Abstract: PSFC/RR-10-14

Boundary Layer Heat Transport Experiments in Alcator C-Mod in Support of the FY2010 US DoE Joint Research Target

B. LaBombard, J.L. Terry, J.W. Hughes, D. Brunner, J. Payne, M.L. Reinke, I. Cziegler, S. Zweben¹, R. Granetz, M. Greenwald, I.H. Hutchinson, J. Irby, Y. Lin, B. Lipschultz, Y. Ma, E.S. Marmar, N. Mucic, W. Parkin, S. Pierson, R. Rosati, R. Rowan², H. Savelli, J. Stillerman, N. Tsujii, R. Vieira, G. Wallace, D.G. Whyte, S. Wolfe, S. Wukitch, G. Wurden³, J. Zaks and the Alcator C-Mod Team

¹Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, P.O. Box 451, Princeton, NJ 08540 USA
²University of Texas, Fusion Research Center, Austin, TX 78712
³Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 USA

Physics-based transport models that can accurately simulate heat-flux power widths in the tokamak boundary plasma are lacking at the present time. Existing empirical scaling laws for heatflux power widths appear to be ambiguous and not well formulated. Yet this information is of fundamental importance for ITER and of utmost importance for DEMO, where the lifetime of the first-wall will be a limiting factor. Recognizing this gap in understanding, Alcator C-Mod, in coordination with DIII-D and NSTX, conducted experiments in FY2010 aimed at characterizing divertor heat flux ‘footprints’ and their connections to conditions in the boundary and core plasmas. This research was performed in support of a Joint Research Target (JRT) established by the US DoE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences.

10/3/10