Search results for "Wendelstein 7-X"
showing 6 items of 6 documents
Choice of the detectors for light impurities plasma studies at W7-X using ‘CO Monitor’ system
2019
Abstarct The ‘CO Monitor’ is a new spectrometer system dedicated for the continuous measurements of line intensities of carbon, oxygen, boron and nitrogen at the fusion plasma experiment Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X). Its main purpose is to deliver constant information about indicated elements with high time resolution (better than 1 ms), but low spatial resolution since the line shapes are not going to be investigated. The system consists of four independent channels, each equipped with dispersive element dedicated for measurement of selected line of interest. In order to perform the highest efficiency of the ‘CO Monitor’ system, it is essential to choose the proper detector type for this task. T…
Major results from the first plasma campaign of the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator
2017
After completing the main construction phase of Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) and successfully commissioning the device, first plasma operation started at the end of 2015. Integral commissioning of plasma start-up and operation using electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) and an extensive set of plasma diagnostics have been completed, allowing initial physics studies during the first operational campaign. Both in helium and hydrogen, plasma breakdown was easily achieved. Gaining experience with plasma vessel conditioning, discharge lengths could be extended gradually. Eventually, discharges lasted up to 6 s, reaching an injected energy of 4 MJ, which is twice the limit originally agreed for t…
Technical challenges in the construction of the steady-state stellarator Wendelstein 7-X
2013
The next step in the Wendelstein stellarator line is the large superconducting device Wendelstein 7-X, currently under construction in Greifswald, Germany. Steady-state operation is an intrinsic feature of stellarators, and one key element of the Wendelstein 7-X mission is to demonstrate steady-state operation under plasma conditions relevant for a fusion power plant. Steady-state operation of a fusion device, on the one hand, requires the implementation of special technologies, giving rise to technical challenges during the design, fabrication and assembly of such a device. On the other hand, also the physics development of steady-state operation at high plasma performance poses a challeng…
Magnetic configuration effects on the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator
2018
The two leading concepts for confining high-temperature fusion plasmas are the tokamak and the stellarator. Tokamaks are rotationally symmetric and use a large plasma current to achieve confinement, whereas stellarators are non-axisymmetric and employ three-dimensionally shaped magnetic field coils to twist the field and confine the plasma. As a result, the magnetic field of a stellarator needs to be carefully designed to minimize the collisional transport arising from poorly confined particle orbits, which would otherwise cause excessive power losses at high plasma temperatures. In addition, this type of transport leads to the appearance of a net toroidal plasma current, the so-called boot…
Overview of diagnostic performance and results for the first operation phase in Wendelstein 7-X (invited)
2016
Wendelstein 7-X, a superconducting optimized stellarator built in Greifswald/Germany, started its first plasmas with the last closed flux surface (LCFS) defined by 5 uncooled graphite limiters in December 2015. At the end of the 10 weeks long experimental campaign (OP1.1) more than 20 independent diagnostic systems were in operation, allowing detailed studies of many interesting plasma phenomena. For example, fast neutral gas manometers supported by video cameras (including one fast-frame camera with frame rates of tens of kHz) as well as visible cameras with different interference filters, with field of views covering all ten half-modules of the stellarator, discovered a MARFE-like radiati…
Confirmation of the topology of the Wendelstein 7-X magnetic field to better than 1:100,000
2016
Fusion energy research has in the past 40 years focused primarily on the tokamak concept, but recent advances in plasma theory and computational power have led to renewed interest in stellarators. The largest and most sophisticated stellarator in the world, Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), has just started operation, with the aim to show that the earlier weaknesses of this concept have been addressed successfully, and that the intrinsic advantages of the concept persist, also at plasma parameters approaching those of a future fusion power plant. Here we show the first physics results, obtained before plasma operation: that the carefully tailored topology of nested magnetic surfaces needed for good c…