Self-organization in a tokamak plasma

Conclusions The observed tendency for certain optimal current-density and pressure profiles to be maintained can be interpreted if one assumes a relaxed state in the plasma, which corresponds to minimal total energy for a given current. With optimal power deposition, when the current-density and pressure profiles also remain optimal, ohmic scaling may be maintained up to fairly high densities, i.e., fairly high _p. If the power deposition profile deviates from optimal, the plasma resists deviation from the optimal profiles, and the more so the higher _p. The thermal-conductivity profile is modified to maintain the relaxed state. Nonoptimal profiles may lead to degradation in the global energy lifetime _E, which can be related phenomenologically to pumping of magnetic noise by the excess free energy F. Our argument provides a qualitative explanation of the self-organization physics.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 29, No. 9, pp. 1032–1040, September, 1986.     

Energy deposition of fast α particles in a fully ionized deuterium-tritium plasma

An α particle transport equation has been solved analytically in one-dimensional spherical geometry when the plasma properties are uniform in space and time. The results agree well with earlier results.     

Transport bifurcation in a rotating tokamak plasma

The effect of flow shear on turbulent transport in tokamaks is studied numerically in the experimentally relevant limit of zero magnetic shear. It is found that the plasma is linearly stable for all nonzero flow shear values, but that subcritical turbulence can be sustained nonlinearly at a wide range of temperature gradients. Flow shear increases the nonlinear temperature gradient threshold for turbulence but also increases the sensitivity of the heat flux to changes in the temperature gradient, except over a small range near the threshold where the sensitivity is decreased. A bifurcation in the equilibrium gradients is found: for a given input of heat, it is possible, by varying the applied torque, to trigger a transition to significantly higher temperature and flow gradients.     

Electron cyclotron heating in the WT-1 tokamak

When a high power microwave is injected into a tokamak plasma, the intensities of microwave radiations emitted from the plasma and those of impurity lines are increased. Such increases are observed only when the electron cyclotron resonance field is present in the torus. The upper hybrid resonance heating is also observed near the plasma surface.     

"Snowflake" H mode in a tokamak plasma

An edge-localized mode (ELM) H-mode regime, supported by electron cyclotron heating, has been successfully established in a "snowflake" (second-order null) divertor configuration for the first time in the TCV tokamak. This regime exhibits 2 to 3 times lower ELM frequency and 20%-30% increased normalized ELM energy (ΔWELM/Wp) compared to an identically shaped, conventional single-null diverted H mode. Enhanced stability of mid- to high-toroidal-mode-number ideal modes is consistent with the different snowflake ELM phenomenology. The capability of the snowflake to redistribute the edge power on the additional strike points has been confirmed experimentally.     

Plasma confinement and skin currents in a small tokamak with turbulent heating

Results on plasma confinement, heating, suprathermal radiation and overall conductivity together with the time development of radial current density profiles during current-driven turbulence in the toroidal device “TORTUR” are reported.     

Feasibility of rf plasma heating in the Globus-M spherical tokamak at frequencies above the ion cyclotron frequency

Feasibility of rf plasma heating in the Globus-M spherical tokamak at frequencies several times higher than the ion cyclotron frequency is considered. Results from a numerical analysis of this problem by using one-and two-dimensional codes are presented. It is shown that, for the plasma parameters attainable in this device, the single-pass absorption of fast magnetosonic waves reaches 60%. The energy is released near the plasma axis. The radiation resistance of a one-loop antenna should be close to 1 Ω. The design of an antenna that allows one to match the rf oscillator to the load is described. The parameters of the antenna resonator required for optimum operation of the antenna are given.     

Eddy current effects on plasma equilibrium in a single-turn tokamak

In a fusion experiment based on the single-turn tokamak concept, the plasma is surrounded by a massive conducting structure composed of several layers of material with different resistivities. This conducting shell is located near the plasma edge and is magnetically coupled to the plasma column. The plasma magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibrium is studied by neglecting the effect of structural induced currents. Eddy current effects are then analyzed. Poloidal uniformization of the poloidal field magnet current distribution required for plasma equilibrium is demonstrated. The possibility of continuous-limiter discharges in a single-turn tokamak configuration is pointed out. The significance of these results for the operation of a high-current tokamak experiment is discussed     

An ohmic heating circuit for the CASTOR tokamak

A simple ohmic heating circuit for the CASTOR tokamak is described. A test 19 kA discharge with duration of 40 ms is presented.The author thanks to Mr. J. Zelenka who made the most parts of the system.     

Fokker-planck study of tokamak electron cyclotron resonance heating

A Fokker－Planck study is carried out for tokamak electron cyclotron resonance heating by writing the quasi-linear diffusion operator into a form adaptive to the collision operator and considering the wave absorption characteristics of both the O-mode and the X-mode in different magnetic surfaces. Though the Fokker－Planck code is non-relativistic in nature, however, if the relativistic resonance condition for the nearly perpendicularly propagating waves is treated suitably, we can obtain correct results. The energy loss mechanism through anomalous transport is also modelled using a suitable loss term. In the heating phase, the electron distribution deviates from the Maxwellian distribution substantially, which leads to non-linear absorption characteristics. The wave damping rate is non-linear and changes with time. The electron pressure is usually anisotropic under different conditions: p_{e⊥}/p_{e‖}>2 for different D_0 and τ_e.