First attempt to quantify W7-X island divertor plasma by local experiment-model comparison

Journal Article · 08 September 2021 · Nuclear Fusion

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ac2025 · OSTI ID:1888537

Feng, Y. ^[1]; Gao, Y.  ^[1]; Kremeyer, T.  ^[1]; Gradic, D. ^[1]; Rudischhauser, L. ^[1]; Fuchert, G. ^[1]; Bozhenkov, S.  ^[1]; Endler, M.  ^[1]; Jakubowski, M.  ^[1]; Koenig, R. ^[1]; Krychowiak, M. ^[1]; Pasch, E. ^[1]; Hammond, K. C.  ^[2]

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1. Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Greifswald (Germany)
2. Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

As a complement to our recent work, which focused on understanding the basic detachment physics and general experimental and numerical trends observed in the W7-X island divertor, this paper compares EMC3-Eirene simulation results with different local diagnostics, including IR cameras, Langmuir probes, H_α-cameras, and Thomson scattering. The main purposes are to (1) justify the simulation setup in the previous work, (2) identify the application limitations of the current EMC3-Eirene model, (3) verify the consistency of different diagnostics, and (4) isolate the main geometric and physical effects that need to be prioritized in further developing the EMC3-Eirene code and improving diagnostic capabilities. It turns out that the current version of the EMC3-Eirene code (without drifts) is not yet able to quantitatively reproduce all selected local measurements simultaneously under the current experimental conditions (in particular, the existence of error fields). Nevertheless, it can be shown that within a reasonable range of variation in magnetic configuration, cross-field transport, and SOL plasma state in the modeling, a region of overlap between the numerical results and the local measurements can be established. More accurate model-experiment comparisons will require clarification of error fields, implementation of drifts in EMC3, and improvement of diagnostic capabilities.

• Research Organization: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: European Union (EU); USDOE
• Contributing Organization: W7-X Team
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-09CH11466
• OSTI ID: 1888537
• Journal Information: Nuclear Fusion, Journal Name: Nuclear Fusion Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 61; ISSN 0029-5515
• Publisher: IOP ScienceCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English