Designing a VH-mode core/L-mode edge discharge

An operating mode with a very high confinement core like the VH-mode but a very low power flow to the divertor plates and low edge particle confinement like an L-mode would be beneficial. For a large tokamak like the proposed ITER, the power density at the separatrix is not that far above the scaled H-mode power threshold so not much of the power can be radiated inside the separatrix without causing a return to L-mode. The thicker scrape-off layer of an L-mode increases the radiating volume of the scrape-off layer and helps shield impurities from the core. This is especially important if the first wall is metallic. In this paper an H-mode transport model based on E x B velocity shear suppression of turbulence will be used to show that it is possible to have a strongly radiating mantle near the separatrix, which keeps the edge in L-mode, while having a VH-mode core with a broad region of suppressed turbulence. The existing results of enhanced L-mode confinement during impurity injection on a number of tokamaks will be surveyed. We will identify the operating conditions which will most likely result in further improvement of the core confinement by control of the heating, fuelling, and torque profiles.