The role of SOL flows and recycling in neutral fueling asymmetries and the impact on pedestal performance
2024 Research Campaign, Thrust: High Opacity and Density Operation
Purpose of Experiment
The primary goal of this experiment is to characterize the role of scrape-off-layer (SOL) flows and divertor recycling in inducing in-out and up-down asymmetries in main chamber neutral fueling. Our current understanding is that this asymmetry arises from the combined effect of SOL flows, magnetic topology, recycling, wall conditions and divertor regime. Depending on the plasma flows and location of stagnation points in the SOL, the recycling flux is typically not evenly distributed between the divertor targets. Therefore, the spatial distribution of the recycled neutrals penetrating into the confined plasma region leads to fueling asymmetries.