2024 – Time-dependent SOLPS-ITER validation and system identification using dynamic gas puff

Time-dependent SOLPS-ITER validation and system identification using dynamic gas puff

2024 Research Campaign, Divertor Science and Innovation

Purpose of Experiment

The plasma boundary transport code SOLPS-ITER is widely used to interpret results from present day experiments and to predict conditions for future fusion reactors such as ITER. While the code is regularly compared to experimental data to validate the physics model and reduce uncertainty in predictions, these efforts have largely focused on steady-state conditions.

Experimental Approach

This experiment seeks to validate the time-dependent behavior of the code, by applying dynamic gas puff actuation, measuring the plasma response, and comparing the results to SOLPS-ITER predictions. The experimental data will also be used to perform system identification of the boundary plasma response in the time-domain, which is useful for designing control systems and deriving reduced models that can be evaluated much more rapidly than the higher fidelity SOLPS-ITER simulations. This initial experiment focuses on relatively simple L-mode plasmas with main ion gas puff, while future experiments will extend to H-mode and impurity gas seeding if the validation attempts are successful.