Comparison of pellet acceleration model results to experimentally observed penetration depths

Abstract Cryogenic hydrogen isotope fuelling pellets were observed to undergo strong radial acceleration in the confined plasma. The reason for pellet acceleration is believed to originate from drift effects: the ionised part of pellet cloud is affected by the grad-B drift, therefore, the cloud becomes polarised. The E × B drift then deforms the pellet cloud so that it can no longer follow the original flux bundle – this results in a less efficient shielding on the pellet’s HFS region, where the subsequently enhanced ablation pushes the pellet towards LFS, like a rocket. In order to study this effect, a simple and a comprehensive ablation model was developed. Results from both models show quantitatively acceptable agreement with ASDEX-Upgrade experiments concerning trajectory curvature, corresponding to radial acceleration in the range of 104–107 m/s2.