The Texas Experimental Tokamak


Book Description

The Fusion Research Center (FRC) at the University Texas will operate the tokamak TEXT-U and its associated systems for experimental research in basic plasma physics. While the tokamak is not innovative, the research program, diagnostics and planned experiments are. The fusion community will reap the benefits of the success in completing the upgrades (auxiliary heating, divertor, diagnostics, wall conditioning), developing diverted discharges in both double and single null configurations, exploring improved confinement regimes including a limiter H-mode, and developing unique, critical turbulence diagnostics. With these new regimes, the authors are poised to perform the sort of turbulence and transport studies for which the TEXT group has distinguished itself and for which the upgrade was intended. TEXT-U is also a facility for collaborators to perform innovative experiments and develop diagnostics before transferring them to larger machines. The general philosophy is that the understanding of plasma physics must be part of any intelligent fusion program, and that basic experimental research is the most important part of any such program. The emphasis of the proposed research is to provide well-documented plasmas which will be used to suggest and evaluate theories, to explore control techniques, to develop advanced diagnostics and analysis techniques, and to extend current drive techniques. Up to 1 MW of electron cyclotron heating (ECH) will be used not only for heating but as a localized, perturbative tool. Areas of proposed research are: (1) core turbulence and transport; (2) edge turbulence and transport; (3) turbulence analysis; (4) improved confinement; (5) ECH physics; (6) Alfven wave current drive; and (7) diagnostic development.




Active Probing of Plasma Edge Turbulence and Feedback Studies on the Texas Experimental Tokamak (TEXT).


Book Description

The edge fluctuations play a critical role in the overall tokamak confinement. Experiments on TEXT show that electrostatic fluctuations in the edge plasma are the dominant mechanism for energy and particle transport. The basic mechanisms responsible for the edge turbulence are the subject of ongoing research in fusion devices. To understand the driving forces responsible for edge fluctuations, a novel experiment is underway on TEXT to actively modify the turbulence at the plasma edge by launching waves using electrostatic probes in the shadow of the limiter. This technique permits active probing of the spectral properties of the edge turbulence. This new approach to the study of edge fluctuations can provide more insight into the basic dynamics of the turbulence and may, in turn, enable detailed comparison with the theory. These experiments, which rely on the use of oscillating electric fields at the plasma edge, complement edge fluctuation control studies that are presently limited to the use of applied dc biasing to influence the edge electric field profile. These experiments have been extended to control of the edge plasma fluctuation level, using feedback to explore its effects on the edge turbulence characteristics as well as on confinement.




Turbulent Transport in Magnetized Plasmas


Book Description

The book explains how magnetized plasmas self-organize in states of electromagnetic turbulence that transports particles and energy out of the core plasma faster than anticipated by the fusion scientists designing magnetic confinement systems in the 20th century. It describes theory, experiments and simulations in a unified and up-to-date presentation of the issues of achieving nuclear fusion power.




Texas Experimental Tokamak, a Plasma Research Facility


Book Description

In the year just past, the authors made major progress in understanding turbulence and transport in both core and edge. Development of the capability for turbulence measurements throughout the poloidal cross section and intelligent consideration of the observed asymmetries, played a critical role in this work. In their confinement studies, a limited plasma with strong, H-mode-like characteristics serendipitously appeared and received extensive study though a diverted H-mode remains elusive. In the plasma edge, they appear to be close to isolating a turbulence drive mechanism. These are major advances of benefit to the community at large, and they followed from incremental improvements in diagnostics, in the interpretation of the diagnostics, and in TEXT itself. Their general philosophy is that the understanding of plasma physics must be part of any intelligent fusion program, and that basic experimental research is the most important part of any such program. The work here demonstrates a continuing dedication to the problems of plasma transport which continue to plague the community and are an impediment to the design of future devices. They expect to show here that they approach this problem consistently, systematically, and effectively.




Cross-field Particle Transport in the Edge of Plasma of Tokamak Experiments and Implications for ITER


Book Description

Particle transport in the edge plasma and scrape-off layer will play a key role in the performance and operation of a tokamak fusion reactor: setting the width of the scrape-off layer density profile and its impurity screening characteristics, regulating the energetic particle fluxes onto first-wall components and associated impurity generation rates, and determining the effectiveness of the divertor in receiving particle exhaust and controlling neutral pressures in the main-chamber. The processes which govern particle transport involve plasma turbulence, phenomena which can not yet be reliably computed from a first-principles numerical simulation. Thus, in order to project to a reactor-scale experiment, such as ITER, one must first develop an understanding of particle transport phenomena based on experimental measurements in existing plasma fusion devices. Over the past few years of research, a number of fundamental advances in the understanding of the cross-field particle transport physics have occurred, replacing crude, incorrect, and often misleading transport models such as the "constant diffusion coefficient" model with a more appropriate description of the phenomenon. It should be noted that this description applies to transport processes in the absence of ELM phenomenon, i.e., physics underlying the "background" plasma state. In this letter, we first review the experimental support for this understanding which is based extensively on data from L-mode discharges and from H-mode discharges at time intervals without ELMs. We then comment on its implications for ITER.




Theory of Fusion Plasmas


Book Description

The Joint Varenna-Lausanne International Workshop on Theory of Fusion Plasmas takes place every other year in a place particularly favorable for informal and in depth discussions. Invited and contributed papers present state-of-the art researches in theoretical plasma physics, covering all domains relevant to fusion plasmas. This workshop always allows a fruitful mix of experienced researchers and students, to allow for a better understanding of the key theoretical physics models and applications, such as: Theoretical issues related to burning plasmas; Anomalous Transport (Turbulence, Coherent Structures, Microinstabilities) RF Heating and Current Drive; Macroinstabilities; Plasma-Edge Physics and Divertors; Fast particles instabilities.




Turbulent Transport Modeling in the Edge Plasma of Tokamaks


Book Description

The possibility to produce power by using magnetically confined fusion is a scientific and technological challenge. The perspective of ITER conveys strong signals to intensify modeling effort on magnetized fusion plasmas. The success of the fusion operation is conditioned by the quality of plasma confinement in the core of the reactor and by the control of plasma exhaust on the wall. Both phenomena are related to turbulent cross-field transport that is at the heart of the notion of magnetic confinement studies, particle and heat losses. The study of edge phenomena is therefore complicated by a particularly complex magnetic geometry.This calls for an improvement of our capacity to develop numerical tools able to reproduce turbulent transport properties reliable to predict particle and energy fluxes on the plasma facing components. This thesis introduces the TOKAM3X fluid model to simulate edge plasma turbulence. A special focus is made on the code Verification and the Validation. It is a necessary step before using a code as a predictive tool. Then new insights on physical properties of the edge plasma turbulence are explored. In particular, the poloidal asymmetries induced by turbulence and observed experimentally in the Low-Field-Side of the devices are investigated in details. Great care is dedicated to the reproduction of the MISTRAL base case which consists in changing the magnetic configuration and observing the impact on parallel flows in the poloidal plane. The simulations recover experimental measurements and provide new insights on the effect of the plasma-wall contact position location on the turbulent features, which were not accessible in experiments.




Texas Experimental Tokamak


Book Description

This progress report covers the period from November 1, 1990 to April 30, 1993. During that period, TEXT was operated as a circular tokamak with a material limiter. It was devoted to the study of basic plasma physics, in particular to study of fluctuations, turbulence, and transport. The purpose is to operate and maintain TEXT Upgrade as a complete facility for applied tokamak physics, specifically to conduct a research program under the following main headings: (1) to elucidate the mechanisms of working gas, impurity, and thermal transport in tokamaks, in particular to understand the role of turbulence; (2) to study physics of the edge plasma, in particular the turbulence; (3) to study the physics or resonant magnetic fields (ergodic magnetic divertors, intra island pumping); and (4) to study the physics of electron cyclotron heating (ECRH). Results of studies in each of these areas are reported.