HL-2A装置高β_(N)双输运垒实验的集成分析

HL-2A托卡马克装置在中性束加热条件下获得了稳定的归一化环向比压(β_(N))大于2.5的等离子体,并且实现了瞬态β_(N)=3.05、归一化密度(n_(e,1)/n_(e,G))~0.6、储能(WE)~46 kJ和高约束因子(H_(98))~1.65的高约束性能.本文使用集成模拟平台OMFIT对β_(N)=2.83和β_(N)=3.05时刻的等离子体进行了集成模拟,计算得到的WE,n_(e,1)/n_(e,G),H_(98)和β_(N)等与实验参数基本一致,并通过计算发现两种情况下自举电流份额(fBS)分别约达到45%和46%.此外,还进一步分析了HL-2A装置形成离子温度内部输运垒(ITB)的原因:快离子和E×B剪切流使得芯部湍流输运被抑制,改善了约束,从而形成了离子温度ITB.离子温度的ITB与H模边缘输运垒相互协同形成了高β_(N)的等离子体.

核聚变装置偏滤器靶板材料选择与研究进展

可控热核聚变能是人类最理想的清洁能源之一,是解决人类能源和环境问题的根本途径。目前,可控热核聚变能的发展面临诸多挑战,偏滤器靶板作为磁约束核聚变装置中的重要部件,其设计和制造是维持等离子体放电、实现核聚变反应堆稳定运行亟需解决的关键问题之一。作为等离子体轰击最严重区域,偏滤器靶板经受着高能粒子流辐照和高热负荷冲击(10 MW·m^(-2)稳态负荷和20 MW·m^(-2)瞬态负荷),同时承担着磁约束聚变装置最主要的排热功能。因此,研发具有优异性能的靶板材料是推动核聚变能发展的关键一步。目前,金属铍、碳基材料以及钨基材料是主要的3种偏滤器靶板候选材料。基于国内外现有研究成果,论述了偏滤器靶板材料的选择与研究进展,对比分析了3种候选材料的优势以及存在的问题,以期为偏滤器靶板材料的选择、研发提供借鉴。

低杂波注入对剥离气球模的作用

基于BOUT++代码研究了托卡马克高约束模等离子体中低杂波(LHW)注入对边缘台基区剥离气球模(P-B模)线性和非线性特性的影响.模拟中分别考虑了LHW驱动的常规主等离子体电流和刮削层螺旋电流丝(HCF)产生三维扰动磁场对P-B模的作用.线性结果表明,LHW驱动的主等离子体电流通过降低平衡的归一化压强梯度和磁剪切,使得线性环向模谱整体向高模数和低增长率的方向移动.非线性模拟表明,由于线性模谱的展宽,LHW驱动的主等离子体电流对P-B模不同模式具有整体的抑制效果,可以降低边缘局域模(ELM)造成的台基能量损失;LHW驱动HCF产生的三维扰动磁场可以通过增强不同模式之间的耦合,促进主模之外的其他模式增长来降低ELM造成的能量损失.研究发现,HCF产生的三维扰动磁场促进增长的P-B模式集中在较高模数,当P-B模的主导模式远离此模数区间,ELM能量损失降低更明显.研究结果有助于深入理解LHW控制ELM实验中的物理机制.

The research progress of an E//B neutral particle analyzer

An E//B neutral particle analyzer(NPA)has been designed and is under development at Sichuan University and Southwestern Institute of Physics.The main purpose of the E//B NPA is to measure the distribution function of fast ions in the HL-2A/3 tokamak.The E//B NPA contains three main units,i.e.the stripping unit,the analyzing unit and the detection unit.A gas stripping chamber was adopted as the stripping unit.The results of the simulations and beam tests for the stripping chamber are presented.Parallel electric and magnetic fields provided by a NdFeB permanent magnet and two parallel electric plates were designed and constructed for the analyzing unit.The calibration of the magnetic and electric fields was performed using a 50 kV electron cyclotron resonance ion source(ECRIS)platform.The detection unit consists of 32lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicate(LYSO)detector modules arranged in two rows.The response functions ofα,hydrogen ions(H^(+),H_(2)^(+)and H_(3)^(+))andγfor a detector module were measured with^(241)Am,^(137)Cs and^(152)Eu sources together with the 50 kV ECRIS platform.The overall results indicate that the designed E//B NPA device is capable of measuring the intensity of neutral hydrogen and deuteron atoms with energy higher than 20 keV.

ZnS(Ag)闪烁体对EAST中快电子响应的模拟分析

在托卡马克中,快电子一旦脱离托卡马克磁场约束而损失在真空壁或者限制器上,可能会产生大量杂质,影响装置正常运行,甚至会造成装置的损坏。为了研究快电子的损失行为,在先进实验超导托卡马克(Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak,EAST)上,使用基于ZnS(Ag)闪烁体探头的诊断系统对快电子损失进行探测。为了理解其损失特性,使用Geant4模拟程序模拟了不同初始状态的电子与诊断系统闪烁体探头的相互作用,获得了闪烁体发光强度与入射电子初始状态的曲线关系。模拟结果表明:次级电子与初始电子使闪烁体发光的贡献占据不同的主导能量区间;发光强度随入射电子能量增大而先增大后减小,峰值在12 MeV附近,且斜入射时发光光子数大于垂直入射,而闪烁体的厚度对峰值位置无明显影响。加入磁场后,磁场角度、电子俯仰角都会对发光强度有明显影响。这些结果有助于理解EAST实验中闪烁体探头上探测到的快电子损失信号,为进一步研究快电子损失提供基础。

J-TEXT托卡马克装置间歇性爆发事件的实验研究

为研究密度对J-TEXT托卡马克边缘湍流及间歇性爆发事件的影响,采用往复式朗缪尔静电探针测量边缘等离子体参数,采用概率分布函数以及条件平均等分析方法,详细比较了不同线积分密度情况下边缘等离子体电子温度、密度、电位和径向电场等径向分布及涨落特征。结果表明:随着等离子体密度的增加,边缘电子温度降低,在最后闭合磁面附近的E×B剪切流减弱;密度涨落在刮削层(SOL)具有更大的正偏度与峰度,涨落幅度>1.5倍标准差的气泡(blobs)所引起的粒子输运占总输运的占比从25%上升到45%;但blobs爆发的时间间隔不依赖于积分密度,保持在35μs左右。因此,随着密度增加,blobs对边缘输运的影响更大。

大面积单激励器射频离子源等离子体均匀性分析

为了提高等离子体分布均匀度,基于有限元分析法与实验相结合的方法,从射频离子源驱动器尺寸和引出区尺寸2个方面对单驱动射频离子源放电室进行设计。模拟研究结果表明,电子均匀度的增长幅度随驱动器尺寸的大小变化比较缓慢。根据不同驱动器尺寸电子密度分布研究结果,在引出区尺寸为320 mm时,电子均匀度能够满足90%的要求。根据实验研究结果表明,在引出区尺寸为320 mm时电子分布均匀且均匀度>90%,并与模拟结果相吻合。因此,为使得等离子体分布均匀度能够达到要求,离子源放电室底部引出面附近引出区尺寸应该设计为320 mm。

Geant4 simulation of fast-electron bremsstrahlung imaging at the HL-3 tokamak

To further research on high-parameter plasma,we plan to develop a two-dimensional hard X-ray(HXR)imaging system at the HL-3 tokamak to measure HXRs with energies ranging from 20 to 300 keV.The application of an array-structured detector ensures that this system can measure HXR-radiation spectra from the entire plasma cross section.Therefore,it is suitable for the study of fast-electron physics,such as radio-frequency wave current drives,fast electrons driving instabilities,and plasma disruptions in fusion research.In this study,we develop a simulation for calculating fast-electron bremsstrahlung in the HL-3 tokamak based on the Monte Carlo simulation code Geant4,in which the plasma geometry and forward scattering of fast-electron bremsstrahlung are considered.The preliminary calculation results indicate that the HXR energy deposi-tion on the detector is symmetrically distributed,even though the plasma distribution is asymmetric owing to the toroidal effect.These simulation results are helpful in constructing the relationship between the energy deposition on the detector and parameter distribution on the plasma cross section during HL-3 experiments.This is beneficial for the reconstruction of the fast-electron-distribution function and for optimizing the design of the HXR-imaging system.

钨杂质辐射对托卡马克等离子体大破裂快速热猝灭阶段热能损失过程的影响

基于PLT,EAST,WEST,ASDEX-Upgrade,JET等托卡马克装置开展的研究表明重杂质易产生聚芯现象,这会导致等离子体约束性能降低甚至引发等离子体大破裂事件.大破裂期间等离子体热能损失主要发生在快速热猝灭(thermal quench,TQ)阶段,但目前对于这一阶段的时间尺度定标关系并没有较为全面的物理解释.国际热核聚变实验堆(International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor,ITER)将采用全钨壁材料,而钨作为高Z杂质,其较强的辐射能力将会对TQ过程的热能损失产生影响.为研究钨杂质对快速TQ时间尺度的影响,本工作通过同时考虑随机磁场导致的热扩散以及钨杂质辐射引起的热损失机制,建立了托卡马克等离子体电子温度演化的一维模型,并在典型类ITER参数下对该阶段的电子温度演化进行数值计算和分析.主要结论为:1)快速TQ时间尺度的量级由热扩散水平决定,但钨杂质辐射可以定量上影响TQ时间尺度和TQ后期电子温度,钨浓度越高TQ时间尺度越短、后期电子温度越低,且数值与解析结果分析都表明该时间尺度与钨杂质浓度近似呈线性关系;2)快速TQ阶段前期,通过钨杂质辐射损失的能量远小于通过随机磁场引起热扩散损失的能量,但在TQ后期,钨杂质辐射功率量级可以接近甚至超过热扩散功率,这也是导致TQ后期电子温度随钨浓度增大而降低的原因.因此,钨杂质辐射在TQ后期对热能损失的贡献不可忽略.

Development of a 2D spatial displacement estimation method for turbulence velocimetry of the gas puff imaging system on EAST

A gas puff imaging(GPI)diagnostic has been developed and operated on EAST since 2012,and the time-delay estimation(TDE)method is used to derive the propagation velocity of fluctuations from the two-dimensional GPI data.However,with the TDE method it is difficult to analyze the data with fast transient events,such as edge-localized mode(ELM).Consequently,a method called the spatial displacement estimation(SDE)algorithm is developed to estimate the turbulence velocity with high temporal resolution.Based on the SDE algorithm,we make some improvements,including an adaptive median filter and super-resolution technology.After the development of the algorithm,a straight-line movement and a curved-line movement are used to test the accuracy of the algorithm,and the calculated speed agrees well with preset speed.This SDE algorithm is applied to the EAST GPI data analysis,and the derived propagation velocity of turbulence is consistent with that from the TDE method,but with much higher temporal resolution.

Investigation on the roles of equilibrium toroidal rotation during edge-localized mode mitigated by resonant magnetic perturbations

The effects of equilibrium toroidal rotation during edge-localized mode(ELM)mitigated by resonant magnetic perturbation(RMP)are studied with the experimental equilibria of the EAST tokamak based on the four-field model in the BOUT++code.As the two main parameters to determine the toroidal rotation profiles,the rotation shear and magnitudes were separately scanned to investigate their roles in the impact of RMPs on peeling-ballooning(P-B)modes.On one hand,the results show that strong toroidal rotation shear is favorable for the enhancement of the self-generated E×B shearing rate<ω_(E×B)>with RMPs,leading to significant ELM mitigation with RMP in the stronger toroidal rotation shear region.On the other hand,toroidal rotation magnitudes may affect ELM mitigation by changing the penetration of the RMPs,more precisely the resonant components.RMPs can lead to a reduction in the pedestal energy loss by enhancing the multimode coupling in the turbulence transport phase.The shielding effects on RMPs increase with the toroidal rotation magnitude,leading to the enhancement of the multimode coupling with RMPs to be significantly weakened.Hence,the reduction in pedestal energy loss by RMPs decreased with the rotation magnitude.In brief,the results show that toroidal rotation plays a dual role in ELM mitigation with RMP by changing the shielding effects of plasma by rotation magnitude and affecting<ω_(E×B)>by rotation shear.In the high toroidal rotation region,toroidal rotation shear is usually strong and hence plays a dominant role in the influence of RMP on P-B modes,whereas in the low rotation region,toroidal rotation shear is weak and has negligible impact on P-B modes,and the rotation magnitude plays a dominant role in the influence of RMPs on the P-B modes by changing the field penetration.Therefore,the dual role of toroidal rotation leads to stronger ELM mitigation with RMP,which may be achieved both in the low toroidal rotation region and the relatively high rotation region that has strong rotational shear.

Investigating the occurrence and predictability of pitch angle scattering events at ADITYA-Upgrade tokamak with the electron cyclotron emission radiometer

This paper describes the experimental analysis and preliminary investigation of the predictability of pitch angle scattering(PAS) events through the electron cyclotron emission(ECE)radiometer signals at the ADITYA-Upgrade(ADITYA-U) tokamak. For low-density discharges at ADITYA-U, a sudden abnormal rise is observed in the ECE signature while other plasma parameters are unchanged. Investigations are done to understand this abrupt rise that is expected to occur due to PAS. The rise time is as fast as 100 μs with a single step and/or multiple step rise in ECE radiometer measurements. This event is known to limit the on-axis energy of runaway electrons. Being a repetitive event, the conditions of its repetitive occurrence can be investigated, thereby exploring the possibility of it being triggered and surveyed as an alternate runaway electron mitigation plan. Functional parameterization of such events with other discharge parameters is obtained and the possibility to trigger these events is discussed.PREDICT code is used to investigate the possible interpretations for the PAS occurrence through modeling and supporting the ECE observations. The trigger values so obtained experimentally are set as input criteria for PAS occurrence. Preliminary modeling investigations provide reliable consistency with the findings.

Experimental study on the gas-stripping chamber of an E//B neutral particle analyzer

Stripping units take a key role in the neutral particle analyzer(NPA).A renovated gas-stripping unit was constructed for the newly designed E//B NPA.Using H_(2)as the working gas,we measured the gas inlet pressure(P_(0))and vacuum chamber pressure(P_(3)).The pressure distribution inside the gas-stripping room was calculated with Ansys Fluent,using the measured P_(0)and P_(3)as boundary conditions.The stripping efficiency of the stripping unit was then simulated utilizing the Geant4 Monte Carlo code for the H and D particles.The pressure P_(0)=40 Pa,which is one-sixth of what found in the previous design and corresponds to a thickness of 1.27×10^(17)atoms∕cm^(2),was obtained as the optimum working pressure for the upgraded stripping unit.An 50 kV electron cyclotron resonance(ECR)ion source platform was designed and constructed for E//B NPA calibration,and its performance has been measured.Using the ECR ion source platform,we measured the efficiency of the stripping unit through an inverse experiment with proton beams.We compared the current ratios of measurements with and without H_(2)gas to Geant4 simulation results.We found adequate agreement between the overall trends of the experiment and the simulation.The significant deviation for incident energies below 20 keV may result from the scattering effects of low-energy protons,leading to reduced accuracy in single-scattering physics in Geant4 simulations.Applying the scattering corrections observed in the reverse experiments obtains more accurate stripping efficiencies for H and D atoms in the energy range of 20–200 keV and the global efficiency with the maximum values of 95.0%for H atoms and 78.9%for D atoms at 200 keV.

Real-time data processing method for CO_(2) dispersion interferometer on EAST

A real-time data processing system is designed for the carbon dioxide dispersion interferometer(CO_(2)-DI)on EAST.The system utilizes the parallel and pipelining capabilities of an fieldprogrammable gate array(FPGA)to digitize and process the intensity of signals from the detector.Finally,the real-time electron density signals are exported through a digital-to-analog converter(DAC)module in the form of analog signals.The system has been successfully applied in the CO_(2)-DI system to provide low-latency electron density input to the plasma control system on EAST.Experimental results of the latest campaign with long-pulse discharges on EAST(2022–2023)demonstrate that the system can respond effectively in the case of rapid density changes,proving its reliability and accuracy for future electron density calculation.

VUV imaging of type-ⅠELM filamentary structures and their temporal characteristics on EAST

In the H-mode experiments conducted on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak(EAST),fluctuations induced by the so-called edge localized modes(ELMs)are captured by a high-speed vacuum ultraviolet(VUV)imaging system.Clear field line-aligned filamentary structures are analyzed in this work.Ion transport induced by ELM filaments in the scrape-off layer(SOL)under different discharge conditions is analyzed by comparing the VUV signals with the divertor probe signals.It is found that convective transport along open field lines towards the divertor target dominates the parallel ion particle transport mechanism during ELMs.The toroidal mode number of the filamentary structure derived from the VUV images increases with the electron density pedestal height.The analysis of the toroidal distribution characteristics during ELM bursts reveals toroidal asymmetry.The influence of resonance magnetic perturbation(RMP)on the ELM size is also analyzed using VUV imaging data.When the phase difference of the coil changes periodically,the widths of the filaments change as well.Additionally,the temporal evolution of the ELMs on the VUV signals provides rise time and decay time for each single ELM event,and the results indicate a negative correlation trend between these two times.

3D electromagnetic simulation of the coupling characteristics and double-stub Ferrite tuners impedance matching for EAST ICRH four-strap antenna

A program developed with COMSOL software integrates EAST four-strap antenna coupling with the double-stub Ferrite tuners(FT)impedance matching,obtaining physical quantities crucial for predicting the overall performance of the ion cyclotron resonance heating(ICRH)antenna and matching system.These quantities encompass S-matrix,port complex impedance,reflection coefficients,electric field and voltage distribution,and optimal matching settings.In this study,we explore the relationship between S-matrix,reflection coefficients,port complex impedance,and frequency.Then,we analyze the impact of Faraday screens placement position and transparency,the distance from the Faraday screen(FS)to the current straps(CS),the relative distance between ports,and the characteristic impedance of the transmission line on the coupling characteristic impedance of the EAST ICRH system.Finally,we simulate the electric field distribution and voltage distribution of the EAST ICRH system for plasma heating with double-stub FT impedance matching.Using optimized parameters,the coupling power of the ICRH system can be approximately doubled.The results present herein may offer guidance for the design of high-power,long-pulse operation ICRH antenna systems.

Impact of T_(i)/T_(e )ratio on ion transport based on EAST H-mode plasmas

At the EAST tokamak, the ion temperature(T_(i)) is observed to be clamped around 1.25 keV in electron cyclotron resonance(ECR)-heated plasmas, even at core electron temperatures up to 10 keV(depending on the ECR heating power and the plasma density). This clamping results from the lack of direct ion heating and high levels of turbulence-driven transport. Turbulent transport analysis shows that trapped electron mode and electron temperature gradient-driven modes are the most unstable modes in the core of ECR-heated H-mode plasmas. Nevertheless, recently it was found that the T_(i)/T_(e)ratio can increase further with the fraction of the neutral beam injection(NBI) power, which leads to a higher core ion temperature(Ti0). In NBI heating-dominant H-mode plasmas, the ion temperature gradient-driven modes become the most unstable modes.Furthermore, a strong and broad internal transport barrier(ITB) can form at the plasma core in high-power NBI-heated H-mode plasmas when the T_(i)/T_(e)ratio approaches ~1, which results in steep core Teand Tiprofiles, as well as a peaked neprofile. Power balance analysis shows a weaker Teprofile stiffness after the formation of ITBs in the core plasma region, where Ticlamping is broken,and the core Tican increase further above 2 keV, which is 80% higher than the value of Ticlamping in ECR-heated plasmas. This finding proposes a possible solution to the problem of Ticlamping on EAST and demonstrates an advanced operational regime with the formation of a strong and broad ITB for future fusion plasmas dominated by electron heating.

Forward modelling of the Cotton-Mouton effect polarimetry on EAST tokamak

Measurement of plasma electron density by far-infrared laser polarimetry has become a routine and indispensable tool in magnetic confinement fusion research.This article presents the design of a Cotton-Mouton polarimeter interferometer,which provides a reliable density measurement without fringe jumps.Cotton-Mouton effect on Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak(EAST)is studied by Stokes equation with three parameters(s_(1),s_(2),s_(3)).It demonstrates that under the condition of a small Cotton-Mouton effect,parameter s_(2)contains information about Cotton-Mouton effect which is proportional to the line-integrated density.For a typical EAST plasma,the magnitude of Cotton-Mouton effects is less than 2πfor laser wavelength of 432μm.Refractive effect due to density gradient is calculated to be negligible.Time modulation of Stokes parameters(s_(2),s_(3))provides heterodyne measurement.Due to the instabilities arising from laser oscillation and beam refraction in plasmas,it is necessary for the system to be insensitive to variations in the amplitude of the detection signal.Furthermore,it is shown that non-equal amplitude of X-mode and O-mode within a certain range only affects the DC offset of Stokes parameters(s_(2),s_(3))but does not greatly influence the phase measurements of Cotton-Mouton effects.

A fringe jump counting method for the phase measurement in the HCN laser interferometer on EAST and its FPGA-based implementation

Electron density in fusion plasma is usually diagnosed using laser-aided interferometers. The phase difference signal obtained after phase demodulation is wrapped, which is also called a fringe jump. A method has been developed to unwrap the phase difference signal in real time using FPGA, specifically designed to handle fringe jumps in the hydrogen cyanide(HCN) laser interferometer on the EAST superconducting tokamak. This method is designed for a phase demodulator using the fast Fourier transform(FFT) method at the front end. The method is better adapted for hardware implementation compared to complex mathematical analysis algorithms, such as field programmable gate array(FPGA). It has been applied to process the phase measurement results of the HCN laser interferometer on EAST in real time. Electron density results show good confidence in the fringe jump unwrapping method. Further possible application in other laser interferometers, such as the POlarimeter-INTerferometer(POINT)system on EAST tokamak is also discussed.

Simulation of tungsten impurity transport by DIVIMP under different divertor magnetic configurations on HL-3

Tungsten(W)accumulation in the core,depending on W generation and transport in the edge region,is a severe issue in fusion reactors.Compared to standard divertors(SDs),snowflake divertors(SFDs)can effectively suppress the heat flux,while the impact of magnetic configurations on W core accumulation remains unclear.In this study,the kinetic code DIVIMP combined with the SOLPS-ITER code is applied to investigate the effects of divertor magnetic configurations(SD versus SFD)on W accumulation during neon injection in HL-3.It is found that the W concentration in the core of the SFD is significantly higher than that of the SD with similar total W erosion flux.The reasons for this are:(1)W impurities in the core of the SFD mainly originate from the inner divertor,which has a short leg,and the source is close to the divertor entrance and upstream separatrix.Furthermore,the W ionization source(S_(W0))is much stronger,especially near the divertor entrance.(2)The region overlap of S_(W0)and F_(W,TOT)pointing upstream promote W accumulation in the core.Moreover,the influence of W source locations at the inner target on W transport in the SFD is investigated.Tungsten impurity in the core is mainly contributed by target erosion in the common flux region(CFR)away from the strike point.This is attributed to the fact that the W source at this location enhances the ionization source above the W ion stagnation point,which sequentially increases W penetration.Therefore,the suppression of far SOL inner target erosion can effectively prevent W impurities from accumulating in the core.