Exploitation of Wendelstein 7-X

Wendelstein 7-X is an experimental stellarator device built in Greifswald, Germany, by the Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics, and completed in October 2015. It is based on a five field-period Helias configuration. It is mainly a toroid, consisting of 50 non-planar and 20 planar superconducting magnetic coils, 3.5 m high, which induce a magnetic field that prevents the plasma from colliding with the reactor walls. The 50 non-planar coils are used for adjusting the magnetic field. It aims for a plasma density of 3×1020 particles per cubic metre, and a plasma temperature of 60–130 megakelvin.

The purpose of W7-X is to advance stellarator technology and to evaluate the main components of a future fusion power plant. As of 2016, Wendelstein 7-X was the largest stellarator device in the world. It has been anticipated to achieve operations of up to 30 minutes of continuous plasma discharge approximately in 2022, thus demonstrating an essential feature of a future fusion power plant: continuous operation.

W7-X is a key element of the European Fusion Roadmap. As EUROfusion partner, the National Fusion Laboratory participates in the exploitation of W7-X in several ways: initially through specific theoretical derivations, and by means of the design and commissioning of diagnostics such as the double Doppler reflectometer; later, by conducting or coordinating experiments in which these theories and diagnostics will play a central role.

An overview of theoretical expectations published in the literature and of modelling capabilities of the W7-X team, with respect to impurity transport, can be found in:

A study on energetic ion transport can be found in

Examples of theory-driven experimental proposals can be found in:

Examples of related work can be found in:

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