The RF Topical Conference is held every two years by a different host. Last year it took place at Hefei, China. From our Fusion Group Dr Dani Gallart had the chance to participate to the event; you can read more about his experience in this earlier post.
The RF Topical Conference tackles several radio-frequency topics in plasmas such as: experiments, modelling, interactions of wave and plasma edge and other related subjects. Recently, the conference contributions from the 2019 edition have been published in the AIP Conference Proceedings and are in open-access. The Fusion Group has contributed to a total of 6 papers which are briefly described in the following:
- Modelling of ICRF heating for JET T and D-T plasmas by D. Gallart et al. This paper describes the impact of the plasma composition on the ICRH heating. In particular, it addresses the potential differences that one might encounter when heating the plasma in a pure T and a D-T plasma and the role that the T velocity distribution function plays in it. Note that JET will undergo a T and a D-T campaign soon.
- ICRH options for JET-ILW DTE2 operation by E. Lerche et al. This paper discusses the basic modelling results of different ICRF scenarios available for the DTE2 campaign in JET-ILW, highlighting their main properties in terms of the RF absorption of the various species, their slowing-down properties and their impact on high-Z impurity transport.
- Synergistic ICRH and NBI Heating for Fast Ion Generation and Maximising Fusion Rate in Mixed Plasmas at JET by K. Kirov et al. This paper reports on the heating aspects of the modelling of JET experiments with the three-ion scheme using D-(D_NBI)-H. It also assesses the distribution function of the heated species and validates its results against experimental measurements by neutron spectrometers.
- Improved Operating Space of the ICRF System in ASDEX Upgrade by V. Bobkov et al. The antennas in AUG have undergone several improvements, in this paper all these advances are reported. Following the improvements of compatibility of ICRF system with the tungsten (W) wall in AUG by using the boron-coated limiters on the 2-strap ICRF antennas and the 3-strap antennas with the W-limiters, the ICRF operating space has been further extended in 3 areas: power, phase control between the antennas and frequency range.
- Analysis of Metallic Impurities During the Application of Three-ion ICRH Scenario at JET-ILW by A. Chomiczewska et al. In this paper, the effect of the novel ‘three-ion’ D-(3He)-H minority ICRH heating scheme on the behaviour of the metallic impurities at JET-ILW is discussed. It is reported that under a large range of H/(H+D) concentrations this scheme effectively heats the plasma with a small content of metallic impurities.
- Overview of Recent ICRF Studies and RF-related WaveField Measurements on ASDEX Upgrade by R. Ochoukov et al. This paper reports on the measurements obtained by the RF probes under different experiments. These probes are located at the low field side and the high field side and provide information on the heating efficiency of several ICRF schemes.
