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101. Development of miniaturized, spectroscopically assisted Penning gauges for fractional helium and hydrogen neutral pressure measurements

Author(s):
Flesch, K.; Kremeyer, T.; Schmitz, O.; Soukhanovskii, V.; Wenzel, U.
Abstract:
Direct measurements of the helium (He) fractional neutral pressure in the neutral gas around fusion devices is challenging because of the small mass difference between the abundant D2 molecules and the He atoms which will be produced by D-T fusion. To study He exhaust, Penning gauges were used to measure total neutral pressure assisted by spectroscopy to resolve the D and He partial pressures. In this contribution, initial results are shown from developing this technique into a miniaturized configuration for direct in-situ measurements in the divertor of fusion devices. The configuration is based off a gauge originally designed for the National Spherical Tokamak Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U). The goal of this new miniaturized design it to reduce the space required by the gauge on the device and use of the inherent magnetic field of the machine rather than permanent magnets inside the gauge, enabling it to be adapted into a system that can be extended directly into the divertor region. The feasibility test of the method for NSTX-U and the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) stellarator are surveyed. For W7-X, a commercial Penning Gauge has been installed on an outboard vacuum flange as a generic feasibility test in the neutral gas environment of a stellarator. At an integration time of 25s, helium lines can be seen down to 10^-5 mbar and H-alpha lines down to 10^-6 mbar. Successful measurement of the total as well as the fractional neutral pressures of He and H has been shown. A first prototype of the miniature Penning gauge has been tested in Madison and shows a near linear power law scaling between current and pressure: I = C*P^n with n = 1.0 - 1.2. Pressure measurements were achieved starting at 10^-3 mbar and down to 10^-6 mbar. A modular gauge is being assembled, which allows easy interchangeability of the anode to test new anode geometries, in order to improve optical access and increase spectroscopic sensitivity. This shall enable an increase of the time resolution of the spectroscopically assisted fractional neutral pressure measurements to up to 1kHz.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
November 2016

102. Diagnostics for molybdenum and tungsten erosion and transport in NSTX-U

Author(s):
Scotti, F.; Soukhanovskii, V.; Weller, M.
Abstract:
A comprehensive set of spectroscopic diagnostics is planned in the National Spherical Torus Experi- ment Upgrade to connect measurements of molybdenum and tungsten divertor sources to scrape-o↵ layer (SOL) and core impurity transport, supporting the installation of high-Z plasma facing compo- nents which is scheduled to begin with a row of molybdenum tiles. Imaging with narrow-bandpass interference filters and high-resolution spectroscopy will be coupled to estimate divertor impurity influxes. Vacuum ultraviolet and extreme ultraviolet spectrometers will allow connecting high-Z sources to SOL transport and core impurity content. The high-Z diagnostics suite complements the existing measurements for low-Z impurities (carbon and lithium), critical for the characterization of sputtering of high-Z materials.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
November 2016

103. Far-infrared tangential interferometer/polarimeter design and installation for NSTX-U

Author(s):
Scott, E.R.; Barchfeld, R.; Riemenschneider, P.; Domier, C.W.; Muscatello, C.M.; Sohrabi, M.; Kaita, R.; Ren, Y.; Luhmann Jr., N.C.
Abstract:
The Far-infrared Tangential Interferometer/Polarimeter (FIReTIP) system has been refurbished and is being reinstalled on the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U) to supply real-time line-integrated core electron density measurements for use in the NSTX-U plasma control system (PCS) to facilitate real-time density feedback control of the NSTX-U plasma. Inclusion of a visible light heterodyne interferometer in the FIReTIP system allows for real-time vibration compensation due to movement of an internally mounted retroreflector and the FIReTIP front-end optics. Real-time signal correction is achieved through use of a National Instruments CompactRIO field-programmable gate array.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
November 2016

104. Initial operation of the NSTX-Upgrade real-time velocity diagnostic

Author(s):
Podesta, M; Bell, R.E.
Abstract:
A real-time velocity (RTV) diagnostic based on active charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy is now operational on the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U) spherical torus (Menard et al 2012 Nucl. Fusion 52 083015). The system has been designed to supply plasma velocity data in real time to the NSTX-U plasma control system, as required for the implementation of toroidal rotation control. Measurements are available from four radii at a maximum sampling frequency of 5 kHz. Post-discharge analysis of RTV data provides additional information on ion temperature, toroidal velocity and density of carbon impurities. Examples of physics studies enabled by RTV measurements from initial operations of NSTX-U are discussed.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
November 2016

105. Real-time Radiative Divertor Feedback Control Development for the NSTX-U Tokamak using a Vacuum Ultraviolet Spectrometer

Author(s):
Soukhanovskii, V.A.; Kaita, R.; Stratton, B.
Abstract:
A radiative divertor technique is planned for the NSTX-U tokamak to prevent excessive erosion and thermal damage of divertor plasma-facing components in H-mode plasma discharges with auxiliary heating up to 12 MW. In the radiative (partially detached) divertor, extrinsically seeded deuterium or impurity gases are used to increase plasma volumetric power and momentum losses. A real-time feedback control of the gas seeding rate is planned for discharges of up to 5 s duration. The outer divertor leg plasma electron temperature Te estimated spectroscopically in real time will be used as a control parameter. A vacuum ultraviolet spectrometer McPherson Model 251 with a fast charged-coupled device detector is developed for temperature monitoring between 5 and 30 eV, based on the delta n=0;1 line intensity ratios of carbon, nitrogen or neon ions lines in the spectral range 300 to 1600 A. A collisional-radiative model-based line intensity ratio will be used for relative calibration. A real-time Te-dependent signal within a characteristic divertor detachment equilibration time of ~ 10-15 ms is expected.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
November 2016

106. Saturation of Alfven modes in tokamaks

Author(s):
White, R; Gorelenkov, N.; Gorelenkova, M.; Podesta, M.; Ethier, S.; Chen, Y.
Abstract:
Growth of Alfven modes driven unstable by a distribution of high energy particles up to saturation is investigated with a guiding center code, using numerical eigenfunctions produced by linear theory and a numerical high energy particle distribution, in order to make detailed comparison with experiment and with models for saturation amplitudes and the modification of beam profiles. Two innovations are introduced. First, a very noise free means of obtaining the mode-particle energy and momentum transfer is introduced, and secondly, a spline representation of the actual beam particle distribution is used.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
November 2016

107. Theory based scaling of edge turbulence and implications for the scrape-off layer width

Author(s):
Myra, J.R.; Russell, D.A.; Zweben, S.J.
Abstract:
Turbulence and plasma parameter data from the National Spherical Torus Experiment NSTX [M. Ono, S.M. Kaye, Y.-K.M. Peng, G. Barnes et al., Nucl. Fusion 40, 557 (2000)] is examined and interpreted based on various theoretical estimates. In particular, quantities of interest for assessing the role of turbulent transport on the midplane scrape-off layer heat flux width are assessed. Because most turbulence quantities exhibit large scatter and little scaling within a given operation mode, this paper focuses on length and time scales and dimensionless parameters between operational modes including Ohmic, low (L), and high (H) modes using a large NSTX edge turbulence database [S.J. Zweben, W.M. Davis, S.M. Kaye, J.R. Myra et al., Nucl. Fusion 55, 093035 (2015)]. These are compared with theoretical estimates for drift and interchange rates, profile modification saturation levels, a resistive ballooning condition, and dimensionless parameters characterizing L and high H mode conditions. It is argued that the underlying instability physics governing edge turbulence in different operational modes is in fact similar, and is consistent with curvature-driven drift ballooning. Saturation physics, however, is dependent on the operational mode. Five dimensionless parameters for drift-interchange turbulence are obtained and employed to assess the important of turbulence in setting the scrape-off layer heat flux width lambda_q and its scaling. An explicit proportionality of the width lambda_q to safety factor and major radius (qR) is obtained under these conditions. Quantitative estimates and reduced model numerical simulations suggest that the turbulence mechanism is not negligible in determining lambda_q in NSTX, at least for high plasma current discharges.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
November 2016

108. Three New Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometers on NSTX-U for Impurity Monitoring

Author(s):
Weller, M.E.; Beiersdorfer, P.; Soukhanovskii, V.; Magee, E.W.; Scotti, F.
Abstract:
Three extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectrometers have been mounted on the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade (NSTX-U). All three are flat-field grazing-incidence spectrometers and are dubbed X-ray and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer (8 ñ 70 ≈), Long-Wavelength Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer (190 ñ 440 ≈), and Metal Monitor and Lithium Spectrometer Assembly (MonaLisa, 50 ñ 220 ≈). XEUS and LoWEUS were previously implemented on NSTX to monitor impurities from low- to high-Z sources and to study impurity transport while MonaLisa is new and provides the system increased spectral coverage. The spectrometers will also be a critical diagnostic on the planned laser blow-off (LBO) system for NSTX-U, which will be used for impurity edge and core ion transport studies, edge-transport code development, and benchmarking atomic physics codes.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
November 2016

109. Time dependent analysis of visible helium line-ratios for electron temperature and density diagnostic using synthetic simulations on NSTX-U

Author(s):
Munoz Burgos, J.M.; Barbui, T.; Schmitz, O.; Stutman, D.; Tritz, K.
Abstract:
Helium line-ratios for electron temperature (Te) and density (ne) plasma diagnostic in the Scrape-Off-Layer (SOL) and Edge regions of tokamaks are widely used. Due to their intensities and proximity of wavelengths, the singlet 667.8 and 728.1 nm, and triplet 706.5 nm visible lines have been typically preferred. Time- dependency of the triplet line (706.5 nm) has been previously analyzed in detail by including transient effects on line-ratios during gas-puff diagnostic applications. In this work, several line-ratio combinations within each of the two spin systems are analyzed with the purpose of eliminating transient effects to extend the application of this powerful diagnostic to high temporal resolution characterization of plasmas. The analysis is done using synthetic emission modeling and diagnostic for low electron density NSTX SOL plasma conditions for several visible lines. This analysis employs both quasi-static equilibrium and time-dependent models in order to evaluate transient effects of the atomic population levels that may affect the derived electron temperatures and densities as a helium gas-puff penetrates the plasma. Ratios between the most intense lines are usually preferred due to their higher signal to noise ratio. The analysis of a wider range of spectral lines will help to extend this powerful diagnostic to experiments where the wavelength range of the measured spectra may be constrained either by limitations of the spectrometer, or by other conflicting lines from different ions.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
November 2016

110. Fusion Nuclear Science Facilities and Pilot Plants Based on the Spherical Tokamak

Author(s):
Menard, J.E.; Brown, T.; El-Guebaly, L.; Boyer, M.; Canik, J.; Colling, B.; Raman, R.; Wang, Z.; Zhai, Y.; Buxton, P.; Covele, B.; D'Angelo, C.; Davis, A.; Gerhardt, S.; Gryaznevich, M.; Harb, M.; Hender, T.C.; Kaye, S.; Kingham, D.; Kotschenreuther, M.; Mahajan, S.; Maingi, R.; Marriott, E.; Meier, E.T.; Mynsberge, L.; Neumeyer, C.; Ono, M.; Park, J.-K.; Sabbagh, S.A.; Soukhanovskii, V.; Valanju, P.; Woolley, R.
Abstract:
A Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF) could play an important role in the development of fusion energy by providing the nuclear environment needed to develop fusion materials and components. The spherical torus/tokamak (ST) is a leading candidate for an FNSF due to its potentially high neutron wall loading and modular configuration. A key consideration for the choice of FNSF configuration is the range of achievable missions as a function of device size. Possible missions include: providing high neutron wall loading and fluence, demonstrating tritium self-sufficiency, and demonstrating electrical self-sufficiency. All of these missions must also be compatible with a viable divertor, first-wall, and blanket solution. ST-FNSF configurations have been developed simultaneously incorporating for the first time: (1) a blanket system capable of tritium breeding ratio TBR approximately 1, (2) a poloidal field coil set supporting high elongation and triangularity for a range of internal inductance and normalized beta values consistent with NSTX/NSTX-U previous/planned operation, (3) a long-legged divertor analogous to the MAST-U divertor which substantially reduces projected peak divertor heat-flux and has all outboard poloidal field coils outside the vacuum chamber and superconducting to reduce power consumption, and (4) a vertical maintenance scheme in which blanket structures and the centerstack can be removed independently. Progress in these ST-FNSF missions vs. configuration studies including dependence on plasma major radius R0 for a range 1m to 2.2m are described. In particular, it is found the threshold major radius for TBR = 1 is R0 greater than or equal to 1.7m, and a smaller R0=1m ST device has TBR approximately 0.9 which is below unity but substantially reduces T consumption relative to not breeding. Calculations of neutral beam heating and current drive for non-inductive ramp-up and sustainment are described. An A=2, R0=3m device incorporating high-temperature superconductor toroidal field coil magnets capable of high neutron fluence and both tritium and electrical self-sufficiency is also presented following systematic aspect ratio studies.
Type:
Dataset
Issue Date:
October 2016

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