Remote Control for the HT-7 Distributed Data Acquisition System

HT-7 is the first superconducting tokamak device for fusion research in China. Many experiments have been done in the machine since 1994, and lots of satisfactory results have been achieved in the fusion research field on HT-7 tokamak^[1]. With the development of fusion research, remote control of experiment becomes more and more important to improve experimental efficiency and expand research results. This paper will describe a RCS (Remote Control System),the combined model of Browser/Server and Client/Server, based on Internet of HT-7 distributed data acquisition system (HT7DAS). By means of RCS, authorized users all over the world can control and configure HT7DAS remotely. The RCS is designed to improve the flexibility, opening, reliability and efficiency of HT7DAS. In the paper, the whole process of design along with implementation of the system and some key items are discussed in detail. The System has been successfully operated during HT-7 experiment in 2002 campaign period.     

Development of the simulation platform between EAST plasma control system and the tokamak simulation code based on Simulink

Plasma control system (PCS),mainly developed for real-time feedback control calculation,plays a significant part during normal discharges in a magnetic fusion device,while the tokamak simulation code (TSC) is a nonlinear numerical model that studies the time evolution of an axisymmetric magnetized tokamak plasma.The motivation to combine these two codes for an integrated simulation is specified by the facts that the control system module in TSC is relatively simple compared to PCS,and meanwhile,newly-implemented control algorithms in PCS,before applied to experimental validations,require numerical validations against a tokamak plasma simulator that TSC can act as.In this paper,details of establishment of the integrated simulation framework between the EAST PCS and TSC are generically presented,and the poloidal power supply model and data acquisition model that have been implemented in this framework are described as well.In addition,the correctness of data interactions among the EAST PCS,Simulink and TSC is clearly confirmed during an interface test,and in a simulation test,the RZIP control scheme in the EAST PCS is numerically validated using this simulation platform.     

EAST Cryogenic Supervisory and Control System Based on Delta-V DCS

The control system for the Experimental Advanced Superconductive Tokamak （EAST） cryogenic system is designed and constructed based on Delta-V DCS （Distribution Control System）, which consists of engineering workstations, operator workstations, application workstations, redundant controller units, input/output （I/O） cards and a redundant control network. Our task is to design a supervisory and control system to provide the operator interface for control and monitoring, sending alarms, archiving of selected signals, and other routines to analyze realtime and historic data. The hardware configuration, software structure and control algorithms are illustrated in detail in this paper. Hvpothetic oroblems and further research are also mentioned.     

基于CSS的NBI射频离子源控制程序设计

离子源是中性束注入器(Neutral Beam Injector,NBI)的关键子系统之一,根据射频离子源的实验和运行需求,本文设计了一套基于物理实验与工业控制系统(Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System,EPICS)架构的控制程序,实现对射频离子源实验和调试过程的远程监控功能。NBI射频离子源控制程序通过集成开发平台(Control System Studio,CSS)的交互界面开发模块(Best OPI Yet,BOY)实现友好的人机交互界面,使用Jython实现界面逻辑,支持服务器/客户端和EPICS两种通信架构。程序已经上线近半年,实验表明,射频离子源控制程序具备了放电模式设置、时序幅值设置、设备状态实时监控、采集数据实时波形显示等功能,满足了射频离子源实验的远程控制和数据可视化的需求。     

Structural design of cryogenic component support for EAST （HT-7U）

EAST is a full superconducting tokamak with an elongated plasma cross-section. It consists of superconducting poloidal field (PF) magnet system, toroidal field (TF) magnet system, vacuum vessel with inner parts, thermal shields and cryostat vessel. The mission of the project is to widely investigate both physics and technologies of advanced tokamak operations, especially the mechanism of power and particle handling for steady-state operations. The cryogenic component is mainly composed of superconducting TF and superconducting PF coils that ensure the ability of sustaining magnetic field for plasma confinement, control and shaping in steady-state. This report describes the process of the structure design of cryogenic component support for EAST.     

Development of a Data Acquisition Control System for the First NBI on EAST

Neutral beam injection （NBI） heating is one of the most efficient auxiliary plasma heating methods for fusion devices. The data acquisition control system （DACS） with PXI （pe- ripheral component interconnect extensions for instrumentation） data acquisition card for the first NBI system in the experimental advanced superconducting tokamak （EAST） is presented in this paper. As an important sub-system, DACS is designed to obtain physical measurement signals in the EAST NBI system and to deal and store these data with the Lempel-Ziv-Oberhumer （LZO） lossless data compression algorithm, as well as offer convenient data call-back and access inter- faces to the user for examining and analyzing the data. Experimental results show that accurate data will ensure that researchers correctly analyze it and then properly adjust the experimental parameters or operation, so DACS should take a large step in improving experimental efficiency. Tile hardware and software sections are briefly presented in this paper, and now this system has been tested to be able to work reliably and steadily.     

The web-based user interface for EAST plasma control system

The plasma control system (PCS) plays a vital role at EAST for fusion science experiments. Its software application consists of two main parts: an IDL graphical user interface for setting a large number of plasma parameters to specify each discharge, several programs for performing the real-time feedback control and managing the whole control system. The PCS user interface can be used from any X11 Windows client with privileged access to the PCS computer system. However, remote access to the PCS system via the IDL user interface becomes an extreme inconvenience due to the high network latency to draw or operate the interfaces. In order to realize lower latency for remote access to the PCS system, a web-based system has been developed for EAST recently. The setup data are retrieved from the PCS system and client-side JavaScript draws the interfaces into the user's browser. The user settings are also sent back to the PCS system for controlling discharges. These technologies allow the web-based user interface to be viewed by authorized users with a web browser and have it communicate with PCS server processes directly. It works together with the IDL interface and provides a new way to aid remote participation.     

Real-time virtual EAST physical experiment system

As a large fusion reaction device, experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST)’s internal structure is complicated and not easily accessible. Moreover, various diagnostic systems and complicated configuration bring about the inconveniency to the scientists who are unfamiliar with the system but interested in the data. We propose a virtual system to display the 3D model of EAST facility and enable people to view its inner structure and get access to the information of its components in various view sights. We would also provide most of the diagnostic configuration details together with their signal names and physical properties. Compared to the previous ways of viewing information by reference to collected drawings and videos, virtual EAST system is more interactive and immersive. We constructed the browser-oriented virtual EAST physical experiment system, integrated real-time experiment data acquisition, plasma shape visualization and experiment result simulation in order to reproduce physical experiments in a web browser. This system used B/S (Browser/Server) structure in combination with the technology of virtual reality – VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) and Java 3D. In order to avoid the bandwidth limit across internet, we balanced the rendering speed and the precision of the virtual model components. Any registered user can view the experimental information visually and efficiently by logining the system through a web browser. The establishment of the system provides the framework basis for a comprehensive virtual EAST cooperative physical experimental environment.     

Establishment and Assessment of Plasma Disruption and Warning Databases from EAST

Disruption database and disruption warning database of the EAST tokamak had been established by a disruption research group. The disruption database, based on Structured Query Language(SQL), comprises 41 disruption parameters, which include current quench characteristics, EFIT equilibrium characteristics, kinetic parameters, halo currents,and vertical motion. Presently most disruption databases are based on plasma experiments of non-superconducting tokamak devices. The purposes of the EAST database are to find disruption characteristics and disruption statistics to the fully superconducting tokamak EAST,to elucidate the physics underlying tokamak disruptions, to explore the influence of disruption on superconducting magnets and to extrapolate toward future burning plasma devices. In order to quantitatively assess the usefulness of various plasma parameters for predicting disruptions,a similar SQL database to Alcator C-Mod for EAST has been created by compiling values for a number of proposed disruption-relevant parameters sampled from all plasma discharges in the2015 campaign. The detailed statistic results and analysis of two databases on the EAST tokamak are presented.     

A web based MDSplus data analysis and visualization system for EAST

In an EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) experiment, the convenient data analysis and visualization tools are very important for physicists and engineering experts to view the operational status of the device. Along with the increasing data sampling rate and pulse length, it will be increasingly challenging for the end user to view the data conveniently under limited Internet bandwidth. We propose a software based on jScope [1] called WebScope for data visualization. By applying java applet techniques, this software can be accessed directly over the Internet via a variety of web browsers without installing client software. Using this data viewer the frequency will be effectively adjusted according to the computer displaying resolution, which saves the total amount of data to be transferred across the Internet and enables the user to view the data quickly. When the signals are zoomed or unzoomed, the data frequency will be re-adjusted to the displaying resolution. With WebScope, data of various experiments in different servers can be viewed in either a single panel or multiple frames, which makes it easier for cross comparison among different data sources. The system was successfully applied to EAST experiment and achieved excellent performance. Its design, function and implementation details will be introduced in this paper.     

A simulation environment for ITER PCS development

A simulation environment known as the Plasma Control System Simulation Platform (PCSSP), specifically designed to support development of the ITER Plasma Control System (PCS), is currently under construction by an international team encompassing a cross-section of expertise in simulation and exception handling for plasma control. The proposed design addresses the challenging requirements of supporting the PCS design. This paper provides an overview of the PCSSP project and a discussion of some of the major features of its design. Plasma control for the ITER tokamak will be significantly more challenging than for existing fusion devices. An order of magnitude greater performance (e.g. [1], [2]) is needed for some types of control, which together with limited actuator authority, implies that optimized individual controllers and nonlinear saturation logic are required. At the same time, consequences of control failure are significantly more severe, which implies a conflicting requirement for robust control. It also implies a requirement for comprehensive and robust exception handling. Coordinated control of multiple competing objectives with significant interactions, together with many shared uses of actuators to control multiple variables, implies that highly integrated control logic and shared actuator management will be required. It remains a challenge for the integrated technologies to simultaneously address these multiple and often competing requirements to be demonstrated on existing fusion devices and adapted for ITER in time to support its operational schedule. We describe ways in which the PCSSP will help address these challenges to support design of both the ITER PCS itself and the algorithms that will be implemented therein, and at the same time greatly reduce the cost of that development. We summarize the current status of the PCSSP design task, including system requirements and preliminary design documents already delivered as well as features of the ongoing detailed architectural design. The methods being incorporated in the detailed design are based on prior experience with control simulation environments in fusion and on standard practices prevalent in development of control-intensive industrial product designs.     

EAST PFCs气流烘烤设计及流体与传热计算

根据聚变反应对真空度的要求,在EAST超导托卡马克装置中采用气流烘烤技术来实现对PFCs的真空烘烤.对PFCs烘烤进行了原理设计,对介质气体的参数进行了选择,分析并计算了烘烤时PFCs内部气体流动和传热状况,最后给出了模拟结果.     

Assessment of Radiation Damage to the Structural Material of EAST Tokamak

Radiation damage to structural material of fusion facilities is of high concern for safety. The superconducting tokamak EAST will conduct D-D plasma experiments with the neutron production of 1015 neutrons per second. To evaluate the material radiation damage a programme system has been devised with the Monte Carlo transport code MCNP-4C, the inventory code FISPACT99, a specific interface, and the fusion evaluated nuclear data library FENDL-2. The key nuclear responses, i.e. fast neutron flux, displacement per atom, and the helium and hydrogen production, are calculated for the structural material SS-316L of the first wall, and the vacuum vessel, using this programme. The results demonstrate that the radiation damage to the structural material is so little that it will not lead to any significant change of material properties according to the reference design. This indicates that there is a large potential space for EAST to test advanced operation regime from the viewpoint of structural material safety.     

Thermo-mechanical analysis of RMP coil system for EAST tokamak

Resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) has been proved to be an efficient approach on edge localized modes (ELMs) control, resistive wall mode (RWM) control, and error field correction (EFC), RMP coil system under design in EAST tokamak will realize the above-mentioned multi-functions. This paper focuses on the thermo-mechanical analysis of EAST RMP coil system on the basis of sensitivity analysis, both normal and off-normal working conditions are considered. The most characteristic set of coil system is chosen with a complete modelling by means of three-dimensional (3D) finite element method, thermo-hydraulic and thermal-structural performances are investigated adequately, both locally and globally. The compromise is made between thermal performance and structural design requirements, and the results indicate that the optimized design is feasible and reasonable.     

Design and application of an EPICS compatible slow plant system controller in J-TEXT tokamak

J-TEXT tokamak has recently implemented J-TEXT COntrol, Data Access and Communication (CODAC) system on the principle of ITER CODAC. The control network in J-TEXT CODAC system is based on Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). However, former slow plant system controllers in J-TEXT did not support EPICS. Therefore, J-TEXT has designed an EPICS compatible slow controller. And moreover, the slow controller also acts the role of Plant System Host (PSH), which helps non-EPICS controllers to keep working in J-TEXT CODAC system. The basic functionalities dealing with user defined tasks have been modularized into driver or plug-in modules, which are plug-and-play and configured with XML files according to specific control task. In this case, developers are able to implement various kinds of control tasks with these reusable modules, regardless of how the lower-lever functions are implemented, and mainly focusing on control algorithm. And it is possible to develop custom-built modules by themselves. This paper presents design of the slow controller. Some applications of the slow controller have been deployed in J-TEXT, and will be introduced in this paper.     

Design and development of a device management platform for EAST cryogenic system

EAST cryogenic system is one of the critical sub-systems of the EAST tokamak device. It is a large scale helium cryoplant, which adopts distributed control system to realize monitoring and control of the cryogenic process and devices. However, the maintenance and management of most field devices are still in the corrective maintenance or traditional preventive maintenance stage. Under maintained or over maintained problems widely exist, which could cause devices fault and increase operation costs. Therefore, a device management platform is proposed for a safe and steady operation as well as fault diagnosis and predictive maintenance of EAST cryogenic system.This paper presents the function design and architecture design of the cryogenic device management platform. This platform is developed based on DeltaV DCS and acquires monitoring data through OPC protocol. It consists of three pillars, namely device information management, device condition management, and device performance monitoring. The development and implementation of every pillar are illustrated in detail in this paper. Test results and discussions are presented in the end.     

Design of Main Control Console Software in EAST Neutral Beam Injector’s Control System for the First Beam Line

Neutral beam injector is one of the main plasma heating and plasma current driving methods for experimental advanced superconducting tokomaks (EAST). In order to realize visual operation of EAST neutral beam injector’s control system (NBICS), main control console (MCC) is developed to work as the human–machine interface between the NBICS and physical operator. It can meet the requirements of visual control of NBICS by providing a user graphic interface. With the specific algorithms, the setup of power supply sequence is relatively independent and simple. Displaying the real-time feedback of the subsystems provides a reference for operators to monitor the status of the system. The MCC software runs on a Windows system and uses C++ language code while using client/server (C/S) mode, multithreading and cyclic redundancy check technology. The experimental results have proved that MCC provides a stability and reliability operation of NBICS and works as an effective man–machine interface at the same time.     

The J-TEXT CODAC system design and implementation

Inspired by the ITER COntrol, Data Access and Communication (CODAC) and ITER instrumentation and control system, J-TEXT tokamak has upgraded its control system with J-TEXT CODAC system. The J-TEXT CODAC system is based on Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). The J-TEXT CODAC system covers everything in the J-TEXT control system including both central and plant control systems, similar to the ITER I&C system. J-TEXT CODAC system is built around a single central control system called Central CODAC system. All the control functions including conventional control, interlock, safety and other common services are supervised by CCS. The J-TEXT CODAC system has been implemented and tested on J-TEXT. It not only tests some of the ideas in ITER CODAC in real life, but also explores the feasibility of new approaches that is unique in J-TEXT CODAC system.     

Towards the conceptual design of the ITER real-time plasma control system

ITER will be the world's largest magnetic confinement tokamak fusion device and is currently under construction in southern France. The ITER Plasma Control System (PCS) is a fundamental component of the ITER Control, Data Access and Communication system (CODAC). It will control the evolution of all plasma parameters that are necessary to operate ITER throughout all phases of the discharge. The design and implementation of the PCS poses a number of unique challenges. The timescales of phenomena to be controlled spans three orders of magnitude, ranging from a few milliseconds to seconds. Novel control schemes, which have not been implemented at present-day machines need to be developed, and control schemes that are only done as demonstration experiments today will have to become routine. In addition, advances in computing technology and available physics models make the implementation of real-time or faster-than-real-time predictive calculations to forecast and subsequently to avoid disruptions or undesired plasma regimes feasible. This requires the PCS design to be adaptable in real-time to the results of these forecasting algorithms. A further novel feature is a sophisticated event handling system, which provides a means to deal with plasma related events (such as MHD instabilities or L-H transitions) or component failure. Finally, the schedule for design and implementation poses another challenge. The beginning of ITER operation will be in late 2020, but the conceptual design activity of the PCS has already commenced as required by the on-going development of diagnostics and actuators in the domestic agencies and the need for integration and testing. This activity is presently underway as a collaboration of international experts and the results will be published as a subsequent publication. In this paper, an overview about the main areas of intervention of the plasma control system will be given as well as a summary of the interfaces and the integration into ITER CODAC (networks, other applications, etc.). The limited amount of commissioning time foreseen for plasma control will make extensive testing and validation necessary. This should be done in an environment that is as close to the PCS version running the machine as possible. Furthermore, the integration with an Integrated Modeling Framework will lead to a versatile tool that can also be employed for pulse validation, control system development and testing as well as the development and validation of physics models. An overview of the requirements and possible structure of such an environment will also be presented.