Progress in control and data acquisition for the ITER neutral beam test facility

SPIDER, the ion source test bed in the ITER neutral beam test facility, is under construction and its operation is expected to start in 2014. Control and data acquisition for SPIDER are undergoing final design. SPIDER CODAS, as the control and data acquisition system is referred to, is requested to manage 25 plant units, to acquire 1000 analogue signals with sampling rates ranging from a few S/s to 10 MS/s, to acquire images with up to 100 frames per second, to operate with long pulses lasting up to 1 h, and to sustain 200 MB/s data throughput into the data archive with an annual data storage amount of up to 50 TB. SPIDER CODAS software architecture integrates three open-source software frameworks each addressing specific system requirements. Slow control exploits the synergy among EPICS and Siemens S7 programmable controllers. Data handling is by MDSplus a data-centric framework that is geared towards the collection and organization of scientific data. Diagnostics based on imaging drive the design of data throughput and archive size. Fast control is implemented by using MARTe, a data-driven, object-oriented, real-time environment. The paper will describe in detail the progress of the system hardware and software architecture and will show how the software frameworks interact to provide the functions requested by SPIDER CODAS. The paper will focus on how the performance requirements can be met with the described SPIDER CODAS architecture, describing the progress achieved by carrying out prototyping activities.     

Application of HDF5 in long-pulse quasi-steady state data acquisition at high sampling rate

A new high sampling rate quasi-steady state data-acquisition system has been designed for the microwave reflectometry diagnostic of EAST experiments. In order to meet the requirements of long-pulse discharge and high sampling rate, it is designed based on PXI Express technology. A high-performance digitizer National Instruments PXIe-5122 with two synchronous analog input channels in which the maximum sampling rate is 100 MHz has been adopted. Two PXIe-5122 boards at 60 MSPS and one PXIe-6368 board at 2 MSPS are used in the system and the total throughput is about 500 MB/s. To guarantee the large amounts of data being saved continuously in the long-pulse discharge, an external hard-disk data stream enclosure NI HDD-8265 in which the capacity of sustained speed of reading and writing is 700 MB/s. And in RAID-5 mode its storage capacity is 80% of the total.The obtained raw data firstly stream continuously into NI HDD-8265 during the discharge. Then it will be transferred to the data server automatically and converted into HDF5 file format. HDF5 is an open source file format for data storage and management which has been widely used in various fields, and suitable for long term case. The details of the system are described in the paper.     

Upgraded data service system for HT-7 Tokamak

A data service system plays an indispensable role in HT-7 Tokamak experiment. Since the former system doesn＇t provide the function of timely data procession and analysis, and all client software are based on Windows, it can＇t fulfill virtual fusion laboratory for remote researchers. Therefore, a new system which is simplified by three kinds of data servers and one data analysis and visualization software tool has been developed. The data servers include a data acquisition server based on file system, an MDSplus server used as the central repository for analysis data, and a web server. Users who prefer the convenience of application that can be run in a Web Browser can easily access the experiment data without knowing X-Windows. In order to adjust instruments to control experiment the operators need to plot data duly as soon as they are gathered. To satisfy their requirement, an upgraded data analysis and visualization software GT-7 is developed. It not only makes 2D data visualization more efficient, but also it can be capable of processing, analyzing and displaying interactive 2D and 3D graph of raw. analyzed data by the format of ASCII, LZO and MDSplus.     

A web application for poloidal field analysis on HL-2M

Recently, many web tools [1], [2], [3] in fusion society have been designed and demonstrated, which has been proved to be powerful and convenient to fusion researchers. Many physicists and engineers need a tool to compute the poloidal magnetic field for some purposes (for example, the calibration of magnetic probes for EFIT, the field null structure analysis for control, the design of some plasma diagnostic systems), so to develop a powerful and convenient web application for the calculation of magnetic field and magnetic flux produced by PF coils is very important. In this paper, a web application tool for poloidal field analysis on HL-2M with a totally original framework is presented. This web application is full of dynamic and interactive interface, and can run in any popular browser (IE, safari, firefox, opera), on any hardware (smart phone, PC, ipad, Mac) and operating system (ios, android, windows, linux, Mac OS). No any plugins is needed. The three layers (jQuery + PHP + Matlab) of this framework are introduced. The front top client layer is developed by jQuery code. The middle layer, which plays a role of a bridge to connect the server and client through socket communication, is developed by PHP code. The behind server layer is developed by Matlab, which compute the magnetic field or magnetic flux through a Special Function called Complete Elliptic Integral, and returns the results in the client favorite way, either by table or by JPG image. The field null structure and the vertical and radial field structure calculated by this tool are introduced with details. The idea to design a web tool with jQuery + PHP + Matlab framework may apply to other machines. The address for this application is http://dp.swip.ac.cn/hl2m.     

A new long-pulse data system for EAST experiments

A long pulse discharge requires high throughput data acquisition. As more physics diagnostics with high sampling rate are applied and the pulse length becomes longer, the original EAST (Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) data system no longer satisfies the requirements of real-time data storage and quick data access. A new system was established to integrate various data acquisition hardware and software for easy expansion and management of the system. Slice storage mechanism in MDSplus is now being used for the continuous and quasi real-time data storage. For every data acquisition thread and process, sufficient network bandwidth is ensured. Moreover, temporal digitized data is cached in computer memory in doubly linked circular lists to avoid the possible data loss by the occasional temporal storage or transfer jam. These data are in turn archived in MDSplus format by using slice storage mechanism called “segments”. For the quick access of the archived data to the users, multiple data servers are used. These data servers are linked using LVS (Linux Virtual server) load balance technology to provide a safe, highly scalable and available data service.     

Upgrade of the RFX-mod real time control system

The real-time control system of RFX-mod, in operation since 2005, has been successful and has allowed several important achievements in the RFX physics research program. As a consequence of this fact, new control algorithms are under investigation, which are more demanding in terms of both enhanced computing power and reduced system latency, currently around 1.5 ms. For this reason, a major upgrade of the system is being considered, and a new architecture has been proposed, taking advantage of the rapid evolution of computer technology in the last years. The central component of the new architecture is a Linux-based multicore server, where individual cores replace the VME computers. The server is connected to the I/O via PCI-e based bus extenders, and every PCI-e connection is managed by a separate core. The system is supervised by MARTe, a software framework for real-time applications written in C++ and developed at JET and currently used for the JET vertical stabilization and in other fusion devices.     

Erratum to “Thomson scattering upgrade on Tore Supra” [Fusion Eng. Des. 85 (2010) 335–339]

The Thomson scattering diagnostic supplies the electron temperature and density of Tore Supra plasmas from the spectrum analysis of scattered light of a very short laser pulse. A new spectrometer has been realized to improve the signal to noise ratio. In order to obtain an efficient noise reduction, a real time calculation is necessary. The current analogue integration of the signal is inadequate. A fast digitalization must be used with a sampling rate of 1 GSamples by second, a bandwidth of 150 MHz and a 12 bit dynamic range. In a first step, fast analogue data acquisition boards for 4 channels were added in 2009 to the VME acquisition system in place. A MATACQ (Matrix for acquisition) board was chosen for sampling analogue data up to 2 GSamples/s over 4 channels with a large bandwidth of 300 MHz and a 14 bit dynamic range. This solution offers a low cost acquisition system that is not available in any other commercial board with this dynamic range. The first results will be obtained on calibration period with a light emitted diode before the summer 2009. This article will present the new data acquisition system and the coming first results.     

MDSplus automated build and distribution system

Support of the MDSplus data handling system has been enhanced by the addition of an automated build system which does nightly builds of MDSplus for many computer platforms producing software packages which can now be downloaded using a web browser or via package repositories suitable for automatic updating. The build system was implemented using an extensible continuous integration server product called Hudson which schedules software builds on a collection of VMware based virtual machines. New releases are created based on updates via the MDSplus cvs code repository and versioning are managed using cvs tags and branches. Currently stable, beta and alpha releases of MDSplus are maintained for eleven different platforms including Windows, MacOSX, RedHat Enterprise Linux, Fedora, Ubuntu and Solaris. For some of these platforms, MDSplus packaging has been broken into functional modules so users can pick and choose which MDSplus features they want to install. An added feature to the latest Linux based platforms is the use of package dependencies. When installing MDSplus from the package repositories, any additional required packages used by MDSplus will be installed automatically greatly simplifying the installation of MDSplus. This paper will describe the MDSplus package automated build and distribution system.     

Cluster storage for COMPASS tokamak

The COMPASS tokamak is expected to produce several gigabytes of data per shot in near future. A new storage system is needed to accommodate and access all the data. It should be scalable, fault-tolerant, and parallel. It should not be based on proprietary solutions to maintain independence from hardware and software manufacturers and preferably it should be built on inexpensive commodity hardware. One of the promising distributed parallel fault-tolerant file systems, GlusterFS, was selected for testing. The aim of the work was to make initial tests of a particular small GlusterFS setup to confirm its aptitude for the COMPASS storage system. Aggregated reading throughput from multiple NFS clients was one of the most important figures that were benchmarked, it scaled well with the number of clients, starting just above 60 MiB/s¹ for 1 client and going slightly over 300 MiB/s for 6 clients.     

Architecture of SPIDER control and data acquisition system

The ITER Heating Neutral Beam injectors will be implemented in three steps: development of the ion source prototype, development of the full injector prototype, and, finally, construction of up to three ITER injectors. The first two steps will be carried out in the ITER neutral beam test facility under construction in Italy. The ion source prototype, referred to as SPIDER, which is currently in the development phase, is a complex experiment involving more than 20 plant units and operating with beam-on pulses lasting up to 1 h. As for control and data acquisition it requires fast and slow control (cycle time around 0.1 ms and 10 ms, respectively), synchronization (10 ns resolution), and data acquisition for about 1000 channels (analogue and images) with sampling frequencies up to tens of MS/s, data throughput up to 200 MB/s, and data storage volume of up to tens of TB/year. The paper describes the architecture of the SPIDER control and data acquisition system, discussing the SPIDER requirements and the ITER CODAC interfaces and specifications for plant system instrumentation and control.     

Designing and manufacturing of the coil support structure of W7-X

Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) is a fully optimized low-shear stellarator and shall demonstrate the reactor potential of this fusion plant. It is presently under construction at the Greifswald Branch Institute of IPP. The superconducting magnet system will allow continuous operation, limited only by the plasma exhaust system whose capacity is designed for 30 min full power operation. The Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) coils and structures are part of the largest superconducting fusion device being constructed at present. They represent a technical challenge at industrial level and the need for proven techniques and manufacturing processes in accordance to the highest quality standards. The production of these components requires a management of monitoring for quality and tests. The coil system consists of 20 planar and 50 non-planar coils. They are supported by a pentagonal 10 m diameter, 2.5 m high coil support structure (CSS). The CSS is divided into five modules. Each module consists of two equal half modules. The manufacturing status of the CSS and the main project management and technical challenges will be presented. The lessons learned in the large scale production of this difficult kind of support structure will be presented as relevant experience for the realization of similar systems for future fusion devices, such as ITER.     

A new facility for investigation on neutron irradiation effect on superconducting properties of Nb3Sn strand for fusion magnet

To perform post irradiation tests of superconducting strands, a 15.5 T superconducting magnet and a variable temperature insert (VTI) were installed at a radiation control area in Oarai center, Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University. Both of the 15.5 T magnet and the VTI are conductively cooled with GM refrigeration. The commissioning test of the system is still ongoing because unexpected troubles occurred during the commissioning. Also, a SQUID system with the maximum field of 7 T has been installed at another radiation control area to investigate the magnetic property of uranium and its isotopes. These devices are very useful to study the electro-magnetic properties of the neutron irradiated superconducting strands. This paper will introduce the new superconducting test facility, and some data recently obtained will be presented together with the data of magnetization evaluated with the SQUID, and the discussion on the irradiation effect on superconducting properties will be performed.     

Gyrotron and power supply development for upgrading the electron cyclotron heating system on DIII-D

An upgrade of the electron cyclotron heating system on DIII-D to almost 15 MW is being planned which will expand it from a system with six 1 MW 110 GHz gyrotrons to one with ten gyrotrons. A depressed collector 1.2 MW 110 GHz gyrotron is being commissioned as the seventh gyrotron. A new 117.5 GHz 1.5 MW depressed collector gyrotron has been designed, and the first article will be the eighth gyrotron. Two more are planned, increasing the system to ten total gyrotrons, and the existing 1 MW gyrotrons will subsequently be replaced with 1.5 MW gyrotrons.Communications and Power Industries completed the design of the 117.5 GHz gyrotron, and are now fabricating the first article. The design was optimized for a nominal 1.5 MW at a beam voltage of 105 kV, collector potential depression of 30 kV, and beam current of 50 A, but can achieve 1.8 MW at 60 A. The design of the collector permits modulation above 100 Hz by either the body or the cathode power supply, or both, while modulation below 100 Hz must use only the cathode power supply.General Atomics is developing solid-state power supplies for this upgrade: a solid-state modulator for the cathode power supply and a linear high voltage amplifier for the body power supply. The solid-state modulator has series-connected insulated-gate bipolar transistors that are switched at a fixed frequency by a pulse-width modulation regulator to control the output voltage. The design of the linear high voltage amplifier has series-connected transistors to control the output voltage, which was successfully demonstrated in a proof-of-principle test at 2 kV. The designs of complete power supplies are progressing.The design features of the 117.5 GHz 1.5 MW gyrotron and the solid-state cathode and body power supplies will be described and the current status and plans are presented.     

Radioactive waste assessment for the IFMIF/EVEDA facility

During the IFMIF/EVEDA phase, a 125 mA and 9 MeV deuterons prototype accelerator will be designed and tested for the final IFMIF project. During operation of the accelerator deuteron losses will occur in several components leading to material activation induced by deuteron and/or by secondary neutrons, depending on its location. This work is focused on a first radioactive waste assessment at the end of the operational life of this facility. The radioactive wastes generation will be evaluated, focusing on the beam dump and main accelerator components. Following the current approach to the back-end of the activated materials, they will be categorized according to radiological complexity of operations and final management routes. For the calculations, MCUNED and ACAB codes were used together with TENDL-2010 and EAF-2007 data libraries, respectively.     

Korean high heat flux test facility by using electron beam system for ITER first wall semi-prototype

A Korean high heat flux test facility for the semi-prototype (SP) qualification of an ITER first wall (FW) will be constructed to evaluate the fabrication technologies required for the ITER FW, and the acceptance of these developed technologies will be established for the ITER FW manufacturing procedure. Korea participated in this qualification program, and is responsible for suitable arrangements for the heat flux test of our fabricated SPs. Qualification testing can be started provided that adequate quality and control measures are implemented and validated by the ITER Organization (IO). The controlling measures required for all heat flux tests shall be concrete and demonstrate the satisfaction of the IO test programs. Each country shall provide a test plan covering the quality and controlling measures in the high heat flux test facility to be implemented throughout the test program. Korean high heat flux testing for these ITER plasma facing materials will be performed by using a 60 kV electron beam and a power supply system of 300 kW, where the allowable target dimension is 70 cm × 50 cm in a vacuum chamber. In addition, this facility needs a cooling system for a high-temperature target and decontamination system for beryllium filtration.     

Design and analysis of the IFMIF–EVEDA beam dump cooling system

The IFMIF–EVEDA beam dump is designed to stop a 9 MeV, 125 mA continuous wave deuteron beam that deposits along its surface a total of 1.125 MW. The beam dump design is based on a 2.5 m long copper cone whose inner surface absorbs the beam. This piece is cooled by water flowing at high velocity through the annular channel formed between it and a second piece (shroud) made of four truncated cones of slightly different slopes.In this paper the beam dump cooling system will be briefly described, and the relevant 1D and 3D results will be presented paying especial attention to the computational fluid dynamics results.     

Design and commissioning of a TF coil power system using deep-cycle batteries for versatile experiment spherical torus (VEST)

A toroidal field (TF) coil power system has been designed and successfully commissioned to be suitable for the research objectives of VEST (Versatile Experiment Spherical Torus) which was recently constructed at Seoul National University. The TF coil power system for VEST is fabricated using a series–parallel connection of 200 deep-cycle batteries with 100 A h capacity so as to generate flat-top TF field of 0.12 T on magnetic axis for sufficiently long time up to hundreds of milliseconds. Ten battery modules are designed to operate independently through 10 magnetic contactor (MC) switches so as to produce toroidal magnetic field with various amplitudes and waveforms. During the initial start-up experiments of VEST, the modulation capability of toroidal magnetic field is successfully verified, showing possibility of its versatile utilization on various experimental topics in the future.     

Engineering design for the HL-2M tokamak components

The HL-2A tokamak will be modified into HL-2M. The Bt at the plasma center (major radius R = 1.78 m) is 2.2 T, the minor radius is 0.65 m. The plasma current I_P of HL-2M will reach up to 2.5 MA, the elongation and triangularity is more than 1.8 and more than 0.5, respectively. The vacuum vessel torus consists of 20 sectors with “D” shaped cross-section and double wall structure. 20 toroidal field coil bundles comprise 140 turns which are designed with demountable joints, the poloidal field coils system consists of 25 coils. The engineering design and calculation for field coil system, vacuum vessel, support structure, etc. are finished, many key issues for manufacture process have been discussed with industry and the fabrication of main components of HL-2M tokamak will be carried out in factories.