The tokamak Monte Carlo fast ion module NUBEAM in the National Transport Code Collaboration library

• Published in: Computer physics communications 2004-06, Vol.159 (3), p.157-184
• Main Authors: Pankin, Alexei, McCune, Douglas, Andre, Robert, Bateman, Glenn, Kritz, Arnold
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Heating; Monte Carlo; NBI; Neutral Beam Injection; Tokamak
• ISSN: 0010-4655; 1879-2944
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cpc.2003.11.002

The NUBEAM module is a comprehensive computational model for Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) in tokamaks. It is used to compute power deposition, driven current, momentum transfer, fueling, and other profiles in tokamak plasmas due to NBI. NUBEAM computes the time-dependent deposition and slowing down of the fast ions produced by NBI, taking into consideration beam geometry and composition, ion-neutral interactions (atomic physics), anomalous diffusion of fast ions, the effects of large scale instabilities, the effect of magnetic ripple, and finite Larmor radius effects. The NUBEAM module can also treat fusion product ions that contribute to alpha heating and ash accumulation, whether or not NBI is present. These physical phenomena are important in simulations of present day tokamaks and projections to future devices such as ITER. The NUBEAM module was extracted from the TRANSP integrated modeling code, using standards of the National Transport Code Collaboration (NTCC), and was submitted to the NTCC module library ( http://w3.pppl.gov/NTCC). This paper describes the physical processes computed in the NUBEAM module, together with a summary of the numerical techniques that are used. The structure of the NUBEAM module is described, including its dependence on other NTCC library modules. Finally, a description of the procedure for setting up input data for the NUBEAM module and making use of the output is outlined.