An edge-localized mode (ELM) is a plasma instability occurring in the edge region of a tokamak plasma due to periodic relaxations of the edge transport barrier in high-confinement mode. Each ELM burst is associated with expulsion of particles and energy from the confined plasma into the scrape-off layer. This phenomenon was first observed in the ASDEX tokamak in 1981. [1] Diamagnetic effects in the model equations expand the size of the parameter space in which solutions of repeated sawteeth can be recovered compared to a resistive MHD model. [2] An ELM can expel up to 20 percent of the reactor's energy. [3]
ELM is a major challenge in magnetic fusion research with tokamaks, as these instabilities can:
A variety of experiments/simulations have attempted to mitigate damage from ELM. Techniques include:
In 2003 DIII-D began experimenting with resonant magnetic perturbations to control ELMs. [9]
In 2006 an initiative (Project Aster) was started to simulate a full ELM cycle including its onset, the highly non-linear phase, and its decay. However, this did not constitute a “true” ELM cycle, since a true ELM cycle would require modeling the slow growth after the crash, in order to produce a second ELM.
As of late 2011, several research facilities had demonstrated active control or suppression of ELMs in tokamak plasmas. For example, the KSTAR tokamak used specific asymmetric three-dimensional magnetic field configurations to achieve this goal. [10] [11]
In 2015, results of the first simulation to demonstrate repeated ELM cycling was published. [12]
In 2022, researchers began testing the small ELM hypothesis at JET to assess the utility of the technique. [7] [3]
In plasma physics, plasma stability concerns the stability properties of a plasma in equilibrium and its behavior under small perturbations. The stability of the system determines if the perturbations will grow, oscillate, or be damped out. It is an important consideration in topics such as nuclear fusion and astrophysical plasma.
Magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) is an approach to generate thermonuclear fusion power that uses magnetic fields to confine fusion fuel in the form of a plasma. Magnetic confinement is one of two major branches of controlled fusion research, along with inertial confinement fusion.
Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST) was a nuclear fusion experiment, testing a spherical tokamak nuclear fusion reactor, and commissioned by EURATOM/UKAEA. The original MAST experiment took place at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Oxfordshire, England from December 1999 to September 2013. A successor experiment called MAST Upgrade began operation in 2020.
DIII-D is a tokamak that has been operated since the late 1980s by General Atomics (GA) in San Diego, California, for the United States Department of Energy. The DIII-D National Fusion Facility is part of the ongoing effort to achieve magnetically confined fusion. The mission of the DIII-D Research Program is to establish the scientific basis for the optimization of the tokamak approach to fusion energy production.
The tokamak à configuration variable is an experimental tokamak located at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Swiss Plasma Center (SPC) in Lausanne, Switzerland. As the largest experimental facility of the Swiss Plasma Center, the TCV tokamak explores the physics of magnetic confinement fusion. It distinguishes itself from other tokamaks with its specialized plasma shaping capability, which can produce diverse plasma shapes without requiring hardware modifications.
Resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) are a special type of magnetic field perturbations used to control burning plasma instabilities called edge-localized modes (ELMs) in magnetic fusion devices such as tokamaks. The efficiency of RMPs for controlling ELMs was first demonstrated on the tokamak DIII-D in 2003.
The ballooning instability is a type of internal pressure-driven plasma instability usually seen in tokamak fusion power reactors or in space plasmas. It is important in fusion research as it determines a set of criteria for the maximum achievable plasma beta. The name refers to the shape and action of the instability, which acts like the elongations formed in a long balloon when it is squeezed. In literature, the structure of these elongations are commonly referred to as 'fingers'.
In nuclear fusion power research, the plasma-facing material (PFM) is any material used to construct the plasma-facing components (PFC), those components exposed to the plasma within which nuclear fusion occurs, and particularly the material used for the lining the first wall or divertor region of the reactor vessel.
A ball-pen probe is a modified Langmuir probe used to measure the plasma potential in magnetized plasmas. The ball-pen probe balances the electron and ion saturation currents, so that its floating potential is equal to the plasma potential. Because electrons have a much smaller gyroradius than ions, a moving ceramic shield can be used to screen off an adjustable part of the electron current from the probe collector.
COMPASS, short for Compact Assembly, is a compact tokamak fusion energy device originally completed at the Culham Science Centre in 1989, upgraded in 1992, and operated until 2002. It was designed as a flexible research facility dedicated mostly to plasma physics studies in circular and D-shaped plasmas.
Sir Steven Charles Cowley is a British theoretical physicist and international authority on nuclear fusion and astrophysical plasmas. He has served as director of the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) since 1 July 2018. Previously he served as president of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, since October 2016. and head of the EURATOM / CCFE Fusion Association and chief executive officer of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).
In plasma physics and magnetic confinement fusion, the high-confinement mode (H-mode) is a phenomenon and operating regime of enhanced confinement in toroidal plasma such as tokamaks. When the applied heating power is raised above some threshold, a toroidal plasma transitions abruptly from the low-confinement mode (L-mode) to the H-mode where the energy confinement time approximately doubles in magnitude.
A sawtooth is a relaxation that is commonly observed in the core of tokamak plasmas, first reported in 1974. The relaxations occur quasi-periodically and cause a sudden drop in the temperature and density in the center of the plasma. A soft-xray pinhole camera pointed toward the plasma core during sawtooth activity will produce a sawtooth-like signal. Sawteeth effectively limit the amplitude of the central current density. The Kadomtsev model of sawteeth is a classic example of magnetic reconnection. Other repeated relaxation oscillations occurring in tokamaks include the edge localized mode (ELM) which effectively limits the pressure gradient at the plasma edge and the fishbone instability which effectively limits the density and pressure of fast particles.
The Prairie View (PV) Rotamak is a plasma physics experiment at Prairie View A&M University. The experiment studies magnetic plasma confinement to support controlled nuclear fusion experiments. Specifically, the PV Rotamak can be used as either a spherical tokamak or a field-reversed configuration. Some time between 2015 and 2017, most personnel moved on to advanced career opportunities. In 2017, a Final Report to Department of Energy (DOE) was prepared and submitted by Dr. Saganti of PVAMU on the entire research work supported by DOE for 12 years.
Jose A. Boedo is a Spanish plasma physicist and a researcher at University of California, San Diego. He was elected as a fellow of the American Physical Society in 2016 for "his ground-breaking contributions to the studies of plasma drifts and intermittent plasma transport in the peripheral region of tokamaks".
Hartmut Zohm is a German plasma physicist who is known for his work on the ASDEX Upgrade machine. He received the 2014 John Dawson Award and the 2016 Hannes Alfvén Prize for successfully demonstrating that neoclassical tearing modes in tokamaks can be stabilized by electron cyclotron resonance heating, which is an important design consideration for pushing the performance limit of the ITER.
Keith Howard Burrell is an American plasma physicist.
Friedrich E. Wagner is a German physicist and emeritus professor who specializes in plasma physics. He was known to have discovered the high-confinement mode of magnetic confinement in fusion plasmas while working at the ASDEX tokamak in 1982. For this discovery and his subsequent contributions to fusion research, was awarded the John Dawson Award in 1987, the Hannes Alfvén Prize in 2007 and the Stern–Gerlach Medal in 2009.
Wendelstein 7-AS was an experimental stellarator which was in operation from 1988 to 2002 by the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Garching. It was the first of a new class of advanced stellarators with modular coils, designed with the goal of developing a nuclear fusion reactor to generate electricity.
Low to High Confinement Mode Transition, more commonly referred to as L-H transition, is a phenomenon in the fields of plasma physics and magnetic confinement fusion, signifying the transition from less efficient plasma confinement to highly efficient modes. The L-H transition, a milestone in the development of nuclear fusion, enables the confinement of high-temperature plasmas. The transition is dependent on many factors such as density, magnetic field strength, heating method, plasma fueling, and edge plasma control, and is made possible through mechanisms such as edge turbulence, E×B shear, edge electric field, and edge current and plasma flow. Researchers studying this field use tools such as Electron Cyclotron Emission, Thomson Scattering, magnetic diagnostics, and Langmuir probes to gauge the PLH and seek to lower this value. This confinement is a necessary condition for sustaining the fusion reactions, which involve the combination of atomic nuclei, leading to the release of vast amounts of energy.