Alcator C-Mod Run 941206 Information

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Miniproposals
Miniproposal:056
Date Filed: 5/23/1994
Title:Comparison of impurity screening between diverted and limited plasmas.
First Author:Robert Granetz
Session Leader:Robert Granetz (shots 1-25)

Operators
Session leader(s):Robert Granetz
Physics operator(s):Joseph Snipes
Engineering operator(s):Vinny Bertolino,Joe Daigle

Engineering Operator Run Comment
impurity screening

Session Leader Plans

Physics Operators Plans

Session Leader Summaries
Entered: Jul 7 2004 03:49:11:367PM
Author: To Be Determined
Run summary for 941206 R. Granetz

SL: R. Granetz
PO: J. Snipes
EO: V. Bertolino/J. Daigle

This run was devoted to MP #056, a comparison of impurity screening efficiency
between diverted and limited plasmas. The method is the same as that used
previously for last summer's study of divertor screening, namely: puff in
a known amount argon gas, (which is a `recycling' impurity), and measure the
resulting number of argon nuclei in the plasma using data from the HIREX
spectrometer. All shots had 0.8 MA of plasma current at 5.3 Tesla.

We did the screening measurements at 3 different densities, using the
calibrated fast piezo valve on B-side (lower) for puffing in argon
(N_injected was 4.35e17 atoms). The preliminary results are summarized
in the following table (thank you, Francesca):

Shot Argon Plasma H/L Fraction of
941206 10^20 m-3 puffed? config. mode argon in plasma
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
011 1.32 no limited (background)
012 1.35 yes limited 0.08
013 1.24 yes diverted L 0.04
" H About twice L-mode
015 1.3 ? no diverted H & L (background)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
016 0.76 yes diverted L 0.03
017 0.9 ? no limited (background)
018 0.95 yes limited 0.06
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
019 2.4 no limited (background)
024 2.2 yes limited 0.06
025 2.1 yes diverted L 0.03


The results show that for this recycling impurity, limited plasmas allow
twice as many particles to get into the plasma (6-8%) compared to
diverted plasmas in L-mode (3-4%) at all three densities, but in all
cases this fraction is relatively low. There is very preliminary data
on diverted H-modes which shows about a doubling of the L-mode
penetration fraction.

It was also clearly observed that at the low and medium densities, the
limited plasmas had much higher levels of molybdenum...enough to increase
Zeff noticeably. However, at the high densities, there was virtually no
difference in molydenum radiation between the diverted and limited plasmas.

There were several things that caused major problems during the run. We had
originally planned to puff in argon from the divertor and the inboard midplane
using the NINJA system, in addition to the B-side location, but problems
with controlling the amount of argon (and the timing of the puff) proved
insurmountable today, so only the B-side valve was used.
We also got bitten (severely mauled) by PCS bugs. I thought I was being
clever by having the startup programmed in segment 01, a diverted plasma
programmed in segment 02, and a limited plasma programmed in segment 03.
The idea was to simply turn on the desired segment and turn off the unwanted
segment in order to toggle between diverted and limited configurations.
But PCS couldn't seem to handle segment 03 properly. At least 5 bugs related
to segment loading and usage were found, and we did not bother to check out
all the supposed fixes, so beware in the future.
The biggest problem, though, was that several upper horizontal TF arms were
taking a long time to cool down, even after running all day. This severely
reduced the shot rep rate. The problem might have been caused by the
relatively warm temperature of the upper dome. The moral may be that cooling
should start at least one day before plasma operation begins.
We also had more problems with fizzles today, compared to recent runs,
especially after upward going disruptions.

Physics Operator Summaries
Entered: Jul 7 2004 04:36:52:300PM
Author: To Be Determined

From: PHYSOP::SNIPES
Date: 6-DEC-1994 17:25:23
Description: Physics Operator Run Summary 941206

Overall, the machine ran reasonably well. We attempted to toggle between
limited and diverted plasmas at several densities with and without argon
puffing to determine the fueling efficiency of argon under various conditions.
The result was that the divertor works to reduce the argon in the main plasma
by about a factor of two over limited plasmas.

The run was slowed down considerably by a couple of problems. First,
bugs in PCS regarding the use of segment 3 instead of segment 2 lost the run
a fair amount of time. Then, the cooling of the TF magnet was quite slow all
day long so that we were usually waiting for cooling between shots. Other
than that, there was only one shot lost to power supply problems (EF3 failed).
But, that was quickly fixed. The run summary follows:

Shot,Duration(s),Ipmax(MA) Shot,Duration(s),Ipmax
1 0.000 0.010 2 1.323 0.828
3 1.342 0.830 4 0.000 0.044
5 1.071 0.830 6 0.000 0.042
7 1.327 0.830 8 0.315 0.450
9 0.000 0.047 10 0.000 0.047
11 1.337 0.828 12 1.325 0.825
13 1.319 0.833 14 0.000 0.016
15 1.322 0.835 16 0.980 0.895
17 1.323 0.822 18 1.314 0.822
19 1.092 0.812 20 0.000 0.024
21 0.000 0.047 22 0.000 0.052
23 0.471 0.750 24 1.276 0.817
25 1.222 0.825
Finished summary for 941206 Total of 25 shots.
25 shots. 17 plasmas. 6 fizzles. 2 duds.

Session Leader Comments
Dec 6 1994 08:49:46:470AMRobert GranetzMP 056 Impurity Screening

Today's run is devoted to the comparison of impurity screening between diverted
and limited plasma configurations. We will alternate between diverted and
limited plasmas, use three different densities (0.5, 0.8, and 1.5 e20 m-2),
and puffing argon from three different locations (Ninja divertor private flux,
Ninja inboard midplane, and non-Ninja fast B-side).

Dec 6 1994 10:13:36:380AMRobert GranetzThe pre-fill was set at 1.4e-5 torr at the start of the run.

Dec 6 1994 01:05:57:210PMRobert GranetzThroughout the day, the TF cooling was taking a very long time, causing a
very low rep rate.

In addition, the NINJA system was having problems with several flaky pressure
gauges, and couldn't seem to regulate the plenum pressures. Also the
injection time had to be moved incredibly early (-1.8 s).

Dec 6 1994 08:50:30:540AM941206001Robert GranetzStandard Tuesday morning OH test.

Dec 6 1994 08:59:16:820AM941206002Robert GranetzThis shot will hopefully be a limited plasma at 0.8 MA and nl=0.8e20 with
no argon puffing. Since it's our first plasma attempt since last Thursday,
and since we've had at least one accidental leak, I don't expect things to
go smoothly.

Dec 6 1994 09:35:10:460AM941206002Robert GranetzPlasma! Ip=0.82 MA, duration=1.32 s, nl=0.8e20, no disruption.

Unfortunately, this
was a diverted plasma, even though we asked for a limited plasma. The PCS
programming uses segment 02 for the diverted plasma and segment 03 for the
limited plasma, and segment 03 was definitely the requested one. It looks
like segment 02 was actually in control though (see for example the z-centroid)

Also, there was a dithering transition to H-mode.

Next shot, copy segment 03 into segment 02 and load-into-model. This should
be a limited shot, nl=0.8e20, no argon puffing.

Dec 6 1994 10:02:14:960AM941206003Robert GranetzPlasma. Ip=-0.82 MA, duration=1.34 s, nl=0.8e20. No disruption.
This plasma was indeed limited. Spectroscopists report that there's some
residual argon leftover from last week. Also, there's more molybdenum on
this 0.8 MA limited plasma than during last week's 0.6 MA plasmas.

Next shot: Turn on argon puff at -0.1 s in the private flux zone, nl=0.8e20,
limited.

Dec 6 1994 10:23:09:050AM941206004Robert GranetzFizzle. I think it almost made it. No obvious problems. Next shot, repeat.

Dec 6 1994 10:47:51:230AM941206005Robert GranetzPlasma. Ip=-0.82 MA, duration=1.07 s. Disrupted. Argon levels were
enormous, and undoubtedly caused the disruption.

Next shot, repeat, except reduce argon pressure as much as possible (which is
only a factor of 2 to 4). Maybe this is what caused the previous fizzle too.

Dec 6 1994 11:02:27:100AM941206006Robert GranetzFizzle. Almost made it. Next shot, repeat with no changes.

Dec 6 1994 11:46:55:180AM941206007Robert GranetzPlasma, limited, Ip=-0.82 MA, duration=1.33 s. Too little argon.

Next shot, repeat with more argon.

Also, change RXL and RXU to pull EF2 supplies off of their rails.

Dec 6 1994 11:57:30:040AM941206007Robert GranetzAlso for the next shot: Josh claims to have fixed the PCS bug that bit us
earlier, concerning the lack of segment 03 functionality. So for the next
shot, we'll have segment 02 programmed for diverted plasma (but turned OFF) and
segment 03 programmed for limited plasma (and turned ON).

Dec 6 1994 12:01:05:590PM941206008Robert GranetzPlasma, but something went wrong at the PCS segment switch time of 0.1 s, and
the current ramped down. Duration=0.31 s.

Next shot, recall shot 7, redo changes to RXL and RXU, and use only segment 02
(which is programmed for a limiter shot.)

Dec 6 1994 12:15:55:720PM941206009Robert GranetzFizzle, but it almost went. Next shot, move argon injection earlier (move
from -0.1 s to -0.5 s) because the lower plenum pressure results in a slower
outflow. No other changes.

Dec 6 1994 12:44:53:120PM941206009Robert GranetzCorrection: the argon puff was moved to -1.8 s for the next shot.

Dec 6 1994 12:39:57:590PM941206010Robert GranetzFizzle. Almost went. Ip is rising a little faster than normal, so for the
next shot we'll increase derivative gain early on (in segment 01).

Also, the NINJA will be turned off for the next shot.

The base pressure prior to the next shot was 3.5e-7 torr.

Dec 6 1994 12:51:23:650PM941206011Robert GranetzPlasma, limited, no argon puff. Ip=-0.82 MA, duration=1.34 s.

Next shot, argon puff through fast B-side lower piezo. Same plasma, i.e.
limited, nl=0.8e20 m-2.

Dec 6 1994 01:24:15:110PM941206012Robert GranetzPlasma, argon puffed through B-side, Ip=-0.82 MA, duration=1.32 s.
Good limited plasma. Good spectroscopic signals.

Next shot, change to a diverted configuration, with argon puff through B-side.

Dec 6 1994 01:45:29:100PM941206013Robert GranetzPlasma, diverted, argon puff from B-side. Ip=-0.83 MA, duration=1.32 s.
There were some molybdenum injections.

Next shot, same except B-side valve is disabled...no argon puff.

Dec 6 1994 01:47:12:810PM941206014Robert GranetzNo plasma. No EF3.

Dec 6 1994 01:52:55:820PM941206014Robert GranetzActually this was a fizzle with no EF3.

Dec 6 1994 02:12:34:430PM941206014Robert GranetzFrancesca reports the following preliminary screening efficiencies:

Limited shots: 8% of argon gets in.
Diverted L-modes: 4% of argon gets in.
Diverted H-modes: about double the L-mode number

Subtraction of residual argon levels has not been done yet, but the next
shot will provide that baseline.

Dec 6 1994 02:08:51:320PM941206015Robert GranetzPlasma, diverted, no argon puff. Ip=-0.82 MA, duration=1.32 s.
Some more moly injections. H-mode again (as on all diverted shots today.)

Next shot, diverted, with argon puff from B-side, but
at lower density: nl=0.5e20 m-2.

Dec 6 1994 02:59:48:660PM941206016Robert GranetzPlasma. Disrupted at 0.98 s. Ihalo_L=-100 kA, dI/dt=0.4 MA/ms.
Diverted, argon puff from B-side, and lower density: nl=0.5e20 m-2.

Next shot, (which will probably be a fizzle because of this disruption) will
be a limited plasma, no argon, at nl=0.5e20 m-2.

Dec 6 1994 02:58:07:890PM941206017Robert GranetzPlasma, limited, no argon puff. Ip=-0.82 MA, duration=1.32 s.
Moly background is high, as it was during previous limited shots today.
nl=0.6e20, although we asked for 0.5e20 m-2.

Next shot, turn on argon puff from B-side. Limited, nl=0.5e20 m-2.

Dec 6 1994 03:10:14:450PM941206018Robert GranetzPlasma, limited, argon puff from B-side. Ip=-0.82 MA, duration=1.31 s.
Density was still nl=0.6e20 m-2.

Next shot: same limited plasma configuration, but at high density of
nl=1.5e20 m-2, and no argon puff.

Dec 6 1994 03:35:41:860PM941206019Robert GranetzPlasma, limited, nl=1.5e20 m-2 !!. No argon. Disrupted upward at 1.09 s,
dI/dt=0.9 MA/ms, Ihalo_U=120 kA. Lots of spiky things on radiation signals
and on density.

Next shot, same thing except turn on argon puff. The base pressure is
large (1.2e-6 ... 1.1e-6 ... 1.0e-6 ... 9.5e-7) Okay, go.

Dec 6 1994 03:45:28:860PM941206020Robert GranetzFizzle. Not surprising, given the previous disruption. Repeat.

Dec 6 1994 03:59:45:160PM941206021Robert GranetzFizzle. Almost went. Try again.

Dec 6 1994 04:16:45:690PM941206022Robert GranetzFizzle. Almost went. Null is acceptable. Tweak RCUR derivative
gain early in shot and try again.

Dec 6 1994 04:30:47:910PM941206023Robert GranetzPlasma. Disrupted early. Next shot, reduce the density demand to
nl=1.3e20 m-2.

Dec 6 1994 04:45:19:330PM941206024Robert GranetzPlasma. Limited, with argon puff from B-side, nl=1.3e20 m-2 (note, this is
slightly less than we planned, but we were having too many problems at 1.5e20).
Ip=-0.81 MA, duration=1.27 s. Several moly injections.

Next shot, diverted configuration, nl=1.3e20 m-2, argon puff from B-side.

Oct 2 1996 04:10:39:960PM941206024Robert GranetzIt is now 1 year and 10 months after this shot was taken. Analysis of the
argon puff on this shot strongly suggests that the pressure reading on the
argon plenum (pulse gas valve 3) had an incorrect reading of 3.01 psi on this
shot. The plenum pressure on shot 019 and on the following shot (025) was about
2.5 psi, and no change to the plenum pressure was mentioned in the logbook be-
tween these shots. Both Francesca Bombarda and John Goetz have told me that
this gauge was sometimes known to give false readings after a disruption due to
B-field pickup. (This problem was later alleviated by adding magnetic shield-
ing.) Shots 019 and 023 disrupted, with fizzles between those two shots.
I have therefore decided to overwrite the relevant pressure gauge
information in the tree, changing the appropriate value in the node:

\engineering::top.torvac.gas:gasrep:analog from 3.01 to 2.48 psi.

RSG

Dec 6 1994 05:39:02:800PM941206025Robert GranetzPlasma, diverted, nl=1.3e20 m-2, argon puff from B-side. Smallish disruption
late in the current rampdown, due to too high a density at that low current.

Comparison of this diverted shot with the previous limiter shot at this
density (nl=1.3e20 m-2) also gives a factor of two difference in screening
(3% for diverted and 6% for limited), and also shows that there is very
little difference in the molybdenum radiation (unlike at the lower densities).

End of run.

Dec 6 1994 06:16:20:760PM941206025Robert GranetzThis shot has the latest PCS programming for an 0.8 MA diverted plasma (with
argon puff and nl=1.3e20 m-2) in segment 02, and a similar limited plasma
in segment 03. If we want to do this type of run again (for example, using
a non-recycling impurity gas), start with this shot.

Keywords: fiducial, template, segment 03

Physics Operator Comments
Dec 6 1994 08:42:40:240AM941206001Joseph SnipesShot 1
OH2 test shot.

Dec 6 1994 08:45:52:880AM941206001Joseph SnipesShot 2
Copied 941201025 and changed the plasma current to 0.8 MA and NL to 0.8 x 10^20
m^-2. We will start with a standard limited plasma with no impurity puff.

Dec 6 1994 09:28:47:680AM941206002Joseph SnipesShot 2
Looked good! However, PCS did not use segment 3 as requested and instead ran
a standard diverted discharge. We got a short H-mode from 0.92 to 1.02 sec,
which is incredible after an air leak on Friday!

Dec 6 1994 09:53:08:420AM941206003Joseph SnipesShot 3
Copied the limited plasma that we wanted into segment 2 and turned off
segment 3. Now trying the limited plasma. Very good!

Dec 6 1994 10:17:43:910AM941206004Joseph SnipesShot 4
Limited with Ar puff at -0.1 sec from lower divertor capillary system.
No plasma! Dud!

Dec 6 1994 10:18:16:710AM941206004Joseph SnipesShot 4
Limited with Ar puff at -0.1 sec from lower divertor capillary system.
No plasma! Fizzle!

Dec 6 1994 11:02:24:600AM941206004Joseph SnipesShot 5
Repeat. Too much Ar from the divertor.

Dec 6 1994 11:04:15:810AM941206006Joseph SnipesShot 6
Previous disruption corrupted the walls. No plasma. Fizzle!

Dec 6 1994 11:22:25:040AM941206007Joseph SnipesShot 7
Trying again to get a limited plasma with a small Ar puff from the divertor.
Looked good.

Dec 6 1994 11:56:47:980AM941206008Joseph SnipesShot 8
Moved RXL and RXU in by 1 cm to -1.5 cm during the plasma to avoid saturation
of the EF2 coils. Reloaded segment 3 hoping that PCS is now working
correctly. Still limited with more Ar. Died early. Apparently, the PCS
fix that should allow us to run segment 3 instead of segment 2 did not work.

Dec 6 1994 12:12:50:030PM941206008Joseph SnipesShot 9
Reloaded shot 941206007 and then moved RXL and RXU in by 1 cm to -1.5 cm during
the plasma to avoid saturation of the EF2 coils.
Still limited with more Ar.
Fizzle!

Dec 6 1994 12:41:41:310PM941206010Joseph SnipesShot 10
Fizzle!

Dec 6 1994 12:42:57:410PM941206011Joseph SnipesShot 11
Raised derivative gain on RCUR at about 0.01 sec. Got plasma.

Dec 6 1994 01:03:29:360PM941206011Joseph SnipesShot 12
B side lower Ar puff from 0.5 to 0.52 sec at 90 V. Changed RXL to move in
to -1.5 cm before t=0.

Dec 6 1994 01:22:25:790PM941206012Joseph SnipesShot 12
B side lower Ar puff from 0.5 to 0.52 sec at 90 V. Changed RXL to move in
to -1.5 cm before t=0. Good shot!

Dec 6 1994 01:45:14:550PM941206012Joseph SnipesShot 14
Same shot with no Ar puff.

Dec 6 1994 04:14:36:930PM941206013Joseph SnipesShot 13
Diverted plasma. Density at 8 x 10^19 m^-2.

Dec 6 1994 02:06:11:100PM941206014Joseph SnipesShot 14
Same shot with no Ar puff. Fizzle. No EF3. Power supply failure.

Dec 6 1994 02:07:33:130PM941206015Joseph SnipesShot 15
Same shot as 941206013 with no Ar puff. Good shot!

Dec 6 1994 02:09:52:940PM941206015Joseph SnipesShot 15
Same shot as 941206013 with no Ar puff. Good shot! H-mode from 0.8 to 1 sec
in this shot and shot 13.

Dec 6 1994 02:37:54:440PM941206016Joseph SnipesShot 16
Reduced density to 5 x 10^19 m^-2. Still diverted. Disrupted at 980 ms.
No H-mode. Perhaps there is a low density limit to the H-mode.

Dec 6 1994 02:54:38:680PM941206017Joseph SnipesShot 17
Limited plasma at 5 x 10^19 m^-2. Ar puff on B side lower. Good shot!

Dec 6 1994 03:00:35:090PM941206017Joseph SnipesShot 17
Correction to last comment. Limited plasma at 5 x 10^19 m^-2 with no Ar puff.

Dec 6 1994 03:09:26:980PM941206018Joseph SnipesShot 18
Limited plasma at 5 x 10^19 m^-2 with Ar puff from B side lower.
Good shot!

Dec 6 1994 03:35:12:440PM941206019Joseph SnipesShot 19
Limited plasma at 1.5 x 10^20 m^-2 with no Ar puff.
Reached the requested density. Good density feedback! Disrupted at 1.1 sec.

Dec 6 1994 03:44:22:430PM941206020Joseph SnipesShot 20
Limited plasma at 1.5 x 10^20 m^-2 with Ar puff.
Fizzle!

Dec 6 1994 04:11:46:030PM941206021Joseph SnipesShot 21
Try again. Limited plasma at 1.5 x 10^20 m^-2 with Ar puff.
Fizzle!

Dec 6 1994 04:12:23:690PM941206022Joseph SnipesShot 22
Try again.
Fizzle!

Dec 6 1994 04:24:19:680PM941206023Joseph SnipesShot 23
Raised derivative gain on RCUR from 0.01 to 0.04 sec from a value of 4 to 6.
Disrupted at 0.462 sec.

Dec 6 1994 04:51:02:590PM941206023Joseph SnipesShot 24
Density lowered to 1.3 x 10^20 m^-2. Good shot!

Dec 6 1994 05:18:48:110PM941206025Joseph SnipesOverall, things worked reasonably well. However, very slow cooling really
delayed the run considerably. Also, some bugs in PCS slowed us down at the
beginning of the run.
25 shots, 17 plasmas, 6 fizzles, 2 duds

Engineering Operator Comments
ShotTimeTypeStatusComment
108:34:24:900AMTestOkoh coax instrumentation test
209:08:58:340AMPlasmaOkno faults
309:45:59:710AMPlasmaOkno faults
410:14:00:160AMPlasmaOkno faults
510:32:07:600AMPlasmaOkno faults
610:57:01:660AMPlasmaOkno faults
711:14:58:870AMPlasmaOkno faults
811:46:25:840AMPlasmaOkno faults
912:07:04:260PMPlasmaOkno faults
1012:23:42:680PMPlasmaOkno faults
1112:41:07:030PMPlasmaOkno faults
1201:05:18:140PMPlasmaOkno faults
1301:26:36:370PMPlasmaOkNo faults.
1401:44:44:980PMPlasmaBadEF3 Bad air flow switch
1502:00:07:810PMPlasmaOkNo faults
1602:22:34:480PMPlasmaOkNo faults.
1702:43:25:180PMPlasmaOkNo faults.
1803:02:48:970PMPlasmaOkNo faults
1903:18:45:210PMPlasmaOkComm fault EF1 U&L OH2L
2003:38:48:970PMPlasmaOkNo faults
2103:53:05:930PMPlasmaOkNo faults.
2204:06:41:810PMPlasmaOkNo faults
2304:20:28:570PMPlasmaOkNo faults.
2404:35:38:780PMPlasmaOkNo faults.
2504:59:43:490PMPlasmaOkNo faults