First-principles density limit scaling in tokamaks based on edge turbulent transport and implications for ITER

Abstract

A first-principles scaling law, based on turbulent transport considerations, and a multi-machine database of density limit discharges from the ASDEX Upgrade, JET and TCV tokamaks, show that the increase of the boundary turbulent transport with the plasma collisionality sets the maximum density achievable in tokamaks. This scaling law shows a strong dependence on the heating power, therefore predicting for ITER a significantly larger safety margin than the Greenwald empirical scaling (Greenwald et al, Nucl. Fusion, 28(12), 1988) in case of unintentional H-L transition.

References in corpus (2)

• Theory-based scaling laws of near and far scrape-off layer widths in single-null L-mode discharges
• A unified model of density limit in fusion plasmas

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• Disentangling Core and Edge Mechanisms of the Density Limit in DIII-D Negative Triangularity Plasmas
• Conservative formulation of the drift-reduced fluid plasma model