Off-axis Neutral Beam Current Drive for Advanced Scenario Development in DIII-D
Modification of the two existing DIII-D neutral beam lines is proposed to allow vertical steering to provide off-axis neutral beam current drive (NBCD) as far off-axis as half the plasma radius. New calculations indicate very good current drive with good localization off-axis as long as the toroidal magnetic field, B{sub T}, and the plasma current, I{sub p}, are in the same direction (for a beam steered downward). The effects of helicity can be large: e.g., ITER off-axis NBCD can be increased by more than 20% if the B{sub T} direction is reversed. This prediction has been tested by an off-axis NBCD experiment using reduced size plasmas that are vertically shifted with the existing NBI on DIII-D. The existence of off-axis NBCD is evident in sawtooth and internal inductance behavior. By shifting the plasma upward or downward, or by changing the sign of the toroidal field, measured off-axis NBCD profiles, determined from MSE data, are consistent with predicted differences (40%-45%) arising from the NBI orientation with respect to the magnetic field lines. Modification of the DIII-D NB system will strongly support scenario development for ITER and future tokamaks as well as providing flexible scientific tools for understanding transport, energetic particles and heating and current drive.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 945687
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-CONF-407826; TRN: US0901065
- Resource Relation:
- Journal Volume: 49; Journal Issue: 6; Conference: Presented at: 22nd IAEA-FEC, Geneva, Switzerland, Oct 13 - Oct 18, 2008
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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