ICRF heating schemes for the HL-2M tokamak

Abstract

The HL-2M tokamak is a new medium-sized tokamak in SouthWestern Institute of Physics (SWIP). Two of its key missions are to achieve 10keV ion temperature and investigate the behaviour of energetic particles relevant to burning plasmas. A 6MW Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequencies (ICRF) heating power is embedded in the next upgrade program of HL-2M. In order to facilitate the engineering design of the ICRF system, this paper analyses the main ICRF heating schemes for HL-2M, in terms of ion heating and energetic ion generation in particular. D(H) minority heating and the 2nd harmonic D will act as the main ion heating schemes, for which the optimal RF frequency range 27-33MHz, antenna parallel wavenumber k//~8m-1 are proposed and strong Single Pass Absorption (SPA) is expected under typical HL-2M plasma parameters. Full wave simulations carried out via TORIC/SSFPQL and TRANSP codes suggest that by adopting three ion scheme or synergetic heating on NBI D ions by the 2nd harmonic D, energetic ions with energy at MeV level can be produced. This study shows that ICRF heating could play significant roles on ion heating, energetic ions generation in HL-2M.

Summary of the 10th Conference on Magnetically Confined Fusion Theory and Simulation (CMCFTS)

“…Lingfeng Lu presented the physics design of the 6 MW ICRF heating system for the HL-2M tokamak. ICRF heating schemes for ion heating and energetic ion generations were predicted and the main plasma parameters as well as the antenna setup to achieve these schemes were proposed [69].…”

Simulation of ion cyclotron wave heating in the EXL-50U spherical tokamak based on dispersion relations

“…The fundamental theory of ICRF fast wave heating in toroidal plasma is extended in [14,15], where Porkolab's simplified theoretical SPA model is obtained based on the local approximation of the real and imaginary parts of the wave dispersion relation. Additionally, the absorption of ICRF fast waves with moderate to high ion cyclotron harmonics on DIII-D [16] and the ICRF heating effect of the HL-2M device were investigated using Porkolab's SPA model [17]. The SPA was calculated using the method and equations in [14] and used to evaluate ICRF core wave absorption in SPARC [18,19].…”

“…Ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) heating is the only auxiliary heating method that directly heats ions [8][9][10][11][12][13], making it a critical component in achieving high ion temperatures. Single-pass absorption (SPA) analysis provides a convenient method to quickly understand heating effects, and provides the total absorption proportions, which are not available with a full-wave code [14][15][16][17]. The fundamental theory of ICRF fast wave heating in toroidal plasma is extended in [14,15], where Porkolab's simplified theoretical SPA model is obtained based on the local approximation of the real and imaginary parts of the wave dispersion relation.…”

The effect of the electron κ-distribution on the dust particle charging in the radio-frequency thermal-sheaths

“…The utilization of RF power within the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) has been identified as the primary auxiliary heating technique for the burning plasma experiment (BPX). This decision was reached due to the extensive success of ICRF heating in existing large-scale experiments, such as JET , TFTR, JT-60, West(Tore Supra), EAST, ASDEX-U, and KSTAR as well as the ability of ion cyclotron waves to penetrate high-density plasmas [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. The antenna is a crucial component that connects the radiofrequency (RF) system to the plasma in fusion reactors.…”