Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Phys.
Sec. Fusion Plasma Physics
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphy.2024.1407534
This article is part of the Research Topic Transport in the Scrape-Off Layer of Magnetically Confined Fusion Plasmas View all 3 articles

Global particle buildup simulations with gas puff scan. Application to WEST discharge

Provisionally accepted
Ivan Kudashev Ivan Kudashev 1*Manuel S. d' Abusco Manuel S. d' Abusco 1,2Anna M. Glasser Anna M. Glasser 1Eric Serre Eric Serre 1Frédéric Schwander Frédéric Schwander 1Hugo Bufferand Hugo Bufferand 3Guido Ciraolo Guido Ciraolo 3Philippe Ghendrih Philippe Ghendrih 3Patrick Tamain Patrick Tamain 3
  • 1 UMR7340 Laboratoire de Mécanique, Modélisation et Procédés Propres (M2P2), Marseille, France
  • 2 Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (DOE), Plainsboro Center, New Jersey, United States
  • 3 Institut de Recherche sur la Fusion par confinement Magnétique, Vinon-sur-Verdon, France

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This paper deals with the distribution of sources, transport and exhaust of particles in a tokamak.Knowledge and understanding of all the physical phenomena involved in the global particles buildup is necessary to study and predict density regimes, and subsequently to develop optimised scenarios for tokamak operation in order to control heat and particles exhaust. Neutral particles and their interactions with the plasma are central in this perspective. This paper discusses the impact of varying the intensity of particle fuelling in 2D transport simulations of a WEST discharge.Simulations are performed with an updated version of SOLEDGE-HDG which allows a more realistic transport of neutrals using a self-consistent diffusive model based on charge-exchange and ionization processes. New code capabilities are presented that allow the entire WEST poloidal cross-section to be simulated in a realistic configuration for both geometry and the range of control parameters. A gas puff scan illustrates reproduction by the code of the main features of the sheath-limited, high-recycling and detached regimes, such as the build-up of the temperature gradient and the pressure drop in the SOL, the target temperature falling to 1 eV, and the ionization source moving away from the targets, as well as the particle flux rollover. A crude estimate of wall erosion is also provided, showing the respective role of each plasma wall component in each of these regimes.

    Keywords: magnetic fusion, WEST tokamak, transport simulation, Gas puff, Density regimes, detachment

    Received: 26 Mar 2024; Accepted: 20 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kudashev, d' Abusco, Glasser, Serre, Schwander, Bufferand, Ciraolo, Ghendrih and Tamain. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ivan Kudashev, UMR7340 Laboratoire de Mécanique, Modélisation et Procédés Propres (M2P2), Marseille, France

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.