Helium transport and exhaust studies of H-mode discharges in the DIII-D tokamak

摘要

A collaborative program has been initiated to measure helium (He) transport and exhaust on DIII-D in L-mode, ELM-free H-mode, and ELMing H-mode. These diverted plasmas operating in enhanced confinement regimes should provide valuable information for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). To simulate the presence of He ash in DIII-D, a 50 ms He puff is injected into a DIII-D plasma, resulting in a He concentration of (approximately) 15%. The time dependence of the He density profiles in the plasma core is measured with charge-exchange recombination spectroscopy and the He spatial distribution on the diverter floor is studied with an impurity monitor array. The dependence of core transport diffusivities as a function of ELM frequency have been studied and the first demonstration made of He exhaust from an H-mode plasma in a diverted tokamak. The exhaust rate of He from these ELMing H-mode plasmas appears to be within the acceptable range for a fusion reactor, like ITER, based on a measured value of (tau)*(sub He)/(tau)E (approx)14.