Alcator C-Mod Run 1050812 Information

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Miniproposals
Miniproposal:404a
Date Filed: 1/31/2005
Title:Parametric Dependence of Moderate n Alfvén Eigenmode Damping Rates
First Author:Joseph Snipes
Session Leader:Joseph Snipes (shots 1-33)

Operators
Session leader(s):Joseph Snipes
Physics operator(s):Robert Granetz
Engineering operator(s):Bill Cochran,Bill Parkin,Ed Fitzgerald

Engineering Operator Run Comment
MP 404a Parametric Dependence of Moderate n Alfven Eigenmode Damping Rat

Session Leader Plans
Entered: Aug 11 2005 05:08:20:337PM
Author: Joseph Snipes
Session Leader Run Plan for 1050812 MP 404a Parametric Dependence of Moderate n Alfven Eigenmode Damping Rates

Session Leaders: J Snipes, A Fasoli
Physics Operators: R Granetz, J Snipes

This run will continue parameter scans with active MHD to measure the Alfven eigenmode damping rates vs plasma
parameters. We will begin with 1050615011, which is an inner wall limited elongated plasma with kappa = 1.6
at 0.8 MA except we need to change the TF to be constant at 5.4 T (150 kA). The first three shots will be the
same except for changing the q at which the TAEs will be driven from q=1.5, to q=1, to q=2. Next, we will change
the triangularity from near 0 to 0.8 with both upper and lower triangularity changing together. Next, we will
scan the toroidal field at constant flattop field from 2 T up to 7 or 8 T depending on the administrative limit
and the results while maintaining constant q95 = 4.9 to scan rho*. Finally, time permitting, we will scan the
density from nebar = 0.5 x 10^20 m^-3 to 4 x 10^20 m^-3 to scan nu*. In addition, we would like to swap the
phase of one antenna with respect to the other antenna to drive the two out of phase to look at the effect of the
change in poloidal mode structure on the signal and damping rate. ICRF will not be required for this run.
Key diagnostics are magnetics, density, Zeff, and it would be interesting to check the PCI to see if it can
measure the AEs.

Physics Operators Plans
Entered: Aug 12 2005 08:18:55:237AM
Author: Robert Granetz
Engineering setup for Friday 12 Aug 2005
 
MP #404a Alfven damping

Session leader: J. Snipes/A. Fasoli
Physics operator: R. Granetz
 
No overnight ECDC, but bake at 60 C.
 
Run begins at 09:00 and ends at 17:00.

Power systems as on 1050615011 (inner wall limited) but keep Btor constant
at 5.4 T (150 kA).

A-coil configuration: normal [+Dtop -Dbot -Jtop +Jbot] and enabled.

Gas Setup:
   fill B-Top            with  6 psi D2  Hybrid enabled  (PG4)
   fill B-side lower     with  1 psi Ar + 2 psi Ne  Hybrid DISABLED (PG1)
   fill B-side upper     with 15 psi He3 Hybrid enabled  (PG2)
   fill B-main (C-side)  with 40 psi D2  Hybrid enabled  (PG3)
   No NINJA

Enable the following gate valves and shutters, assuming no vacuum problems:
  ECE, VUV, Z-bolo shutters
 
No between-shot boronization.

Important Diagnostics:
  PCI, Mirnov coils.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ICRF Setup: No ICRF needed today.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Run plan: See the session leader's detailed posting.

Session Leader Summaries
Entered: Aug 12 2005 06:04:47:540PM
Author: Joseph Snipes
The purpose of the run was to excite stable Alfven eigenmodes (AEs) and measure their damping rates as a function
of plasma parameters. We varied triangularity, toroidal field, and the resonant q value of the center frequency.
We began with 5.4 T inner wall limited plasmas with an elongation of 1.6 and triangularity of 0.35. We
sweep the active MHD frequency several times throughout the discharge to look for AE resonances.
The run started off with some difficulty including a few fizzles and duds and a problem with the DPCS f_TAE
frequency control signal not getting to the amplifier. After that was resolved we then found that the demand
for the frequency had a rather noisy signal. We removed the monitor signal as well as a second lower antenna
current monitor to be able to close the door on the amplifier cabinet and that seemed to resolve most of the
noise problem. Ian noted that there was pick-up of the active MHD signal on the 2pi foil bolometer. After
resolving these issues, we did a triangularity scan down to 0.27 and up to 0.75 for both the upper and lower
triangularities. Next, we did a toroidal field scan from 2 T up to 7 T at nearly constant q95 = 5. We also
varied the q value of the excited TAE frequency from q = 1, to 1.5, to 2.0 for a few shots to scan for other
resonances. For the last part of the run, we inverted the lower antenna signal to drive a different m spectrum
and looked for the change in the measured mode structure and damping. A number of clear resonances were
obtained, but more time is required to analyze determine the mode numbers. A typical damping rate of just over
2% was found in one case. Further analysis is required to determine if there is any scaling of the damping
rate with these parameters. There was no time to do a density scan to determine damping as a function of
collsionality and no attempt was made to do the RF part of the mini-proposal, which will need another run.

Physics Operator Summaries
Entered: Aug 12 2005 05:05:57:387PM
Author: Robert Granetz
Physics operator summary for Friday 12 Aug 2005:

MP #404a Alfven damping

Session leader: J. Snipes/A. Fasoli
Physics operator: R. Granetz
 
The tokamak ran well today, although some initial tweaking of the startup
was required because this was the only run this week that we didn't do
between-shot boronization, so the wall conditioning was very different than
recent runs.  We ran inner wall limited plasmas all day, and exercised
machine parameters quite a bit, including triangularity scans, and a
combined Btor scan (2.2-7.0 T) and Ip scan (0.28-1.03 MA) at fixed q95=5.
There were some difficulties with the active MHD amplifier signals early in
the run, but these were eventually solved..  See the session leader's
summary for TAE physics results.

Scorecard: 27 plasmas
            2 duds
            3 fizzles
            1 computer-related aborts
            0 cycle tests
           --------------
    Total: 33 shot cycles

Session Leader Comments
Aug 12 2005 10:21:38:810AM1050812004Joseph SnipesProblems with the fiber interface in the active MHD amplifier control box that did not permit the DPCS f_TAE
signal from getting to the amplifier. They should now be resolved for shot 4.
Aug 12 2005 10:46:13:720AM1050812005Joseph SnipesGot the q=1.5 discharge with frequency sweeping. However the demand for the frequency sweep is very noisy.
Aug 12 2005 10:51:47:927AM1050812006Joseph SnipesChanged to q=1 for the f_TAE from DPCS. Still noisy.
Aug 12 2005 11:15:14:433AM1050812008Joseph SnipesRemoved the extra current monitor on the lower antenna I_GH_LOWER_X and removed the output of the amplifier
control box for the DPCS f_TAE signal to the \MAGNETICS::TOP.ACTIVE_MHD.SIGNALS:F_AMHD to attempt to remove
the noise on the frequency demand signal.
Aug 12 2005 11:30:11:700AM1050812008Joseph SnipesShot 8 is the control shot with deltal and deltau about 0.36 to 0.37. It is not as noisy as before, though
there is more noise on the lower antenna current and upper antenna voltage.
Aug 12 2005 11:42:37:613AM1050812009Joseph SnipesShot 9 had lower triangularity of 0.28 and upper triangularity of 0.31. However, I had accidentally
disconnected the lower antenna when I disconnected the I_GH_LOWER_X external current monitor.
Aug 12 2005 12:01:29:613PM1050812010Joseph SnipesShot 10 now has the lower antenna connected again but the I_GH_LOWER_X current monitor is still disconnected.
Triangularity down to deltau = 0.29 and deltal = 0.27.
Aug 12 2005 12:05:08:877PM1050812011Joseph SnipesShot 11 going to lower triangularity and faster sweep rate at 1.5 MHz/s. Disrupted early.
Aug 12 2005 12:22:45:750PM1050812012Joseph SnipesShot 12 disrupted early again. So, we will go to higher triangularity for shot 13.
Aug 12 2005 12:39:28:543PM1050812013Joseph SnipesShot 13 to go to higher triangularity than shot 8. Fizzle
Aug 12 2005 12:52:34:000PM1050812014Joseph SnipesShot 14 Try again at higher triangularity. Got triangularities of about 0.5 each.
Aug 12 2005 01:04:18:850PM1050812015Joseph SnipesShot 15 Try again at still higher triangularity. Got triangularities of about 0.6 upper and 0.7 lower but the
plasma is going diverted.
Aug 12 2005 01:32:15:837PM1050812016Joseph SnipesShot 16 pushed the plasma to the inner wall and reduce delta to 0.55 to 0.6.
Aug 12 2005 01:32:53:697PM1050812017Joseph SnipesTry higher triangularity. Did not get it.
Aug 12 2005 01:39:05:163PM1050812018Joseph SnipesRepeat with q=1 on f_TAE from DPCS.
Aug 12 2005 01:52:29:147PM1050812019Joseph SnipesRepeat with q=2 on f_TAE from DPCS.
Aug 12 2005 02:11:00:647PM1050812020Joseph SnipesAttempting 2 T at constant q95, which corresponds to 300 kA. Disrupted at 0.5 s.
Aug 12 2005 02:18:34:507PM1050812021Joseph SnipesNeed lower density and no Ar/Ne mixture to avoid disruptions. Asked for nl04 = 0.5 x 10^20 m-3. Start at 5.0 T
to give a slightly longer time at 2 T. Fizzle!
Aug 12 2005 02:57:59:247PM1050812022Joseph SnipesTry again at 5.2 T for startup and then ramp down to 2 T. Also changed to somewhat lower triangularity.
Aug 12 2005 02:58:36:340PM1050812023Joseph SnipesGot 3 T and 300 kA at nl04 = 5 x 10^19 m^-2.
Aug 12 2005 02:59:12:793PM1050812024Joseph SnipesAsked for 380 kA and 3 T. Got it, but q95 = 6.2 is too high. My mistake. Need 450 kA instead.
Aug 12 2005 03:09:12:917PM1050812025Joseph SnipesGo to 450 kA and 3 T. Good shot. Got q95 = 5.3.
Aug 12 2005 03:33:12:917PM1050812026Joseph SnipesGo to 650 kA and 4 T. Good shot. Got q95 = 4.8.
Aug 12 2005 03:33:48:010PM1050812027Joseph SnipesGo to 750 kA and 5 T. Good shot. Got q95 = 5.
Aug 12 2005 03:46:26:853PM1050812028Joseph SnipesGo to 900 kA and 6 T. Good shot. Got q95 = 5.
Aug 12 2005 04:09:10:323PM1050812029Joseph SnipesGo to 1.03 MA and 7 T. Good shot. Got q95 = 5.
Aug 12 2005 04:19:30:417PM1050812030Joseph SnipesReturn to shot 14 at 5.4 T and 0.8 MA and 1 x 10^20 m^-2. Invert the lower antenna (upper amplifier in
the cabinet). Good shot at q=1.5 for f_TAE from DPCS.
Aug 12 2005 04:33:10:760PM1050812031Joseph SnipesNow, repeat at q=1 for f_TAE. Good shot.
Aug 12 2005 04:50:02:073PM1050812032Joseph SnipesNow, repeat at q=2 for f_TAE. Good shot.
Aug 12 2005 04:58:27:183PM1050812033Joseph SnipesNow, reload shot 27 at 5.0 T and 5 x 10^19 m^-2 with the inverted lower amplifier. Good shot.

Physics Operator Comments
Aug 12 2005 08:32:07:800AMRobert GranetzTo set up the shot, I loaded 1050615011 (limited, but nearly double null) and changed Btor to
be constant at 5.4 T (150 kA).

I loaded in a startup from 1050802033 (recent run from before we did the between-shot
boronization stuff this past week), but I decreased the pre-fill pulse to 30 ms.
Aug 12 2005 09:12:12:787AM1050812001Robert GranetzFizzle.

Next shot: reduce pre-fill to 24 ms.
Aug 12 2005 09:29:47:827AM1050812002Robert GranetzDud. Fields like fine. So does the gas for that matter.

Next shot: add 3 ms (set to 27 ms)
Aug 12 2005 10:04:11:077AM1050812003Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. Inner wall limited, but nearly double null. Delta_L=0.35, Delta_U=0.38.
Kappa=1.6-1.7. Ip=0.8 MA, Btor=5.4 T. nl_04=1.0e20 m-2.

There's a problem with the real-time drive signal to the active MHD antenna, which is requiring
an extended access to the cell and the interface room.

Next shot: increase argon/neon puff to 40 ms.
Aug 12 2005 10:24:52:123AM1050812004Robert GranetzDud.

Next shot: add 3 ms to pre-fill (set at 30 ms) and set Br0 offset to -0.4 mT
Aug 12 2005 10:42:14:090AM1050812005Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. Inner wall limited, high elongation, delta=0.35-0.38.
MHD amplifier worked.

Next shot: increase pre-fill another 1 ms (set to 31 ms). Also increase Ar/Ne
puff to 50 ms.
Aug 12 2005 10:49:08:940AM1050812006Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. The session leaders are scanning the drive frequency to changes the
resonant q surface from shot-to-shot.

Next shot: repeat, no changes
Aug 12 2005 11:03:48:987AM1050812007Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. Startup bounced.

Next shot: add 2 ms to pre-fill (set to 33 ms).
Aug 12 2005 11:29:25:683AM1050812008Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot.

Next shot: reduce upper and lower triangularity by 0.1 (move RXL and RXU out by
about 0.1 x minor radius, or 0.022 m)
Aug 12 2005 11:42:00:220AM1050812009Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. Upper and lower triangularities dropped by about 0.07 (was shooting for
drop of 0.10). Elongation increased slightly to 1.66.

Next shot: tweak ZXL down by 1 cm and ZXU up by 1 cm to try and get the elongation by to 1.6
Aug 12 2005 12:02:51:113PM1050812010Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. Elongation increased, rather than decreased. This one almost became diverted.
Startup bounced.

Next shot: try moving ZXL and ZXU 1 cm from earlier today, but this time in the opposite direction,
i.e. in towards the plasma. Also increase pre-fill puff another 2 ms (set to 35 ms).
Also, increase RXU and RXL by another 2 cm to decrease the triangularity further.
Aug 12 2005 12:10:46:810PM1050812011Robert GranetzPlasma. Disrupted at t=0.47 s. Too much elongation?

Next shot: Put ZXL and ZXU back to their values from earlier today.
Aug 12 2005 12:26:43:177PM1050812012Robert GranetzPlasma. Disrupted at t=0.49 s. I think it's a problem with the equilibrium stability. Not sure I
can fix it.

Next shot: go for higher triangularity...subtract 3 cm from RXU and RXL.
Aug 12 2005 12:33:36:117PM1050812013Robert GranetzFizzle.

Next shot: try reducing the pre-fill puff by 2 ms (set to 33 mm).
Aug 12 2005 12:55:43:940PM1050812014Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. Got triangularities of 0.5 ... excellent. Kappa=1.6-1.65.
Remained inner wall limited.

Next shot: decrease RXL and RXU to go to even higher triangularity.
Aug 12 2005 01:04:36:253PM1050812015Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. Triangularities reach 0.7 late in the flattop. Plasma is on the edge
between being limited and being diverted.

Next shot: reduce CLEARIN by 1 cm to try reducing the elongation. Also decrease RXL and RXU
another 1 cm to increase triangularity some more.
Aug 12 2005 01:23:57:270PM1050812016Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. This was much better limited, but the triangularity fell to 0.5-0.6

Next shot: decrease RXL and RXU another 2 cm to increase triangularity some more.
Aug 12 2005 01:29:16:277PM1050812017Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. Slightly higher triangularity, but I don't think we can go much higher.

Next shot: no DPCS changes
Aug 12 2005 01:38:41:477PM1050812018Robert GranetzPlasma. Good repeat shot.

Next shot: no DPCS changes.
Aug 12 2005 01:54:07:070PM1050812019Robert GranetzPlasma. Good repeat shot.

Next shot: reduce Btor to 2.0 T and Ip to 0.3 MA so that q95 remains the same as the
5.4 T, 0.8 MA plasmas.
Aug 12 2005 04:16:09:760PM1050812020Robert GranetzPlasma. Decayed away around t=0.5 s when the plasma current got to 0.3 MA, possibly because we
hit the density limit.

Next shot: reduce nl_04 to 0.5e20 m-2. Also reduce initial Btor to 5.0 T (139 kA) so that we
can get down to 2.0 T a little sooner. Also disable the Ar/Ne valve.
Aug 12 2005 02:29:14:790PM1050812021Robert GranetzFizzle.

Next shot: try starting at 5.2 T instead of 5.0 T. Also increase RXL and RXU by 2 cm
to decrease the triangularity (so that we won't have problems when we go to high
current in a few shots).
Aug 12 2005 02:33:06:870PM1050812022Robert GranetzNo shot...ACK failure during pulse. Lots of data missing.
Aug 12 2005 02:48:00:603PM1050812023Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. Got down to 2.2 T and 280 kA (q95=5.3)

Next shot: raise Btor to 3.0 T and Ip to 380 kA.
Aug 12 2005 02:57:14:637PM1050812024Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. Got 3.1 T and 380 kA, but that gave q95=6.1, which is higher than we wanted.

Next shot: increase Ip to 450 kA. Also tweak Btor down to 3.0 T.
Aug 12 2005 03:11:00:997PM1050812025Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. Btor=3.0 T, Ip=0.44 MA, q95=5.1-5.2.

Next shot: Btor=4.0 T, Ip=0.65 MA.
Aug 12 2005 03:29:31:120PM1050812026Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. Bt=4.0 T, Ip=0.65 MA, q95=4.8-4.9

Next shot: Btor=5.0 T, Ip=0.75 MA
Aug 12 2005 03:38:58:183PM1050812027Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. Btor=5.0 T, Ip=0.75 MA, q95=5.0. Perfect

Next shot: 6.0 T, Ip=0.90 MA
Aug 12 2005 03:57:12:543PM1050812028Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. Btor= 5.9 T, Ip=0.90 MA, q95=5.0.

Next shot: 7.0 T, 1.04 MA.
Aug 12 2005 04:10:13:730PM1050812029Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot. Disrupted during rampdown. Bt=7.0 T, Ip=1.03 MA, q95=5.0.
End of B-field scan at constant q95.

Next shot: reload segment 2 of shot 1050812014. Also increase pre-fill puff by
2 ms (set to 35 ms).
Aug 12 2005 04:25:21:167PM1050812030Robert GranetzPlasma. Good repeat of shot 14. This one has higher elongation and lower triangularity than
the recent B-field scan.

Next shot: same equilibrium. Tweak IC_EF4 (add -10 A).
Aug 12 2005 04:35:24:450PM1050812031Robert GranetzPlasma. Good repeat shot.

Next shot: same equilibrium. Add 2 ms to pre-fill (set to 37 ms)
Aug 12 2005 04:50:19:043PM1050812032Robert GranetzPlasma. Good repeat shot.

Next shot: reload segment 2 from shot 27 (5 T shot of the B-field scan).
Aug 12 2005 04:59:48:807PM1050812033Robert GranetzPlasma. Good shot.

End of run.

Engineering Operator Comments
ShotTimeTypeStatusComment
109:09:27:727AMPlasmaOk
209:23:15:750AMPlasmaOk
309:48:07:850AMPlasmaOk
410:20:44:620AMPlasmaOk
510:33:11:380AMPlasmaOk
610:46:21:703AMPlasmaOk
710:58:51:900AMPlasmaOk
811:14:31:760AMPlasmaOk
911:33:31:290AMPlasmaOk
1011:46:24:593AMPlasmaOk
1112:03:43:160PMPlasmaOk
1212:18:37:223PMPlasmaOk
1312:31:17:400PMPlasmaOk
1412:43:51:793PMPlasmaOk
1512:56:44:113PMPlasmaOk
1601:11:38:040PMPlasmaOk
1701:24:10:300PMPlasmaOk
1801:37:06:210PMPlasmaOk
1901:49:56:523PMPlasmaOk
2002:02:38:053PMPlasmaOk
2102:15:47:773PMPlasmaOk
2202:29:28:837PMPlasmaBadAck Failure. No power shot
2302:39:28:293PMPlasmaOk
2402:51:53:120PMPlasmaOk
2503:05:31:073PMPlasmaOk
2603:17:56:760PMPlasmaOk
2703:30:42:433PMPlasmaOk
2803:43:27:400PMPlasmaOk
2903:59:07:793PMPlasmaOk
3004:16:53:900PMPlasmaOk
3104:31:22:090PMPlasmaOk
3204:43:55:073PMPlasmaOk
3304:56:11:870PMPlasmaOk