Investigation of the effect of electron cyclotron heating on runaway generation in the KSTAR tokamak

Wave enhanced runaway generation is expected to play an important role in the conversion of plasma current into runaway current during major disruptions. The fast electrons created by electron cyclotron heating (ECH) were used to study this issue in KSTAR. It is found that the fast electrons driven by ECH can enhance runaway production in the flat top phase with high loop voltage. The runaway current in disruptions was not enhanced by the ECH produced fast electron population due to the strong magnetic fluctuations which inhibited the generation of runaway electrons. It is found that a complete loss of existing REs during thermal quench has occurred in KSTAR limiter configuration discharges.     

HT-7 Tokamak离子回旋波和低杂波等离子体逃逸电子行为研究

HT-7 Tokamak拥有离子回旋波(ICRF)和低杂波(LHW)两套加热系统.ICRF主要对加热离子有比较好的加热效果,LHW则主要是通过电子Landau阻尼加热电子.除此之外,在ICRF和LHW协同加热的条件下,可以对等离子体产生更有效的加热效果,增加等离子体的聚变反应截面,增加聚变中子产额.本文报道了LHW对改善ICRF和等离子体耦合的重要作用,ICRF和LHW加热等离子体中电子温度随时间的演化过程,计算了放电过程中电子逃逸的阈值能量,分析了逃逸电子的产生过程,以及放电过程中的中子产额.研究结果发     

低杂波电流驱动中的雪崩逃逸增强及鱼骨不稳定性

等离子体中存在的一定数量的高能逃逸电子（E≥1MeV)通过大角度库仑散射从等离子体中碰撞出二次电子，二次电子被低杂波有效地加速成为逃逸电子，这些逃逸电子又被正反馈回等离子体，形成雪崩现象。在此过程中，一部分获得较大横向动量的二次电子或由低杂波驱动的高能电子可能被香蕉轨道捕获，这些被捕获在磁岛中的电子与某种模式的磁场扰动共振时，就出现鱼骨不稳定现象。     

Suppression of runaway electrons by resonant magnetic perturbations in TEXTOR disruptions

The generation of runaway electrons in the international fusion experiment ITER disruptions can lead to severe damage at plasma facing components. Massive gas injection might inhibit the generation process, but the amount of gas needed can affect, e.g., vacuum systems. Alternatively, magnetic perturbations can suppress runaway generation by increasing the loss rate. In TEXTOR disruptions runaway losses were enhanced by the application of resonant magnetic perturbations with toroidal mode number n=1 and n=2. The disruptions are initiated by fast injection of about 3x10{21} argon atoms, which leads to a reliable generation of runaway electrons. At sufficiently high perturbation levels a reduction of the runaway current, a shortening of the current plateau, and the suppression of high energetic runaways are observed. These findings indicate the suppression of the runaway avalanche during disruptions.     

Enhanced production of runaway electrons during a disruptive termination of discharges heated with lower hybrid power in the Frascati Tokamak Upgrade

We report on the observation of a large production of runaway electrons during a disruptive termination of discharges heated with lower-hybrid waves at the Frascati Tokamak Upgrade. The runaway current plateaus, which can carry up to 80% of the predisruptive current, are observed more often than in normal Ohmic disruptions. The largest runaway currents correspond to the slowest plasma current decay rates. This trend is opposite to what is observed in most tokamaks. We attribute this anomalous behavior to the acceleration of the preexistent wave-resonant suprathermal electrons during the disruption decay phase. These results could be relevant for the operation of the ITER tokamak whenever a sizeable amount of lower-hybrid power is made available.     

The Diffusion Coefficient Using Sawtooth Oscillation in IR-T1 Tokamak

The investigation of runaway electrons is expanded by different methods. The aim of this study is to show sawtooth oscillations of hard x-ray emission and with the help of sawtooth oscillations to obtain radial diffusion coefficient and magnetic fluctuations. In the same way, the hard x-ray spectral evaluation is compared in several time intervals and it is shown that during discharge,the energy of the runaway electrons is less than 200 keV. Also,for typical plasmas, population of runaway electrons is measured at seven time intervals of 5 ms and temporal evaluation of runaway electron mean energy. The sawtooth-like shape is observed in the hard x-ray range(10-1000 keV). By the sawtooth oscillation method, the RE diffusion coefficient in radial transport in the IR-T1 plasma is D_r~0.5 m~2 s~(-1). The magnetic field fluctuation due to magnetic diffusion D_m is given as br/Br~10~(-4).     

Runaway Electron Measurements in the EAST Tokamak

An experimental study of runaway electrons in the EAST tokamak has been performed by a recently developed multi‐channel hard x‐ray diagnostics based on NaI(TL) scintillator detectors. It is found that in the current quench phase, the inductive loop voltage plays an important role in the generation of runaway electrons. And the avalanche mechanism was the main mechanism for runaway electrons after the disruptions. The distribution and transportation of runaway electrons were also investigated by multi‐channel hard x‐ray diagnostics. It is also found that the intensity of runaway electrons emission in the core plasma was much higher than those in the downside of the cross‐section, while the emission intensity of runaway electrons in the core plasma was almost the same. Calculated shrinking coefficient of runaway electrons emission after the plasma disruption was about 26 m/s according to the experimental data (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

HT-7托卡马克等离子体密度调制实验中的逃逸电子行为

在HT-7托卡马克的等离子体密度调制实验中,通过对欧姆和低杂波电流驱动两种放电条件下等离子体逃逸电子辐射行为的研究,验证了非准稳态等离子体中逃逸电子的产生机制,研究了欧姆和低杂波电流驱动两种放电条件下的大量充气对等离子体整体约束性能的影响。研究结果发现:放电过程中额外的大量工作气体的充入使等离子体偏离了准稳态,逃逸电子初级产生机制和次级产生机制准稳态的假设条件被打破,这时候需要利用非准稳态条件下修正后的逃逸电子归一化阈值速度来解释逃逸电子的辐射行为; 同时也发现放电过程中额外的大量工作气体的充入将使等离子体的整体约束性能变差。     

AC operation and runaway electron behaviour in HT-7 tokamak

Operation of HT-7 tokamak in a multicycle alternating square wave plasma current regime is reported. A set of AC operation experiments, including LHW heating to enhance plasma ionization during the current transition and current sustainment, is described. The behaviour of runaway electrons is analysed by four HXR detectors tangentially viewing the plasma in the equatorial plane, within energy ranges 0.3--1.2~MeV and 0.3--7~MeV, separately. High energy runaway electrons (\sim MeV) are found to circulate predominantly in the opposite direction to the plasma current, while the number of low energy runaway electrons (\sim tens to hundreds of keV) circulating along the plasma current is comparable to that in the direction opposite to the plasma current. AC operation with lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) is observed to have an additional benefit of suppressing the runaway electrons if the drop of the loop voltage is large enough.     

低杂波电流驱动下HT-7超导托卡马克逃逸电子行为

 HT-7托卡马克的逃逸电子诊断系统由CdTe,BGO,Na三种探测器组成,可以用来观测逃逸电子撞击托卡马克第一壁材料产生的硬X射线轫致辐射,它的能量响应范围是0.3~1.5 MeV。结合电子回旋辐射、中子等诊断手段,研究了HT-7超导托卡马克在低杂波电流驱动下的逃逸电子行为。实验结果显示：高功率低杂波的关断和低功率低杂波的投入都会增强逃逸电子的产生,但是如果低杂波可以将等离子体环电压降低到逃逸的阈值电场以下,低杂波的投入就可以抑制电子的逃逸。逃逸电子的产生还和低杂波功率有着密切的关系,可以通过控制低杂波的投入和关断的时刻以及改变低杂波功率来抑制逃逸电子的产生。     

Sawtooth-like electron density oscillations under laser blow-off and lower hybrid current drive in HL-1M tokamak

By using of a six-channel HCN laser interferometer, the sawtooth-like density oscillations without being exhibited in the ohmic phase plasma have been observed during lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) discharges in the HL-1M device. There are often accompanied by injected impurity with laser blow-off. Analyses show that this kind of density sawtooth-like oscillation comes from the mutual effect of LHCD and impurity. An available mechanism is the loss of superthermal electrons by the magnetic perturbation, which is caused by the crash of the central accumulated impurities.     

Runaway-Ströme hoher Intensität in einer toroidalen Entladung

Intensive currents of runaway electrons with energies of 50 keV or more have been observed at high pressures in a plasma betatron in addition to betatron accelerated electrons at lower pressures. The measurements agree with the assumption that these electrons are accelerated in the external field while they are guided by the self magnetic field of the plasma current. Macroscopic instabilities and plasma waves can be excluded as accelerating mechanisms. The strong dependence of the runaway flux upon the gas pressure and the electric field can be explained by collisions between electrons and the other plasma particles. Furthermore the influence of the external magnetic field on the movement of the plasma current to the torus wall was investigated. A maximum circulating runaway current of more than 2000 A (Xenon) appeared when the plasma current was kept approximately in balance by the external magnetic field.     

托卡马克等离子体电流爬升阶段逃逸电子行为

 分析了电流爬升阶段等离子体密度和电流爬升率对逃逸电子行为的影响,研究了低杂波辅助电流驱动条件下的逃逸电子辐射行为。结果发现：电流爬升阶段等离子体密度的大小严重影响了电流爬升阶段甚至电流平顶阶段逃逸电子的行为,较低的等离子体密度将会导致放电过程中比较强的逃逸电子辐射;低能逃逸电子辐射随着电流爬升率的增大而增强;低杂波辅助电流爬升可以有效地节约装置的伏秒数;降低放电过程中的环电压,可有效抑制逃逸电子的产生。     

HL-1托卡马克中逃逸电子的最高能量和光致中子

本文描述我们在实验观察到每次放电结束之前或大破裂之后,强烈的高能X射线出现,同时伴随着较强的光致中子辐射。其时逃逸电子的最大能量,在考虑到回旋辐射损失及逃逸电子速度的径向分量引起的回旋半径变小等情况后经计算可达50-62MeV,光致中子的强度为2.5×10~(10)s~(-1),与JET在破裂条件下的经验定标关系大致相符。     

A confident source of hard X‐rays: radiation from a tokamak applicable for runaway electrons diagnosis

In a tokamak with a toroidal electric field, electrons that exceed the critical velocity are freely accelerated and can reach very high energies. These so‐called `runaway electrons' can cause severe damage to the vacuum vessel and are a dangerous source of hard X‐rays. Here the effect of toroidal electric and magnetic field changes on the characteristics of runaway electrons is reported. A possible technique for runaways diagnosis is the detection of hard X‐ray radiation; for this purpose, a scintillator (NaI) was used. Because of the high loop voltage at the beginning of a plasma, this investigation was carried out on toroidal electric field changes in the first 5 ms interval from the beginning of the plasma. In addition, the toroidal magnetic field was monitored for the whole discharge time. The results indicate that with increasing toroidal electric field the mean energy of runaway electrons rises, and also an increase in the toroidal magnetic field can result in a decrease in intensity of magnetohydrodynamic oscillations which means that for both conditions more of these high‐energy electrons will be generated.     

Current dynamics during disruptions in large tokamaks

Self-consistent modeling of the evolution of the plasma current during disruptions in large tokamaks is presented, taking into account both the generation of runaway electrons and their backreaction on the electric field. It is found that the current profile changes dramatically, so that the postdisruption current carried by runaway electrons is much more peaked than the thermal predisruption current. Although only a fraction of the thermal current is converted into runaway electrons, the central current density increases significantly for typical parameters in JET and ITER. It is also shown that the radial runaway profile can easily become filamented in the radial direction.     

纳秒脉冲气体放电中逃逸电子束流的研究

经典的放电理论(Townsend和流注理论)不能很好地解释纳秒脉冲放电中的现象,近年来基于高能量电子逃逸击穿的纳秒脉冲气体放电理论研究受到广泛关注,有研究发现,高能逃逸电子是纳秒脉冲气体放电中的新特征参数,本文研制了用于测量纳秒脉冲放电中逃逸电子束流的收集器,并对脉宽3—5ns、上升沿1.2—1.6 n8激励的大气压纳秒脉冲气体放电中逃逸电子束流进行了测量,收集器采用类似法拉第杯的原理,利用金属极收集纳秒脉冲放电中的高能电子,并转换为电信号后由示波器采集,为了获得更好的逃逸电子束流波形,对逃逸电子束流收集器进行了优化设计,提高了收集器的阻抗匹配特性,基于上述的逃逸电子束流收集器,研究了纳秒脉冲气体放电中逃逸电子的特征,实验结果表明,所设计的收集器可以有效地测量到逃逸电子束流,改进设计后收集器测得的逃逸电子柬流的时间分辨率和幅值均得到提高,施加电压约80 kV时,大气压空气中的逃逸电子束流幅值可达160 mA,脉宽小于1ns,多个脉冲激励放电的结果表明逃逸电子束流收集器具有较好的可靠性,其瞬态响应与时间分辨率比较稳定。     

Study of runaway electron behaviour during electron cyclotron resonance heating in the HL-2A Tokamak

During the current flat-top phase of electron cyclotron resonance heating discharges in the HL-2A Tokamak, the behaviour of runaway electrons has been studied by means of hard x-ray detectors and neutron diagnostics. During electron cyclotron resonance heating, it can be found that both hard x-ray radiation intensity and neutron emission flux fall rapidly to a very low level, which suggests that runaway electrons have been suppressed by electron cyclotron resonance heating. From the set of discharges studied in the present experiments, it has also been observed that the efficiency of runaway suppression by electron cyclotron resonance heating was apparently affected by two factors: electron cyclotron resonance heating power and duration. These results have been analysed by using a test particle model. The decrease of the toroidal electric field due to electron cyclotron resonance heating results in a rapid fall in the runaway electron energy that may lead to a suppression of runaway electrons. During electron cyclotron resonance heating with different powers and durations, the runaway electrons will experience different slowing down processes. These different decay processes are the major cause for influencing the efficiency of runaway suppression. This result is related to the safe operation of the Tokamak and may bring an effective control of runaway electrons.     

HT-7托卡马克等离子体slide-away放电研究

在HT-7托卡马克上,只在等离子体放电击穿阶段充气,击穿后关闭充气阀门,让装置内真空室器壁的出气维持放电的进行,通过密度衰减实现了slide-away放电.实验分析了不同等离子体电流平台下的slide-away放电模式的密度阈值,以及相同充气量的条件下放电等离子体电流对实现slide-away放电的影响.研究了slide-away放电模式下密度提升对等离子体放电状态的影响.结果发现,slide-away放电模式下的密度提升使得H_a线辐射强度增强,等离子体中超热电子的约束性能变差,等离子体芯部的超热电子减少,高能逃逸电子厚靶轫致辐射增加. 关键词： slide-away放电 托卡马克 等离子体 逃逸电子     

Experimental observation of interaction of runaway electrons with lower hybrid waves in slide-away regime in the HT-7 tokamak

The characters of slide-away regime in the HT-7 tokamak have been investigated, and evidences that lower hybrid waves (LHW) are excited in slide-away regime are presented based on local fast electron bremsstrahlung (FEB) emission profile and FEB emission spectrum. The interaction of high energy runaway electrons with those excited LHW via anomalous Doppler resonance is analyzed and the resonance energy is derived with which the behavior of those relevant signals in the experiment can be explained very well. It is shown that this interaction can provide an effective way to reduce the damage to the machine caused by runaway electrons.