Interpretative modelling of boron transport in the WEST boundary plasma in experiments with impurity powder dropper

One of the goals of the WEST tokamak is to test the viability of W plasma-facing components (PFCs) in a tokamak environment in order to prepare operation for future devices like ITER and DEMO. Usage of W PFCs leads to the contamination of the core plasma by W, which can cause significant radiative energy loss. A common technique to prevent W contamination of tokamak plasma is conditioning of PFCs with low-Z coating layers. Active wall conditioning is being studied in WEST through the injection of B powder with a PPPL Impurity Powder Dropper (IPD). An open question in this process is the nature of the transport and deposition of the B atoms on PFCs. For this reason, a modelling workflow is developed to analyze the impact of B injection on the plasma and to interpret experimental data. The workflow consists of a) deuterium-oxygen (D+O) plasma modelling to simulate plasma prior to B injection; b) B powder ablation modelling using the Dust Injection Simulator (DIS) code; and c) D+O+B plasma modelling with B neutral source provided by dust ablation modelling. Synthetic diagnostic tools are applied to measure the impact of B injection on plasma parameters in the simulation and the results are compared with the measurements by various diagnostics during IPD experiments in WEST.