Progress in the definition of the requirements for edge localized mode (ELM) control and the application of ELM control methods both for high fusion performance DT operation and non-active low-current operation in ITER is described. Evaluation of the power fluxes for low plasma current H-modes in ITER shows that uncontrolled ELMs will not lead to damage to the tungsten (W) divertor target, unlike for high-current H-modes in which divertor damage by uncontrolled ELMs is expected. Despite the lack of divertor damage at lower currents, ELM control is found to be required in ITER under these conditions to prevent an excessive contamination of the plasma by W, which could eventually lead to an increased disruptivity. Modelling with the non-linear MHD code JOREK of the physics processes determining the flow of energy from the confined plasma onto the plasma-facing components during ELMs at the ITER scale shows that the relative contribution of conductive and convective losses is intrinsically linked to the magnitude of the ELM energy loss. Modelling of the triggering of ELMs by pellet injection for DIII-D and ITER has identified the minimum pellet size required to trigger ELMs and, from this, the required fuel throughput for the application of this technique to ITER is evaluated and shown to be compatible with the installed fuelling and tritium re-processing capabilities in ITER. The evaluation of the capabilities of the ELM control coil system in ITER for ELM suppression is carried out (in the vacuum approximation) and found to have a factor of ∼2 margin in terms of coil current to achieve its design criterion, although such a margin could be substantially reduced when plasma shielding effects are taken into account. The consequences for the spatial distribution of the power fluxes at the divertor of ELM control by three-dimensional (3D) fields are evaluated and found to lead to substantial toroidal asymmetries in zones of the divertor target away from the separatrix. Therefore, specifications for the rotation of the 3D perturbation applied for ELM control in order to avoid excessive localized erosion of the ITER divertor target are derived. It is shown that a rotation frequency in excess of 1 Hz for the whole toroidally asymmetric divertor power flux pattern is required (corresponding to n Hz frequency in the variation of currents in the coils, where n is the toroidal symmetry of the perturbation applied) in order to avoid unacceptable thermal cycling of the divertor target for the highest power fluxes and worst toroidal power flux asymmetries expected. The possible use of the in-vessel vertical stability coils for ELM control as a back-up to the main ELM control systems in ITER is described and the feasibility of its application to control ELMs in low plasma current H-modes, foreseen for initial ITER operation, is evaluated and found to be viable for plasma currents up to 5-10 MA depending on modelling assumptions.
Operating ITER in the reference inductive scenario at the design values of I P = 15 MA and Q DT = 10 requires the achievement of good H-mode confinement that relies on the presence of an edge transport barrier whose pedestal pressure height is key to plasma performance. Strong gradients occur at the edge in such conditions that can drive MHD instabilities resulting in Edge Localized Modes (ELMs), which produce a rapid energy loss from the pedestal region to the plasma facing components. Without appropriate control, the heat loads on plasma facing components during ELMs in ITER are expected to become significant for operation in H-mode at I P = 6 -9 MA; operation at higher plasma currents would result in a very reduced life time of the plasma facing components. Currently, several options are being considered for the achievement of the required level of ELM control in ITER; this includes operation in plasma regimes which naturally have no or very small ELMs, decreasing the ELM energy loss by increasing their frequency by a factor of up to 30 and avoidance of ELMs by actively controlling the edge with magnetic perturbations. Small/no ELM regimes obtained by influencing the edge stability (by plasma shaping, rotational shear control, etc.) have shown in present experiments a significant reduction of the ELM heat fluxes compared to type-I ELMs. However, so far they have only been observed under a limited range of pedestal conditions depending on each specific device and their extrapolation to ITER remains uncertain. ELM control by increasing their frequency relies on the controlled triggering of the edge instability leading to the ELM. This has been 2 presently demonstrated with the injection of pellets and with plasma vertical movements; pellets having provided the results more promising for application in ITER conditions. ELM avoidance/suppression takes advantage of the fact that relatively small changes in the pedestal plasma and magnetic field parameters seem to have a large stabilizing effect on large ELMs. Application of edge magnetic field perturbation with non-axisymmetric fields is found to affect transport at the plasma edge and thus prevent the uncontrolled rise of the plasma pressure gradients and the occurrence of type-I ELMs. This paper compiles a brief overview of various ELM control approaches, summarizes their present achievements and briefly discusses the open issues regarding their application in ITER. IntroductionThe main goal of current research in the field of magnetically confined plasmas aiming for power generation by nuclear fusion is to optimize high confinement plasma regimes (Hmode) in order to achieve the maximum plasma energy for a given input heating power P in . Thus, in future fusion devices such as the ITER tokamak, which is expected to produce considerable amounts of fusion power P fus , the gain or amplification factor Q = P fus /P in requires to be maximized as well. High confinement H-mode plasmas are characterized by the existence of an Edge Transport Barrier (ETB) in a ...
In-vessel, non-axisymmetric, control coils have proven to be an important option for mitigating and suppressing edgelocalized modes (ELMs) in high performance operating regimes on a growing number of tokamaks. Additionally, an in-vessel non-axisymmetric ELM control coil is being considered in the ITER baseline design. In preparing for the initial operation of this coil set, a comprehensive study was carried out to characterize the linear superposition of the 3D vacuum magnetic field, produced by the ELM coil, on a series of equilibria representing nine standard ITER operating scenarios. Here, the spatial phase angle of toroidally distributed currents, specified with a cosine waveform, in the upper and lower rows of the ITER ELM coil (IEC) set is varied in 2 • steps while holding the current in the equatorial row of coils constant. The peak current in each of the three toroidal rows of window-frame coils making up the IEC is scanned between 5 kAt and 90 kAt in 5 kAt steps and the width of the edge region covered by overlapping vacuum field magnetic islands is calculated. This width is compared to a vacuum field ELM suppression correlation criterion found in DIII-D. A minimum coil current satisfying the DIII-D criterion, along with an associated set of phase angles, is identified for each ITER operating scenario. These currents range from 20 kAt to 75 kAt depending on the operating scenario being used and the toroidal mode number (n) of the cosine waveform. Comparisons between the scaling of the divertor footprint area in cases with n = 3 perturbation fields versus those with n = 4 show significant advantages when using n = 3. In addition, it is found that the DIII-D correlation criterion can be satisfied in the event that various combinations of individual IEC window-frame coils need to be turned off due to malfunctioning components located inside the vacuum vessel. Details of these results for both the full set of 27 window-frame coils and various reduced sets, using either n = 3 and n = 4 perturbation fields, are discussed.
The Large Hadron–Electron Collider (LHeC) is designed to move the field of deep inelastic scattering (DIS) to the energy and intensity frontier of particle physics. Exploiting energy-recovery technology, it collides a novel, intense electron beam with a proton or ion beam from the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC). The accelerator and interaction region are designed for concurrent electron–proton and proton–proton operations. This report represents an update to the LHeC’s conceptual design report (CDR), published in 2012. It comprises new results on the parton structure of the proton and heavier nuclei, QCD dynamics, and electroweak and top-quark physics. It is shown how the LHeC will open a new chapter of nuclear particle physics by extending the accessible kinematic range of lepton–nucleus scattering by several orders of magnitude. Due to its enhanced luminosity and large energy and the cleanliness of the final hadronic states, the LHeC has a strong Higgs physics programme and its own discovery potential for new physics. Building on the 2012 CDR, this report contains a detailed updated design for the energy-recovery electron linac (ERL), including a new lattice, magnet and superconducting radio-frequency technology, and further components. Challenges of energy recovery are described, and the lower-energy, high-current, three-turn ERL facility, PERLE at Orsay, is presented, which uses the LHeC characteristics serving as a development facility for the design and operation of the LHeC. An updated detector design is presented corresponding to the acceptance, resolution, and calibration goals that arise from the Higgs and parton-density-function physics programmes. This paper also presents novel results for the Future Circular Collider in electron–hadron (FCC-eh) mode, which utilises the same ERL technology to further extend the reach of DIS to even higher centre-of-mass energies.
A conceptual design is presented of a novel energy-recovering linac (ERL) facility for the development and application of the energy recovery technique to linear electron accelerators in the multi-turn, large current and large energy regime. The main characteristics of the powerful energy recovery linac experiment facility (PERLE) are derived from the design of the Large Hadron electron Collider, an electron beam upgrade under study for the LHC, for which it would be the key 11 Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. demonstrator. PERLE is thus projected as a facility to investigate efficient, high current (HC) (>10 mA) ERL operation with three re-circulation passages through newly designed SCRF cavities, at 801.58 MHz frequency, and following deceleration over another three re-circulations. In its fully equipped configuration, PERLE provides an electron beam of approximately 1 GeV energy. A physics programme possibly associated with PERLE is sketched, consisting of high precision elastic electron-proton scattering experiments, as well as photo-nuclear reactions of unprecedented intensities with up to 30 MeV photon beam energy as may be obtained using Fabry-Perot cavities. The facility has further applications as a general technology test bed that can investigate and validate novel superconducting magnets (beam induced quench tests) and superconducting RF structures (structure tests with HC beams, beam loading and transients). Besides a chapter on operation aspects, the report contains detailed considerations on the choices for the SCRF structure, optics and lattice design, solutions for arc magnets, source and injector and on further essential components. A suitable configuration derived from the here presented design concept may next be moved forward to a technical design and possibly be built by an international collaboration which is being established.
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