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#116
Assessment of the runaway electron transport in ECRH-induced expulsion experiments Oral
Rick Hellinga (Eindhoven University of Technology)
T. A. Wijkamp, J. Decker, M. Hoppe, U. Sheikh, R. J. E. Jaspers, the TCV team (a), and the EUROfusion Tokamak Exploitation Team (b)
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PPTX, 2024-06-09 18:07:58
SCHEDULED This contribution is scheduled to be presented on Tuesday 11th 09:25-09:50
Abstract
Runaway electrons (REs) are a concern for existing tokamak fusion devices and will be a major threat to future tokamak fusion reactors. Therefore, suitable RE-mitigation strategies should be designed in order to prevent localized RE-impact that could result in severe damage to the plasma-facing components of the first wall. During the WPTE and several internal RE-campaigns at TCV, electron cyclotron resonance heating-induced (ECRH-induced) expulsion of RE was observed and extensively investigated. Both the location where the ECRH power is deposited and the ECRH power itself were varied between shots. In this contribution, we examine the effect of varying the ECRH location on the radial RE distribution. To this end, the hard X-ray emission measurements of the PMTX system are analysed together with the multi-spectral synchrotron radiation pattern camera images from the MANTIS system [1]. The PMTX signal is dominated by RE-wall interaction and is analysed according to the zero-dimensional ECRH-induced expulsion model described in Decker et al. (2024) [2]. The synchrotron radiation, on the other hand, is sensitive to the confined REs, coupled to a similar modelling framework. The analysis shows that the (effective) loss coefficient of the REs is highest if the ECRH power is higher and deposited on-axis (i.e. in the core of the plasma), while the (effective) loss coefficient is lower if the ECRH power is applied off-axis (i.e. at the edge of the plasma). To explain the dependence on the location where the ECRH is deposited, the spatial synchrotron features in the camera images are examined. In the experiments in which the ECRH power is deposited off-axis at the lowest ECRH power, residual synchrotron radiation is observed throughout the ECRH phase. Radial profile reconstructions [3, 4] indicate that off-axis ECRH has a stronger impact on the RE distribution near the plasma edge, which could be explained by locally enhanced RE-transport. To assess this hypothesis, interpretive kinetic DREAM modelling [5] of the ECRH experiments will be discussed. These results shed light on the dynamics and transport of the REs. [1] A. Perek et al. MANTIS: A real-time quantitative multispectral imaging system for fusion plasmas. Review of Scientific Instruments, 90 (12): 123514, 2019. DOI: 10.1063/1.5115569. [2] J. Decker et al. Expulsion of runaway electrons using ECRH in the TCV tokamak. arXiv, 2024. DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2404.09900 [3] M. Hoppe et al. SOFT: a synthetic synchrotron diagnostic for runaway electrons. Nuclear Fusion, 58 (2): 026032, 2018. DOI: 10.1088/1741-4326/aa9abb. [4] T. A. Wijkamp et al. Tomographic reconstruction of the runaway distribution function in TCV using multispectral synchrotron images. Nuclear Fusion, 61 (4): 046044, 2021. DOI: 10.1088/1741-4326/abe8af. [5] M. Hoppe, O. Embreus, and T. Fülöp. DREAM: A fluid-kinetic framework for tokamak disruption runaway electron simulations. Computer Physics Communications, 268: 108098, 2021. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpc.2021.108098. (a) See the author list of E. H. Joffrin et al., Nuclear Fusion, 2024. DOI: 10.1088/1741-4326/ad2be4 (b) See the author list of H. Reimerdes et al., Nuclear Fusion 62 (4): 042018, 2022. DOI: 10.1088/1741-4326/ac369b
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