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O Sauter

Publications and source records attributed to O Sauter.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Radial transport and electron-cyclotron-current drive in the TCV and DIII-D tokamaks.

Calculation of electron-cyclotron-current drive (ECCD) with the comprehensive CQL3D Fokker-Planck code for a TCV tokamak shot gives 550 kA of driven toroidal current, in marked disagreement with the 100-kA experimental value. Published ECCD efficiencies calculated with CQL3D in the much larger, higher-confinement DIII-D tokamak are in excellent agreement with experiment. The disagreement is resolved by including in the calculations electrostatic-type radial transport at levels given by global energy confinement in tokamaks. The radial transport of energy and toroidal current are in agreement.

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PubMed2002

Neoclassical tearing physics in the spherical tokamak MAST.

Results from MAST provide a first test of neoclassical tearing mode physics in the spherical tokamak (ST). The mode accounts for the main performance limit in conventional tokamaks. Its behavior in the ST is remarkably well described by existing theoretical models, although it is more readily seeded by sawtooth events in these scenarios. Modeling confirms the significance of stabilizing field-curvature effects. This provides good grounds for optimism that with suitable control of profiles, it may be possible to avoid these modes in the ST.

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PubMed2002

From current-driven to neoclassically driven tearing modes.

In the TCV tokamak, the m/n = 2/1 island is observed in low-density discharges with central electron-cyclotron current drive. The evolution of its width has two distinct growth phases, one of which can be linked to a "conventional" tearing mode driven unstable by the current profile and the other to a neoclassical tearing mode driven by a perturbation of the bootstrap current. The TCV results provide the first clear observation of such a destabilization mechanism and reconcile the theory of conventional and neoclassical tearing modes, which differ only in the dominant driving term.

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PubMed2002

Control of neoclassical tearing modes by sawtooth control.

The onset of a neoclassical tearing mode (NTM) depends on the existence of a large enough seed island. It is shown in the Joint European Torus that NTMs can be readily destabilized by long-period sawteeth, such as obtained by sawtooth stabilization from ion-cyclotron heating or current drive. This has important implications for burning plasma scenarios, as alpha particles strongly stabilize the sawteeth. It is also shown that, by adding heating and current drive just outside the inversion radius, sawteeth are destabilized, resulting in shorter sawtooth periods and larger beta values being obtained without NTMs.

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PubMed2001

Long-pulse improved central electron confinement in the TCV tokamak with electron cyclotron heating and current drive.

Current profile tailoring by electron cyclotron heating (ECH) and current drive (ECCD) is used to improve central electron energy confinement in the TCV tokamak. Counter-ECCD on axis alone achieves this goal in a transient manner only. A stable scenario is obtained by a two-step sequence of off-axis ECH, which stabilizes magnetohydrodynamics modes, and on-axis counter-ECCD, which generates a flat or inverted current profile. This high-confinement regime, with central temperatures up to 9 keV (at a normalized beta(N) approximately 0.6), has been sustained for the entire duration of the heating pulse, or over 200 electron energy confinement times and 5 current redistribution times.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Steady-state fully noninductive current driven by electron cyclotron waves in a magnetically confined plasma

A steady-state, fully noninductive plasma current has been sustained for the first time in a tokamak using electron cyclotron current drive only. In this discharge, 123 kA of current have been sustained for the entire gyrotron pulse duration of 2 s. Careful distribution across the plasma minor radius of the power deposited from three 0. 5-MW gyrotrons was essential for reaching steady-state conditions. With central current drive, up to 153 kA of current have been fully replaced transiently for 100 ms. The noninductive scenario is confirmed by the ability to recharge the Ohmic transformer. The dependence of the current drive efficiency on the minor radius is also demonstrated.

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