Accuracy and convergence of coupled finite-volume/Monte Carlo codes for plasma edge simulations of nuclear fusion reactors

K. Ghoos; W. Dekeyser; G. Samaey; P. Börner; M. Baelmans

doi:10.1016/j.jcp.2016.06.049

Accuracy and convergence of coupled finite-volume/Monte Carlo codes for plasma edge simulations of nuclear fusion reactors

K. Ghoos
, W. Dekeyser
, G. Samaey
, P. Börner
, M. Baelmans

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

The plasma and neutral transport in the plasma edge of a nuclear fusion reactor is usually simulated using coupled finite volume (FV)/Monte Carlo (MC) codes. However, under conditions of future reactors like ITER and DEMO, convergence issues become apparent. This paper examines the convergence behaviour and the numerical error contributions with a simplified FV/MC model for three coupling techniques: Correlated Sampling, Random Noise and Robbins Monro. Also, practical procedures to estimate the errors in complex codes are proposed. Moreover, first results with more complex models show that an order of magnitude speedup can be achieved without any loss in accuracy by making use of averaging in the Random Noise coupling technique.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	162-182
Number of pages	21
Journal	Journal of Computational Physics
Volume	322
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2016.06.049
State	Published - Oct 1 2016
Externally published	Yes

Funding

This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014–2018 under grant agreement No. 633053 . The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission . This work is sponsored by Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship ( IWT.141064 ).

Keywords

Fusion
Monte Carlo
Plasma edge

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jcp.2016.06.049

Cite this

@article{1c868017c5a54490a2ed6301221c96fd,

title = "Accuracy and convergence of coupled finite-volume/Monte Carlo codes for plasma edge simulations of nuclear fusion reactors",

abstract = "The plasma and neutral transport in the plasma edge of a nuclear fusion reactor is usually simulated using coupled finite volume (FV)/Monte Carlo (MC) codes. However, under conditions of future reactors like ITER and DEMO, convergence issues become apparent. This paper examines the convergence behaviour and the numerical error contributions with a simplified FV/MC model for three coupling techniques: Correlated Sampling, Random Noise and Robbins Monro. Also, practical procedures to estimate the errors in complex codes are proposed. Moreover, first results with more complex models show that an order of magnitude speedup can be achieved without any loss in accuracy by making use of averaging in the Random Noise coupling technique.",

keywords = "Fusion, Monte Carlo, Plasma edge",

author = "K. Ghoos and W. Dekeyser and G. Samaey and P. B{\"o}rner and M. Baelmans",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 Elsevier Inc.",

year = "2016",

month = oct,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.jcp.2016.06.049",

language = "English",

volume = "322",

pages = "162--182",

journal = "Journal of Computational Physics",

issn = "0021-9991",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Accuracy and convergence of coupled finite-volume/Monte Carlo codes for plasma edge simulations of nuclear fusion reactors

AU - Ghoos, K.

AU - Dekeyser, W.

AU - Samaey, G.

AU - Börner, P.

AU - Baelmans, M.

PY - 2016/10/1

Y1 - 2016/10/1

N2 - The plasma and neutral transport in the plasma edge of a nuclear fusion reactor is usually simulated using coupled finite volume (FV)/Monte Carlo (MC) codes. However, under conditions of future reactors like ITER and DEMO, convergence issues become apparent. This paper examines the convergence behaviour and the numerical error contributions with a simplified FV/MC model for three coupling techniques: Correlated Sampling, Random Noise and Robbins Monro. Also, practical procedures to estimate the errors in complex codes are proposed. Moreover, first results with more complex models show that an order of magnitude speedup can be achieved without any loss in accuracy by making use of averaging in the Random Noise coupling technique.

AB - The plasma and neutral transport in the plasma edge of a nuclear fusion reactor is usually simulated using coupled finite volume (FV)/Monte Carlo (MC) codes. However, under conditions of future reactors like ITER and DEMO, convergence issues become apparent. This paper examines the convergence behaviour and the numerical error contributions with a simplified FV/MC model for three coupling techniques: Correlated Sampling, Random Noise and Robbins Monro. Also, practical procedures to estimate the errors in complex codes are proposed. Moreover, first results with more complex models show that an order of magnitude speedup can be achieved without any loss in accuracy by making use of averaging in the Random Noise coupling technique.

KW - Fusion

KW - Monte Carlo

KW - Plasma edge

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84977563316

U2 - 10.1016/j.jcp.2016.06.049

DO - 10.1016/j.jcp.2016.06.049

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84977563316

SN - 0021-9991

VL - 322

SP - 162

EP - 182

JO - Journal of Computational Physics

JF - Journal of Computational Physics

ER -

Accuracy and convergence of coupled finite-volume/Monte Carlo codes for plasma edge simulations of nuclear fusion reactors

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this