Abstract
The role of the divertor configuration and divertor plasma physics on the L–H transition is poorly understood, leading to large uncertainties in predicting the L–H power threshold in future ...devices. This contribution reports on edge perpendicular plasma flow measurements by Doppler backscattering in JET L–H transition experiments with the outer divertor strike-point at different positions: horizontal target (HT), vertical target (VT), and in the corner configuration (between the HT and VTs). The edge perpendicular flow was found to be significantly affected by changes in the divertor configuration in the region inside the separatrix. Our results do not show evidence for the existence of a critical edge flow shear needed to achieve H-mode for different divertor configurations, with a larger shear observed for the VT configuration. No significant change in the shear flow and in the density fluctuation level is measured preceding the L–H transition in the region just inside the separatrix. The dynamics of the L–H transitions are also influenced by the divertor configuration with divertor oscillations (DOs) observed only in the HT configuration. Interestingly, DOs are associated with marked changes in the edge perpendicular flow around the separatrix.
This work discusses the possible mechanisms that have led to the degradation of the pedestal pressure height and pedestal stability of low triangularity peeling-ballooning (PB) limited pla-smas from ...JET with the carbon wall (JET-C) to JET with the ITER-like wall (JET-ILW). The work shows that the lower pedestal stability of JET-ILW is not directly caused by the presence of a metal wall, but rather due to the operational constraints that require operation with high gas fuelling. Recent results have suggested the possible role of the distance between the density and temperature pedestal positions (nepos − Tepos, also called the 'relative shift') with increasing gas fuelling rate on the PB stability of JET-ILW baseline plasmas (Stefanikova et al 2018 Nucl. Fusion 58 056010). The work further extends the analysis of the role of the relative shift, showing that it plays an important role in the difference between the pedestal performance of JET-C and JET-ILW. Moreover, the work also shows that the pedestal density neped, Zeff, and pedestal pressure width wpe play an important role in this difference. The pedestal structure and stability have been studied both experimentally and by modelling. The modelling shows that the changes in nepos − Tepos, neped, Zeff, and wpe are sufficient to explain the differences in the pedestal performance between JET-C and JET-ILW PB limited discharges. A hypothesis describing the possible mechanisms leading to the degradation of the pedestal pressure and stability from JET-C to JET-ILW in PB limited plasmas is put forward.
Abstract
A reduction of the pedestal pressure with increasing separatrix density over pedestal density (
n
e
sep
/
n
e
ped
) has been observed in JET. The physics behind this correlation is ...investigated. The correlation is due to two distinct mechanisms. The increase of
n
e
sep
/
n
e
ped
till ≈0.4 shifts the pedestal pressure radially outwards, decreasing the peeling-balloning stability and reducing the pressure height. The effect of the position saturates above
n
e
sep
/
n
e
ped
≈ 0.4. For higher values, the reduction of the pedestal pressure is ascribed to increased turbulent transport and, likely, to resistive MHD effects. The increase of
n
e
sep
/
n
e
ped
above ≈0.4 reduces ∇
n
e
/n
e
, increasing
η
e
and the pedestal turbulent transport. This reduces the pressure gradient and the pedestal temperature, producing an increase in the pedestal resistivity. The work suggests that the increase in resistivity might destabilize resistive balloning modes, further reducing the pedestal stability.
A series of carefully designed validation experiments conducted on DIII-D to rigorously test gyrofluid and gyrokinetic predictions of transport and turbulence stiffness in both the ion and electron ...channels have provided an improved assessment of the experimental fidelity of those models over a range of plasma parameters. The first set of experiments conducted was designed to test predictions of H-mode core transport stiffness at fixed pedestal density and temperature. In low triangularity lower single null plasmas, a factor of 3 variation in neutral beam injection (NBI) heating was obtained, with modest changes to pedestal conditions that slowly increased with applied heating. The measurements and trends with increased NBI heating at both low and high injected torque are generally well-reproduced by the quasilinear trapped gyro-Landau fluid (TGLF) transport model at the lowest heating levels, but with decreasing fidelity (particularly in the electron profiles) as the heating power is increased. Complementing these global stiffness studies, a second set of experiments was performed to quantify the relationship between the local electron energy flux Qe and electron temperature gradient by varying the deposition profile of electron cyclotron heating about a specified reference radius in low density, low current L-mode plasmas. Modelling of these experiments using both the TGLF model and the nonlinear gyrokinetic GYRO code yields systematic underpredictions of the measured fluxes and fluctuation levels.
Abstract
The ELM triggering mechanism in tokamaks is not yet fully understood. For example, in the JET tokamak with ITER-like wall (commonly called JET-ILW), the ELMs are sometimes triggered before ...the ideal peeling-ballooning (PB) boundary is reached. This typically occurs for shots with high input power and high gas rate. The discrepancy between model and experiment has in previous works been clearly correlated with the relative shift between the electron temperature and density pedestals. The discrepancy has also been correlated with the resistivity in the middle-bottom of the pedestal. The present work shows that resistive MHD can have a significant impact on the PB stability of JET pedestals. The inclusion of resistivity removes the correlation between the discrepancy from the PB stability and the relative shift (the difference between the position of the electron temperature and density pedestals) and significantly improves the agreement between PB model and experimental results. The work also shows that the key parameter is the resistivity at the pedestal bottom, near the separatrix, while the resistivity near the middle/top of the pedestal has a negligible effect on the PB stability of JET plasmas.
Density and magnetic fluctuation measurements in low-β type-III ELM discharges are obtained in the Joint European Torus (JET). They are observed during the inter-ELM pedestal evolution, after the LH ...transition phase, at about 60-70 kHz. Density fluctuations are measured with a correlation reflectometer system installed on the low-field side and they are localized at the pedestal top. Magnetic fluctuations with a spatial scale kyρi∼0.1 are measured through a high resolution coil array. The main features and the relations with local plasma parameters are presented. The nature of these fluctuations is discussed along with linear gyrokinetic simulations. Ion temperature gradient (ITG) modes are the dominant instabilities in the frequency range of interest. In terms of radial localization, typical oscillation frequency and qualitative relation with the possible linear drive, ITG modes are consistent with the experimental density fluctuations measurements. Micro-tearing modes (MTMs), found unstable with a lower growth rate, appear a possible explanation for magnetic fluctuations in terms of typical wavenumbers and direction of propagation.
Abstract
The heating power to access the high confinement mode (H-mode),
P
LH
, scales approximately inversely with the isotope mass of the main ion plasma species as found in (protonic) hydrogen, ...deuterium and tritium plasmas in many fusion facilities over the last decades. In first dedicated L–H transition experiments at the Joint European Torus (JET) tokamak facility with the ITER-like wall (ILW), the power threshold,
P
LH
, was studied systematically in plasmas of pure tritium and hydrogen–tritium mixtures at a magnetic field of 1.8 T and a plasma current of 1.7 MA in order to assess whether this scaling still holds in a metallic wall device. The measured power thresholds,
P
LH
, in Ohmically heated tritium plasmas agree well with the expected isotope scaling for metallic walls and the lowest power threshold was found in Ohmic phases at low density. The measured power thresholds in ion cyclotron heated plasmas of pure tritium or hydrogen–tritium mixtures are significantly higher than the expected isotope mass scaling due to higher radiation levels. However, when the radiated power is taken into account, the ion cyclotron heated plasmas exhibit similar power thresholds as a neutral beam heated plasma, and are close to the scaling. The tritium plasmas in this study tended to higher electron heating fractions and, when heated with ion cyclotron waves, to relatively higher radiation fractions compared to other isotopes potentially impeding access to sustained H-modes.
An extensive set of tests comparing gyrokinetic predictions of temperature-gradient driven electron turbulence to power balance transport analyses and fluctuation measurements are presented. These ...tests use data from an L-mode validation study on the DIII-D tokamak (Luxon 2002 Nucl. Fusion 42 614) in which the local value of is varied by modulated electron cyclotron heating; the GYRO code (Candy and Waltz 2003 J. Comput. Phys. 186 545) is used to make the gyrokinetic predictions. Using a variety of novel measures, both local and global nonlinear simulations are shown to predict key characteristics of the electron energy flux Qe and long-wavelength (low-k) Te fluctuations, but systematically underpredict (by roughly a factor of two) the ion energy flux Qi. A new synthetic diagnostic for comparison to intermediate wavelength Doppler backscattering measurements is presented, and used to compare simulation predictions against experiment. In contrast to the agreement observed in the low-k Te fluctuation comparisons, little agreement is found between the predicted and measured intermediate-k density fluctuation responses. The results presented in this paper significantly expand upon those previously reported in DeBoo et al (2010 Phys. Plasmas 17 056105), comparing transport and multiple turbulence predictions from numerically converged local and global simulations for all four experimental heating configurations (instead of only fluxes and low-k Te fluctuations for one condition) to measurements and power balance analyses.
Abstract
Nonlinear multiscale gyrokinetic simulations of a Joint European Torus edge pedestal are used to show that electron-temperature-gradient (ETG) turbulence has a rich three-dimensional ...structure, varying strongly according to the local magnetic-field configuration. In the plane normal to the magnetic field, the steep pedestal electron temperature gradient gives rise to anisotropic turbulence with a radial (normal) wavelength much shorter than in the binormal direction. In the parallel direction, the location and parallel extent of the turbulence are determined by the variation in the magnetic drifts and finite-Larmor-radius (FLR) effects. The magnetic drift and FLR topographies have a perpendicular-wavelength dependence, which permits turbulence intensity maxima near the flux-surface top and bottom at longer binormal scales, but constrains turbulence to the outboard midplane at shorter electron-gyroradius binormal scales. Our simulations show that long-wavelength ETG turbulence does not transport heat efficiently, and significantly decreases overall ETG transport—in our case by ∼40%—through multiscale interactions.
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