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Title: Impact of neoclassical tearing mode–turbulence multi-scale interaction in global confinement degradation and magnetic island stability

Abstract

Recent measurements of turbulent density ($$\tilde{n}$$) and electron-temperature ($$\tilde{T}$$e) fluctuations have reported turbulence modifications by Neoclassical Tearing Mode (NTM) islands: turbulence decreases (increases) inside (outside) the island region when the island width (W) exceeds a threshold (WT), in qualitative agreement with gyrokinetic simulations. As the cross-field transport in tokamaks is dominantly driven by turbulence, these observations call into question the conventional understanding of confinement degradation by NTMs and magnetic island stability physics. The experimental data presented here support the following points: (i) When profiles flatten at the O-point and gradients increase outside of the island, $$\tilde{n}$$ decreases (increases) inside (outside) the island. Along with the parallel transport resulting in increased fluxes inside the island, the increase of $$\tilde{n}$$ outside of the island offers an explanation for the temporal increase of fluxes in that region. As the plasma stored energy (WMHD) gradually decreases in synchronization with the island growth and saturation, gradients, $$\tilde{n}$$ and fluxes also decrease outside the island until they become about the same as before NTM onset. These fluxes balance the constant sources, and the plasma comes to a steady state at lower WMHD. (ii) Turbulence reduction in the O-point region has a destabilizing effect on the island.more » This effect is, however, nearly compensated by the reduced confinement. In conclusion, these observations suggest that driving turbulence in the island region could lead to smaller saturated islands offering a path toward better confinement and safer operation of reactor-scale fusion devices.« less

Authors:
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3];  [2];  [4]
  1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Oak Ridge Associated Univ., Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  2. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  3. General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)
  4. Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
OSTI Identifier:
1412539
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1411994
Grant/Contract Number:  
FC02-04ER54698; FG02-08ER54984; FG03-86ER53266
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physics of Plasmas
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 24; Journal Issue: 12; Journal ID: ISSN 1070-664X
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY

Citation Formats

Bardoczi, Lazlo, Carter, Troy A., La Haye, Robert J., Rhodes, Terry L., and McKee, George R. Impact of neoclassical tearing mode–turbulence multi-scale interaction in global confinement degradation and magnetic island stability. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1063/1.5004987.
Bardoczi, Lazlo, Carter, Troy A., La Haye, Robert J., Rhodes, Terry L., & McKee, George R. Impact of neoclassical tearing mode–turbulence multi-scale interaction in global confinement degradation and magnetic island stability. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5004987
Bardoczi, Lazlo, Carter, Troy A., La Haye, Robert J., Rhodes, Terry L., and McKee, George R. 2017. "Impact of neoclassical tearing mode–turbulence multi-scale interaction in global confinement degradation and magnetic island stability". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5004987. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1412539.
@article{osti_1412539,
title = {Impact of neoclassical tearing mode–turbulence multi-scale interaction in global confinement degradation and magnetic island stability},
author = {Bardoczi, Lazlo and Carter, Troy A. and La Haye, Robert J. and Rhodes, Terry L. and McKee, George R.},
abstractNote = {Recent measurements of turbulent density ($\tilde{n}$) and electron-temperature ($\tilde{T}$e) fluctuations have reported turbulence modifications by Neoclassical Tearing Mode (NTM) islands: turbulence decreases (increases) inside (outside) the island region when the island width (W) exceeds a threshold (WT), in qualitative agreement with gyrokinetic simulations. As the cross-field transport in tokamaks is dominantly driven by turbulence, these observations call into question the conventional understanding of confinement degradation by NTMs and magnetic island stability physics. The experimental data presented here support the following points: (i) When profiles flatten at the O-point and gradients increase outside of the island, $\tilde{n}$ decreases (increases) inside (outside) the island. Along with the parallel transport resulting in increased fluxes inside the island, the increase of $\tilde{n}$ outside of the island offers an explanation for the temporal increase of fluxes in that region. As the plasma stored energy (WMHD) gradually decreases in synchronization with the island growth and saturation, gradients, $\tilde{n}$ and fluxes also decrease outside the island until they become about the same as before NTM onset. These fluxes balance the constant sources, and the plasma comes to a steady state at lower WMHD. (ii) Turbulence reduction in the O-point region has a destabilizing effect on the island. This effect is, however, nearly compensated by the reduced confinement. In conclusion, these observations suggest that driving turbulence in the island region could lead to smaller saturated islands offering a path toward better confinement and safer operation of reactor-scale fusion devices.},
doi = {10.1063/1.5004987},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1412539}, journal = {Physics of Plasmas},
issn = {1070-664X},
number = 12,
volume = 24,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Dec 08 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Fri Dec 08 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}

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Works referenced in this record:

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Works referencing / citing this record:

A possible mechanism for confinement power degradation in the TJ-II stellarator
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Multi-scale interactions between turbulence and magnetic islands and parity mixture—a review
journal, March 2019


Quantitative modeling of neoclassical tearing mode driven fast ion transport in integrated TRANSP simulations
journal, April 2019


Interaction of magnetic islands with turbulent electron temperature fluctuations in DIII-D and in GENE nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations
journal, December 2019


Reduced energetic particle transport models enable comprehensive time-dependent tokamak simulations
journal, August 2019


LH transition trigger physics in ITER-similar plasmas with applied n   =  3 magnetic perturbations
journal, September 2019