International Stellarator/Heliotron Database progress on high-beta confinement and operational boundaries

The International Stellarator/Heliotron Confinement Database was extended by high-β data compiled from the Large Helical System (LHD) and the W7-AS Stellarator. The main purpose is to enhance the basis for extrapolation of the global confinement properties to the reactor regime. The high-β configurations and experimental achievements in both devices are briefly described. The impact of beta on the configuration parameters and the global confinement is discussed. In particular, the confinement data in the high-β regime are compared with the ISS95 and ISS04 scaling laws which were derived from a database including relatively few high-β cases. In addition, a Bayesian model comparison approach is used to test scaling predictions derived from basic confinement models. Unlike in tokamaks, the operational boundaries in stellarators and helical systems are determined by the available heating power and confinement properties rather than by disruptive stability or density limits. The role of a pressure induced equilibrium limit is discussed in particular. An attempt is made to compare the high-β data with tokamak confinement and with operational boundaries observed in tokamaks. Further extensions of the database by parameters characterizing stability and local transport properties are proposed.

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