Tokamak Simulation Code Modeling of NSTX
Authors: S.C. Jardin, S. Kaye, J. Menard, C. Kessel, and A.H. Glasser
Date of PPPL Report: July 2000
Presented at: the 27th European Physical Society's (EPS) Conference on Controlled Fusion and Plasma Physics, June 12-16, 2000, Budapest, Hungary. A "Provisional Collection of Submitted Contributions" can be found at the following web site: http://www.eps2000.kfki.hu (active as of August 16, 2000). Papers are in PDF format.
The Tokamak Simulation Code [TSC] is widely used for the design of new axisymmetric toroidal experiments. In particular, TSC was used extensively in the design of the National Spherical Torus eXperiment [NSTX]. We have now benchmarked TSC with initial NSTX results and find excellent agreement for plasma and vessel currents and magnetic flux loops when the experimental coil currents are used in the simulations. TSC has also been coupled with a ballooning stability code and with DCON to provide stability predictions for NSTX operation. TSC has also been used to model initial CHI experiments where a large poloidal voltage is applied to the NSTX vacuum vessel, causing a force-free current to appear in the plasma. This is a phenomenon that is similar to the "plasma halo current" that sometimes develops during a plasma disruption.