Department of Physics
Research, teaching and outreach in Physics at UW–Madison

Events

Plasma Physics (Physics/ECE/NE 922) Seminars
<< Summer 2018 Fall 2018 Spring 2019 >>
Subscribe your calendar or receive email announcements of events
Understanding Heavy Ion Impurity Transport in Tokamaks
Date: Monday, October 1st
Time: 12:05 pm
Place: 2241 Chamberlin Hall
Speaker: Dr. Emily Belli, General Atomics
Abstract: In a fusion reactor, the transport of heavy impurities, such as tungsten from material surfaces, into the high-temperature core must be minimized since accumulation can lead to fuel dilution and radiation losses, ultimately degrading the energy confinement and fusion performance. Assessing the level of core accumulation requires sophisticated transport models beyond those typically use for studying the main ions and plasmas with low-Z impurities. In particular, centrifugal effects due to sonic rotation, which arises in tokamaks from torque due to neutral beam injection for plasma heating, can lead to significant modifications to the simulated transport of heavy impurities. The lack of sonic rotation effects in most theoretical models means that widely-used reduced models are inadequate for studying heavy impurities and thus computationally-intensive advanced kinetic codes are needed. In this work, we use state-of-the art gyrokinetic (turbulent) and neoclassical (collision) codes to develop an understanding of the physical mechanisms driving the particle transport of tungsten in tokamaks and how tungsten accumulation can be avoided

Cosponsored by a generous grant from the Women in Science & Engineering Leadership Institute ( WISELI)
Add this event to your calendar