in ITER, provided the requisite power can be dedicated to sawtooth control.

Self-consistent model of electron drift mode turbulence

The nonlinear dynamics of magnetic electron drift mode turbulence are outlined and the generation of large-scale magnetic structures in a non-uniform magnetized plasma by turbulent Reynolds stress is demonstrated. The loop-back of large-scale flows on the microturbulence is elucidated and the modulation of the electron drift mode turbulence spectrum in a medium with slowly varying parameters is presented. The wave kinetic equation in the presence of large-scale flows is derived and it can be seen that the small-scale turbulence and the large-scale structures form a self-regulating system. Finally, it is shown by the use of quasi-linear theory that the shearing of microturbulence by the flows can be described by a diffusion equation in k-space and the corresponding diffusion coefficients are calculated.