Toroidal flow and radial particle flux in tokamak plasmas

ThemagneticeldB,electricpotential,andplasmaparameterswillbeexpandedintermsoftheir
axisymmetric equilibrium plus gyroradiussmall NA perturbations. Both externally induced
perturbationsandcollectiveplasmauctuationsaretakenintoaccount.Effectsonsuccessively
longertimescaleswillbeconsideredsequentially:onthecompressionalAlfvnwavetimescale,
theradialionforcebalanceyieldsarelationbetweenthepoloidalandtoroidalowswithinaux
surfaceandtheradialelectriceld;onCoulombcollisiontimescales,thedensity,temperature,
andpressureofeachplasmaspeciesbecomeconstantalongamagneticeldlineandowswithin
amagneticuxsurfacebecomeincompressible;andthen,fortimeslongerthantheioncollision
time,thepoloidalionowisusuallydampedtoadiamagnetictypeowdependentontheion
temperaturegradient.
Manyeffectsinuencetoroidalowevolutionintokamakplasmas.Momentumsourcesandradialplasma
transportduetocollisionalprocessesandmicroturbulenceinducedanomaloustransportareusually
considered.Inaddition,toroidalowcanbeaffectedbynonaxisymmetricmagneticelds;resonant
componentscauselocalizedelectromagnetictoroidaltorquesnearrationalsurfacesinowingplasmasand
nonresonantcomponentsinduceglobaltoroidalowdampingtorquethroughouttheplasma.Also,
poloidalmagneticeldtransientsonthemagneticelddiffusiontimescalecaninuenceplasmatransport.
Manyoftheseprocessescanalsoproducemomentumpinchandintrinsicoweffects.Thispaperpresentsa
comprehensiveandselfconsistentdescriptionofalltheseeffectswithinauidmomentcontext.Plasma
processesonsuccessivetimescalesandconstraintstheyimposeareconsideredsequentially:compressional
AlfvnwavesGradShafranovequilibriumandionradialforcebalance,soundwavespressureconstant
alongaeldlineandincompressibleowswithinauxsurface,andioncollisionsdampingofpoloidal
ow.Finally,plasmatransportacrossmagneticuxsurfacesisinducedbythemanysecondorderinthe
smallgyroradiusexpansiontoroidaltorqueeffectsindicatedabove.Nonambipolarcomponentsofthe
inducedparticletransportuxesproduceradialplasmacurrents.Settingtheuxsurfaceaverageofthenet
radialcurrentinducedbyalltheseeffectstozeroyieldsthetransporttimescaleequationforevolutionof
theplasmatoroidalow.Itincludesacombinationofglobaltoroidalowdampingandresonanttorques
inducedbynonaxisymmetricmagneticeldcomponents,poloidalmagneticeldtransients,and
momentumsourceeffects,aswellastheusualcollisionandmicroturbulenceinducedtransport.Onthe
transporttimescale,theplasmatoroidalrotationdeterminestheradialelectriceldfornetambipolar
particletransport.Theultimateradialparticletransportiscomposedofintrinsicallyambipolaruxesplus
nonambipolaruxesevaluatedatthistoroidalrotationdeterminedradialelectriceld.
I. INTRODUCTION

Determiningthemagnitude,radialprole,andevolutionoftoroidalowintokamakplasmasisan
1
importantissueforbothpresenttokamakplasmasandITER for EB owshearcontrolofanomalous
transport, prevention of locked modes, control of edge localized modes via resonant magnetic
2
perturbations, etc. Many effects inuence the evolution of toroidal ow in tokamak plasmas. Radial
37
transport of toroidal ow due to collisioninduced and microturbulenceinduced anomalous
813
processes obtained using meaneld theory
is usually considered within the context of an
equilibriumaxisymmetricmagneticeldmodel.Inaddition,thetoroidalowisconstrainedbyfastertime
scale processes and can be affected by threedimensional 3D nonaxisymmetric NA magnetic eld
1421
2225
components,
magneticeldtransients,
andexternallysuppliedtoroidalmomentumsourcese.g.,
26
fromneutralbeaminjection NBI.
Heretoforethesediverseeffectsontheplasmatoroidalowhavebeenmostlyconsideredseparately
andinan ad hoc fashion.Inthispaperadetailedframeworkisdeveloped fordescribingtoroidalow
evolutionintokamaksthat
a

Electronicmail:callen@engr.wisc.edu.Website:http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~callen.

accountsforallthesephysicaleffectssimultaneouslyandselfconsistently.A neoclassicalequilibriumis
obtained for time scales longer than the collision time scales. It is briey revisited to add selfconsistently
possibleeffectsduetomicroturbulenceandmomentumsourcese.g.,noninductivecurrentdrivesCDsonthe

lowestorderplasmaowsandparallelOhmslawintokamakexperiments.Theoveralltoroidalowequation
27,28
isdevelopedusinganapproachoriginallydeveloped
foraneoclassicaldescriptionofowsinNAe.g.,
stellaratortoroidalmagneticconnementsystems,buthereextendedtoincludemicroturbulence,magneticeld
transients,andmomentumsourceandsinkeffects.

NAmagnetic eldcomponentsintokamaksarisefromcoilirregularities,activecontrolcoils,and
plasmacollectivemagneticdistortionse.g.,neoclassicaltearingmodesandresistivewallmodes.TheNA
componentsaretypically
very small
comparedtotheequilibriummagneticeld:

10
.Thus,theywillbeconsideredtobeofrstor
derorsmallerinthesmallgyroradiusexpansion,whichwillgreatlyfacilitateanalysisofthe3Deffects.
Thispaperusesauidmomentapproachtodevelopacomprehensivedescriptionofthevariouseffects
ontheparticleuxes,toroidalow,radialelectriceld,andresultantnetradialparticleuxinatokamak
plasma.Anearlierandmorelimitedandabridgedversionofthisworkhasbeen

BB0

presentedelsewhere. ThemagneticeldB,electricpotential,andplasmaparameterswillbeexpandedin
termsoftheiraxisymmetricequilibriumplusgyroradiussmallNAperturbations.Bothexternallyinduced
perturbationsandcollectiveplasmauctuationsaretakenintoaccount.Effectsonsuccessivelylongertime
scaleswillbeconsideredsequentially:onthecompressionalAlfvnwavetimescale,theradialionforce
balanceyieldsarelationbetweenthepoloidal andtoroidal owswithinauxsurfaceandtheradial
electriceld;onCoulombcollisiontimescales,thedensity,temperature,andpressureofeachplasma
speciesbecomeconstant alongamagnetic eldlineandowswithinamagneticuxsurfacebecome
incompressible;andthen,fortimeslongerthantheioncollisiontime,thepoloidalionowisusually
dampedtoadiamagnetictypeowdependentontheiontemperaturegradient.
Finally,therearemanysecondorderinasmallgyroradiusexpansionandthe3DNAmagneticeld
magnitudesradialparticletransportuxesinducedbytoroidaltorquesonaplasmaspecies,bothcollision
inducedintrinsicallyambipolaronesandpossiblynonambipolarones.Thecollisioninducedonesinclude
3
5,6
29
classical, PrschSchlterPS,bananaplateau, andpaleoclassical particleuxesplusonesinduced
A
2
byparallelnoninductiveanddynamoCDs,andthe E B B pinch.Possiblynonambipolaruxesare
1417,27,28
caused by NA neoclassical toroidal viscosity NTV ow damping effects,
perpendicular
3,4,7
18
viscosities,
toroidaltorquesonresonantsurfacesduetononidealeffectse.g.,duetoresistivity and
19
20
twouiddiamagneticows onNAresonantmagneticeldcomponentscombinedwithNTVeffects,
813
2225
polarization ows, microturbulence,
magnetic eld transients,
and momentum sources.
Nonambipolarcomponentsoftheparticleuxescauseradial plasmacurrents.Settingtheuxsurface
averageofthetotalradialcurrenttozeroso,fromchargeconservationandthetimederivativeofGausss
2,15,27,28
law,theradialelectricelddoesnotincreasemonotonicallyintimeyields
atransporttimescale
toroidalowevolutionequation.Theradialelectriceldisdeterminedfromthetoroidalow.Thenet
radial particle ux is the sum of the collisioninduced intrinsically ambipolar particle uxes and the
nonambipolarparticleuxesevaluatedatthetoroidalowdeterminedradialelectriceld.
Wemakeanumberofassumptionstofacilitatedeterminingcomprehensiveequationsfortheparticle
uxesandevolutionoftoroidalrotationintokamakplasmas.
1 Smallgyroradiusexpansion,whichtozerothorderyieldsmagnetohydrodynamicMHDforcebalance
equilibrium,owswithinuxsurfacesatrstorder,andsecondorderradialtransportuxes
2Axisymmetriclowestordermagneticfieldstructurewithnestedtoroidaluxsurfacesi.e.,nomagnetic
islandsinregionofinterest
3 Gyroradiussmall magnetic field nonaxisymmetries such that toroidal nonaxisymmetries NAsinthe
magneticeldBarerstorderorsmallerinthegyroradiusexpansion
4Bananaplateaucollisionalityregime,whereelectron
andioncollisionlengthsarelongcomparedtothepoloidalperiodicitylength2Rqandhenceplasma

propertiesareconstantonmagneticuxsurfaces
5Gyroradiussmallplasmafluctuations,whichleadtosecondordermicroturbulenceinducedanomalous
radialplasmatransport
6Slowpoloidalmagneticfieldtransients,whichattheirfastestoccuronthetransporttimescale
7PoloidaldampingofelectronheatflowisneglectedinobtainingtheparallelneoclassicalOhmslaw
NoexplicitinverseaspectratiorR0expansionwillbemade,exceptinestimatingthemagnitudeof
2
sometermsandinneglectofsomeminor O terms.Whiletheanalysiswillbevalidovermostofa
tokamakplasma,becauseofassumptions4and5,itmightnotapplytoitsveryedge.Inparticular,very
closetothemagneticseparatrixindivertedtokamakplasmas,assumption4canbeviolated,inwhichcase
atwodimensionalradialandpoloidaldescriptionofplasmatransportisneeded.Also,intheedgeofL
modetokamakplasmasuctuationscanbecomesolarge thatassumption5isviolated,inwhichcasea
uidtypeturbulentplasmadescriptionmaybeneededthere.Becauseofassumption7,whilescalingsof
allthecollisionalradialparticleuxeswillbecorrect,someoftheirnumericalcoefcientswillonlybe
approximate. Finally, for simplicity we restrict our analysis to a two species plasmaelectrons plus
hydrogenicions.
Thispaperisorganizedasfollows.SectionIIspeciestheplasmaandmagnetic eldmodelsand
perturbationprocedure.SectionIIIdiscussesthesuccessivetimescalesandtheconstraintstheyimpose.
Theradialparticleuxesinducedbythevariouseffectsindicatedaboveandtheplasmatoroidalow
evolutionequationthatresultsfromsettingtozerothenetradialcurrentsfromtheirnonambipolarcompo
nentsaredevelopedinSec.IV.AppendixAdescribestherelationofuidowvelocitiestoguidingcenter
velocities,andAppendixBdescribesthegyroviscosityanditseffects.Someinterestingpropertiesofthe
variouseffectsintheevolutionequationfortheplasmatoroidalrotationarediscussedinSec.V.Finally,
Sec.VIsummarizesthemainresultsobtainedinthispaper.
II. PLASMA AND MAGNETIC FIELD MODELS
Weuseaplasmadescriptionbasedonuidmomentsofageneralplasmakineticequationforeachspecies,
whichincludestheVlasovoperator,theCoulombcollisionoperator,andsources.Someofthepossibleplasma
particle and momentum sources and sinks are those due to collisions with neutrals, fast ions injected via
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energetic neutralbeams, currentsources,andradiofrequency waves interacting with theplasma. Such a
descriptionissometimescalledatwouiddescription.Howeverbecauseweareconsideringthebananaplateau
collisionalityregime,wewillusethekineticallyderivedclosurerelationsforthetypicallyrstorderinthesmall
6
gyroradiusexpansionneoclassicalparallelviscousforcesB0. Themagneticelddescriptionwillbebased
onalowestorderaxisymmetricmagneticeld,whichiscomposedofnestedmagneticuxsurfaces.Thatis,any
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082504-3
Toroidal flow and radial particle flux

NAmagneticeldperturbationswillbeassumedtobesmallenoughthattheydonotcausemagnetic
islandsintheradialregionsbeingconsidered.Thedimensionlessradialcoordinatewillbebasedonthe
toroidal magnetic ux, as is customary for tokamak plasma transport modeling codes. The rst order
perturbationswillincludeboththeaverageaxisymmetricpoloidalvariationsintheequilibriumPSef
fectsandeffectsduetozerotoroidalaverage,gyroradiussmallperturbations.