Gyrokinetic simulations of ion temperature gradient instability in deuterium–tritium plasma in the CFETR hybrid scenario

Abstract

The linear instabilities and nonlinear transport driven by the ion temperature gradient (ITG) instability are numerically investigated in deuterium–tritium plasma in the CFETR hybrid scenario by using the NLT code. In both linear and nonlinear simulations, effects of the tritium fraction ɛT and the temperature ratio of deuterium and tritium τDT = TD/TT are studied, with TD and TT being the temperature of deuterium and tritium, respectively. Results from linear simulations illustrate that the ITG instability can be well stabilized as ɛT increases. When ɛT = 0.5, the maximum growth rate occurs at around τDT = 1.5. During the nonlinear simulations, the anomalous particle and energy flux in deuterium–tritium plasma are analyzed. For τDT = 1.0, it is found that the tritium (deuterium) particle flux is inward (outward) and the largest inward tritium particle flux appears at ɛT = 0.5. The total ion energy flux is found to be insensitive to ɛT. In the case with ɛT = 0.5, as τDT decreases from 3.0 to 0.5, the particle flux for tritium (deuterium) changes from the outward (inward) direction to the inward (outward) direction. The quasilinear analysis clarifies that the particle flux driven by the temperature gradient is the key part in determining the direction of the particle flux. Besides, the largest and the smallest energy flux appear at around τDT = 1.5 and 0.5, respectively. It is indicated that better energy confinement and better particle confinement for tritium could be realized by choosing smaller τDT (or higher TT).