Study of the Transient Behavior of Detached Plasma during Xe Gas Injection into the D-Module of GAMMA 10/PDX

Abstract

The transition phenomenon of detached plasma during additional heating effects has been studied by applying a short pulse (25 ms) of Electron Cyclotron Heating (ECH) at the east plug-cell of the tandem mirror device GAMMA 10/PDX. In this paper, the plasma parameters on the target plate of the D-module are studied for understanding the impact of transient heating pulse on the sustainability of the detached plasma. The heat flux increases on the target plate for the additional heating case in comparison to without heating pulse. The ion flux also increases when the ECH heating is activated. The electron density enhances significantly during the ECH heating pulse application period. Furthermore, the electron density and the ion flux increase according to the increment of Xe plenum pressure in the case of ECH heating condition. The experimental results clarified that ECH heating pulse can drive the detachment state to attached state in spite of strong effect of Xe gas for generating the detached plasma.