Numerical simulation of E×B drift effects on fueling pellet ablation and transport in EAST

Abstract

The pellet injection technique is considered a primary method for fueling future fusion devices. The inclusion of the E×B particle drift effect is essential in the simulation to reproduce the actual particle transport of injected pellets and the changes in energy flux in the divertor region. In this study, the dynamic neutral gas shield model is coupled with the edge plasma code SOLPS-ITER, utilizing initial data referencing from EAST experiments. The investigation focuses on the effects of the E×B drift on the ablation of injected fuel pellets, particle transport, and heat flux in the divertor region. The simulation results show that the poloidal component of the E×B drift velocity causes the dispersion of ions and electrons produced by the ionization of ablated atoms from the pellet, which would accumulate around the pellet if the E×B drift is not considered. Under unfavorable toroidal magnetic field conditions, a significant accumulation of ions produced by the ionization of D atoms introduced by the injected pellet is observed near the outer target. Moreover, both the change and duration of energy flux variations in the outer target region are higher when compared with the case without E×B drift.

Keywords

• Deuterium pellet
• E ×B drift
• Fueling
• EAST
• SOLPS-ITER