Top Launch for Higher Off-axis Electron Cyclotron Current Drive Efficiency

Efficient off-axis current drive is crucial for economic, steady-state tokamak fusion power plants. “Top Launch” electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) is one promising method for driving strong off-axis current to achieve the desired broad current profile for the Advanced Tokamak regime. New simul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:EPJ Web of Conferences 2019-01, Vol.203, p.1004
Main Authors: Chen, Xi, Prater, Ron, Petty, Craig, Lohr, John, Su, David, Lao, Lang, Chan, Vincent
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
Configuration management
Cyclotron resonance
Doppler effect
Efficiency
Electric power generation
Electrons
Fusion reactors
Nuclear power plants
Particle interactions
Prototype tests
Steering
Tokamak devices
Wave-particle interactions
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Summary:Efficient off-axis current drive is crucial for economic, steady-state tokamak fusion power plants. “Top Launch” electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) is one promising method for driving strong off-axis current to achieve the desired broad current profile for the Advanced Tokamak regime. New simulations show that by launching the electron cyclotron (EC) waves downwards (or upwards) nearly parallel to the resonance plane with a large toroidal steering, higher current drive efficiency can be obtained at large radii owing to the large Doppler shift, wave-particle interactions on HFS of the plasma, and the long absorption path. Implementations on CFETR and DIII-D are simulated identifying clear benefits and optimal configurations. The design of a prototype test being installed on DIII-D is presented, which will experimentally validate whether top launch ECCD can be an improved efficiency current drive technique for future fusion reactors.
ISSN:2100-014X
2101-6275
2100-014X
DOI:10.1051/epjconf/201920301004