Impact of the plasma-wall contact position on edge turbulent transport and poloidal asymmetries in 3D global turbulence simulations

A 3D global turbulence fluid code, TOKAM3X is used to investigate the effect of the limiter position on the edge plasma parallel flows and density profiles. Six configurations with different poloidal contact points in the machine are considered. For each one, asymmetric quasi-sonic parallel flows are found, owing to the ballooning of radial turbulent transport around the LFS mid-plane. In spite of the relative simplicity of the model used (isothermal, sheat-limited, no recycling), simulations exhibit trends in-line with experimental findings. Reversal of the flows is found when the limiter is moved from −30° under to 30° above the outboard mid-plane. The SOL width varies with the poloidal location and depends notably on the poloidal position of the limiter. Turbulence itself is shown to be impacted by the position of the limiter, radial transport appearing less ballooned with a LFS limiter than with a HFS.