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Title: Access to a new plasma edge state with high density and pressures using the quiescent H mode

Abstract

A path to a new high performance regime has been discovered in tokamaks that could improve the attractiveness of a fusion reactor. Experiments on DIII-D using a quiescent H-mode edge have navigated a valley of improved edge peeling-ballooning stability that opens up with strong plasma shaping at high density, leading to a doubling of the edge pressure over the standard H mode with edge localized modes at these parameters. The thermal energy confinement time increases as a result of both the increased pedestal height and improvements in the core transport and reduced low-k turbulence. As a result, calculations of the pedestal height and width as a function of density using constraints imposed by peeling-ballooning and kinetic-ballooning theory are in quantitative agreement with the measurements.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [1];  [4];  [5];  [1];  [2]
  1. Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ (United States)
  2. General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)
  3. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  4. ITER Organization, Saint Paul Lez Durance Cedex (France)
  5. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1367150
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1180685
Grant/Contract Number:  
FC02-04ER54698; AC02-09CH11466; AC52-07NA27344; FG02-89ER53296; FG02-08ER54999; FG02-95ER54309
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Review Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 113; Journal Issue: 13; Journal ID: ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY

Citation Formats

Solomon, Wayne M., Snyder, Philip B., Burrell, Keith H., Fenstermacher, Max E., Garofalo, Andrea M., Grierson, Brian A., Loarte, Alberto, McKee, George R., Nazikian, Raffi, and Osborne, Thomas H. Access to a new plasma edge state with high density and pressures using the quiescent H mode. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.135001.
Solomon, Wayne M., Snyder, Philip B., Burrell, Keith H., Fenstermacher, Max E., Garofalo, Andrea M., Grierson, Brian A., Loarte, Alberto, McKee, George R., Nazikian, Raffi, & Osborne, Thomas H. Access to a new plasma edge state with high density and pressures using the quiescent H mode. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.135001
Solomon, Wayne M., Snyder, Philip B., Burrell, Keith H., Fenstermacher, Max E., Garofalo, Andrea M., Grierson, Brian A., Loarte, Alberto, McKee, George R., Nazikian, Raffi, and Osborne, Thomas H. Wed . "Access to a new plasma edge state with high density and pressures using the quiescent H mode". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.135001. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1367150.
@article{osti_1367150,
title = {Access to a new plasma edge state with high density and pressures using the quiescent H mode},
author = {Solomon, Wayne M. and Snyder, Philip B. and Burrell, Keith H. and Fenstermacher, Max E. and Garofalo, Andrea M. and Grierson, Brian A. and Loarte, Alberto and McKee, George R. and Nazikian, Raffi and Osborne, Thomas H.},
abstractNote = {A path to a new high performance regime has been discovered in tokamaks that could improve the attractiveness of a fusion reactor. Experiments on DIII-D using a quiescent H-mode edge have navigated a valley of improved edge peeling-ballooning stability that opens up with strong plasma shaping at high density, leading to a doubling of the edge pressure over the standard H mode with edge localized modes at these parameters. The thermal energy confinement time increases as a result of both the increased pedestal height and improvements in the core transport and reduced low-k turbulence. As a result, calculations of the pedestal height and width as a function of density using constraints imposed by peeling-ballooning and kinetic-ballooning theory are in quantitative agreement with the measurements.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.135001},
journal = {Physical Review Letters},
number = 13,
volume = 113,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Sep 24 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Wed Sep 24 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Predict-first experimental analysis using automated and integrated magnetohydrodynamic modeling
journal, May 2018

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Super H-mode: theoretical prediction and initial observations of a new high performance regime for tokamak operation
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Intermediate- k density and magnetic field fluctuations during inter-ELM pedestal evolution in MAST
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Theoretical explanation of I-mode impurity removal and energy confinement
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Current and pressure gradient triggering and nonlinear saturation of low- n edge harmonic oscillations in tokamaks
journal, June 2019

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Access to pedestal pressure relevant to burning plasmas on the high magnetic field tokamak Alcator C-Mod
journal, September 2018


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Alfvén eigenmodes and fast ion transport in negative triangularity DIII-D plasmas
journal, June 2019


27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference: summary of sessions EX/C, EX/S and PPC
journal, January 2020


On the very high energy confinement observed in super H-mode DIII-D experiments
journal, January 2020