EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

Book High Harmonic Fast Wave Heating Experiments on NSTX

Download or read book High Harmonic Fast Wave Heating Experiments on NSTX written by J. R. Wilson and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 6 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Profile Modifications Resulting from Early High harmonic Fast Wave Heating in NSTX

Download or read book Profile Modifications Resulting from Early High harmonic Fast Wave Heating in NSTX written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experiments have been performed in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) to inject high harmonic fast wave (HHFW) power early during the plasma current ramp-up in an attempt to reduce the current penetration rate to raise the central safety factor during the flattop phase of the discharge. To date, up to 2 MW of HHFW power has been coupled to deuterium plasmas as early as t= 50 ms using the slowest interstrap phasing of k approximately equals 14 m(superscript)-1 (nf= 24). Antenna-plasma gap scans have been performed and find that for small gaps (5-8 cm), electron heating is observed with relatively small density rises and modest reductions in current penetration rate. For somewhat larger gaps (10-12 cm), weak electron heating is observed but with a spontaneous density rise at the plasma edge similar to that observed in NSTX H-modes. In the larger gap configuration, EFIT code reconstructions (without MSE[motional Stark effect]) find that resistive flux consumption is reduced as much as 30%, the internal inductance is maintained below 0.6 at 1 MA into the flattop, q(0) is increased significantly, and the MHD stability character of the discharges is strongly modified.

Book High harmonic Fast Wave Heating and Current Drive Results for Deuterium H mode Plasmas in the National Spherical Torus Experiment

Download or read book High harmonic Fast Wave Heating and Current Drive Results for Deuterium H mode Plasmas in the National Spherical Torus Experiment written by and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A critical research goal for the spherical torus (ST) program is to initiate, ramp-up, and sustain a discharge without using the central solenoid. Simulations of non-solenoidal plasma scenarios in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) [1] predict that high-harmonic fast wave (HHFW) heating and current drive (CD) [2] can play an important roll in enabling fully non-inductive (fNI ≈ 1) ST operation. The NSTX fNI ≈ 1 strategy requires 5-6 MW of HHFW power (PRF) to be coupled into a non-inductively generated discharge [3] with a plasma current, Ip ≈ 250-350 kA, driving the plasma into an HHFW H-mode with Ip ≈ 500 kA, a level where 90 keV deuterium neutral beam injection (NBI) can heat the plasma and provide additional CD. The initial approach on NSTX has been to heat Ip ≈ 300 kA, inductively heated, deuterium plasmas with CD phased HHFW power [2], in order to drive the plasma into an H-mode with fNI ≈ 1.

Book High harmonic Fast wave Heating in NSTX

Download or read book High harmonic Fast wave Heating in NSTX written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: High-Harmonic Fast-Wave (HHFW), a radio-frequency technique scenario applicable to high-beta plasmas, has been selected as one of the main auxiliary heating systems on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). The HHFW antenna assembly comprises 12 toroidally adjacent current elements, extending poloidally and centered on the equatorial plane. This paper reviews experimental results obtained with a symmetrical (vacuum) launching spectrum with k= 14 m(superscript ''-1'') at a frequency of 30 MHz. We describe results obtained when HHFW power is applied to helium and deuterium plasmas, during the plasma-current flattop period of the discharge. Application of 1.8-MW HHFW pulse to MHD quiescent plasmas resulted in strong electron heating, during which the central electron temperature T(subscript ''eo'') more than doubled from approximately 0.5 keV to 1.15 keV. In deuterium plasmas, HHFW heating was found less efficient, with a central electron temperature increase of the order of 40% during a 1.8-MW HHFW pulse, from approximately 400 eV to approximately 550 eV. (At HHFW power of 2.4 MW, central electron temperature increased by 60%, reaching 0.625 keV.) HHFW heating in presence of MHD activity is also discussed. A short neutral-beam pulse was applied to permit charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy (CHERS) measurement of the impurity ion temperature T(subscript ''i''). Preliminary CHERS analysis show that ion temperature approximately equals electron temperature during HHFW heating. Of special interest are deuterium discharges, where the application of HHFW power was done during the current ramp-up. We observe the creation of large density gradients in the edge region. In the latter case, the density rose spontaneously to n (subscript ''eo'') less than or equal to 8 x 10 (superscript ''13'') cm (superscript ''-3'').

Book High harmonic Fast Wave Heating Experiments in CDX U

Download or read book High harmonic Fast Wave Heating Experiments in CDX U written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the primary objectives of the proposed National Spherical Tokamak Experiment (NSTX) is the investigation of very high[beta] regimes. Consequently, finding efficient methods of non-inductive heating and current drive required to heat and sustain such plasmas is of considerable importance. High-frequency fast waves are a promising candidate in this regard. However, in NSTX, the field-line pitch at the outer midplane will range from 0 up to 60 degrees from plasma start-up to current flattop. Thus, antenna strap orientation with respect to the edge magnetic field may have a serious impact on power coupling and absorption. To address this issue, the vacuum vessel of the Current Drive Experiment -- Upgrade (CDX-U) spherical tokamak has been upgraded to accommodate a rotatable two-strap antenna capable of handling several hundred kilowatts in short pulses. Details of the antenna design and results from loading measurements made as a function of power, strap angle, and strap phasing will be presented. Results from microwave scattering experiments will also be discussed.

Book Results of NSTX Heating Experiments

Download or read book Results of NSTX Heating Experiments written by D. Mueller and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 8 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book High Harmonic Fast Wave Heating in NSTX

Download or read book High Harmonic Fast Wave Heating in NSTX written by B. P. LeBlanc and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 12 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Spectral Effects on Fast Wave Core Heating and Current Drive

Download or read book Spectral Effects on Fast Wave Core Heating and Current Drive written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent results obtained with high harmonic fast wave (HHFW) heating and current drive (CD) on NSTX strongly support the hypothesis that the onset of perpendicular fast wave propagation right at or very near the launcher is a primary cause for a reduction in core heating efficiency at long wavelengths that is also observed in ICRF heating experiments in numerous tokamaks. A dramatic increase in core heating efficiency was first achieved in NSTX L-mode helium majority plasmas when the onset for perpendicular wave propagation was moved away from the antenna and nearby vessel structures. Efficient core heating in deuterium majority L mode and H mode discharges, in which the edge density is typically higher than in comparable helium majority plasmas, was then accomplished by reducing the edge density in front of the launcher with lithium conditioning and avoiding operational points prone to instabilities. These results indicate that careful tailoring of the edge density profiles in ITER should be considered to limit rf power losses to the antenna and plasma facing materials. Finally, in plasmas with reduced rf power losses in the edge regions, the first direct measurements of high harmonic fast wave current drive were obtained with the motional Stark effect (MSE) diagnostic. The location and radial dependence of HHFW CD measured by MSE are in reasonable agreement with predictions from both full wave and ray tracing simulations.

Book Recent Developments in High Harmonic Fast Wave Physics in NSTX

Download or read book Recent Developments in High Harmonic Fast Wave Physics in NSTX written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding the interaction between ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) fast waves and the fast-ions created by neutral beam injection (NBI) is critical for future devices such as ITER, which rely on a combination ICRF and NBI. Experiments in NSTX which use 30 MHz High-Harmonic Fast-Wave (HHFW) ICRF and NBI heating show a competition between electron heating via Landau damping and transit-time magnetic pumping, and radio-frequency wave acceleration of NBI generated fast ions. Understanding and mitigating some of the power loss mechanisms outside the last closed flux surface (LCFS) has resulted in improved HHFW heating inside the LCFS. Nevertheless a significant fraction of the HHFW power is diverted away from the enclosed plasma. Part of this power is observed locally on the divertor. Experimental observations point toward the radio-frequency (RF) excitation of surface waves, which disperse wave power outside the LCFS, as a leading loss mechanism. Lithium coatings lower the density at the antenna, thereby moving the critical density for perpendicular fast-wave propagation away from the antenna and surrounding material surfaces. Visible and infrared imaging reveal flows of RF power along open field lines into the divertor region. In L-mode -- low average NBI power -- conditions, the fast-ion D-alpha (FIDA) diagnostic measures a near doubling and broadening of the density profile of the upper energetic level of the fast ions concurrent with the presence of HHFW power launched with k// =-8m-1. We are able to heat NBI-induced H-mode plasmas with HHFW. The captured power is expected to be split between absorption by the electrons and absorption by the fast ions, based on TORIC calculation. In the case discussed here the Te increases over the whole profile when ~2MW of HHFW power with antenna k// =13m-1 is applied after the H-mode transition. But somewhat unexpectedly fast-ion diagnostics do not observe a change between the HHFW heated NBI discharge and the reference NBI only plasma, although an increase in neutron production is measured. __________________________________________________

Book High harmonic Fast Wave Heating Experiments in CDX U

Download or read book High harmonic Fast Wave Heating Experiments in CDX U written by Jonathan Edward Menard and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Understanding Ion Cyclotron Harmonic Fast Wave Heating Losses in the Scrape Off Layer of Tokamak Plasmas

Download or read book Understanding Ion Cyclotron Harmonic Fast Wave Heating Losses in the Scrape Off Layer of Tokamak Plasmas written by and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fast waves at harmonics of the ion cyclotron frequency, which have been used successfully on National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX), will also play an important role in ITER and are a promising candidate for the Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF) designs based on spherical torus (ST). Experimental studies of high harmonic fast waves (HHFW) heating on the NSTX have demonstrated that substantial HHFW power loss occurs along the open field lines in the scrape-off layer (SOL), but the mechanism behind the loss is not yet understood. The full wave RF code AORSA, in which the edge plasma beyond the last closed flux surface (LCFS) is included in the solution domain, is applied to specific NSTX discharges in order to predict the effects and possible causes of this power loss. In the studies discussed here, a collisional damping parameter has been implemented in AORSA as a proxy to represent the real, and most likely nonlinear, damping processes. A prediction for the NSTX Upgrade (NSTX-U) experiment, that will begin operation next year, is also presented, indicating a favorable condition for the experiment due to a wider evanescent region in edge density.*Research supported by the U.S. DOE under Contract No. DE-AC02-09CH11466 with Princeton University.