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Physics and performance of the I-mode regime over an expanded operating space on Alcator C-Mod
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Physics and performance of the I-mode regime over an expanded operating space on Alcator C-Mod

A.E. Hubbard, S.-G. Baek, D. Brunner, A.J. Creely, I. Cziegler, E. Edlund, J.W. Hughes, B. LaBombard, Y. Lin, Z. Liu, …
Nuclear fusion, Vol.57(12), 126039
10/04/2017
DOI: 10.1088/1741-4326/aa8570
url
http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/232166View
Open Access

Abstract

New results on the I-mode regime of operation on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak are reported. This ELM-free regime features high energy confinement and a steep temperature pedestal, while particle confinement remains at L-mode levels, giving stationary density and avoiding impurity accumulation. I-mode has now been obtained over nearly all of the magnetic fields and currents possible in this high field tokamak (Ip 0.55-1.7 MA, BT 2.8-8 T) using a configuration with B  ×  ∇B drift away from the X-point. Results at 8 T confirm that the L-I power threshold varies only weakly with BT, and that the power range for I-mode increases with BT; no 8 T discharges transitioned to H-mode. Parameter dependences of energy confinement are investigated. Core transport simulations are giving insight into the observed turbulence reduction, profile stiffness and confinement improvement. Pedestal models explain the observed stability to ELMs, and can simulate the observed weakly coherent mode. Conditions for I-H transitions have complex dependences on density as well as power. I-modes have now been maintained in near-DN configurations, leading to improved divertor power flux sharing. Prospects for I-mode on future fusion devices such as ITER and ARC are encouraging. Further experiments on other tokamaks are needed to improve confidence in extrapolation.
 FEC 2016 I-mode pedestal tokamak transport

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