Simulation study of proposed off-midplane lower hybrid current drive in KSTAR

Abstract

A new proposal of lower hybrid (LH) wave launching is studied for efficient current drive aiming for high performance H-mode operation in Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR). This new concept is the off-midplane launch which results in a rapid up-shift of the parallel component of refractive index and hence simultaneously maintains good wave accessibility and efficient single pass absorption via Landau damping. In order to locate an optimal position of the launcher in the poloidal direction, the ray-tracing and Fokker-Planck codes were used. Based on a survey of the LH wave launch parameters and operation conditions including the compatibility issues with the existing in-vessel components, the LH wave launch from the top position near the upper X-point of the plasma separatrix provides the possibility to eliminate the accessibility problem and reduce parasitic edge loss for the KSTAR high performance H-mode operation scenario using 5 GHz lower hybrid current drive.