Numerical simulation of plasma response to externally applied resonant magnetic perturbation on the J-TEXT tokamak

Nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of an equilibrium on the J-TEXT tokamak with applied resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) are performed with NIMROD (non-ideal MHD with rotation, open discussion). Numerical simulation of plasma response to RMPs has been developed to investigate magnetic topology, plasma density and rotation profile. The results indicate that the pure applied RMPs can stimulate 2/1 mode as well as 3/1 mode by the toroidal mode coupling, and finally change density profile by particle transport. At the same time, plasma rotation plays an important role during the entire evolution process.     

Introduction to resonant magnetic perturbation coils of the J-TEXT Tokamak

To investigate the interactions between both the static and rotating resonant magnetic perturbations (RMP) and the tokamak plasma, two sets of coils, namely static RMP (SRMP) and dynamic RMP (DRMP), are constructed on the J-TEXT tokamak. SRMP is reconstructed from TEXT-U and mainly produces static m/n = 1/1, 2/1 and 3/1 resonant perturbation field, where m and n are the poloidal and toroidal mode numbers, respectively. DRMP, newly designed and installed inside the vacuum vessel, can generate pure 2/1 RMP. DRMP is also designed to operate in the AC mode and can produce rotating 2/1 RMP which will be used to study the tearing mode control. Due to the effect of the eddy current in the vacuum vessel wall, the amplitudes of the 2/1 component will be attenuated to about 1/3.6 of the DC value when the operation frequency is larger than 500 Hz. However, DRMP can still provide sufficient large rotating 2/1 perturbation for tearing mode related studies.     

Effect of edge magnetic island on carbon screening in the J-TEXT tokamak

The effect of externally applied resonant magnetic perturbation(RMP)on carbon impurity behavior is investigated in the J-TEXT tokamak.It is found that the m/n=3/1 islands have an impurity screening effect,which becomes obvious while the edge magnetic island is generated via RMP field penetration.The impurity screening effect shows a dependence on the RMP phase with the field penetration,which is strongest if the O point of the magnetic island is near the low-field-side(LFS)limiter plate.By combining a methane injection experimental study and STRAHL impurity transport analysis,we found that the variation of the impurity transport dominates the impurity screening effect.The impurity diffusion at the inner plasma region(r/a＜0.8)is enhanced with a significant increase in outward convection velocity at the edge region in the case of the magnetic island's O point near the LFS limiter plate.The impurity transport coefficient varies by a much lower level for the case with the magnetic island's X point near the LFS limiter plate.The interaction of the magnetic island and the LFS limiter plate is thought to contribute to the impurity transport variation with the dependence on the RMP phase.A possible reason is the interaction between the magnetic island and the LFS limiter.     

The anode power supply for the ECRH system on the J-TEXT tokamak

The electron cyclotron resonance heating(ECRH) system with a 60 GHz/200 k W/0.5 s gyrotron donated by the Culham Science Center is being developed on the J-TEXT tokamak for plasma heating, current drive and MHD studies. Simultaneously, an anode power supply(APS) has been rebuilt and tested for the output power control of the gyrotron, of which the input voltage is derived from an 80 k V negative cathode power supply. The control strategy by controlling the grid voltage of the tetrode TH5186 is applied to obtain an accurate anode climbing voltage, of which the output voltage can be obtained from 0-30 k V with respect to the cathode power supply. The characteristics of the APS, including control, protection, modulation, and output waveform, were tested with a100 k V/60 A negative cathode power supply, a dummy load and the ECRH control system. The results indicate that the APS can meet the requirements of the ECRH system on J-TEXT.     

Effects of resonant magnetic perturbations on radial electric fields in DIII-D tokamak

Gyrokinetic simulations of DIII-D tokamak equilibrium find that resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) drives a neoclassical non-ambipolar electron particle flux, which causes a rapid change of equilibrium radial electric fields consistent with experimental observations during the suppression of the edge localized mode (ELM). The simulation results provide a support for the conjecture that RMP-induced changes of radial electric fields lead to the enhanced turbulent transport at the pedestal top during the ELM suppression (Taimourzadeh et al 2019 Nucl. Fusion 59 046005). Furthermore, gyrokinetic simulations of collisionless damping of zonal flows show that resonant responses to the RMP decrease the residual level of the zonal flows and damp the geodesic acoustic mode.     

Effects of resonant magnetic perturbation on locked mode of neoclassical tearing modes

The effects of externally applied resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) on the locked mode of the neoclassical tearing mode (NTM) are numerically investigated by means of a set of reduced magnetohydrodynamic equations. It is found that, for a small bootstrap current fraction, three regimes, namely the slight suppression regime, the small locked island (SLI) regime and the big locked island (BLI) regime, are discovered with the increase of RMP strength. For a much higher bootstrap current fraction, however, a new oscillation regime appears instead of the SLI regime, although the other regimes still remain. The physical process in each regime is analyzed in detail based on the phase difference between the NTM and the RMP. Moreover, the critical values of the RMP in both SLI and BLI regimes are obtained, and their dependence on key plasma parameters is discussed as well.     

Study of the spectrum effect on thethreshold of resonant magnetic perturbationpenetration on J-TEXT

The spectrum effect on the penetration of resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) is studied withupgraded in-vessel RMP coils on J-TEXT. The poloidal spectrum of the RMP field, especiallythe amplitudes of 2/1 and 3/1 components, can be varied by the phase difference between theupper and lower coil rows, Δϕ=ϕ_top−ϕ_bottom, where ϕ_top and ϕ_bottom are the toroidal phases ofthe n = 1 field of each coil row. The type of RMP penetration is found to be related to Δϕ,including the RMP penetration of either 2/1 or 3/1 RMP and the successive penetrations of 3/1RMP followed by the 2/1 RMP. For cases with penetration of only one RMP component, thepenetration thresholds measured by the corresponding resonant component are close for variousΔ_f. However, the 2/1 RMP penetration threshold is significantly reduced if the 3/1 lockedisland is formed in advance. The changes in the rotation profile due to 3/1 locked islandformation could partially contribute to the reduction of the 2/1 thresholds.     

Effects of resonant magnetic perturbations on the loss of energetic ions in tokamak pedestal

Resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) are extensively applied to mitigate or suppress the edge localized mode in tokamak plasmas, but will break the axisymmetric magnetic field configuration and increase the loss of energetic ions. The mechanism of RMPs induced energetic ion loss has been extensively studied, and is mainly attributed to resonant effects. In this paper, in the perturbed non-axisymmetric tokamak pedestal, we analytically derive the equations of guiding center motion for energetic ions including the bounce/transit averaged radial drift velocity and the toroidal precession frequency modified by strong radial electric field. The loss time of energetic ions is numerically solved and its parametric dependence is analyzed in detail. We find that passing energetic ions cannot escape from the plasma, while deeply trapped energetic ions can escape from the plasma. The strong radial electric field plays an important role in modifying the toroidal precession frequency and resulting in the drift loss of trapped energetic ions. The loss time of trapped energetic ions is much smaller than the corresponding slowdown time in DIII-D pedestal. This indicates that the loss of trapped energetic ions in the perturbed non-axisymmetric pedestal is important, especially for the trapped energetic ions generated by perpendicular neutral beam injection.     

Behavior of multiple modes before and during minor disruption with the external resonant magnetic perturbations on J-TEXT tokamak

The behavior of multiple modes before and during minor disruption with the external resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) has been studied on a J-TEXT tokamak. The main component of RMPs is m/n = 2/1, where m and n are the numbers of the poloidal and toroidal modes, respectively. During the mode-locking caused by RMPs, it is found that before a minor or a major disruption (if there is no minor disruption), strong oscillations in both electron temperature and density occur if the edge safety factor q_a > 3. The analysis shows that the oscillations are caused by the m/n = 3/1 mode. In addition, using the ECE, Mirnov coils and 2D electron cyclotron emission imaging diagnostic systems, it is found that a thermal collapse occurs on the inner side of the 2/1 magnetic island during the minor disruption, and before the collapse, a 3/2 island increases, after the collapse, the 3/2 island may disappear. Moreover, the study also shows that these 3/1, 2/1 and 3/2 modes play roles in the thermal collapse of disruptions.     

Design of the power system for dynamic resonant magnetic perturbation coils on the J-TEXT tokamak

A set of in-vessel saddle coils has been installed on J-TEXT tokamak. They are proposed for further researches on controlling tearing modes and driving plasma rotation by static and dynamic resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs). The saddle coils will be energized by DC with the amplitude up to 10 kA, or AC with maximum amplitude up to 5 kA within the frequency range of 1–5 kHz. At DC mode two antiparallel 6-pulse phase thyristor rectifiers are chosen to obtain bidirectional current, while at AC mode an AC–DC–AC converter including a series resonant inverter can generate current of various amplitudes and frequencies. The paper presents the design of the power supply system, based on the definition of the power supply requirements and the feasibility of implementation of the topology and control strategy. Some simulation and experimental results are given in the end.     

A brief review: effects of resonant magnetic perturbation on classical and neoclassical tearing modes in tokamaks

This paper reviews the effects of resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) on classical tearing modes (TMs) and neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) from the theory, experimental discovery and numerical results with a focus on four major aspects: (i) mode mitigation, where the TM/NTM is totally suppressed or partly mitigated by the use of RMP; (ii) mode penetration, which means a linearly stable TM/NTM triggered by the externally applied RMP; (iii) mode locking, namely an existing rotating magnetic island braked and finally stopped by the RMP; (iv) mode unlocking, as the name suggests, it is the reverse of the mode locking process. The key mechanism and physical picture of above phenomena are revealed and summarized.