MHD stability and disruptions in the SPARC tokamak

Sweeney, R.; Creely, A. J.; Doody, J.; Fülöp, Tünde; Garnier, D.; Granetz, R.; Greenwald, M.; Hesslow, Linnea; Irby, J.; Izzo, V.A.; Haye, R.J. La; Logan, N. C.; Montes, Kevin; Paz-Soldan, C.; Rea, Cristina; Tinguely, R. A.; Vallhagen, O.; Zhu, Jinxiang

doi:10.1017/s0022377820001129

Cited by 47 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 96 publications

(188 reference statements)

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“…This discharge runs near the achievable elongation and just above (using the conservative (Uckan & the ITER Physics Group 1990) definition), which is often seen as a reasonable limit for the safety factor (Sweeney et al. 2020). Even in this regime, however, SPARC runs well below known and density limits.…”

Section: Sparc Scenarios and Performance Projectionsmentioning

confidence: 82%

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Overview of the SPARC tokamak

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The SPARC tokamak is a critical next step towards commercial fusion energy. SPARC is designed as a high-field ( $B_0 = 12.2$ T), compact ( $R_0 = 1.85$ m, $a = 0.57$ m), superconducting, D-T tokamak with the goal of producing fusion gain $Q>2$ from a magnetically confined fusion plasma for the first time. Currently under design, SPARC will continue the high-field path of the Alcator series of tokamaks, utilizing new magnets based on rare earth barium copper oxide high-temperature superconductors to achieve high performance in a compact device. The goal of $Q>2$ is achievable with conservative physics assumptions ( $H_{98,y2} = 0.7$ ) and, with the nominal assumption of $H_{98,y2} = 1$ , SPARC is projected to attain $Q \approx 11$ and $P_{\textrm {fusion}} \approx 140$ MW. SPARC will therefore constitute a unique platform for burning plasma physics research with high density ( $\langle n_{e} \rangle \approx 3 \times 10^{20}\ \textrm {m}^{-3}$ ), high temperature ( $\langle T_e \rangle \approx 7$ keV) and high power density ( $P_{\textrm {fusion}}/V_{\textrm {plasma}} \approx 7\ \textrm {MW}\,\textrm {m}^{-3}$ ) relevant to fusion power plants. SPARC's place in the path to commercial fusion energy, its parameters and the current status of SPARC design work are presented. This work also describes the basis for global performance projections and summarizes some of the physics analysis that is presented in greater detail in the companion articles of this collection.

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Section: Sparc Scenarios and Performance Projectionsmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…The achievable elongation for SPARC was estimated based on the performance of existing devices of similar aspect ratio, which is described further in Sweeney et al. (2020). The vertical stability of this plasma was subsequently confirmed based on time-dependent TSC runs (Jardin et al.…”

Section: Sparc Scenarios and Performance Projectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overview of the SPARC tokamak

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“…For the design of SPARC, safety factor (, ), normalized density () and normalized pressure () are all at reasonably safe levels of operation. Aspects related to disruptions and magnetohydrodynamic stability, including discussion about neoclassical tearing modes and the effect of high magnetic field on stability, are discussed in detail in Sweeney et al (2020). With all these considerations, physics-based models indicate that the current version of the SPARC design with nominal parameters will generate of fusion power, with a gain of .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As will be shown in this paper, high-field operation provides high-performance and significant margin against uncertainties and operational limits. Kink safety factor (), normalized density () and normalized pressure () are at reasonably safe levels of operation, as is further discussed in Sweeney et al (2020). The performance predictions using empirical scalings illustrate that SPARC will be a compelling experiment to study burning plasma physics, relevant to ITER and future devices, given the significant margin for the mission.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Predictions of core plasma performance for the SPARC tokamak

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SPARC is designed to be a high-field, medium-size tokamak aimed at achieving net energy gain with ion cyclotron range-of-frequencies (ICRF) as its primary auxiliary heating mechanism. Empirical predictions with conservative physics indicate that SPARC baseline plasmas would reach $Q\approx 11$ , which is well above its mission objective of $Q>2$ . To build confidence that SPARC will be successful, physics-based integrated modelling has also been performed. The TRANSP code coupled with the theory-based trapped gyro-Landau fluid (TGLF) turbulence model and EPED predictions for pedestal stability find that $Q\approx 9$ is attainable in standard H-mode operation and confirms $Q > 2$ operation is feasible even with adverse assumptions. In this analysis, ion cyclotron waves are simulated with the full wave TORIC code and alpha heating is modelled with the Monte–Carlo fast ion NUBEAM module. Detailed analysis of expected turbulence regimes with linear and nonlinear CGYRO simulations is also presented, demonstrating that profile predictions with the TGLF reduced model are in reasonable agreement.

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“…2020; Sweeney et al . 2020). At the same time, it is important to note that these predictions for SPARC rely on extrapolations from the experimental databases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Divertor heat flux challenge and mitigation in SPARC

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Owing to its high magnetic field, high power, and compact size, the SPARC experiment will operate with divertor conditions at or above those expected in reactor-class tokamaks. Power exhaust at this scale remains one of the key challenges for practical fusion energy. Based on empirical scalings, the peak unmitigated divertor parallel heat flux is projected to be greater than 10 GW m−2. This is nearly an order of magnitude higher than has been demonstrated to date. Furthermore, the divertor parallel Edge-Localized Mode (ELM) energy fluence projections (~11–34 MJ m−2) are comparable with those for ITER. However, the relatively short pulse length (~25 s pulse, with a ~10 s flat top) provides the opportunity to consider mitigation schemes unsuited to long-pulse devices including ITER and reactors. The baseline scenario for SPARC employs a ~1 Hz strike point sweep to spread the heat flux over a large divertor target surface area to keep tile surface temperatures within tolerable levels without the use of active divertor cooling systems. In addition, SPARC operation presents a unique opportunity to study divertor heat exhaust mitigation at reactor-level plasma densities and power fluxes. Not only will SPARC test the limits of current experimental scalings and serve for benchmarking theoretical models in reactor regimes, it is also being designed to enable the assessment of long-legged and X-point target advanced divertor magnetic configurations. Experimental results from SPARC will be crucial to reducing risk for a fusion pilot plant divertor design.

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MHD stability and disruptions in the SPARC tokamak

Cited by 47 publications

References 96 publications

Overview of the SPARC tokamak

Overview of the SPARC tokamak

Predictions of core plasma performance for the SPARC tokamak

Divertor heat flux challenge and mitigation in SPARC

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