Electron cyclotron current drive experiments on DIII-D

Conference · Tue May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990

OSTI ID:6938850

James, R A ^[1]; Giruzzi, G; Gentile, B de; Rodriguez, L ^[2]; Fyaretdinov, A; Gorelov, Yu; Trukhin, V ^[3]; Harvey, R; Lohr, J; Luce, T C; Matsuda, K; Politzer, P; Prater, R; Snider, R ^[4]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
2. Association Euratom-CEA, Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Cadarache, 13 - Saint-Paul-les-Durance (France)
3. Kurchatov Inst. of Atomic Energy, Moscow (USSR)
4. General Atomics, San Di

Electron Cyclotron Current Drive (ECCD) experiments on the DIII-D tokamak have been performed using 60 GHz waves launched from the high field side of the torus. Preliminary analysis indicates rf driven currents between 50 and 100 kA in discharges with total plasma currents between 200 and 500 kA. These are the first ECCD experiments with strong first pass absorption, localized deposition of the rf power, and {tau}{sub E} much longer than the slowing-down time of the rf generated current carriers. The experimentally measured profiles for T{sub e}, {eta}{sub e} and Z{sub eff} are used as input for a 1D transport code and a multiply-ray, 3D ray tracing code. Comparisons with theory and assessment of the influence of the residual electric field, using a Fokker-Planck code, are in progress. The ECH power levels were between 1 and 1.5 MW with pulse lengths of about 500 msec. ECCD experiments worldwide are motivated by issues relating to the physics and technical advantages of the use of high frequency rf waves to drive localized currents. ECCD is accomplished by preferentially heating electrons moving in one toroidal direction, reducing their collisionality and thereby producing a non-inductively driven toroidal current. 6 refs., 4 figs.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/ER
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48; AC03-89ER51114
• OSTI ID: 6938850
• Report Number(s): UCRL-JC-102929; GA-A--20066; CONF-900602--9; ON: DE90010758
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700101* -- Fusion Energy-- Plasma Research-- Confinement
Heating
& Production
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
DOUBLET REACTORS
ECR HEATING
ELECTRIC IMPEDANCE
ELECTRON DENSITY
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
EQUATIONS
FOKKER-PLANCK EQUATION
HEATING
HIGH-FREQUENCY HEATING
IMPEDANCE
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PLASMA HEATING
RF SYSTEMS
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
TOKAMAK TYPE REACTORS