Towards Efficient and Practical Models for Energetic Particle Transport in Tokamaks

T. Rafiq, C. Wilson, J. Weiland, L. Whitall, E. Schuster

65th Division of Plasma Physics (DPP) Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society (APS)

Denver, CO, USA, October 30 – November 3, 2023

In addition to alpha particles, ICRH and NBI also heat the thermal plasma, increasing the temperature of tokamak plasmas. As fusion power surpasses input heating power in devices like ITER, alpha or energetic particles play a crucial role in plasma heating and can potentially trigger particle-driven instabilities. These instabilities may cause cross-field transport of energetic ions, leading to reduced plasma heating and altered power deposition profiles, affecting thermal plasma confinement. Understanding the physics of energetic ion-driven instabilities and associated heat and particle transport across the plasma confinement is crucial due to the significant role of energetic particles in fusion plasma. Accurate modeling of energetic particle transport is essential for comprehending and controlling these processes. However, current transport models for energetic particles in tokamaks are complex and computationally intensive, making them impractical for time-dependent plasma profile predictions and control. Hence, there is a need for physics-based fast transport models that can efficiently and accurately predict energetic particle transport while preserving the essential physics. The energetic particle transport model, which incorporates basic resonances as well as resonance broadening, is provided, as are preliminary numerical results.

*Supported by the US DE-SC0013977.