Alcator C-Mod Run 1030701 Information

Back to runs

Miniproposals
Miniproposal:347
Date Filed: 6/24/2003
Title:C-Mod Performance Evaluation
First Author:Martin Greenwald
Session Leader:Martin Greenwald (shots 1-26)

Operators
Session leader(s):Martin Greenwald
Physics operator(s):Bill Rowan
Engineering operator(s): Unknown

Engineering Operator Run Comment
Purpose: MP #347 C-Mod Performance Evaluation/Greenwald/Rowan

Session Leader Plans

Physics Operators Plans

Session Leader Summaries
Entered: Jul 7 2004 03:49:33:413PM
Author: Martin Greenwald
Run Summary for 1030701
MP 347
Session Leader Greenwald
Phys Op Rowan


Plan:

We will attempt to study performance issues by running inner-wall limited discharges with strong RF heating at 0.8 MA. The total power will be moderately high, but we should not push performance - the power should be steady except for programmed notches designed to allow evaluation of the absorbed power via dW/dt analysis. Separate trips on each of the 3 antennas will be programmed to allow separate evaluation of each.

These studies will be carried out at a variety of densities. Recent experiments suggested that lower density - thus hotter - plasmas show better heating. If time permits, plasma currents of 0.6 and 1.0 MA could be run as well.

The L-mode studies will take about 0.4 seconds of each discharge. Following this period, the inner gap will be increased from 0 to about 1 cm to allow an H-mode plasma to develop from a fully heated discharge. This would provide further tests for the scaling of heating efficiency with temperature.

Careful spectroscopic study of impurities should accompany these experiments to determine the extent to which low or high Z impurities are present. Boron or nitrogen from the BN tiles may be a factor in the apparent drop in plasma performance.

We start with 10305300014 - an inner wall limited plasma from earlier this campaign. The RF should be set to run from 0.7 to 1.5 sec. Notches should be programmed in right from the start:

D @ 0.8, 1.2 sec
E @ 0.9, 1.3 sec
J @ 1.0, 1.4 sec

We work up to high power in all antennas.

We can start modifying the equilibrium in the second half of the shot early in the run - even if we don't have the first part fully set up. The plan is to pull the plasma off the inner wall (L gap to ~ 1cm) and form a lower single null discharge. The change should start at about 1.05 second and be fairly rapid.

We want the A coils setup up for minimal error field for the entire run.



Results:

Fairly good. The start was delayed by attempts to fix power systems for the D antenna. Eventually we gave up on this and ran with only E and J. This limited our ability to run at very high densities as J won't start in these cases.

The overall confinement followed results from earlier years quite closely. Data from different currents overlaid (using ITER89 scaling). The degradation in performance as density was raised was also observed. H factors varied from 1.3 at nebar ~ 1e20 to 0.7 at nebar > 2.5e20.

We got fast efits for all the RF power notches. The data will take closer inspection as the time histories don't always look right. Unclear if this is a problem with the timebaseor something more fundamental about the approach.

The attempt to form good H-modes by pulling the plasma off the inner wall after it was heated did not work at all. The H-modes produced were all terrible.

Initial analysis of fast H-alpha data from the edge suggests that there is no rapidchange in the edge plasma associated with RF turn off (or on).


Shots for further analysis:

1030701001
1030701002
1030701003
1030701005
1030701006
1030701007
1030701008
1030701009
1030701010
1030701011
1030701012
1030701013
1030701015
1030701018
1030701019
1030701020
1030701021
1030701022
1030701023
1030701024
1030701026

Physics Operator Summaries
Entered: Jul 7 2004 04:37:18:503PM
Author: Bill Rowan
Physop Summary for Tuesday, July 1, 2003. Run 1030701

Purpose: MP#347 C-Mod Performance Evaluation

SL: Greenwald
PO: Rowan


Engineering Setup for Tuesday 07/01/2003---------------------------

Run starts at 09:00

ECDC in D2 at 2e-4 Torr, stopping by 07:00

Power Systems as on 1030501026

A-coils setup: [+Dtop -Dbot -Jtop +Jbot]

Gas setup:
fill B-Top with 6 psi D2 Hybrid enabled (PG4)
fill B-side lower with 1 psi Ar Hybrid enabled (PG1)
fill B-side upper with 10 psi D2 Hybrid DISABLED (PG2) (for ECDC)
fill C-side with 30 psi D2 Hybrid enabled (PG3)


Enable the following gate valves, assuming no vacuum problems:
ECE, DNB, VUV

All ICRF transmitters will be needed for this run.
------------------------------------------------------------------

Results---------------------------------------------------------------
We started from shot 1030501026. This was a limited on the high
field side. The startup was from shot 1030630004. In this setup,
the current is notched during the current rise (at times), and
there is a hard x-ray burst starting at early time. Both would be
worth some attention, but that is difficult to justify at the expense
of the main purpose of the run.

There was an initial request to increase the elongation of the limited
discharge from approximately 1.3 to something closer to 1.5.
This was easily accomplished by fine tuning using clearin and rcur; that
is, by moving in the direction of a diverted equilibrium.

The equilibrium was adjusted at 1.1 s to produce a diverted configuration
late in the discharge.

There were disruptions on shot 007, 008, and 012. On Wednesday,
Wolfe compared these to discharges during his run and concluded
that there were problems with the EF2 supply -- pickup, noise...
See his log for 1030702.

Score card

plasma 19
disruptions 3 all after 1s
fizzles 4
total 26
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Details----------------------------------------------------------
Loaded shot 1030501026.

Will load segment 1 from yesterday.
1030630004

set up the a coils for the first shot.
Turned on at 0.5s and off at 1.5 s

D is not available.
Starting the run without it.

001. Plasma.

Startup is okay.
Discharge looks like a good place to start.
Limited on the high field side
H/D ratio incorrect.

Next shot. No pcs changes.

002. Plasma.

Next shot.
Changed clearin from -0.03 m to -0.02 m
Increased RCUR by 0.005 at the same time

003. Plasma
elongation is approx 1.4

Next shot.
Leave the initial elongation alone
at 1.05 s begin to pull the plasma off the inner wall
clearin increased by 0.01 m. rcur increased by 0.005m

004. Plasma.
Does become diverted at approximately 1s
The right gap gets a little small.

Next shot.
Increase clearin by another 0.01 m

005. Plasma.
Right gap corrected to approximately 1 cm

Next shot. No pcs changes

006. Plasma

Next shot. No pcs changes

007. Plasma. Disruption at 1.5s.


Next shot. No PCS changes.

008. Plasma. Disruption at 1.5 s again

Next shot. Flatten the density and reduce the nl_04 demand to 4.0e+19

009. Plasma.
Density still not flat.

Next shot. Flatten the density so that is near nebar =1.0e+20 m-3

010. Plasma
Density is reasonably flat.

Next shot. Reduce the density in the first part of the shot.
Increase the pre puff from 26 ms to 30 ms to take care of x-ray

011. Plasma

Next shot. Increase nl_04 to 1.5e+20

012. Plasma. Disruption at 1.17s

Next shot. Reduce the density by approximately 30%

013. Plasma. Full length.

Next shot. No pcs changes.

014. Fizzle

Next shot. Reduce the prefill fro 30 ms to 26 ms


015. Plasma.

Next shot. Increase IP to 1 MA
Slight reduction in density.

016. Fizzle

Next shot. Bz0 may be a little high. Reduced it
icef4 from -1320A to -1335A

017. fizzle

Next shot. Raise ICEF$ from -1335 to -1305
This is going in the other direction wrt my previous change


018. Plasma.
Long delay before this shot. There appears to be a vacuum leak.
BZ_0 responded as expected.

Next shot.
Change the equilibrium to remain limited throughout the shot.

019. Plasma.
Limited on the inner wall.

Next shot. Reduce nl_04 demand from 0.9e+20 to 0.6e+20

020. Plasma

Next shot. Reducet the nl_04 demand from 0.6e+20 to 0.45e+20

021. Plasma.

Next shot. 0.6 MA

022. Plasma.

Next shot. Increased nl_04 demand from 4.5e+19 to 7.0e+19
Increase the prefill from 26 ms to 30 ms

023. Plasma

Next shot. Further increase in nl_04 demand from 7.0e+19 to 9e+19

024. Plasma

Next shot. Further increased in nl_04 demand from 9e+19 to 1.1e+20

025. Fizzle

Next shot. Decrease the prefill from 30 ms to 26 ms

026. Plasma.

Last shot.







Session Leader Comments
Jul 1 2003 09:04:02:753AMMartin GreenwaldMP#347 C-Mod Performance Evaluation

SL: Greenwald
PO: Rowan

Plan:

We will attempt to study performance issues by running inner-wall limited
discharges with strong RF heating at 0.8 MA. The total power will be moderately high, but
we should not push performance - the power should be steady except for programmed
notches designed to allow evaluation of the absorbed power via dW/dt analysis. Separate
trips on each of the 3 antennas will be programmed to allow separate evaluation of each.

These studies will be carried out at a variety of densities. Recent experiments suggested that
lower density - thus hotter - plasmas show better heating. If time permits, plasma currents of
0.6 and 1.0 MA could be run as well.

The L-mode studies will take about 0.4 seconds of each discharge. Following this period, the
inner gap will be increased from 0 to about 1 cm to allow an H-mode plasma to develop from
a fully heated discharge. This would provide further tests for the scaling of heating efficiency
with temperature.

Careful spectroscopic study of impurities should accompany these experiments to determine the
extent to which low or high Z impurities are present. Boron or nitrogen from the BN tiles
may be a factor in the apparent drop in plasma performance.

We start with 10305300014 - an inner wall limited plasma from earlier this campaign.
The RF should be set to run from 0.7 to 1.5 sec. Notches should be programmed in right from the start:

D @ 0.8, 1.2 sec
E @ 0.9, 1.3 sec
J @ 1.0, 1.4 sec

We work up to high power in all antennas.

We can start modifying the equilibrium in the second half of the shot early in the run -
even if we don't have the first part fully set up.
The plan is to pull the plasma off the inner wall (L gap to ~ 1cm) and
form a lower single null discharge. The change should start at about
1.05 second and be fairly rapid.

We want the A coils setup up for minimal error field for the entire run.
Jul 1 2003 10:23:49:953AMMartin GreenwaldWe're going to get started without D port antenna
We should be starting in another 10-15 minutes
Jul 1 2003 05:53:44:740PMMartin GreenwaldResults:

Fairly good. The start was delayed by attempts to fix power systems for the D antenna.
Eventually we gave up on this and ran with only E and J. This limited our ability to
run at very high densities as J won't start in these cases.

The overall confinement followed results from earlier years quite closely.
Data from different currents overlaid (using ITER89 scaling).
The degradation in performance as density was raised was also observed.
H factors varied from 1.3 at nebar ~ 1e20 to 0.7 at nebar > 2.5e20.

We got fast efits for all the RF power notches. The data will take closer
inspection as the time histories don't always look right. Unclear if this is
a problem with the timebaseor something more fundamental about the approach.

The attempt to form good H-modes by pulling the plasma off the inner wall
after it was heated did not work at all. The H-modes produced were all terrible.

Initial analysis of fast H-alpha data from the edge suggests that there
is no rapidchange in the edge plasma associated with RF turn off (or on).


Shots for further analysis:

1030701001
1030701002
1030701003
1030701005
1030701006
1030701007
1030701008
1030701009
1030701010
1030701011
1030701012
1030701013
1030701015
1030701018
1030701019
1030701020
1030701021
1030701022
1030701023
1030701024
1030701026

Jul 1 2003 11:10:40:903AM1030701001Martin GreenwaldGood shot
RF total to 2 MW
1.1 from E, 0.85 from J4

appropriate notches
break in slope in fast efits look a bit strange
H factors (frac = .9) are slightly above 1
radiation is low
something seems wrong with h/d ratio - though raw spectra are present
Jul 1 2003 11:35:11:690AM1030701002Martin GreenwaldGood Shot

More RF power, but lots of trips on J
Hard to evaluate, but H factors look OK

still issues with H/D and EFIT
Jul 1 2003 12:37:01:143PM1030701006Steve WolfeShot #6: Steve says ge is getting closer to correct phase.
Lots of faults on J, need it to be cleaner to evaluate notches.
Jul 1 2003 12:48:21:223PM1030701007Steve WolfeShot #7: Lots of hard xrays, disrupted at 1.5sec
2.6MW total, Steve says phase is good.

L-mode notches look good, both the ones in H-mode are just following
an ELMy burst (or whatever), so the b-i-s is tent-shaped rather
than a straight fall.
Jul 1 2003 01:00:42:150PM1030701008Steve WolfeShot #8: Another disruptionm, RF ran clean but density
is dropping at the end. If this is an H-mode it's really strange.
Density falls, stored energy is nearly constant, and the Halpha
bursts are confusing the notches.

Next shot: Move on to the lower density case and flatten it out.
Jul 1 2003 01:15:22:937PM1030701009Steve WolfeShot #9: Full length plasma. Density is still dropping; it seems to be
programmed that way.

RF seems happy, but we still get this funny bursty behavior.
Nominal H-factors are nearly constant~1.1.

Notch drops are approx E-port: 1./1.3MW in L 0.9/1.3 in H
J : 0.7/1.4 in L, too close to an ELM in H

Next shot: flatten the density demand
Jul 1 2003 01:32:49:560PM1030701010Martin GreenwaldGood shot

density at about 1.2e20

does transition to nasty looking h-modes after the
plasma goes diverted.

L-mode phase still looks good


Jul 1 2003 01:43:42:280PM1030701011Martin GreenwaldGood shot

slightly lower density
H factor still OK
H-modes still bad
Jul 1 2003 01:58:12:363PM1030701013Martin GreenwaldToo much density for J-port antenna
disrupts early
Jul 1 2003 02:12:20:603PM1030701013Martin GreenwaldDensity dropped to 2e20
RF power low in L-mode phase

H factors low
Jul 1 2003 02:19:07:427PM1030701014Martin Greenwaldfizzle

Jul 1 2003 02:28:18:880PM1030701015Martin GreenwaldGood Shot
RF steady
density to 2.2e20

H-factors in L-mode are low
H-modes unimpressive
Jul 1 2003 02:38:03:703PM1030701016Martin Greenwaldfizzle
Jul 1 2003 02:51:55:023PM1030701017Martin Greenwaldfizzle
Jul 1 2003 03:37:27:080PM1030701018Martin GreenwaldGood Shot
Current to 1.0 MA
density about 2.2e20

repeating for next shot, but limited for whole shot
Jul 1 2003 03:40:54:613PM1030701019Martin GreenwaldGood shot

limited for whole shot
good RF traces
nebar ~ 2.2e20

H factors down slightly
Jul 1 2003 03:54:11:150PM1030701020Martin GreenwaldGood Shot
nebar to 1.7e20
1 MA
Jul 1 2003 04:18:34:657PM1030701021Martin GreenwaldGood shot
nebar to 1.5e20
Jul 1 2003 04:32:29:663PM1030701022Martin GreenwaldIp to .6 MA
nebar ~ 1e20

H factor up to 1.35
Jul 1 2003 04:34:18:620PM1030701023Martin GreenwaldGood Shot
though lots of trips on RF
Ip at 0.6
nebar ~ 1.3e20
Jul 1 2003 04:56:24:200PM1030701024Martin GreenwaldGood shot
density to 1.9
Jul 1 2003 04:57:41:700PM1030701025Martin Greenwaldfizzle
Jul 1 2003 05:13:18:210PM1030701026Martin Greenwalddensity to 2.0
at 0.6 MA
Density too high for J, but otherwise OK

Physics Operator Comments
Jul 1 2003 07:43:58:430AMBill RowanThere is an RF problem. The start of this run will be delayed
until 10am to allow the engineers to evaluate.
Jul 1 2003 09:05:04:990AMBill RowanEngineering Setup for Tuesday 07/01/2003

MP#347 C-Mod Performance Evaluation

SL: Greenwald
PO: Rowan

Run starts at 09:00

ECDC in D2 at 2e-4 Torr, stopping by 07:00

Power Systems as on 1030501026

A-coils setup: [+Dtop -Dbot -Jtop +Jbot]

Gas setup:
fill B-Top with 6 psi D2 Hybrid enabled (PG4)
fill B-side lower with 1 psi Ar Hybrid enabled (PG1)
fill B-side upper with 10 psi D2 Hybrid DISABLED (PG2) (for ECDC)
fill C-side with 30 psi D2 Hybrid enabled (PG3)


Enable the following gate valves, assuming no vacuum problems:
ECE, DNB, VUV

All ICRF transmitters will be needed for this run.

Loaded shot 1030501026.

Will load segment 1 from yesterday.
1030630004

Jul 1 2003 09:30:30:500AMBill Rowan
set up the a coils for the first shot.
Turned on at 0.5s and off at 1.5 s
Jul 1 2003 10:38:37:430AMBill RowanD is not available.
Starting the run without it.
Jul 1 2003 11:05:10:347AM1030701001Bill Rowan001. Plasma.

Startup is okay.
Discharge looks like a good place to start.
Limited on the high field side
H/D ratio incorrect.

Next shot. No pcs changes.
Jul 1 2003 11:32:01:467AM1030701002Bill Rowan002. Plasma.

Next shot.
Changed clearin from -0.03 m to -0.02 m
Increased RCUR by 0.005 at the same time
Jul 1 2003 11:45:45:363AM1030701003Bill Rowan003. Plasma
elongation is approx 1.4
Jul 1 2003 11:53:21:547AM1030701003Bill Rowan
Next shot.
Leave the initial elongation alone
at 1.05 s begin to pull the plasma off the inner wall
clearin increased by 0.01 m. rcur increased by 0.005m
Jul 1 2003 12:02:42:920PM1030701004Bill Rowan
004. Plasma.
Does become diverted at approximately 1s
The right gap gets a little small.
Jul 1 2003 12:04:15:640PM1030701004Bill Rowan

Next shot.
Increase clearin by another 0.01 m
Jul 1 2003 12:20:19:087PM1030701005Bill Rowan005. Plasma.
Right gap corrected to approximately 1 cm
Jul 1 2003 12:20:53:620PM1030701005Bill Rowan
Next shot. No pcs changes
Jul 1 2003 12:34:51:827PM1030701006Bill Rowan006. Plasma

Next shot. No pcs changes
Jul 1 2003 12:41:55:433PM1030701007Bill Rowan007. Plasma. Disruption at 1.5s.
Jul 1 2003 12:47:07:143PM1030701007Bill Rowan007. Plasma. Disruption at 1.5s.

Next shot. No pcs changes
Jul 1 2003 01:09:38:193PM1030701008Bill Rowan008. Plasma. Disruption at 1.5 s again

Next shot. Flatten the density and reduce the nl_04 demand to 6.0e+19
Jul 1 2003 01:10:39:663PM1030701009Bill Rowan009. Plasma.
Density still not flat.

Next shot. Flatten the density so that is near nebar =1.0e+20 m-3
Jul 1 2003 01:30:09:600PM1030701010Bill Rowan010. Plasma
Density is reasonably flat.

Next shot. Reduce the density in the first part of the shot.
Increase the pre puff from 26 ms to 30 ms to take care of x-ray
Jul 1 2003 01:43:09:760PM1030701011Bill Rowan011. Plasma

Next shot. Increase nl_04 to 1.5e+20
Jul 1 2003 01:56:53:957PM1030701012Bill Rowan012. Plasma. Disruption at 1.17s

Next shot. Reduce the density by approximately 30%
Jul 1 2003 02:06:13:297PM1030701013Bill Rowan013. Plasma. Full length.

Next shot. No pcs changes.
Jul 1 2003 02:12:49:230PM1030701014Bill Rowan014. Fizzle
Jul 1 2003 02:16:50:767PM1030701014Bill Rowan

Next shot. Reduce the prefill fro 30 ms to 26 ms
Jul 1 2003 02:29:27:770PM1030701015Bill Rowan015. Plasma.

Next shot. Increase IP to 1 MA
Slight reduction in density.
Jul 1 2003 02:46:19:500PM1030701016Bill Rowan016. Fizzle

Next shot. Bz0 may be a little high. Reduced it
icef4 from -1320A to -1335A
Jul 1 2003 02:57:56:720PM1030701017Bill Rowan017. fizzle

Next shot. Raise ICEF$ from -1335 to -1305
This is going in the other direction wrt my previous change
Jul 1 2003 03:27:07:000PM1030701018Bill Rowan018. Plasma.
Long delay before this shot. There appears to be a vacuum leak.
BZ_0 responded as expected.
Jul 1 2003 03:33:05:603PM1030701018Bill RowanNext shot.
Change the equilibrium to remain limited throughout the shot.
Jul 1 2003 03:33:38:337PM1030701018Bill Rowan
Jul 1 2003 03:56:21:187PM1030701019Bill Rowan019. Plasma.
Limited on the inner wall.

Next shot. Reduce nl_04 demand from 0.9e+20 to 0.6e+20
Jul 1 2003 03:55:44:667PM1030701020Bill Rowan020. Plasma

Next shot. Reducet the nl_04 demand from 0.6e+20 to 0.45e+20
Jul 1 2003 04:10:49:143PM1030701021Bill Rowan021. Plasma.

Next shot. 0.6 MA
Jul 1 2003 04:21:43:833PM1030701022Bill Rowan022. Plasma.

Next shot. Increased nl_04 demand from 4.5e+19 to 7.0e+19
Jul 1 2003 04:24:04:587PM1030701022Bill RowanIncrease the prefill from 26 ms to 30 ms
Jul 1 2003 04:35:00:120PM1030701023Bill Rowan023. Plasma

Next shot. Further increase in nl_04 demand from 7.0e+19 to 9e+19
Jul 1 2003 04:51:31:580PM1030701024Bill Rowan024. Plasma

Next shot. Further increased in nl_04 demand from 9e+19 to 1.1e+20
Jul 1 2003 04:59:30:797PM1030701025Bill Rowan025. Fizzle

Next shot. Decrease the prefill from 30 ms to 26 ms

Engineering Operator Comments
ShotTimeTypeStatusComment
110:51:11:043AMPlasmaOk
211:18:29:040AMPlasmaOk
311:38:42:290AMPlasmaOk
411:55:00:970AMPlasmaOk
512:08:29:053PMPlasmaOk
612:22:25:577PMPlasmaOk
712:35:52:563PMPlasmaOk
812:49:27:977PMPlasmaOk
901:02:26:963PMPlasmaOk
1001:16:02:487PMPlasmaOk
1101:30:52:383PMPlasmaOk
1201:44:13:467PMPlasmaOk
1301:57:52:767PMPlasmaOk
1402:10:31:880PMPlasmaOk
1502:23:14:323PMPlasmaOk
1602:36:08:403PMPlasmaOk
1702:49:36:800PMPlasmaOk
1803:22:23:040PMPlasmaOk
1903:35:15:277PMPlasmaOk
2003:48:24:627PMPlasmaOk
2104:01:12:317PMPlasmaOk
2204:16:06:183PMPlasmaOk
2304:29:18:390PMPlasmaOk
2404:42:10:880PMPlasmaOk
2504:55:35:730PMPlasmaOk
2605:08:37:407PMPlasmaOk