Blobby turbulence and sheath models for estimating the heat load at the divertor plate
Scott Parker
University of Colorado Boulder
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute
Understanding the locality of high-temperature plasma energy deposition on material surfaces is critical for reactor design. Here, we utilize the GEMX gyrokinetic simulation along with SOLPS-ITER solutions for the background equilibrium electric field to model the heat flux at the divertor plate in realistic X-point geometry. We use a theory-based blobby transport model we call the “Coherent Structure Transport” (CST) model and include detailed sheath physics. The CST model is extremely fast and does not require direct numerical simulation of the turbulent fluctuations. SOLPS-ITER provides a stationary E-field on which we superimpose blobby turbulence characterized by blob size, amplitude, and frequency. We show qualitative agreement with experimental values of the heat load width. Collaborators: Zhichen Feng, University of Colorado, Boulder; James Myra, Lodestar Research Corporation