Gyrokinetic predictions of multiscale transport in a DIII-D ITER baseline discharge

Holland, C.; Howard, N. T.; Grierson, B. A.

doi:10.1088/1741-4326/aa6c16

Title: Gyrokinetic predictions of multiscale transport in a DIII-D ITER baseline discharge

Journal Article · Mon May 08 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Nuclear Fusion

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/aa6c16· OSTI ID:1361163

Holland, C. ^[1]; Howard, N. T. ^[2];

^[3]

Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Center for Energy Research
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

New multiscale gyrokinetic simulations predict that electron energy transport in a DIII-D ITER baseline discharge with dominant electron heating and low input torque is multiscale in nature, with roughly equal amounts of the electron energy flux Q_e coming from long wavelength ion-scale (k_yρ_s < 1) and short wavelength electron-scale (k_yρ_s > 1) fluctuations when the gyrokinetic results match independent power balance calculations. Corresponding conventional ion-scale simulations are able to match the power balance ion energy flux Q_i, but systematically underpredict Q_e when doing so. We observe significant nonlinear cross-scale couplings in the multiscale simulations, but the exact simulation predictions are found to be extremely sensitive to variations of model input parameters within experimental uncertainties. Most notably, depending upon the exact value of the equilibrium E x B shearing rate γ _{E x B} used, either enhancement or suppression of the long-wavelength turbulence and transport levels in the multiscale simulations is observed relative to what is predicted by ion-scale simulations. And while the enhancement of the long wavelength fluctuations by inclusion of the short wavelength turbulence was previously observed in similar multiscale simulations of an Alcator C-Mod L-mode discharge, these new results show for the first time a complete suppression of long-wavelength turbulence in a multiscale simulation, for parameters at which conventional ion-scale simulation predicts small but finite levels of low-k turbulence and transport consistent with the power balance Q_i. Though computational resource limitations prevent a fully rigorous validation assessment of these new results, they provide significant new evidence that electron energy transport in burning plasmas is likely to have a strong multiscale character, with significant nonlinear cross-scale couplings that must be fully understood to predict the performance of those plasmas with confidence.

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Research Organization:: Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-09CH11466; SC0006957; FG02-06ER54871; FC02-99ER54512; FC02-04ER54698

OSTI ID:: 1361163

Journal Information:: Nuclear Fusion, Vol. 57, Issue 6; Related Information: DIII-D data shown in this paper can be obtained in digital format by following the links at https://fusion.gat.com/global/D3D_DMP.; ISSN 0029-5515

Publisher:: IOP ScienceCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 30 works

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Multi-scale transport in the DIII-D ITER baseline scenario with direct electron heating and projection to ITER Grierson, B. A.; Staebler, G. M.; Solomon, W. M. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 25, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5011387	journal	February 2018
Multi-scale gyrokinetic simulations of an Alcator C-Mod, ELM-y H-mode plasma Howard, N. T.; Holland, C.; White, A. E. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Vol. 60, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6587/aa9148	journal	November 2017
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