Preliminary Result of Neoclassical Impurity Transport Affected by ICRH with a 4-D Fokker-Planck Code

¹ Hanyang University, Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea
² Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ 08543, United States of America
³ Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Department of Nuclear Engineering, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea

^* Corresponding author: jungpyo@hanyang.ac.kr

Published online: 7 January 2026

Abstract

To understand the role of ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) in mitigating tungsten accumulation, we evaluate the impact of ICRH-induced poloidal asymmetries on neoclassical impurity transport using a newly developed 4-D Fokker–Planck code (FP4D). Unlike conventional approaches that separate RF heating and transport modelling, FP4D solves both fast-ion distribution formation and impurity transport self-consistently without bounce-averaging. Benchmarking against the NEO code confirms the accuracy of the neoclassical physics in FP4D. Using FP4D, we analyze anisotropic and non-Maxwellian minority distributions under ICRH and their effects on the equilibrium potential and tungsten transport. Results show that anisotropy induced poloidal potential variations can reduce inward tungsten flux, depending on the modelling approach. Our findings highlight the importance of resolving the full velocity and poloidal structure of minority species in predicting impurity transport under strong RF heating conditions.