Understanding core tungsten (W) transport and control in an improved high-performance fully non-inductive discharge on EAST

Abstract

Abstract The behavior of heavy/high-Z impurity tungsten (W) in an improved high-performance fully non-inductive discharge on EAST with ITER-like divertor (ILD) is analyzed. It is found that W could be well controlled. The causes of no W accumulation are clarified by analyzing the background plasma parameters and modeling the W transport. It turns out that the electron temperature (T_e) and its gradient are usually high while the toroidal rotation and density peaking of the bulk plasma are small. In this condition, the modeled W turbulent diffusion coefficient is big enough to offset the total turbulent and neoclassical pinch, so that W density profile for zero particle flux will not be very peaked. Combining NEO and TGLF for the W transport coefficient and the impurity transport code STRAHL, not only the core W density profile is predicted but also the radiated information mainly produced by W in the experiment can be closely reconstructed. At last, the physics of controlling W accumulation by electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) is illustrated considering the effects of changed T_e by ECRH on ionization balance and transport of W. It shows that the change of ionization and recombination balance by changed T_e is not enough to explain the experimental observation of W behavior, which should be attributed to the changed W transport. By comparing the W transport coefficients in two kinds of plasmas with different T_e profiles, it is shown that high T_e and its gradient play a key role to generate large turbulent diffusion through increasing the growth rate of linear instability so that W accumulation is prevented.