Y. Ren

Edge transport and turbulence reduction with lithium coated plasma facing components in the National Spherical Torus Experiment a)

The coating of plasma facing components (PFCs) with lithium improves energy confinement and eliminates ELMs in the National Spherical Torus Experiment, the latter due to a relaxation of the density and pressure profiles that reduces the drive for peeling-ballooning modes. 2-D interpretive transport modeling of discharges without and with lithium shows that a reduction in the PFC recycling coefficient from Ru2009∼u20090.98 to Ru2009∼u20090.90 is required to match the drop in Dα emission with lithium coatings. A broadening of the edge barrier region showing reduced transport coefficients is observed, with a ∼75% drop of the D and χe from 0.8u2009<u2009ψNu2009<u20090.93 needed to match the profile relaxation with lithium coatings. Turbulence measurements using an edge reflectometry system as well as high-k microwave scattering show a decrease in density fluctuations with lithium coatings. These transport changes allow the realization of very wide pedestals, with a ∼100% width increase relative to the reference discharges.

Simulation of microtearing turbulence in national spherical torus experimenta)

Thermal energy confinement times in National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) dimensionless parameter scans increase with decreasing collisionality. While ion thermal transport is neoclassical, the source of anomalous electron thermal transport in these discharges remains unclear, leading to considerable uncertainty when extrapolating to future spherical tokamak (ST) devices at much lower collisionality. Linear gyrokinetic simulations find microtearing modes to be unstable in high collisionality discharges. First non-linear gyrokinetic simulations of microtearing turbulence in NSTX show they can yield experimental levels of transport. Magnetic flutter is responsible for almost all the transport (∼98%), perturbed field line trajectories are globally stochastic, and a test particle stochastic transport model agrees to within 25% of the simulated transport. Most significantly, microtearing transport is predicted to increase with electron collisionality, consistent with the observed NSTX confinement scaling....

Progress in simulating turbulent electron thermal transport in NSTX

Nonlinear simulations based on multiple NSTX discharge scenarios have progressed to help differentiate unique instability mechanisms and to validate with experimental turbulence and transport data. First nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations of microtearing turbulence in a high-beta NSTX H-mode discharge predict experimental levels of electron thermal transport that are dominated by magnetic flutter and increase with collisionality, roughly consistent with energy confinement times in dimensionless collisionality scaling experiments. Electron temperature gradient (ETG) simulations predict significant electron thermal transport in some low- and high-beta discharges when ion scales are suppressed by Exa0×xa0B shear. Although the predicted transport in H-modes is insensitive to variation in collisionality (inconsistent with confinement scaling), it is sensitive to variations in other parameters, particularly density gradient stabilization. In reversed shear L-mode discharges that exhibit electron internal transport barriers, ETG transport has also been shown to be suppressed nonlinearly by strong negative magnetic shear, sxa0≪xa00. In many high-beta plasmas, instabilities which exhibit a stiff beta dependence characteristic of kinetic ballooning modes (KBMs) are sometimes found in the core region. However, they do not have a distinct finite beta threshold, instead transitioning gradually to a trapped electron mode (TEM) as beta is reduced to zero. Nonlinear simulations of this ‘hybrid’ TEM/KBM predict significant transport in all channels, with substantial contributions from compressional magnetic perturbations. As multiple instabilities are often unstable simultaneously in the same plasma discharge, even on the same flux surface, unique parametric dependencies are discussed which may be useful for distinguishing the different mechanisms experimentally.

Edge microstability of NSTX plasmas without and with lithium-coated plasma-facing components

The pedestal structure in NSTX is strongly affected by lithium coatings applied to the PFCs. In discharges with lithium, the density pedestal widens, and the electron temperature (Te) gradient increases inside a radius of ?N???0.95, but is unchanged for ?N?>?0.95. The inferred effective electron thermal and particle profiles reflect the profile changes: is slightly increased in the near-separatrix region, and is reduced in the region ?N? ?0.95, both the pre- and with-lithium cases are calculated to be unstable to ETG modes, with higher growth rates with lithium. Both cases are also found to lie near the onset for kinetic ballooning modes, but in the second-stable region where growth rates decrease with increasing pressure gradient.

Measurements of the parallel and transverse Spitzer resistivities during collisional magnetic reconnection

Plasma resistivity has been studied experimentally in a reconnecting current sheet. Resistivities during collisional reconnection, when the electron mean free path is much shorter than the current sheet thickness, in the presence and absence of the guide field are found to be in a good agreement with the parallel and transverse Spitzer values, respectively.

Experimental study of parametric dependence of electron-scale turbulence in a spherical tokamaka)

Electron-scale turbulence is predicted to drive anomalous electron thermal transport. However, experimental study of its relation with transport is still in its early stage. On the National Spherical Tokamak Experiment (NSTX), electron-scale density fluctuations are studied with a novel tangential microwave scattering system with high radial resolution of ±2u2009cm. Here, we report a study of parametric dependence of electron-scale turbulence in NSTX H-mode plasmas. The dependence on density gradient is studied through the observation of a large density gradient variation in the core induced by an edge localized mode (ELM) event, where we found the first clear experimental evidence of density gradient stabilization of electron-gyro scale turbulence in a fusion plasma. This observation, coupled with linear gyro-kinetic calculations, leads to the identification of the observed instability as toroidal electron temperature gradient (ETG) modes. It is observed that longer wavelength ETG modes, k⊥ρs≲10 (ρs is the i...

Equilibrium and stability studies of oblate field-reversed configurations in the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment

The equilibrium and stability of oblate field-reversed configurations (FRCs) have been studied in the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment [M. Yamada et al., Phys. Plasmas 4, 1936 (1997)]. In the absence of a passive stabilization, tilt and shift instabilities often become unstable, with the tilt in particular limiting the plasma lifetime. The tilt instability can be mitigated by either including a passive stabilizing conductor, or by forming very oblate plasmas. Large perturbations (n=2 and 3) may still remain after passive stabilization is applied. These perturbations have the characteristics of co-interchange modes, which have never been observed, and can lead to the early termination of the plasma. The co-interchange modes can be minimized through the formation of plasmas with a very oblate shape, leading to the maximum FRC lifetime. A code has been developed to calculate equilibria for these plasmas. A rigid-body model explains the improved stability of oblate plasmas to n=1 tilt modes. Numerical calcula...

Field-reversed configuration formation scheme utilizing a spheromak and solenoid induction

A new field-reversed configuration (FRC) formation technique is described, where a spheromak transitions to a FRC with inductive current drive. The transition is accomplished only in argon and krypton plasmas, where low-n kink modes are suppressed; spheromaks with a lighter majority species, such as neon and helium, either display a terminal tilt-mode, or an n=2 kink instability, both resulting in discharge termination. The stability of argon and krypton plasmas through the transition is attributed to the rapid magnetic diffusion of the currents that drive the kink-instability. The decay of helicity during the transition is consistent with that expected from resistivity. This observation indicates a new scheme to form a FRC plasma, provided stability to low-n modes is maintained, as well as a unique situation where the FRC is a preferred state.

Fast response of electron-scale turbulence to auxiliary heating cessation in National Spherical Torus Experiment

In this letter, we report the first observation of the fast response of electron-scale turbulence to auxiliary heating cessation in National Spherical Torus eXperiment [Ono et al., Nucl. Fusion 40, 557 (2000)]. The observation was made in a set of RF-heated L-mode plasmas with toroidal magnetic field of 0.55u2009T and plasma current of 300u2009kA. It is observed that electron-scale turbulence spectral power (measured with a high-k collective microwave scattering system) decreases significantly following fast cessation of RF heating that occurs in less than 200u2009μs. The large drop in the turbulence spectral power has a short time delay of about 1–2u2009ms relative to the RF cessation and happens on a time scale of 0.5–1u2009ms, much smaller than the energy confinement time of about 10u2009ms. Power balance analysis shows a factor of about 2 decrease in electron thermal diffusivity after the sudden drop of turbulence spectral power. Measured small changes in equilibrium profiles across the RF cessation are unlikely able to expl...

Measurements of Magnetic Fluctuations in Magnetic Reconnection Experiment

Magnetic reconnection plays an important role in determining the evolution of magnetic topology in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas. A central question concerns why the observed reconnection rates are much faster than predictions made by classical theories, such as the Sweet‐Parker model based on MHD with classical Spitzer resistivity. Often, the local resistivity is conjectured to be enhanced by micro‐instabilities to accelerate reconnection rates either in the context of the Sweet‐Parker model or by facilitating setup of the Pestchek model. Although it is commonly believed that there is plenty of free energy available at the reconnection region to destabilize some sort of micro‐instability, a clear identification of this instability and its exact role in reconnection has never been established experimentally. We report the first such experimental evidence of a clear and positive correlation between magnetic fluctuations in the lower‐hybrid frequency range and resistivity enhancement during fast reco...