Confinement studies of auxiliary heated NSTX plasmas

The confinement of auxiliary heated national spherical torus experiment discharges is discussed. From a database analysis, it is found that the energy confinement time in NBI heated plasmas with either L- or H-modes edge is up to 2.5 times the values predicted by theITER97L scaling. A high power NBI heated H-mode discharge is discussed in detail. TRANSP calculations based on the kinetic profile measurements reproduce well the magnetically determined stored energy, but overestimate the measured neutron rate by 30%. Power balance calculations reveal that the ion thermal transport is above or near neoclassical levels, and significantly below the electron thermal transport, which constitutes the main power loss channel. Perturbative impurity injection techniques indicate the particle diffusivity is slightly above the neoclassical level in discharges with L-mode edge. High-harmonic fast-wave (HHFW) bulk electron heating is described and thermal transport is discussed. Thermal ion transport is found to be above the neoclassical level, and thermal electron transport remains the main loss mechanism. Evidence of an electron thermal internal transport barrier obtained with HHFW heating is presented. A description of H-mode discharges obtained during HHFW heating is made.