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Hubbard, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Hubbard, A..

15 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Quasi-Coherent Fluctuations Limiting the Pedestal Growth on Alcator C-Mod: Experiment and Modeling

Performance predictions for future fusion devices rely on an accurate model of the pedestal structure. The leading candidate for predictive pedestal structure is EPED, and it is imperative to test the underlying hypotheses to further gain confidence for ITER projections. Here, we present experimental work testing one of the EPED hypotheses, namely the existence of a soft limit set by microinstabilities such as the kinetic ballooning mode (KBM). This work extends recent work on Alcator C-Mod [Diallo, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., , (2014), 115001], to include detailed measurements of the edge fluctuations and comparisons of edge simulation codes and experimental observations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Recent progress towards a physics-­based understanding of the H-­mode transition

Results from recent experiment and numerical simulation point towards a picture of the L-H transition in which edge shear flows interacting with edge turbulence create the conditions needed to produce a non-zero turbulent Reynolds stress at and just inside the LCFS during L-mode discharges. This stress acts to reinforce the shear flow at this location and the flow drive gets stronger as heating is increased. The L-H transition ensues when the rate of work done by this stress is strong enough to drive the shear flow to large values, which then grows at the expense of the turbulence intensity. The drop in turbulence intensity momentarily reduces the heat flux across the magnetic flux surface, which then allows the edge plasma pressure gradient to build. A sufficiently strong ion pressure gradient then locks in the H-mode state. These results are in general agreement with previously published reduced 0D and 1D predator prey models. An extended predator–prey model including separate ion and electron heat channels yields a non-monotonic power threshold dependence on plasma density provided that the fraction of heat deposited on the ions increases with plasma density. Possible mechanisms to explain other macroscopic transition threshold criteria are identified. A number of open questions and unexplained observations are identified, and must be addressed and resolved in order to build a physics-based model that can yield predictions of the macroscopic conditions needed for accessing H-mode.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Surface heat flux feedback controlled impurity seeding experiments with Alcator C-Mod’s high-Z vertical target plate divertor: performance, limitations and implications for fusion power reactors

The Alcator C-Mod team has recently developed a feedback system to measure and control surface heat flux in real-time. The system uses real-time measurements of surface heat flux from surface thermocouples and a pulse-width modulated piezo valve to inject low-Z impurities (typically N2) into the private flux region. It has been used in C-Mod to mitigate peak surface heat fluxes >40 MW/m2 down to <10 MW/m2 while maintaining excellent core confinement, H98>1. While the system works quite well under relatively steady conditions, use of it during transients has revealed important limitations on feedback control of impurity seeding in conventional vertical target plate divertors. In some cases, the system is unable to avoid plasma reattachment to the divertor plate or the formation of a confinement-damaging x-point MARFE. This is due to the small operational window for mitigated heat flux in the parameters of incident plasma heat flux, plasma density, and impurity density as well as the relatively slow response of the impurity gas injection system compared to plasma transients. Given the severe consequences for failure of such a system to operate reliably in a reactor, there is substantial risk that the conventional vertical target plate divertor will not provide an adequately controllable system in reactor-class devices. These considerations motivate the need to develop passively stable, highly compliant divertor configurations and experimental facilities that can test such possible solutions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Surface heat flux feedback controlled impurity seeding experiments with Alcator C-Mod's high-Z vertical target plate divertor: performance, limitations and implications for fusion power reactors

The Alcator C-Mod team has recently developed a feedback system to measure and control surface heat flux in real-time. The system uses real-time measurements of surface heat flux from surface thermocouples and a pulse-width modulated piezo valve to inject low-Z impurities (typically N 2 ) into the private flux region. It has been used in C-Mod to mitigate peak surface heat fluxes >40 MW m -2 down to <10 MW m -2 while maintaining excellent core confinement, H 98 > 1. While the system works quite well under relatively steady conditions, use of it during transients has revealed important limitations on feedback control of impurity seeding in conventional vertical target plate divertors. In some cases, the system is unable to avoid plasma reattachment to the divertor plate or the formation of a confinement-damaging x-point MARFE. This is due to the small operational window for mitigated heat flux in the parameters of incident plasma heat flux, plasma density, and impurity density as well as the relatively slow response of the impurity gas injection system compared to plasma transients. Given the severe consequences for failure of such a system to operate reliably in a reactor, there is substantial risk that the conventional vertical target plate divertor will not provide an adequately controllable system in reactor-class devices. Finally, these considerations motivate the need to develop passively stable, highly compliant divertor configurations and experimental facilities that can test such possible solutions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Multi-energy SXR cameras for magnetically confined fusion plasmas (invited)

A compact multi-energy soft x-ray camera has been developed for time, energy and space-resolved measurements of the soft-x-ray emissivity in magnetically confined fusion plasmas. Multi-energy soft x-ray imaging provides a unique opportunity for measuring, simultaneously, a variety of important plasma properties (T e , n Z , ΔZ eff , and n e,fast ). The electron temperature can be obtained by modeling the slope of the continuum radiation from ratios of the available brightness and inverted radial emissivity profiles over multiple energy ranges. Impurity density measurements are also possible using the line-emission from medium- to high-Z impurities to separate the background as well as transient levels of metal contributions. As a result, this technique should be explored also as a burning plasma diagnostic in-view of its simplicity and robustness.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Measurement of LHCD edge power deposition through modulation techniques on Alcator C-Mod

The efficiency of LHCD on Alcator C-Mod drops exponentially with line average density. At reactor relevant densities (> 1 · 1020 [m{sup −3}]) no measurable current is driven. While a number of causes have been suggested, no specific mechanism has been shown to be responsible for the loss of current drive at high density. Fast modulation of the LH power was used to isolate and quantify the LHCD deposition within the plasma. Measurements from these plasmas provide unique evidence for determining a root cause. Modulation of LH power in steady plasmas exhibited no correlated change in the core temperature. A correlated, prompt response in the edge suggests that the loss in efficiency is related to a edge absorption mechanism. This follows previous results which found the generation of n{sub ||}-independent SOL currents. Multiple Langmuir probe array measurements of the conducted heat conclude that the lost power is deposited near the last closed flux surface. The heat flux induced by LH waves onto the outer divertor is calculated. Changes in the neutral pressure, ionization and hard X-ray emission at high density highlight the importance of the active divertor in the loss of efficiency. Results of this study implicate a mechanism which may occur over multiple passes, leading to power absorption near the LCFS.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Tungsten impurity transport experiments in Alcator C-Mod to address high priority research and development for ITER

Experiments in Alcator C-Mod tokamak plasmas in the Enhanced D-alpha H-mode regime with ITER-like mid-radius plasma density peaking and Ion Cyclotron Resonant heating, in which tungsten is introduced by the laser blow-off technique, have shown that accumulation of tungsten in the central region of the plasma does not take place in these conditions. The measurements obtained are consistent with anomalous transport dominating tungsten transport except in the central region of the plasma where tungsten transport is neoclassical, as previously observed in other devices with dominant neutral beam injection heating, such as JET and ASDEX Upgrade. In contrast to such results, yet, the measured scale lengths for plasma temperature and density in the central region of these Alcator C-Mod plasmas, with density profiles relatively flat in the core region due to the lack of core fuelling, are favourable to prevent inter and intra sawtooth tungsten accumulation in this region under dominance of neoclassical transport. Simulations of ITER H-mode plasmas, including both anomalous (modelled by the Gyro-Landau-Fluid code GLF23) and neoclassical transport for main ions and tungsten and with density profiles of similar peaking to those obtained in Alcator C-Mod show that accumulation of tungsten in the central plasma region is also unlikely to occur in stationary ITER H-mode plasmas due to the low fuelling source by the neutral beam injection (injection energy ~ 1 MeV), which is in consistent agreement with findings in the Alcator C-Mod experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Non-resonant destabilization of (1/1) internal kink mode by suprathermal electron pressure

New experimental observations are reported on the structure and dynamics of short-lived periodic (1, 1) “fishbone”-like oscillations that appear during radio frequency heating and current-drive experiments in tokamak plasmas. For the first time, measurements can directly relate changes in the high energy electrons to the mode onset, saturation, and damping. In the relatively high collisionality of Alcator C-Mod with lower hybrid current drive, the instability appears to be destabilized by the non-resonant suprathermal electron pressure—rather than by wave-particle resonance, rotates toroidally with the plasma and grows independently of the (1, 1) sawtooth crash driven by the thermal plasma pressure.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Poloidal asymmetries in edge transport barriers

Measurements of impurities in Alcator C-Mod indicate that in the pedestal region, significant poloidal asymmetries can exist in the impurity density, ion temperature, and main ion density. In light of the observation that ion temperature and electrostatic potential are not constant on a flux surface [Theiler et al. , Nucl. Fusion 54, 083017 (2014)], a technique based on total pressure conservation to align profiles measured at separate poloidal locations is presented and applied. Gyrokinetic neoclassical simulations with XGCa support the observed large poloidal variations in ion temperature and density, and that the total pressure is approximately constant on a flux surface. With the updated alignment technique, the observed in-out asymmetry in impurity density is reduced from previous publishing [Churchill et al. , Nucl. Fusion 53, 122002 (2013)], yet remains substantial (n z,H /n z,L ~6). Candidate asymmetry drivers are explored, showing that neither non-uniform impurity sources nor localized fluctuation-driven transport are able to explain satisfactorily the impurity density asymmetry. Since impurity density asymmetries are only present in plasmas with strong electron density gradients, and radial transport timescales become comparable to parallel transport timescales in the pedestal region, it is implied that global transport effects relating to the strong electron density gradients in the pedestal are the main driver for the pedestal in-out impurity density asymmetry.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

ADX: a high field, high power density, advanced divertor and RF tokamak

The MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center and collaborators are proposing a high-performance Advanced Divertor and RF tokamak eXperiment (ADX) – a tokamak specifically designed to address critical gaps in the world fusion research program on the pathway to next step devices: fusion nuclear science facility (FNSF), fusion pilot plant (FPP), and/or demonstration power plant (DEMO). This high field (≥ 6.5 tesla, 1.5 MA), high power density facility (P/S ~ 1.5 MW/m2) will test innovative divertor ideas, including an ‘X-point target divertor’ concept, at the required performance parameters – reactor-level boundary plasma pressures, magnetic field strengths and parallel heat flux densities entering into the divertor region – while simultaneously producing high performance core plasma conditions that are prototypical of a reactor: equilibrated electrons and ions, regimes with low or no torque, and no fueling from external heating and current drive systems. Equally important, the experimental platform will test innovative concepts for lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) and ion-cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) actuators with the unprecedented ability to deploy launch structures both on the lowmagnetic- field side and the high-magnetic-field side – the latter being a location where energetic plasma-material interactions can be controlled and favorable RF wave physics leads to efficient current drive, current profile control, heating and flow drive. This triple combination – advanced divertors, advanced RF actuators, reactor-prototypical core plasma conditions – will enable ADX to explore enhanced core confinement physics, such as made possible by reversed central shear, using only the types of external drive systems that are considered viable for a fusion power plant. Such an integrated demonstration of high-performance core-divertor operation with steady state sustainment would pave the way toward an attractive pilot plant, as envisioned in the ARC concept (Affordable, Robust, Compact) [B. N. Sorbom, et al., submitted to Fusion Engineering Design, 2014] that makes use of high-temperature superconductor technology – a high-field (9.25 tesla) tokamak the size of the Joint European Torus that produces 270 MW of net electricity.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Quasi-coherent fluctuations limiting the pedestal growth on Alcator C-Mod: Experiment and modelling

Performance predictions for future fusion devices rely on an accurate model of the pedestal structure. The candidate for predictive pedestal structure is EPED, and it is imperative to test the underlying hypotheses to further gain confidence for ITER projections. Here, we present experimental work testing one of the EPED hypotheses, namely the existence of a soft limit set by microinstabilities such as the kinetic ballooning mode. Furthermore, this work extends recent work on Alactor C-Mod (Diallo et al 2014 Phys. Rev. Lett. 112 115001), to include detailed measurements of the edge fluctuations and comparisons of edge simulation codes and experimental observations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Correlation ECE diagnostic in Alcator C-Mod

Correlation ECE (CECE) is a diagnostic technique that allows measurement of small amplitude electron temperature, Te, fluctuations through standard cross-correlation analysis methods. In Alcator C-Mod, a new CECE diagnostic has been installed[Sung RSI 2012], and interesting phenomena have been observed in various plasma conditions. We find that local Te fluctuations near the edge (ρ ~ 0:8) decrease across the linearto- saturated ohmic confinement transition, with fluctuations decreasing with increasing plasma density[Sung NF 2013], which occurs simultaneously with rotation reversals[Rice NF 2011]. Te fluctuations are also reduced across core rotation reversals with an increase of plasma density in RF heated L-mode plasmas, which implies that the same physics related to the reduction of Te fluctuations may be applied to both ohmic and RF heated L-mode plasmas. In I-mode plasmas, we observe the reduction of core Te fluctuations, which indicates changes of turbulence occur not only in the pedestal region but also in the core across the L/I transition[White NF 2014]. The present CECE diagnostic system in C-Mod and these experimental results are described in this paper.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS2005

Relocation of Advanced Water Vapor Radiometer 1 to Deep Space Station 55

In June of 2004, the Advanced Water Vapor Radiometer (AWVR) unit no. 1 was relocated to the Deep Space Station (DSS) 55 site in Madrid, Spain, from DSS 25 in Goldstone, California. This article summarizes the relocation activity and the subsequent operation and data acquisition. This activity also relocated the associated Microwave Temperature Profiler (MTP) and Surface Meteorology (SurfMET) package that collectively comprise the Cassini Media Calibration System (MCS).

Oswald, J.↗