Disruptive behavior in the Compact Toroidal Hybrid torsatron-tokamak

D. A. Maurer, S. F. Knowlton, J. D. Hanson, G. J. Hartwell, M. C. Miller, B. A. Stevenson, X. Ma, J. Herfindal, M. Pandya

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Understanding the control and avoidance of major disruptions in current carrying toroidal plasmas is important in mitigating the effects of such loss of confinement. Helical configurations with low toroidal currents are largely free of disruptions, and it has long been known that a low level of vacuum transform, lvac(a) ≈ 0.1, confers some disruption immunity to current-driven toroidal discharges [1, 2]. Experiments on the Compact Toroidal Hybrid (CTH) torsatron are investigating avoidance of disruptions in Ohmically-driven, ECRH-generated plasmas in which the ratio of vacuum or external to total (external + Ohmic) transform can be lower than 10%. The minimum vacuum rotational transform in which helical discharges can be obtained in CTH to date is lvac(a) ≈ 0.04. At or near these values, disruptions may take place when lTOTAL(a) ≈ 0.5 and strong MHD activity is typically observed. Disruptivity is noticeably reduced when the vertical position of the plasma is controlled to prevent or delay vertical displacement events. Interpretation of these results makes use of threedimensional equilibrium reconstruction from magnetic diagnostics using the V3FIT code [3].

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication39th EPS Conference on Plasma Physics 2012, EPS 2012 and the 16th International Congress on Plasma Physics
Pages830-833
Number of pages4
StatePublished - 2012
Externally publishedYes
Event39th EPS Conference on Plasma Physics 2012, EPS 2012 and the 16th International Congress on Plasma Physics - Stockholm, Sweden
Duration: Jul 2 2012Jul 6 2012

Publication series

Name39th EPS Conference on Plasma Physics 2012, EPS 2012 and the 16th International Congress on Plasma Physics
Volume2

Conference

Conference39th EPS Conference on Plasma Physics 2012, EPS 2012 and the 16th International Congress on Plasma Physics
Country/TerritorySweden
CityStockholm
Period07/2/1207/6/12

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