Core-Edge Plasma Response to Variations in Advanced Tokamak Aspect Ratio using IPS-FASTRAN Plasma Simulator

The core and edge plasma responses in advanced tokamaks for a range of aspect ratios (2 – 4) are studied using EPED and TGLF models in the IPS-FASTRAN plasma simulator with the implementation of different heating and current drive actuators (HCD). A systems code (SC) is used to search a manifold space of tokamak parameters, such as fusion gain = 4 – 12, toroidal magnetic field = 2 – 10.5 T, major radius = 1.5 – 5 m, plasma beta = 2 – 5.5, effective atomic charge number = 1.6 – 2.4, and Greenwald fraction = 0.8 – 1.1, for an optimum design point that provides a low to moderate electric power (PE ≥ 50 MW) and a large bootstrap fraction (fBS ≥ 0.7). The plasma parameters in a set of selected designs are used as inputs to the IPS-EPED framework to test the sensitivity of the pedestal height and width to the variations in the aspect ratio, major radius, plasma current, toroidal magnetic field, and Greenwald fraction. Then the sensitivity of the energy and particle fluxes in the core region to those parameters is tested in the IPS-FASTRAN framework while implementing different heating and current drive schemes, such as neutral-beam heating using NUBEAM, electron-cyclotron resonance heating using TORAY, helicon and lower-hybrid heating using GENRAY, and ion-cyclotron resonance heating using TORIC, is examined. Hence the fusion gain and power, heating efficiencies, heating power deposit locations, confinement time, bootstrap and Greenwald fractions, and plasma density and temperature profiles calculated in the IPS-FASTRAN framework can be used to update the inputs to the systems code to improve the results in the workflow. In the future, these manually operated workflows will be integrated into a single coupled workflow that can be operated iteratively until we achieve a steady-state scenario for the optimum design point.