Overview of NSTX Upgrade initial results and modelling highlights

J. E. Menard; J. P. Allain; D. J. Battaglia; F. Bedoya; R. E. Bell; E. Belova; J. W. Berkery; M. D. Boyer; N. Crocker; A. Diallo; F. Ebrahimi; N. Ferraro; E. Fredrickson; H. Frerichs; S. Gerhardt; N. Gorelenkov; W. Guttenfelder; W. Heidbrink; R. Kaita; S. M. Kaye; D. M. Kriete; S. Kubota; B. P. Leblanc; D. Liu; R. Lunsford; D. Mueller; C. E. Myers; M. Ono; J. K. Park; M. Podesta; R. Raman; M. Reinke; Y. Ren; S. A. Sabbagh; O. Schmitz; F. Scotti; Y. Sechrest; C. H. Skinner; D. R. Smith; V. Soukhanovskii; T. Stoltzfus-Dueck; H. Yuh; Z. Wang; I. Waters; J. W. Ahn; R. Andre; R. Barchfeld; P. Beiersdorfer; N. Bertelli; Amitava Bhattacharjee; D. Brennan; R. Buttery; A. Capece; G. Canal; J. Canik; C. S. Chang; D. Darrow; L. Delgado-Aparicio; C. Domier; S. Ethier; T. Evans; J. Ferron; M. Finkenthal; R. Fonck; K. Gan; D. Gates; I. Goumiri; T. Gray; J. Hosea; D. Humphreys; T. Jarboe; S. Jardin; M. A. Jaworski; Bruce E. Koel; Egemen Kolemen; S. Ku; R. J. La Haye; F. Levinton; N. Luhmann; R. Maingi; R. Maqueda; G. McKee; E. Meier; J. Myra; R. Perkins; F. Poli; T. Rhodes; J. Riquezes; Clarence Worth Rowley; D. Russell; E. Schuster; B. Stratton; D. Stutman; G. Taylor; K. Tritz; W. Wang; B. Wirth; S. J. Zweben

doi:10.1088/1741-4326/aa600a

Overview of NSTX Upgrade initial results and modelling highlights

J. E. Menard, J. P. Allain, D. J. Battaglia, F. Bedoya, R. E. Bell, E. Belova, J. W. Berkery, M. D. Boyer, N. Crocker, A. Diallo, F. Ebrahimi, N. Ferraro, E. Fredrickson, H. Frerichs, S. Gerhardt, N. Gorelenkov, W. Guttenfelder, W. Heidbrink, R. Kaita, S. M. KayeD. M. Kriete, S. Kubota, B. P. Leblanc, D. Liu, R. Lunsford, D. Mueller, C. E. Myers, M. Ono, J. K. Park, M. Podesta, R. Raman, M. Reinke, Y. Ren, S. A. Sabbagh, O. Schmitz, F. Scotti, Y. Sechrest, C. H. Skinner, D. R. Smith, V. Soukhanovskii, T. Stoltzfus-Dueck, H. Yuh, Z. Wang, I. Waters, J. W. Ahn, R. Andre, R. Barchfeld, P. Beiersdorfer, N. Bertelli, Amitava Bhattacharjee, D. Brennan, R. Buttery, A. Capece, G. Canal, J. Canik, C. S. Chang, D. Darrow, L. Delgado-Aparicio, C. Domier, S. Ethier, T. Evans, J. Ferron, M. Finkenthal, R. Fonck, K. Gan, D. Gates, I. Goumiri, T. Gray, J. Hosea, D. Humphreys, T. Jarboe, S. Jardin, M. A. Jaworski, Bruce E. Koel, Egemen Kolemen, S. Ku, R. J. La Haye, F. Levinton, N. Luhmann, R. Maingi, R. Maqueda, G. McKee, E. Meier, J. Myra, R. Perkins, F. Poli, T. Rhodes, J. Riquezes, Clarence Worth Rowley, D. Russell, E. Schuster, B. Stratton, D. Stutman, G. Taylor, K. Tritz, W. Wang, B. Wirth, S. J. Zweben

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

61 Scopus citations

Abstract

The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) has undergone a major upgrade, and the NSTX Upgrade (NSTX-U) Project was completed in the summer of 2015. NSTX-U first plasma was subsequently achieved, diagnostic and control systems have been commissioned, the H-mode accessed, magnetic error fields identified and mitigated, and the first physics research campaign carried out. During ten run weeks of operation, NSTX-U surpassed NSTX record pulse-durations and toroidal fields (TF), and high-performance ∼1 MA H-mode plasmas comparable to the best of NSTX have been sustained near and slightly above the n = 1 no-wall stability limit and with H-mode confinement multiplier H_98y,2 above 1. Transport and turbulence studies in L-mode plasmas have identified the coexistence of at least two ion-gyro-scale turbulent micro-instabilities near the same radial location but propagating in opposite (i.e. ion and electron diamagnetic) directions. These modes have the characteristics of ion-temperature gradient and micro-tearing modes, respectively, and the role of these modes in contributing to thermal transport is under active investigation. The new second more tangential neutral beam injection was observed to significantly modify the stability of two types of Alfven eigenmodes. Improvements in offline disruption forecasting were made in the areas of identification of rotating MHD modes and other macroscopic instabilities using the disruption event characterization and forecasting code. Lastly, the materials analysis and particle probe was utilized on NSTX-U for the first time and enabled assessments of the correlation between boronized wall conditions and plasma performance. These and other highlights from the first run campaign of NSTX-U are described.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	102006
Journal	Nuclear Fusion
Volume	57
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/aa600a
State	Published - Jun 20 2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Condensed Matter Physics

Keywords

Alfven eigenmodes
NSTX-U
boronization
error fields
plasma material interactions
spherical tokamak

Access to Document

10.1088/1741-4326/aa600a

Cite this

Menard, J. E., Allain, J. P., Battaglia, D. J., Bedoya, F., Bell, R. E., Belova, E., Berkery, J. W., Boyer, M. D., Crocker, N., Diallo, A., Ebrahimi, F., Ferraro, N., Fredrickson, E., Frerichs, H., Gerhardt, S., Gorelenkov, N., Guttenfelder, W., Heidbrink, W., Kaita, R., ... Zweben, S. J. (2017). Overview of NSTX Upgrade initial results and modelling highlights. Nuclear Fusion, 57(10), Article 102006. https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/aa600a

@article{c4fcfe436b36485d8852f877f6b1a438,

title = "Overview of NSTX Upgrade initial results and modelling highlights",

abstract = "The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) has undergone a major upgrade, and the NSTX Upgrade (NSTX-U) Project was completed in the summer of 2015. NSTX-U first plasma was subsequently achieved, diagnostic and control systems have been commissioned, the H-mode accessed, magnetic error fields identified and mitigated, and the first physics research campaign carried out. During ten run weeks of operation, NSTX-U surpassed NSTX record pulse-durations and toroidal fields (TF), and high-performance ∼1 MA H-mode plasmas comparable to the best of NSTX have been sustained near and slightly above the n = 1 no-wall stability limit and with H-mode confinement multiplier H98y,2 above 1. Transport and turbulence studies in L-mode plasmas have identified the coexistence of at least two ion-gyro-scale turbulent micro-instabilities near the same radial location but propagating in opposite (i.e. ion and electron diamagnetic) directions. These modes have the characteristics of ion-temperature gradient and micro-tearing modes, respectively, and the role of these modes in contributing to thermal transport is under active investigation. The new second more tangential neutral beam injection was observed to significantly modify the stability of two types of Alfven eigenmodes. Improvements in offline disruption forecasting were made in the areas of identification of rotating MHD modes and other macroscopic instabilities using the disruption event characterization and forecasting code. Lastly, the materials analysis and particle probe was utilized on NSTX-U for the first time and enabled assessments of the correlation between boronized wall conditions and plasma performance. These and other highlights from the first run campaign of NSTX-U are described.",

keywords = "Alfven eigenmodes, NSTX-U, boronization, error fields, plasma material interactions, spherical tokamak",

author = "Menard, {J. E.} and Allain, {J. P.} and Battaglia, {D. J.} and F. Bedoya and Bell, {R. E.} and E. Belova and Berkery, {J. W.} and Boyer, {M. D.} and N. Crocker and A. Diallo and F. Ebrahimi and N. Ferraro and E. Fredrickson and H. Frerichs and S. Gerhardt and N. Gorelenkov and W. Guttenfelder and W. Heidbrink and R. Kaita and Kaye, {S. M.} and Kriete, {D. M.} and S. Kubota and Leblanc, {B. P.} and D. Liu and R. Lunsford and D. Mueller and Myers, {C. E.} and M. Ono and Park, {J. K.} and M. Podesta and R. Raman and M. Reinke and Y. Ren and Sabbagh, {S. A.} and O. Schmitz and F. Scotti and Y. Sechrest and Skinner, {C. H.} and Smith, {D. R.} and V. Soukhanovskii and T. Stoltzfus-Dueck and H. Yuh and Z. Wang and I. Waters and Ahn, {J. W.} and R. Andre and R. Barchfeld and P. Beiersdorfer and N. Bertelli and Amitava Bhattacharjee and D. Brennan and R. Buttery and A. Capece and G. Canal and J. Canik and Chang, {C. S.} and D. Darrow and L. Delgado-Aparicio and C. Domier and S. Ethier and T. Evans and J. Ferron and M. Finkenthal and R. Fonck and K. Gan and D. Gates and I. Goumiri and T. Gray and J. Hosea and D. Humphreys and T. Jarboe and S. Jardin and Jaworski, {M. A.} and Koel, {Bruce E.} and Egemen Kolemen and S. Ku and {La Haye}, {R. J.} and F. Levinton and N. Luhmann and R. Maingi and R. Maqueda and G. McKee and E. Meier and J. Myra and R. Perkins and F. Poli and T. Rhodes and J. Riquezes and Rowley, {Clarence Worth} and D. Russell and E. Schuster and B. Stratton and D. Stutman and G. Taylor and K. Tritz and W. Wang and B. Wirth and Zweben, {S. J.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 IAEA, Vienna.",

year = "2017",

month = jun,

day = "20",

doi = "10.1088/1741-4326/aa600a",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "57",

journal = "Nuclear Fusion",

issn = "0029-5515",

publisher = "IOP Publishing Ltd.",

number = "10",

}

Menard, JE, Allain, JP, Battaglia, DJ, Bedoya, F, Bell, RE, Belova, E, Berkery, JW, Boyer, MD, Crocker, N, Diallo, A, Ebrahimi, F, Ferraro, N, Fredrickson, E, Frerichs, H, Gerhardt, S, Gorelenkov, N, Guttenfelder, W, Heidbrink, W, Kaita, R, Kaye, SM, Kriete, DM, Kubota, S, Leblanc, BP, Liu, D, Lunsford, R, Mueller, D, Myers, CE, Ono, M, Park, JK, Podesta, M, Raman, R, Reinke, M, Ren, Y, Sabbagh, SA, Schmitz, O, Scotti, F, Sechrest, Y, Skinner, CH, Smith, DR, Soukhanovskii, V, Stoltzfus-Dueck, T, Yuh, H, Wang, Z, Waters, I, Ahn, JW, Andre, R, Barchfeld, R, Beiersdorfer, P, Bertelli, N, Bhattacharjee, A, Brennan, D, Buttery, R, Capece, A, Canal, G, Canik, J, Chang, CS, Darrow, D, Delgado-Aparicio, L, Domier, C, Ethier, S, Evans, T, Ferron, J, Finkenthal, M, Fonck, R, Gan, K, Gates, D, Goumiri, I, Gray, T, Hosea, J, Humphreys, D, Jarboe, T, Jardin, S, Jaworski, MA, Koel, BE, Kolemen, E, Ku, S, La Haye, RJ, Levinton, F, Luhmann, N, Maingi, R, Maqueda, R, McKee, G, Meier, E, Myra, J, Perkins, R, Poli, F, Rhodes, T, Riquezes, J, Rowley, CW, Russell, D, Schuster, E, Stratton, B, Stutman, D, Taylor, G, Tritz, K, Wang, W, Wirth, B & Zweben, SJ 2017, 'Overview of NSTX Upgrade initial results and modelling highlights', Nuclear Fusion, vol. 57, no. 10, 102006. https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/aa600a

TY - JOUR

T1 - Overview of NSTX Upgrade initial results and modelling highlights

AU - Menard, J. E.

AU - Allain, J. P.

AU - Battaglia, D. J.

AU - Bedoya, F.

AU - Bell, R. E.

AU - Belova, E.

AU - Berkery, J. W.

AU - Boyer, M. D.

AU - Crocker, N.

AU - Diallo, A.

AU - Ebrahimi, F.

AU - Ferraro, N.

AU - Fredrickson, E.

AU - Frerichs, H.

AU - Gerhardt, S.

AU - Gorelenkov, N.

AU - Guttenfelder, W.

AU - Heidbrink, W.

AU - Kaita, R.

AU - Kaye, S. M.

AU - Kriete, D. M.

AU - Kubota, S.

AU - Leblanc, B. P.

AU - Liu, D.

AU - Lunsford, R.

AU - Mueller, D.

AU - Myers, C. E.

AU - Ono, M.

AU - Park, J. K.

AU - Podesta, M.

AU - Raman, R.

AU - Reinke, M.

AU - Ren, Y.

AU - Sabbagh, S. A.

AU - Schmitz, O.

AU - Scotti, F.

AU - Sechrest, Y.

AU - Skinner, C. H.

AU - Smith, D. R.

AU - Soukhanovskii, V.

AU - Stoltzfus-Dueck, T.

AU - Yuh, H.

AU - Wang, Z.

AU - Waters, I.

AU - Ahn, J. W.

AU - Andre, R.

AU - Barchfeld, R.

AU - Beiersdorfer, P.

AU - Bertelli, N.

AU - Bhattacharjee, Amitava

AU - Brennan, D.

AU - Buttery, R.

AU - Capece, A.

AU - Canal, G.

AU - Canik, J.

AU - Chang, C. S.

AU - Darrow, D.

AU - Delgado-Aparicio, L.

AU - Domier, C.

AU - Ethier, S.

AU - Evans, T.

AU - Ferron, J.

AU - Finkenthal, M.

AU - Fonck, R.

AU - Gan, K.

AU - Gates, D.

AU - Goumiri, I.

AU - Gray, T.

AU - Hosea, J.

AU - Humphreys, D.

AU - Jarboe, T.

AU - Jardin, S.

AU - Jaworski, M. A.

AU - Koel, Bruce E.

AU - Kolemen, Egemen

AU - Ku, S.

AU - La Haye, R. J.

AU - Levinton, F.

AU - Luhmann, N.

AU - Maingi, R.

AU - Maqueda, R.

AU - McKee, G.

AU - Meier, E.

AU - Myra, J.

AU - Perkins, R.

AU - Poli, F.

AU - Rhodes, T.

AU - Riquezes, J.

AU - Rowley, Clarence Worth

AU - Russell, D.

AU - Schuster, E.

AU - Stratton, B.

AU - Stutman, D.

AU - Taylor, G.

AU - Tritz, K.

AU - Wang, W.

AU - Wirth, B.

AU - Zweben, S. J.

PY - 2017/6/20

Y1 - 2017/6/20

N2 - The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) has undergone a major upgrade, and the NSTX Upgrade (NSTX-U) Project was completed in the summer of 2015. NSTX-U first plasma was subsequently achieved, diagnostic and control systems have been commissioned, the H-mode accessed, magnetic error fields identified and mitigated, and the first physics research campaign carried out. During ten run weeks of operation, NSTX-U surpassed NSTX record pulse-durations and toroidal fields (TF), and high-performance ∼1 MA H-mode plasmas comparable to the best of NSTX have been sustained near and slightly above the n = 1 no-wall stability limit and with H-mode confinement multiplier H98y,2 above 1. Transport and turbulence studies in L-mode plasmas have identified the coexistence of at least two ion-gyro-scale turbulent micro-instabilities near the same radial location but propagating in opposite (i.e. ion and electron diamagnetic) directions. These modes have the characteristics of ion-temperature gradient and micro-tearing modes, respectively, and the role of these modes in contributing to thermal transport is under active investigation. The new second more tangential neutral beam injection was observed to significantly modify the stability of two types of Alfven eigenmodes. Improvements in offline disruption forecasting were made in the areas of identification of rotating MHD modes and other macroscopic instabilities using the disruption event characterization and forecasting code. Lastly, the materials analysis and particle probe was utilized on NSTX-U for the first time and enabled assessments of the correlation between boronized wall conditions and plasma performance. These and other highlights from the first run campaign of NSTX-U are described.

AB - The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) has undergone a major upgrade, and the NSTX Upgrade (NSTX-U) Project was completed in the summer of 2015. NSTX-U first plasma was subsequently achieved, diagnostic and control systems have been commissioned, the H-mode accessed, magnetic error fields identified and mitigated, and the first physics research campaign carried out. During ten run weeks of operation, NSTX-U surpassed NSTX record pulse-durations and toroidal fields (TF), and high-performance ∼1 MA H-mode plasmas comparable to the best of NSTX have been sustained near and slightly above the n = 1 no-wall stability limit and with H-mode confinement multiplier H98y,2 above 1. Transport and turbulence studies in L-mode plasmas have identified the coexistence of at least two ion-gyro-scale turbulent micro-instabilities near the same radial location but propagating in opposite (i.e. ion and electron diamagnetic) directions. These modes have the characteristics of ion-temperature gradient and micro-tearing modes, respectively, and the role of these modes in contributing to thermal transport is under active investigation. The new second more tangential neutral beam injection was observed to significantly modify the stability of two types of Alfven eigenmodes. Improvements in offline disruption forecasting were made in the areas of identification of rotating MHD modes and other macroscopic instabilities using the disruption event characterization and forecasting code. Lastly, the materials analysis and particle probe was utilized on NSTX-U for the first time and enabled assessments of the correlation between boronized wall conditions and plasma performance. These and other highlights from the first run campaign of NSTX-U are described.

KW - Alfven eigenmodes

KW - NSTX-U

KW - boronization

KW - error fields

KW - plasma material interactions

KW - spherical tokamak

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85028447945&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85028447945&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1088/1741-4326/aa600a

DO - 10.1088/1741-4326/aa600a

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85028447945

SN - 0029-5515

VL - 57

JO - Nuclear Fusion

JF - Nuclear Fusion

IS - 10

M1 - 102006

ER -

Overview of NSTX Upgrade initial results and modelling highlights

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this