Comparisons and physics basis of tokamak transport models and turbulence simulations

Journal Article · Wed Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 2000 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.873896· OSTI ID:20215457

Dimits, A M ^[1]; Bateman, G ^[2]; Beer, M A ^[3]; Cohen, B I ^[1]; Dorland, W ^[4]; Hammett, G W ^[3]; Kim, C ^[5]; Kinsey, J E ^[2]; Kotschenreuther, M ^[6]; Kritz, A H ^[2]

---

1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)
2. Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015 (United States)
3. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 (United States)
4. University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742 (United States)
5. University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309 (United States)
6. Institute for Fusion Studies, Univ. of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States)

The predictions of gyrokinetic and gyrofluid simulations of ion-temperature-gradient (ITG) instability and turbulence in tokamak plasmas as well as some tokamak plasma thermal transport models, which have been widely used for predicting the performance of the proposed International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) tokamak [Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research, 1996 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1997), Vol. 1, p. 3], are compared. These comparisons provide information on effects of differences in the physics content of the various models and on the fusion-relevant figures of merit of plasma performance predicted by the models. Many of the comparisons are undertaken for a simplified plasma model and geometry which is an idealization of the plasma conditions and geometry in a Doublet III-D [Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research, 1986 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1987), Vol. 1, p. 159] high confinement (H-mode) experiment. Most of the models show good agreements in their predictions and assumptions for the linear growth rates and frequencies. There are some differences associated with different equilibria. However, there are significant differences in the transport levels between the models. The causes of some of the differences are examined in some detail, with particular attention to numerical convergence in the turbulence simulations (with respect to simulation mesh size, system size and, for particle-based simulations, the particle number). The implications for predictions of fusion plasma performance are also discussed. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics.

• OSTI ID: 20215457
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 7; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ITER TOKAMAK
PERFORMANCE
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA SIMULATION
THEORETICAL DATA
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
TRANSPORT THEORY
TURBULENCE