scholarly journals A new regime that “FIRE”s fusion plasmas for long sustained and high performance reactor conditions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong-Su Na ◽  
Hyunsun Han ◽  
Sangjin Park ◽  
Jisung Kang ◽  
Young-Ho Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fusion Reactor ◽  
Fusion Reactors ◽  
Fusion Plasmas ◽  
Ion Temperature ◽  
Plasma Confinement ◽  
Fusion Plasma ◽  
Steady State Operation

Abstract We report a discovery of a fusion plasma regime suitable for commercial fusion reactor where the ion temperature was sustained above 100 million degree about 20 s for the first time. Nuclear fusion as a promising technology for replacing carbon-dependent energy sources has currently many issues to be resolved to enable its large-scale use as a sustainable energy source. State-of-the-art fusion reactors cannot yet achieve the high levels of fusion performance, high temperature, and absence of instabilities required for steady-state operation for a long period of time on the order of hundreds of seconds. This is a pressing challenge within the field, as the development of methods that would enable such capabilities is essential for the successful construction of commercial fusion reactor. Here, a new plasma confinement regime called fast ion roled enhancement (FIRE) mode is presented. This mode is realized at Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) and subsequently characterized to show that it meets most of the requirements for fusion reactor commercialization. Through a comparison to other well-known plasma confinement regimes, the favourable properties of FIRE mode are further elucidated and concluded that the novelty lies in the high fraction of fast ions, which acts to stabilize turbulence and achieve steady-state operation for up to 20 s by self-organization. We propose this mode as a promising path towards commercial fusion reactors.

scholarly journals Integration of full divertor detachment with improved core confinement for tokamak fusion plasmas

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Wang ◽  
H. Q. Wang ◽  
S. Ding ◽  
A. M. Garofalo ◽  
X. Z. Gong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Confinement Loss ◽  
Fusion Plasmas ◽  
Large Radius ◽  
Transport Barrier ◽  
Self Organized ◽  
Steady State Operation ◽  
Core Plasma ◽  
Promising Solution

AbstractDivertor detachment offers a promising solution to the challenge of plasma-wall interactions for steady-state operation of fusion reactors. Here, we demonstrate the excellent compatibility of actively controlled full divertor detachment with a high-performance (βN ~ 3, H98 ~ 1.5) core plasma, using high-βp (poloidal beta, βp > 2) scenario characterized by a sustained core internal transport barrier (ITB) and a modest edge transport barrier (ETB) in DIII-D tokamak. The high-βp high-confinement scenario facilitates divertor detachment which, in turn, promotes the development of an even stronger ITB at large radius with a weaker ETB. This self-organized synergy between ITB and ETB, leads to a net gain in energy confinement, in contrast to the net confinement loss caused by divertor detachment in standard H-modes. These results show the potential of integrating excellent core plasma performance with an efficient divertor solution, an essential step towards steady-state operation of reactor-grade plasmas.

scholarly journals Advanced Helical Plasma Research towards a Steady-State Fusion Reactor by Deuterium Experiments in Large Helical Device

Atoms ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhiko Takeiri
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Spectroscopic Study ◽  
Fusion Reactor ◽  
Ion Temperature ◽  
Fusion Research ◽  
Systems Research ◽  
Steady State Operation ◽  
New Type ◽  
Plasma Research ◽  
State Fusion

The Large Helical Device (LHD) is one of the world’s largest superconducting helical system fusion-experiment devices. Since the start of experiments in 1998, it has expanded its parameter regime. It has also demonstrated world-leading steady-state operation. Based on this progress, the LHD has moved on to the advanced research phase, that is, deuterium experiment, which started in March 2017. During the first deuterium experiment campaign, an ion temperature of 10 keV was achieved. This was a milestone in helical systems research: demonstrating one of the conditions for fusion. All of this progress and increased understanding have provided the basis for designing an LHD-type steady-state helical fusion reactor. Moreover, LHD plasmas have been utilized not only for fusion research, but also for diagnostics development and applications in wide-ranging plasma research. A few examples of such contributions of LHD plasmas (spectroscopic study and the development of a new type of interferometer) are introduced in this paper.

The ITB dynamics controlled by internal kink modes on HL-2A tokamak

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxue He ◽  
Longwen Yan ◽  
Deliang Yu ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Liming Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Fusion Reactor ◽  
Rotation Velocity ◽  
Plasma Current ◽  
Ion Temperature ◽  
Lower Plasma ◽  
Transport Barriers ◽  
Internal Transport Barriers ◽  
Foot Position ◽  
Internal Transport

Abstract The active control of internal transport barriers (ITBs) is an important issue to achieve high performance plasma in a fusion reactor. A critical challenge of ITB control is to increase the ITB position. The ITBs with internal kink modes (IKMs), such as fishbone instability and long-live mode (LLM) with mode number of m/n = 1/1 are frequently observed on HL-2A tokamak in neutral beam heated discharges. The correlation of fishbone instability/LLM with ITBs is analyzed in order to extend the ITB radius. It has been revealed that fishbone instability and LLM are often excited after the ITB formation. Therefore, fishbone instability and LLM play no role in triggering ITBs on HL-2A tokamak. On the other hand, they may slow down the outward radial expansion and then shrink the foot position of ITB, and damp the gradient growth of ion temperature and rotation velocity. Since the perturbation of LLM is weaker than that of fishbone instability, the shrinking effect of ITB foot and braking effect on gradient growth are slighter than those of fishbone instability. Compared with the LLM, fishbone instability routinely appears in plasmas with lower density, higher heating power and lower plasma current. In addition, large ITBs without IKMs are also discussed on HL-2A tokamak. The large ITB is the largest one, the fishbone ITB is the strongest one and the LLM ITB is the widest one in three ITBs, where the ‘large’, ‘strong’ and ‘wide’ qualifications correspond to ITB position ρITB, the normalized temperature gradient R/LT, and its width W/a. Therefore, the large ITB position may be obtained if the IKMs are effectively controlled in a tokamak.

The Experimental Consideration for TBM Mock-Up Effect on Plasma Performance Based on MAPES Platform in EAST

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Songlin Liu ◽  
Fang Ding ◽  
Xiangcun Chen ◽  
Yong Pu ◽  
Jia Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Plasma Physics ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Martensitic Steels ◽  
Steady State Operation ◽  
Magnetic Analysis ◽  
Rafm Steel ◽  
The Impact

EAST can provide better opportunities to contribute development of ITER-relevant plasma physics and engineering because it has ITER-like configuration, and has achieved 10s H-mode plasma, and aims steady-state operation of DD high performance plasma. The impact of Test blanket module (TBM) using RAFM (reduced activation ferritic/martensitic) steels on tokomak plasma is a major concern in ITER operations. In order to assess this effect due to TBM local ripple, an experiment plan of TBM mockup using RAFM steel is being planned on MAPES (Material and Plasma Evaluation System) in EAST. This paper reports experimental consideration on MAPES based on magnetic analysis and ripple calculation at separatrix point. The relevant experiments strategy and plan in EAST are also proposed.

Advanced Control Scenario of High-Performance Steady-State Operation for JT-60 Superconducting Tokamak

2004 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 2281-2285
Author(s):  
H Tamai ◽  
G Kurita ◽  
M Matsukawa ◽  
K Urata ◽  
S Sakurai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Steady State Operation ◽  
Advanced Control ◽  
Superconducting Tokamak

scholarly journals Progress towards high-performance steady-state operation on DIII-D

2006 ◽  
Vol 81 (23-24) ◽  
pp. 2807-2815 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.M. Greenfield ◽  
M. Murakami ◽  
A.M. Garofalo ◽  
E.J. Doyle ◽  
J.R. Ferron ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Steady State Operation

Simulations of KSTAR high performance steady state operation scenarios

2009 ◽  
Vol 49 (11) ◽  
pp. 115018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong-Su Na ◽  
C.E. Kessel ◽  
J.M. Park ◽  
Sumin Yi ◽  
A. Becoulet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Steady State Operation
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