Design and realization of the J-TEXT tokamak central control system

The Joint Texas Experimental Tokamak (J-TEXT), a medium-sized conventional tokamak, serves as a user experimental facility in the China-USA fusion research community. Development of a flexible and easy-to-use J-TEXT central control system (CCS) is of supreme importance for users to coordinate the experimental scenarios with full integration into the discharge operation. This paper describes in detail the structure and functions of the J-TEXT CCS system as well as the performance in practical implementation. Results obtained from both commissioning and routine operations show that the J-TEXT CCS system can offer a satisfactory and effective control that is reliable and stable. The J-TEXT tokamak achieved high-quality performance in its first-ever experimental campaign with this CCS system.     

The Electron Temperature Estimation Using Soft X-Ray Imaging in HT-7 Tokamak

In order to estimate the electron temperature soft x-ray imaging diagnostics using a double filter technique has been developed in the HT-7 tokamak. The chosen thicknesses of the Be foil are 12.5 μm and 70 μm, respectively. In this article both the main design of the diagnostic configuration and the method to estimate the electron temperature are presented. The results agree with those estimated from the soft x-ray pulse height analyzer （PHA）. The main causes of systematic error have also been investigated.     

Behaviors of Electron Heat Transportation in HT-7 Sawtoothing Plasma

It is found that in HT-7 ohmic plasma, main energy loss comes from electron heat conduction, hence quantitative data of electron heat diffusivity is a very important issue for investigation of electron heat transportation behavior in different target plasmas so as to get high performance plasma. A time-to-peak method of the heat pulse propagation originating from the sawtooth activity on the soft x-ray intensity signal has been adopted to experimentally determine electron heat diffusivity χe^HP on the HT-7 tokamak. Aiming to improve the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of the original signal to get a stable and reasonable electron heat diffusivity χe^HD value, some data processing methods, including average of tens of sawteeth, is discussed. The electron heat diffusivity χe^HP is larger than χe^PB which is determined from the balance of background plasma power. Based on variation of the measured electron heat diffusivity χe^HP , performances of different high confinement plasmas are analyzed.     

The timing system on the J-TEXT tokamak

This paper describes the timing system designed to control the operation time-sequence and to generate clocks for various sub-systems on J-TEXT tokamak. The J-TEXT timing system is organized as a distributed system which is connected by a tree-structured optical fiber network. It can generate delayed triggers and gate signals (0 μs–4000 s), while providing reference clocks for other sub-systems. Besides, it provides event handling and timestamping functions. It is integrated into the J-TEXT Control, Data Access and Communication (J-TEXT CODAC) system, and it can be monitored and configured by Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). The configuration of this system including tree-structured network is managed in XML files by dedicated management software. This system has already been deployed on J-TEXT tokamak and it is serving J-TEXT in daily experiments.     

Direct Measurements of the Electron Energy Flux versus Electron Temperature Gradient in Tokamak Discharges

Electron thermal transport is one of the most complex processes in fusion plasmas.It is generally described by a simple thermal diffusivity in transport analyses of discharges,but there is evidence of critical gradient effects with moderate stiffness.By analyzing periodic perturbations to an equilibrium,one can measure the variations in electron energy flux and electron temperature gradient over the perturbation cycle,obtaining the flux as a function of gradient over the range of parameters generated by the perturbation.Although time-dependent transport analysis is very sensitive to noise in the input data,averaging over many cycles of a periodic perturbation can provide data of sufficient quality.The analyses presented here are based on the ECE temperature data with high spatial and temporal resolution and full profile coverage on DIII-D for sawteeth and modulated ECH heating.     

Flow Shear Stabilization of Ion Temperature Gradient Modes in an Internal Transport Barrier

Ion temperature gradient(ITG) driven instability is studied with gyro-kinetic theory in an internal transport barrier(ITB) of tokamak plasmas.The stabilization effects of a parallel velocity shear on the modes are investigated.It is found that the mode structures and stability properties,as well as the effects of a velocity shear,in an ITB are significantly different from that in off-ITB regions.     

Plasma Response to Supersonic Molecular Beam Injection in J-TEXT简

Recently, hydrogen fueling experiments with supersonic molecular beam injection （SMBI） system have been performed in the J-TEXT tokamak. To evaluate the effects of the in- jection amount of SMBI on plasma behaviors, moderate and intensive SMBs have been separately injected and compared with each other in Ohmic discharges. With moderate SMBs, electron den- sity increases about twice as before, the size of magnetic island slightly decreases, and the edge toroidal rotation speed in a counter-current direction, measured by a high resolution spectrometer （Carbon V ion, 227.09 nm, r/a-= 0.7-0.8）, is accelerated from 8 km/s to 12 km/s. The state of higher electron density with moderate SMBI can be maintained for a long period, which indicates that plasma confinement is improved. However, with intensive SMBs, the accompanied magne- tohydrodynamic （MHD） activities are triggered, and the electron density increases moderately. The edge toroidal velocity is decreased, in certain cases even reversed in the co-current direction. The statistical result of experimental data for moderate and intensive SMBs suggests a preferred fueling amount （less than 3.2 ~ 1019） to improve the SMBI fueling efficiency in experiments.     

Stress and Thermal Analysis of the In-Vessel Resonant Magnetic Perturbation Coils on the J-TEXT Tokamak

A set of four in-vessel saddle coils was designed to generate a helical field on the J- TEXT tokamak to study the influences of the external perturbation field on plasma. The coils are fed with alternating current up to 10 kA at frequency up to 10 kHz. Due to the special structure, complex thermal environment and limited space in the vacuum chamber, Jt is very important to make sure that the coils will not be damaged when undergoing the huge electromagnetic forces in the strong toroidal field, and that their temperatures don＇t rise too much and destroy the in- sulation. A 3D finite element model is developed in this paper using the ANSYS code, stresses are analyzed to find the worst condition, and a mounting method is then established. The results of the stress and modal analyses show that the mounting method meets the strength requirements. Finally, a thermal analysis is performed to study the cooling process and the temperature distribution of the coils.     

General Description of Ideal Tokamak MHD Instability Ⅱ

In this subsequent study on general descripiton of ideal tokamak MHD instability,the part II,by using a coordinate with rectified magnetic field lines,the eigenmode equations describing the low-mode-number toroidal ALfven modes(TAE,and EAE) are derived through a further expansion of the shear Alfven equation of motion.