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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

Scanning retarding field analyzer for plasma profile measurements in the boundary of the Alcator C-Mod tokamak

A new Retarding Field Analyzer (RFA) head has been created for the outer-midplane scanning probe system on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak. The new probe head contains back-to-back retarding field analyzers aligned with the local magnetic field. One faces 'upstream' into the field-aligned plasma flow and the other faces 'downstream' away from the flow. The RFA was created primarily to benchmark ion temperature measurements of an ion sensitive probe; it may also be used to interrogate electrons. However, its construction is robust enough to be used to measure ion and electron temperatures up to the last-closed flux surface in C-Mod. A RFA probe of identical design has been attached to the side of a limiter to explore direct changes to the boundary plasma due to lower hybrid heating and current drive. Design of the high heat flux (>100 MW/m{sup 2}) handling probe and initial results are presented.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Study and design of the ion cyclotron resonance heating system for the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X

The current status of the mechanical and electromagnetic design for the ICRF antenna system for W7-X is presented. Two antenna plugins are discussed: one consisting of a pair of straps with pre-matching to cover the first frequency band, 25–38 MHz, and a second one consisting of two short strap triplets to cover a frequency band around 76 MHz. This paper focusses on the two strap antenna for the lower frequency band. Power coupling of the antenna to a reference plasma profile is studied with the help of the codes TOPICA and Microwave Studio that deliver the scattering matrix needed for the optimization of the geometric parameters of the straps and antenna box. Radiation power spectra for different phasings of the two straps are obtained using the code ANTITER II and different heating scenario are discussed. The potential for heating, fast particle generation, and current drive is discussed. The problem of RF coupling through the plasma edge and of edge power deposition is summarized. Important elements of the complete ion cyclotron resonance heating system are discussed: a resonator circuit with tap feed to limit the maximum voltage in the system, and a decoupler to counterbalance the large mutual coupling between the 2 straps. The mechanical design highlights the challenges encountered with this antenna: adaptation to a large variety of plasma configurations, the limited space within the port to accommodate the necessary matching components and the watercooling needed for long pulse operation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Real-time sawtooth control and neoclassical tearing mode preemption in ITER

Real-time control of multiple plasma actuators is a requirement in advanced tokamaks; for example, for burn control, plasma current profile control and MHD stabilization—electron cyclotron (EC) wave absorption is ideally suited especially for the latter. On ITER, 24 EC sources can be switched between 56 inputs at the torus. In the torus, 5 launchers direct the power to various locations across the plasma profile via 11 steerable mirrors. For optimal usage of the available power, the aiming and polarization of the beams must be adapted to the plasma configuration and the needs of the scenario. Since the EC system performs many competing tasks, present day systems should demonstrate the ability of an EC plant to deal with several targets in parallel and/or to switch smoothly between goals to attain overall satisfaction. Based on pacing and locking experiments performed on TCV (Tokamak à Configuration Variable), the real-time sawtooth control of ITER with this complex set of actuators is analyzed, as an example. It is shown that sawtooth locking and pacing are possible with various levels of powers, leading to different time delays between the end of the EC power phase and the next sawtooth crash. This timing is important since it allows use of the same launchers for neoclassical tearing mode (NTM) preemption at the q = 1.5 or 2 surface, avoiding the need to switch power between launchers. These options are presented. It is also demonstrated that increasing the total EC power does not necessarily increase the range of control because of the geometry of the launchers.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Multi-fluid transport code modeling of time-dependent recycling in ELMy H-mode

Simulations of a high-confinement-mode (H-mode) tokamak discharge with infrequent giant type-I ELMs are performed by the multi-fluid, multi-species, two-dimensional transport code UEDGE-MB, which incorporates the Macro-Blob approach for intermittent non-diffusive transport due to filamentary coherent structures observed during the Edge Localized Modes (ELMs) and simple time-dependent multi-parametric models for cross-field plasma transport coefficients and working gas inventory in material surfaces. Temporal evolutions of pedestal plasma profiles, divertor recycling, and wall inventory in a sequence of ELMs are studied and compared to the experimental time-dependent data. Short- and long-time-scale variations of the pedestal and divertor plasmas where the ELM is described as a sequence of macro-blobs are discussed. It is shown that the ELM recovery includes the phase of relatively dense and cold post-ELM divertor plasma evolving on a several ms scale, which is set by the transport properties of H-mode barrier. The global gas balance in the discharge is also analyzed. The calculated rates of working gas deposition during each ELM and wall outgassing between ELMs are compared to the ELM particle losses from the pedestal and neutral-beam-injection fueling rate, correspondingly. A sensitivity study of the pedestal and divertor plasmas to model assumptions for gas deposition and release on material surfaces is presented. The performed simulations show that the dynamics of pedestal particle inventory is dominated by the transient intense gas deposition into the wall during each ELM followed by continuous gas release between ELMs at roughly a constant rate.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

On specular reflectivity measurements in high and low-contrast relativistic laser-plasma interactions

Using both experiment and 2D3V particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, we describe the use of specular reflectivity measurements to study relativistic (Iλ{sup 2 }> 10{sup 18 }W/cm{sup 2}⋅μm{sup 2}) laser-plasma interactions for both high and low-contrast 527 nm laser pulses on initially solid density aluminum targets. In the context of hot-electron generation, studies typically rely on diagnostics which, more-often-than-not, represent indirect processes driven by fast electrons transiting through solid density materials. Specular reflectivity measurements, however, can provide a direct measure of the interaction that is highly sensitive to how the EM fields and plasma profiles, critical input parameters for modeling of hot-electron generation, evolve near the interaction region. While the fields of interest occur near the relativistic critical electron density, experimental reflectivity measurements are obtained centimeters away from the interaction region, well after diffraction has fully manifested itself. Using a combination of PIC simulations with experimentally inspired conditions and an analytic, non-paraxial, pulse propagation algorithm, we calculate reflected pulse properties, both near and far from the interaction region, and compare with specular reflectivity measurements. The experiment results and PIC simulations demonstrate that specular reflectivity measurements are an extremely sensitive qualitative, and partially quantitative, indicator of initial laser/target conditions, ionization effects, and other details of intense laser-matter interactions. The techniques described can provide strong constraints on many systems of importance in ultra-intense laser interactions with matter.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Validation of full-wave simulations for mode conversion of waves in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies with phase contrast imaging in Alcator C-Mod

Mode conversion of fast waves in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) is known to result in current drive and flow drive under optimised conditions, which may be utilized to control plasma profiles and improve fusion plasma performance. To describe these processes accurately in a realistic toroidal geometry, numerical simulations are essential. Quantitative comparison of these simulations and the actual experimental measurements is important to validate their predictions and to evaluate their limitations. The phase contrast imaging (PCI) diagnostic has been used to directly detect the ICRF waves in the Alcator C-Mod tokamak. The measurements have been compared with full-wave simulations through a synthetic diagnostic technique. Recently, the frequency response of the PCI detector array on Alcator C-Mod was recalibrated, which greatly improved the comparison between the measurements and the simulations. In this study, mode converted waves for D-{sup 3}He and D-H plasmas with various ion species compositions were re-analyzed with the new calibration. For the minority heating cases, self-consistent electric fields and a minority ion distribution function were simulated by iterating a full-wave code and a Fokker-Planck code. The simulated mode converted wave intensity was in quite reasonable agreement with the measurements close to the antenna, but discrepancies remain for comparison at larger distances.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Calibration of ITER Instant Power Neutron Monitors: Recommended Scenario of Experiments at the Reactor

Instant power is a key parameter of the ITER. Its monitoring with an accuracy of a few percent is an urgent and challenging aspect of neutron diagnostics. In a series of works published in Problems of Atomic Science and Technology, Series: Thermonuclear Fusion under a common title, the step-by-step neutronics analysis was given to substantiate a calibration technique for the DT and DD modes of the ITER. A Gauss quadrature scheme, optimal for processing “expensive” experiments, is used for numerical integration of {sup 235}U and {sup 238}U detector responses to the point sources of 14-MeV neutrons. This approach allows controlling the integration accuracy in relation to the number of coordinate mesh points and thus minimizing the number of irradiations at the given uncertainty of the full monitor response. In the previous works, responses of the divertor and blanket monitors to the isotropic point sources of DT and DD neutrons in the plasma profile and to the models of real sources were calculated within the ITER model using the MCNP code. The neutronics analyses have allowed formulating the basic principles of calibration that are optimal for having the maximum accuracy at the minimum duration of in situ experiments at the reactor. In this work, scenarios of the preliminary and basic experimental ITER runs are suggested on the basis of those principles. It is proposed to calibrate the monitors only with DT neutrons and use correction factors to the DT mode calibration for the DD mode. It is reasonable to perform full calibration only with {sup 235}U chambers and calibrate {sup 238}U chambers by responses of the {sup 235}U chambers during reactor operation (cross-calibration). The divertor monitor can be calibrated using both direct measurement of responses at the Gauss positions of a point source and simplified techniques based on the concepts of equivalent ring sources and inverse response distributions, which will considerably reduce the amount of measurements. It is shown that the monitor based on the average responses of the horizontal and vertical neutron chambers remains spatially stable as the source moves and can be used in addition to the staff monitor at neutron fluxes in the detectors four orders of magnitude lower than on the first wall, where staff detectors are located. Owing to low background, detectors of neutron chambers do not need calibration in the reactor because it is actually determination of the absolute detector efficiency for 14-MeV neutrons, which is a routine out-of-reactor procedure.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

The effects of plasma shape control on the edge collisionless ion orbit loss

Double null magnetic configurations with different elongation κ and triangularity δ are constructed by using an analytical solution of the Grad–Shafranov equation. The ion orbit losses in plasma edge region are calculated by solving the ion guiding center orbit equation for different values of κ and δ. It is found that the ion orbit loss is larger for a smaller value of κ or δ. The variation of the ion orbit loss fraction on the magnetic surface is also studied.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS2000

Langmuir Probe Measurements in an Inductively Coupled Ar/CF4 Plasmas

Technological advancement in the microelectronics industry requires an understanding of the physical and chemical processes occurring in plasmas of fluorocarbon gases, such as carbon tetrafluoride (CF4) which is commonly used as an etchant, and their mixtures to optimize various operating parameters. In this paper we report data on electron number density (ne), electron temperature'(Te), electron energy distribution function (EEDF), mean electron energy, ion number density (ni), and plasma potential (Vp) measured by using Langmuir probe in an inductively coupled 13.56 MHz radio frequency plasmas generated in 50%Ar:50%CF4 mixture in the GEC cell. The probe data were recorded at various radial positions providing radial profiles of these plasma parameters at 10-50 mTorr pressures and 200 W and 300 W of RF power. Present measurements indicate that the electron and ion number densities increase with increase in pressure and power. Whereas the plasma potential and electron temperature decrease with increase in pressure, and they weakly depend on RF power. The radial profiles exhibit that the electron and ion number densities and the plasma potential peak at the center of the plasma with an exponential fall away from it, while the electron temperature has a minimum at the center and it increases steadily towards the electrode edge. The EEDFs have a characteristic drop near the low energy end at all pressures and pressures and their shapes represent non-Maxwellian plasma and exhibit more like Druyvesteyn energy distribution.v

Rao, M. V. V. S.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Prediction of divertor heat flux width for ITER using BOUT++ transport and turbulence module

Investigation of turbulent transport dynamics in scrape-off-layer (SOL) and divertor heat flux width prediction is performed for ITER. Both BOUT++ transport and BOUT++ turbulence codes are applied to capture the physics on different temporal scales. Simulations start with an ITER 15MA baseline scenario profile generated by CORSICA (Kim et al 2015 Paper ITER_D_R9T8J9 v1.1). In BOUT++ transport code, the plasma parameters ( n i , T i , T e ) and radial electric () profiles are evolved to steady state. Here, the initial plasma profiles inside the separatrix are taken from CORSICA scenario studies. Transport coefficients are calculated by inverting the plasma profiles inside the separatrix.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Simultaneous use of camera and probe diagnostics to unambiguously identify and study the dynamics of multiple underlying instabilities during the route to plasma turbulence

We use multiple-tip Langmuir probes and fast imaging to unambiguously identify and study the dynamics of underlying instabilities during the controlled route to fully-developed plasma turbulence in a linear magnetized helicon plasma device. Langmuir probes measure radial profiles of electron temperature, plasma density and potential; from which we compute linear growth rates of instabilities, cross-phase between density and potential fluctuations, Reynold's stress, particle flux, vorticity, time-delay estimated velocity, etc. Fast imaging complements the 1D probe measurements by providing temporally and spatially resolved 2D details of plasma structures associated with the instabilities. We find that three radially separated plasma instabilities exist simultaneously. Density gradient driven resistive drift waves propagating in the electron diamagnetic drift direction separate the plasma into an edge region dominated by strong, velocity shear driven Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities and a central core region which shows coherent Rayleigh-Taylor modes propagating in the ion diamagnetic drift direction. The simultaneous, complementary use of both probes and camera was crucial to identify the instabilities and understand the details of the very rich plasma dynamics.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Gyrokinetic and extended-MHD simulations of a flow shear stabilized Z-pinch experiment

Axisymmetric (m = 0) gyrokinetic and extended-MHD simulations of a sheared-flow Z-pinch plasma are performed with the high-order finite volume code COGENT. The present gyrokinetic model solves the long-wavelength limit of the gyrokinetic equation for both ion and electron species coupled to the electrostatic gyro-Poisson equation for the electrostatic potential. The extended-MHD model is electromagnetic and includes the effects of the gyro-viscous pressure tensor, diamagnetic electron and ion heat fluxes, and generalized Ohm's law. Additionally, a prominent feature of this work is that the radial profiles for the plasma density and temperature are taken from the fusion Z-pinch experiment (FuZE), and the magnetic field profile is obtained as a solution of the MHD force balance equation. Such an approach allows to address realistic plasma parameters and provide insights into the current and planned experiments. In particular, it is demonstrated that the radial profiles play an important role in stabilization, as the embedded guiding center (E×B ) drift has a strong radial shear, which can contribute to the Z-pinch stabilization even in the absence of the fluid flow shear. The results of simulations for the FuZE plasma parameters show a decrease in the linear growth rate with an increase in the flow shear; however, full stabilization in the linear regime is not observed even for large (comparable to the Alfvén velocity) radial variations of the axial flow. Nonlinear stability properties of the FuZE plasmas are also studied, and it is found that profile broadening can have a pronounced stabilizing effect in the nonlinear regime.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Effect of radial pressure corrugations and profile shearing on turbulence in Fusion plasmas

Microturbulence can produce stationary fine-scale radial corrugations on the plasma density and temperature gradients in magnetic confinement fusion devices. We show that these structures play a significant role in regulating turbulent transport. We focus on the pedestal, studying electron-temperature-gradient (ETG) mode destabilisation and saturation in the presence of radial corrugations on the electron temperature gradient that could result from microtearing turbulence. A linear dispersion relation is derived for a shearless slab case, which indicates that in the presence of a sinusoidal background corrugation, each ETG mode splits into three distinct eigenvalues, with one being the original, one being more unstable and one being less unstable. However, despite the presence of more unstable linear modes, nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations of ETG with corrugated background electron temperature show a reduction of fluxes. Our investigation reveals a radial variation of the phase velocity of the modes that is proportional to the diamagnetic drift velocity and the local pressure gradient. The associated profile shearing breaks the turbulent eddies apart, reducing the transport level. This profile shearing resulting from fine-scale pressure corrugations could be a ubiquitous turbulence saturation mechanism not just in Fusion plasmas, but in Astrophysics and other areas.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2015

Electron temperature measurement in Maxwellian non-isothermal beam plasma of an ion thruster

Published electron temperature profiles of the beam plasma from ion thrusters reveal many divergences both in magnitude and radial variation. In order to know exactly the radial distributions of electron temperature and understand the beam plasma characteristics, we applied five different experimental approaches to measure the spatial profiles of electron temperature and compared the agreement and disagreement of the electron temperature profiles obtained from these techniques. Experimental results show that the triple Langmuir probe and adiabatic poly-tropic law methods could provide more accurate space-resolved electron temperature of the beam plasma than other techniques. Radial electron temperature profiles indicate that the electrons in the beam plasma are non-isothermal, which is supported by a radial decrease (∼2 eV) of electron temperature as the plume plasma expands outward. Therefore, the adiabatic “poly-tropic law” is more appropriate than the isothermal “barometric law” to be used in electron temperature calculations. Moreover, the calculation results show that the electron temperature profiles derived from the “poly-tropic law” are in better agreement with the experimental data when the specific heat ratio (γ) lies in the range of 1.2-1.4 instead of 5/3.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

Plasma potential shaping using end-electrodes in the Large Plasma Device

We perform experiments in the Large Plasma Device at the University of California, Los Angeles, studying how different end-electrode biasing schemes modify the radial potential profile in the machine. We impose biasing profiles of different polarities and gradient signs on a set of five concentric electrodes placed 12 m downstream from the plasma source. We find that imposing concave-down profiles (negative potential radial gradient) on the electrodes creates radial potential profiles halfway up the plasma column that are comparable to those imposed on the electrodes and a few electron temperature in height, regardless of the biasing polarity. On the other hand, imposing concave-up profiles (positive potential radial gradient) leads to non-monotonic radial potential profiles. This observation can be explained by the current drawn through the electrodes and the parallel plasma resistivity, highlighting their important role in controlling the rotation of plasma. Concave-down plasma potential profiles, obtained by drawing electrons on the axis, are predicted to drive azimuthal drift velocities that can approach significant fractions of the ion sound speed in the central region of the plasma column.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Investigation of atomic and molecular processes in H α emission through modelling of measured H α emissivity profile using DEGAS2 in the ADITYA tokamak

In order to understand the atomic and molecular processes involved in the emission of the hydrogen Balmer alpha (H α ) spectral line from tokamak plasmas, the measured radial profile of H α emissivity in ADITYA tokamak discharges has been modeled using the DEGAS2 neutral particle transport code. The radial profile of emissivity has been measured using a 1.0 m multi-track spectrometer and with PMT array based space-resolved visible spectroscopic diagnostics involving interference filters. The radial profile of the neutral hydrogen density has been obtained using the DEGAS2 code by reproducing the experimentally observed H α emissivity profile. It has been found that the neutral density falls by 80–200 times at the plasma center compared to its maximum value at the plasma edge near the limiter (ρ = 0.92). Detailed investigation of the contributions of atomic and molecular processes involved in H α emission reveals the significant presence of hydrogen molecules and molecular ions within ~4 cm of the limiter radius. Here, the contributions from processes involving H + 2 ions are found to be higher than those from the molecular hydrogen dissociation with H + 2 dissociative recombination dominating over H + 2 dissociation at the extreme edge of the plasma.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Radial current and rotation profile tailoring in highly ionized linear plasma devices

In a rotating magnetized plasma cylinder with shear, cross field current can arise from inertial mechanisms and from the cross field viscosity. Considering these mechanisms, it is possible to calculate the irreducible radial current draw in a cylindrical geometry as a function of the rotation frequency. Here, the resulting expressions raise novel possibilities for tailoring the electric field profile by controlling the density and temperature profiles of a plasma.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Initial experimental test of a helicon plasma based mass filter

High throughput plasma mass separation requires rotation control in a high density multi-species plasmas. A preliminary mass separation device based on a helicon plasma operating in gas mixtures and featuring concentric biasable ring electrodes is introduced. Plasma profile shows strong response to electrode biasing. In light of floating potential measurements, the density response is interpreted as the consequence of a reshaping of the radial electric field in the plasma. This field can be made confining or de-confining depending on the imposed potential at the electrodes, in a way which is consistent with single particle orbit radial stability. In conclusion, concurrent spatially resolved spectroscopic measurements suggest ion separation, with heavy to light ion emission line ratio increasing with radius when a specific potential gradient is applied to the electrodes.

42 ENGINEERING↗