Enhanced performance in fusion plasmas through turbulence suppression by megaelectronvolt ions

S. Mazzi; J. Garcia; D. Zarzoso; Ye O. Kazakov; J. Ongena; M. Dreval; M. Nocente; Ž. Štancar; G. Szepesi; J. Eriksson; A. Sahlberg; S. Benkadda; Leena Aho-Mantila; Antti Hakola; Toni Kaltiaisenaho; Anu Kirjasuo; Jaakko Leppänen; Jari Likonen; Antti Salmi; Paula Sirén; Tuomas Tala; JET Contributors

doi:10.1038/s41567-022-01626-8

Enhanced performance in fusion plasmas through turbulence suppression by megaelectronvolt ions

S. Mazzi^*
, J. Garcia
, D. Zarzoso
, Ye O. Kazakov
, J. Ongena
, M. Dreval
, M. Nocente
, Ž. Štancar
, G. Szepesi
, J. Eriksson
, A. Sahlberg
, S. Benkadda
, Leena Aho-Mantila
, Antti Hakola
, Toni Kaltiaisenaho
, Anu Kirjasuo
, Jaakko Leppänen
, Jari Likonen
, Antti Salmi
, Paula Sirén

Tuomas Tala, JET Contributors

^*Corresponding author for this work

Aix-Marseille Université
Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA)
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
École Royale Militaire
Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology
V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University
University of Milan
National Research Council (CNR)
Jožef Stefan Institute
Culham Science Centre
Uppsala University
Universidade de Lisboa
National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ)
University of Helsinki
National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST)
Consorzio C.R.E.A.T.E.
Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión (LNF)
National Centre of Scientific Research Demokritos
ITER Organization
National University of Distance Education
Aalto University
Chalmers University of Technology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

96 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Alpha particles with energies on the order of megaelectronvolts will be the main source of plasma heating in future magnetic confinement fusion reactors. Instead of heating fuel ions, most of the energy of alpha particles is transferred to electrons in the plasma. Furthermore, alpha particles can also excite Alfvénic instabilities, which were previously considered to be detrimental to the performance of the fusion device. Here we report improved thermal ion confinement in the presence of megaelectronvolts ions and strong fast ion-driven Alfvénic instabilities in recent experiments on the Joint European Torus. Detailed transport analysis of these experiments reveals turbulence suppression through a complex multi-scale mechanism that generates large-scale zonal flows. This holds promise for more economical operation of fusion reactors with dominant alpha particle heating and ultimately cheaper fusion electricity.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	776-782
Journal	Nature Physics
Volume	18
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01626-8
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2022
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

The simulations were performed on the IRENE Joliot-Curie HPC system, in the framework of the PRACE projects IONFAST and AFIETC, led by J. Garcia, and on the CINECA Marconi HPC within the project GENE4EP, led by D. Zarzoso. This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 and 2019-2020 under grant agreement no. 633053. Part of the work by Ye. O. Kazakov and J.Ongena was also carried out in the framework of projects done for the ITER Scientist Fellow Network (ISFN).

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

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10.1038/s41567-022-01626-8

Cite this

Mazzi, S., Garcia, J., Zarzoso, D., Kazakov, Y. O., Ongena, J., Dreval, M., Nocente, M., Štancar, Ž., Szepesi, G., Eriksson, J., Sahlberg, A., Benkadda, S., Aho-Mantila, L., Hakola, A., Kaltiaisenaho, T., Kirjasuo, A., Leppänen, J., Likonen, J., Salmi, A., ... JET Contributors (2022). Enhanced performance in fusion plasmas through turbulence suppression by megaelectronvolt ions. Nature Physics, 18(7), 776-782. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01626-8

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title = "Enhanced performance in fusion plasmas through turbulence suppression by megaelectronvolt ions",

abstract = "Alpha particles with energies on the order of megaelectronvolts will be the main source of plasma heating in future magnetic confinement fusion reactors. Instead of heating fuel ions, most of the energy of alpha particles is transferred to electrons in the plasma. Furthermore, alpha particles can also excite Alfv{\'e}nic instabilities, which were previously considered to be detrimental to the performance of the fusion device. Here we report improved thermal ion confinement in the presence of megaelectronvolts ions and strong fast ion-driven Alfv{\'e}nic instabilities in recent experiments on the Joint European Torus. Detailed transport analysis of these experiments reveals turbulence suppression through a complex multi-scale mechanism that generates large-scale zonal flows. This holds promise for more economical operation of fusion reactors with dominant alpha particle heating and ultimately cheaper fusion electricity.",

author = "S. Mazzi and J. Garcia and D. Zarzoso and Kazakov, \{Ye O.\} and J. Ongena and M. Dreval and M. Nocente and {\v Z}. {\v S}tancar and G. Szepesi and J. Eriksson and A. Sahlberg and S. Benkadda and N. Abid and K. Abraham and P. Abreu and O. Adabonyan and P. Adrich and M. Afzal and T. Ahlgren and Leena Aho-Mantila and N. Aiba and M. Akhtar and R. Albanese and M. Alderson-Martin and D. Alegre and S. Aleiferis and A. Aleksa and E. Alessi and P. Aleynikov and J. Algualcil and M. Ali and M. Allinson and B. Alper and Antti Hakola and Toni Kaltiaisenaho and H.T. Kim and S.H. Kim and Anu Kirjasuo and T. Kiviniemi and A. Lahtinen and Jaakko Lepp{\"a}nen and Jari Likonen and F. Liu and H. Nordman and Antti Salmi and J. Silva and Paula Sir{\'e}n and Tuomas Tala and \{JET Contributors\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

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Mazzi, S, Garcia, J, Zarzoso, D, Kazakov, YO, Ongena, J, Dreval, M, Nocente, M, Štancar, Ž, Szepesi, G, Eriksson, J, Sahlberg, A, Benkadda, S, Aho-Mantila, L , Hakola, A, Kaltiaisenaho, T, Kirjasuo, A, Leppänen, J , Likonen, J , Salmi, A, Sirén, P, Tala, T & JET Contributors 2022, 'Enhanced performance in fusion plasmas through turbulence suppression by megaelectronvolt ions', Nature Physics, vol. 18, no. 7, pp. 776-782. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01626-8

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Enhanced performance in fusion plasmas through turbulence suppression by megaelectronvolt ions

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