SMuK 2023 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik
P 6: Magnetic Confinement II/HEPP III
P 6.5: Vortrag
Dienstag, 21. März 2023, 12:35–12:50, CHE/0091
Numerical studies of the O-X mode conversion process in MAST Upgrade — •Alf Köhn-Seemann1, Bengt E. Eliasson2, Simon J. Freethy3, Lou A. Holland4, and Roddy G.L. Vann4 — 1IGVP, University of Stuttgart, Germany — 2SUPA, Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, U.K. — 3Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Culham, U.K. — 4York Plasma Institute, York, U.K.
Microwaves in the GHz-range play an indispensable role for heating and current drive in plasmas. If, however, the plasma density exceeds the cut-off density of the injected microwave, it can no longer reach its electron cyclotron resonance layer. To overcome this limitation, heating at electron cyclotron harmonics is an often applied method. Another possibility is to couple to the electrostatic electron Bernstein wave which has no high-density cut-off and is very well absorbed at the electron cyclotron resonance layer. Spherical tokamaks can in particular benefit from EBWs as their current drive efficiency exceeds those of O- or X-mode. Here, we present numerical investigations of coupling to the EBW via the O-X-B mode conversion process in the spherical tokamak MAST Upgrade. These studies are to be understood as a feasibility study of an EBW heating system in MAST Upgrade.