The first results of divertor discharge and supersonic molecular beam injection on the HL-2A tokamak

HL-2A tokamak is the first tokamak with divertors in China. The plasma boundary and the position of the striking point on the target plates of the HL-2A closed diwrtor were simulated by the current filament code and they were in agreement with the diagnostic results in the divertor. Supersonic molecular beam injection （SMBI） system was first installed and tested on the HL-2A tokamak in 2004. In the present experiment low pressure SMBI fuelling on the HL-2A closed divertor was carried out. The experimental results indicate that the divertor was operated in the ＇linear regime＇ and during the period of SMB pulse injection into the HL-2A plasma the power density eonvected at the target plate surfaces was 0.4 times of that before or after the beam injection. It is a useful fuelling method for decreasing the heat load on the neutralizer plates of the divertor.

Interaction of supersonic molecular beam with low-temperature plasma

The interaction between the supersonic molecular beam(SMB)and the low-temperature plasma is a critical issue for the diagnosis and fueling in the Tokamak device.In this work,the interaction process between the argon SMB and the argon plasma is studied by a high-speed camera based on the Linear Experimental Advanced Device(LEAD)in Southwestern Institute of Physics,China.It is found that the high-density SMB can extinct the plasma temporarily and change the distribution of the plasma density significantly,while the low-density SMB can hardly affect the distribution of plasma density.This can be used as an effective diagnostic technique to study the evolution of plasma density in the interaction between the SMB and plasma.Moreover,the related simulation based on this experiment is carried out to better understand the evolution of electron density and ion density in the interaction.The simulation results can be used to analyze and explain the experimental results well.

Simulation of Supersonic Molecular Beam Fueling on HL-1M Tokamak

The supersonic molecular beam (SMB) ablation and penetration processes in the HL-1M tokamak experiments are studied. The cluster formation and dissolution, SMB adiabatic expansion, shielding and cooling effect are all taken into account. An optimized numerical model is applied in the analysis and shown to be in good agreement with the experimental observations. The possibility of fueling large tokamak plasmas with SMB injection is explored.

Diagnosis for the Interaction of Supersonic Molecular Beam with Plasma

Supersonic Molecular Beam Injection (SMBI) is a new fuelling method for Tokamaks and has recently been improved to enhance the flux of the beam and to make a survey of the cluster effect within the beam. There are a series of new phenomena, which implicate the interaction of the beam (including clusters) with the toroidal plasma of HL-1M Tokamak. The Ha signals from the edge show a regular variation around the torus. Around the injection port, the edge Hα signals are positive rectangular wave, which is consistent with that of the injection beam pulses. The edge electron temperature, measured with movable Langmuir probes, decreases by an order of magnitude and the density increases by an order of magnitude. Hα emission at the beam injection port, measured with CCD camera at an angle of 13.4 degrees to the SMBI line, shows many separate peaks within the contour plot. These peaks may show the strong emission produced by the interaction of the hydrogen clusters with the plasma. Hydrogen clusters may be produced in the beam according to the empirical scaling (Hagena) law of clustering onset, * = .here d is the nozzle diameter in μm, Po the stagnation pressure in mbar, To the source temperature in K, and k is a constant related to the gas species. If * > 100, clusters will be formed. In present experiment * is about 127.

The First Results of Supersonic Molecular Beam Injection in the HL-2A Tokamak

HL-2A tokamak, the first tokamak with divertor in China, has been constructed and put into operation in 2002. The main parameters are R=1.65 m, a=0.4 m, BT=2.8 T, Ip = 0. 48 MA. The divertor of HL-2A is unique, because it is characterized with a large closed divertor chamber. The device has double divertor chamber, but now it is operating with lower single null configuration to study the physics of divertor for the next step design of a divertor. Supersonic molecular beam injection （SMBI） system with LN2 cooling trap was first installed and demonstrated on the HL-2A tokamak in 2004. The first results of SMBI into HL-2A plasma are to demonstrate the function of the HL-2A divertor and to observe the cold pulse propagation during multi-pulse SMBI on HL-2A Tokamak.

Simple Emission Model of Supersonic Molecular Beam

Recently some modes of supersonic molecular beam injection （SMBI）have been put forward. Among them there are electrostatic “double layer”-shielding, simple collective and optimized numerical models to explain the experiment phenomenon. The penetrated depth A and particle deposition were calculated theoretically. About 1/7 in- cident thermal electron flux was amputated and, A increased seven times. The previous simulation is not enough for the SMBI fueling mechanism research. Hence, further investigations, both in experiment and in theory should be developed. The phenomena of line emission due to supersonic molecular beam （SMB） are of particular importance.

Experiments on Gas Jet in the Wendelstein 7-AS Stellarator

Wendelstein 7-AS (W7-AS) pertains to an advanced helical stellarator. A new fuelling method, the supersonic molecular beam injection (SMBI, named Gas Jet in Germany) system was installed in W7-AS in May 2001 as a cooperation research item co-supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China and the Max-Planck Institute of Plasma Physics, Garching, Germany. The experiments of the gas jet with hydrogen or deuterium on W7-AS were implemented. The experimental results exhibit the following features such as high fuelling efficiency, stable high-density plasmas and reduction of the recycling fluxes from the vessel wall during injection. These crucial points show that the new fuelling method can be applied to long and stable discharges.

Density Limits with Different Fuelling Methods in the HL-2A Tokamak

Density limits with different fuelling methods have been compared in HL-2A, i.e. direct gas puffing and supersonic molecular beam injection （SMBI） from outer midplane, and divertor gas fuelling. The maximum densities for low current discharges are 3.4×10^19 m-3, 4.3×10^19 m-3 and 4.7×10^19 m-3 for the 3 kinds of fuelling methods. The corresponding density ratios to Green- wald density limit are 0.9, 1.1, 1.2, respectively. The behavior of density limit disruption is analyzed as well.

Experimental Observation of the Edge and Divertor Plasma in HL-2A

Edge plasma characteristics were studied by a fast-scanning 4-probe array and a Much/Reynolds stress/Langmuir 10-probe movable array in the boundary region. These probes could measure the edge plasma temperature, density, poloidal electric field, radial electric field, Reynolds stress, poloidal rotation velocities and their profiles, which could be obtained by changing the radial positions of the probe array shot by shot. The measured results were used to analyse plasma confinement, turbulent fluctuations and correlations. The fixed flush 3-probe arrays were mounted on the 4-divertor neutralization plates at the same toroidal cross-section in the divertor chamber. These probes were used to measure the profiles of the electron temperature, density and float potential in the divertor chamber. Edge plasma behaviours in both limiter configuration and divertor configuration are compared. The decay lengths of the edge temperature and density were measured and is emphasized for plasma behaviours of the supersonic molecular beam injection and lower hybrid current drive. The dependence of the radial gradient of Reynolds stress on the poloidal flow and the radial gradient of the electric field on turbulent loss are discussed.

Cryogenically Cooled High-Pressure Hydrogen Cluster Jet Injection into the HL-2A Tokamak

The experimental set-up of SMBI system in HL-2A and the detail structure of the molecular beam valve with cooling trap are shown in Fig.l. The valve used for producing hydrogen cluster jet is a solenoid valve S99 with a nozzle orifice of 0.2 mm diameter. The distance between the nozzle of the valve and the edge plasma is about 1.28 m. A liquid nitrogen cryogenic trap is applied for cooling the valve body and decreasing the working gas temperature. The hydrogen cluster jet used for the experiments is in fact a free jet. For real gases, the adiabatic expansion of gas through a nozzle into vacuum results in substantial cooling in the frame of the moving gas. Atoms or molecules that interact weakly at low temperature can form clusters as a result. Attractive forces between atoms can be hydrogen bonding,

Investigation of Edge Fluctuation Characteristics on the HL-2A Tokamak

The edge plasma fluctuation characteristics are studied by the fast reciprocating scanning 6-probes in the boundary region. These probes can measure edge plasma temperature, density, poloidal electric field, radial electric field, Reynolds stress, and their profiles in once discharges. Measurement results are used to analyze plasma confinement, turbulent fluctuations and their correlation characteristics during multi-shot pellet injection （MPI） , supersonic molecular beam injection （SMB1） and electron cyclotron resonant heating （ ECRH ） discharges.