M. Valisa

Particle and impurity transport in the Axial Symmetric Divertor Experiment Upgrade and the Joint European Torus, experimental observations and theoretical understanding

Experimental observations on core particle and impurity transport from the Axial Symmetric Divertor Experiment Upgrade [O. Gruber, H.-S. Bosch, S. Gunter , Nucl Fusion 39, 1321 (1999)] and the Joint European Torus [J. Pamela, E. R. Solano, and JET EFDA Contributors, Nucl. Fusion 43, 1540 (2003)] tokamaks are reviewed and compared. Robust general experimental behaviors observed in both the devices and related parametric dependences are identified. The experimental observations are compared with the most recent theoretical results in the field of core particle transport

Theoretical description of heavy impurity transport and its application to the modelling of tungsten in JET and ASDEX upgrade

The effects of poloidal asymmetries and heated minority species are shown to be necessary to accurately describe heavy impurity transport in present experiments in JET and ASDEX Upgrade. Plasma rotation, or any small background electrostatic field in the plasma, such as that generated by anisotropic external heating can generate strong poloidal density variation of heavy impurities. These asymmetries have recently been added to numerical tools describing both neoclassical and turbulent transport and can increase neoclassical tungsten transport by an order of magnitude. Modelling predictions of the steady-state two-dimensional tungsten impurity distribution are compared with tomography from soft x-ray diagnostics. The modelling identifies neoclassical transport enhanced by poloidal asymmetries as the dominant mechanism responsible for tungsten accumulation in the central core of the plasma. Depending on the bulk plasma profiles, turbulent diffusion and neoclassical temperature screening can prevent accumulation. Externally heated minority species can significantly enhance temperature screening in ICRH plasmas.

Toroidal and poloidal plasma rotation in the reversed field pinch RFX

In this paper, the toroidal and poloidal rotation velocities measured in the reversed field pinch device RFX from the Doppler shift of impurity ion lines are presented and their relation with the plasma velocity is discussed. It is found that the toroidal velocity at the edge has the opposite direction with respect to the core toroidal velocity, indicating a shear of the plasma rotation velocity of about . Starting from the rotation measurements and the momentum equation, a one-dimensional impurity diffusion model for the core plasma and a Monte Carlo code for the edge region are used to estimate the radial electric field, that is found to be around outward directed in the plasma core, and about inward directed at the edge, consistent with that measured at the edge by Langmuir probes.

Recent progress in reversed field pinch research in the RFX experiment

The article presents an overview of recent experimental results obtained on the RFX device. The authors obtained and studied a reversed field pinch plasma with a plasma current of up to 1 MA, negligible radiation losses and low effective charge. The local power and particle balance shows that in standard operation the plasma core is dominated by magnetic turbulence and that the global confinement is mainly provided by the edge region, where a strongly sheared radial electric field is present. With poloidal current drive the amplitude of magnetic fluctuations and the thermal conductivity of the plasma core are reduced, leading to improved confinement. Reduced heat transport is also observed when the width of the n spectrum of magnetic fluctuations is reduced.

Gyrokinetic study of turbulent convection of heavy impurities in tokamak plasmas at comparable ion and electron heat fluxes

In tokamaks, the role of turbulent transport of heavy impurities, relative to that of neoclassical transport, increases with increasing size of the plasma, as clarified by means of general scalings, which use the ITER standard scenario parameters as reference, and by actual results from a selection of discharges from ASDEX Upgrade and JET. This motivates the theoretical investigation of the properties of the turbulent convection of heavy impurities by nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations in the experimentally relevant conditions of comparable ion and electron heat fluxes. These conditions also correspond to an intermediate regime between dominant ion temperature gradient turbulence and trapped electron mode turbulence. At moderate plasma toroidal rotation, the turbulent convection of heavy impurities, computed with nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations, is found to be directed outward, in contrast to that obtained by quasi-linear calculations based on the most unstable linear mode, which is directed inward. In this mixed turbulence regime, with comparable electron and ion heat fluxes, the nonlinear results of the impurity transport can be explained by the coexistence of both ion temperature gradient and trapped electron modes in the turbulent state, both contributing to the turbulent convection and diffusion of the impurity. The impact of toroidal rotation on the turbulent convection is also clarified.

Carbon and oxygen behaviour in the reversed field pinch RFX

The emission spectrum measured on the reversed field pinch RFX is dominated by carbon and oxygen lines. Nickel lines are seldom observed even though a large magnetic field perturbation causes intense plasma-wall interaction. The line emissions from hydrogen-like and helium-like ions observed in RFX are simulated by a collisional-radiative impurity diffusion model. An impurity diffusion coefficient of the order of 10 m2/s and an inward convective velocity of 90 m/s have been used for an adequate simulation of the hydrogen-like to helium-like resonant line ratios. The model can be used to estimate the effective charge of the plasma; the on-axis values in 800 kA discharges are found to range between 1.5 and 2.2, with peaks higher than 3 in the presence of carbon blooms. It is found that charge exchange processes with thermal hydrogen neutral atoms must be considered to account for the high G ratio values measured for carbon (0.6 to 0.7)

Chapter 10: Core Transport Studies in JET

Abstract This paper presents an overview of the state of the art of core transport studies in JET. It covers in various sections the topics of heat transport, particle and impurity transport, momentum transport, internal transport barrier physics and integrated core and edge modeling. For each topic, a brief summary of older results obtained under the JET Joint Undertaking and a review of recent results obtained under the European Fusion Development Agreement are presented and discussed in view of the possibility of extrapolating to ITER plasmas. A final outlook of future developments of core transport studies in JET concludes the paper.

Reconstruction of the radiation emitted by the intrinsic impurities in the RFX reversed field pinch

Experimental data concerning line, continuum radiation and total radiated power emitted by the intrinsic impurities (carbon and oxygen) in the RFX reversed field pinch have been reproduced with a one-dimensional time-dependent collisional radiative impurity diffusion model. The reconstruction has been performed both in discharges with fixed current at different densities and with different currents at fixed density. The results of the model confirm the relatively low Zeff values measured in RFX at all current levels, despite the high power flow to the wall. A diffusion coefficient of 20xa0m2xa0s-1 at the centre of the plasma, decreasing to 1xa0m2xa0s-1 at the edge, and a pinch velocity which is outwardly directed in the central region and inward at the edge have to be used to simulate the experimental data. The diffusion coefficient behaviour deduced for light impurities is coherent with the transport properties deduced for the main plasma species and is consistent with a plasma in which the confinement region is localized at the edge, where strong density gradients have been observed; the pinch velocity profile characteristics agree with the plasma radial flow resulting from three-dimensional nonlinear MHD codes.

The impact of poloidal asymmetries on tungsten transport in the core of JET H-mode plasmas

Recent progress in the understanding and prediction of the tungsten behaviour in the core of JET H-mode plasmas with ITER-like wall is presented. Particular emphasis is given to the impact of poloidal asymmetries of the impurity density. In particular, it is shown that the predicted reduction of temperature screening induced by the presence of low field side localization of the tungsten density produced by the centrifugal force is consistent with the observed tungsten behaviour in a JET discharge in H-mode baseline scenario. This provides first evidence of the role of poloidal asymmetries in reducing the strength of temperature screening. The main differences between plasma parameters in JET baseline and hybrid scenario discharges which affect the impact of poloidally asymmetric density on the tungsten radial transport are identified. This allows the conditions by which tungsten accumulation can be avoided to be more precisely defined.

Chapter 8: The Diagnostic Systems in the FTU

Abstract The design of diagnostics for the Frascati Tokamak Upgrade (FTU) is challenging because of the compactness of the machine (8-cm-wide ports) and the low operating temperatures requiring the presence of a cryostat. Nevertheless, a rather complete diagnostic system has been progressively installed. The basic systems include a set of magnetic probes, various visible and ultraviolet spectrometers, electron cyclotron emission (ECE) for electron temperature profiles measurements and electron tails monitoring, far-infrared and CO2 interferometry, X-ray (soft and hard) measurements, a multichord neutron diagnostics (with different type detectors), and a Thomson scattering system. Some diagnostics specific to the FTU physics program have been used such as microwave reflectometry for turbulence studies, edge-scanning Langmuir probes for radio-frequency coupling assessment, oblique ECE, and a fast electron bremsstrahlung (FEB) camera for lower hybrid current drive-induced fast electron tails. These systems are briefly reviewed in this paper. Further developments including a scanning CO2 laser two-color interferometer, two FEB cameras for tomographic analysis, a motional Stark effect system, and a collective Thomson scattering system are also described.