Convective transport in the scrape-off-layer by nonthermalized spinning blobs

Abstract

In this paper, two-dimensional blob models of convective transport in the scrape-off-layer (SOL) are generalized to include the internal temperature profile of the blob. This generalization provides a mechanism for blob internal spin and enables consideration of SOL energy transport. Solutions with aligned density and temperature contours satisfy the resulting “hot blob” equations and are considered here. It is shown that spin increases blob coherence, prevents the formation of extended radial streamers or fingers, reduces the radial convection velocity due to mixing and mitigation of the curvature-induced charge polarization, and provides a new mechanism for poloidal motion of the blob. Additionally, spinning blobs are shown to survive as coherent objects in the presence of weak externally sheared flows, and have blob speeds that depend on the sign of the spin relative to the external sheared flow. The work provides strong motivation for investigating the physics of parallel disconnected blobs, and the relationship of spin and disconnection physics to edge localized mode propagation and the density limit.