Proposal of an alternative upper divertor in ASDEX Upgrade supported by EMC3-EIRENE simulations

Abstract

We discuss the benefits of installing a pair of in-vessel coils with currents |Ifx| ≲ 50 kAt in the upper divertor of ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) to study a series of ‘alternative’ divertor configurations, like the Snowflake (SF) and the X-divertor (XD), that are currently considered as alternative solutions for the power exhaust problem. The possibility of operating the standard lower single-null (SN) and double-null (DN) would be preserved. Potential effects to reduce the peak parallel- and/or perpendicular heat flux are predicted from a simple geometrical-diffusive model as well as by numerical EMC3-EIRENE simulations for pure deuterium attached conditions with spatially constant diffusion coefficients. Beyond that a series of other potential transport- and radiation related heat flux mitigation effects are identified and could be studied experimentally with the modified upper divertor in the high-power divertor Tokamak AUG. Keywords: Power exhaust, Alternative divertor, ASDEX Upgrade, EMC3-EIRENE, Tokamak, Flux expansion