LNF: Evaluation of the impact of fast particles on refuelling with cryogenic pellets in stellarator reactors (PaRaPel)

LNF - Nationally funded project

Title: Evaluation of the impact of fast particles on refuelling with cryogenic pellets in stellarator reactors (PaRaPel)

Reference: PID2024-162966OA-I00

Programme and date: Proyectos de Generación de Conocimiento 2024

Programme type (Modalidad de proyecto): Proyectos Generación de Conocimiento - Investigación orientada

Area/subarea (Área temática / subárea): Clima, Energía y Movilidad / Energía

Principal Investigator(s): Nerea Panadero [1] Belén López-Miranda [2]

Project type: Proyecto individual

Start-end dates: 01/09/2025 - 31/08/2029

Financing granted (direct costs): 218 750 €

Acknowledgement: Grant PID2024-162966OA-I00 funded by MICIU/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF/EU”.

Description of the project

The PaRaPel project should be framed as a contributor to the solution of energy and climate problems. First, fusion has the potential to be a clean and sustainable energy source. Unlike fossil fuels, which release greenhouse gases, fusion reactor will produce no emissions. This could contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change. Second, it could be a reliable, abundant, and steady source of energy. This could make it a more robust energy source for population growing needs. Third, fusion power could help alleviating our dependence on foreign oil. Currently, we import about a large percentage of the used oil, making us vulnerable to price shocks and political instability. Fusion energy could contribute to reducing our dependence on foreign oil, making us more energy self-sufficient. Finally, fusion power could create new jobs and industries. The development of a fusion industry would create millions of new jobs and generate billions of euros in economic activity. There are, however, many challenges that need to be overcome before fusion power can become a reality. Indeed, MCF is a promising technology that could provide a clean and sustainable source of energy. Stellarators are one type of magnetic confinement device that has several advantages over tokamaks, such as intrinsic stability and operation in continuous mode. One of the key challenges is plasma fuelling. Understanding all the mechanisms that affect fuelling efficiency will enable the design of optimized fuelling schemes that result in peak density profiles, allowing stellarators to improve their performance and thus contribute to solving climate and energy-related problems. In particular, we expect to answer the following questions:

- How can fast particles affect the pellet ablation and the particle deposition in stellarators?

- How can fast ion losses affect the pellet fuelling and vice versa in stellarators?

- How can these results be extrapolated to reactor scenarios in order to improve the fuelling?

Characterizing and understanding the interaction of pellets and energetic particles could provide valuable insights into a critical area, helping to improve the design and operation of future fusion reactors. If we successfully meet this quest, it could contribute to lead to a new era of clean and abundant energy that could solve many of the world's most pressing problems.

Main results

Enter text here (summary of main project results from the final report)

Dissemination of project results (peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations)

P. Aguayo, G. Farias, A. González-Ganzábal, E. Fabregas, T. Estrada, B.van Milligen, A. Baciero, B. López-Miranda, F. Medina y G.A. Rattá-Gutiérrez, A data-driven approach to estimate plasma density in TJ-II stellarator. Fusion Engineering and Design 224 (2026) 115596.

A. González-Ganzábal, G.A. Rattá, T. Estrada, J. Martínez-Fernández, N. Panadero, Á. Cappa, B. López-Miranda,, A. Baciero, F. Martín, D. Tafalla, B.P. Van Milligen, F. Medina, Á. de la Peña, S. Dormido-Canto b , the TJ-II team. A comprehensive database of TJ-II signals and diagnostics for statistically based models. Fusion Engineering and Design 224 (2026) 115613

B. López-Miranda, D. Amador, J. Vega, S. Dormido-Canto, J. M. García-Regaña, J. de la Riva, A. Baciero, K. J. McCarthy, I. Pastor, and the TJ-II team. Estimation of ion temperature using an upgraded multichannel Doppler spectroscopic system in NBI-heated plasmas. Submitted manuscript (2026)

References

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