3400 m/s deuterium pellet injector for Tore Supra

This paper reports on the Tore Supra high velocity pellet injector which was built in Grenoble and after qualification tests installed oil Tore Supra Tokomak where it is used for plasma and ablation studies. By using a two stage light gas gun (TSG) and two cells (φ = 3 mm or 4 mm), unsupported pellets pellets (1 to 3.5 10 21 atoms) made directly in the gun by ≪ in situ condensation ≫ [1] have been launched into Tore Supra plasma at speeds between 2400m/s and 3400m/s with a reliability of 80%. These higher pellets velocities (> 2500 m/s) [2] are obtained by the optimization of a TSG and the search for the cryogenic conditions of freezing deuterium with good mechanical properties. In particular, the impurities concentration in deuterium during the condensation process has been studied. Several tens pellets have been injected into ohmically and ICR heated plasma and during LH current drive experiments with a good reliability in the range of 3000m/s. These experiments allowed us to extend significantly the ablation data base. Central penetrations can be reached even for high temperatures plasma (3–5 keV) and very peaked density profiles have been obtained in ohmically and ICR heated plasmas A transient improved confinement regime is then observed, which presents some features similar to the PEP regime obtained on JET.