Vacuum and wall conditioning system on EAST

EAST is a non-circular advanced steady-state experimental device and the first entirely superconducting tokamak in the world. Vacuum system is one of the most important sub-systems of EAST device. Wall conditionings, such as baking, discharge cleaning and boronization, also play a very important role for the plasma operation. Due to Ion Cyclotron Resonance Frequency (ICRF) wall conditioning technique could be carried out in the presence of a high toroidal magnetic field, it is routinely used for wall cleanings on EAST. After the 2nd campaign in 2007, the plasma facing walls was modified to full carbon walls and vacuum system was upgraded to meet the requirement of particles exhaust. This paper will introduce the new statues of vacuum system, such as pumping, fueling and wall conditionings on EAST. Then the vacuum operation and wall conditioning in the 2008 campaign is introduced.     

Removal of Particles by ICRF Cleaning in HT-7 Superconducting Tokamak

1. IntroductionThe tokamak is a magnetically confined fusion device, Which demands ultra-vacuum and low impuritylevel for the plasma discharge. At the same time, therecycling of the working gas including its isotopesmust be decreased in favor of long pulse plasma discharge. For a larger superconducting tokamak of thefuture with a high power and a long pulse plasmadischarge, the recycling must be very low and theimpurity needs to be removed quickly.For decreasing the impurity content in the de…     

Resonant loop system for the KSTAR ICRF current drive

The phased current distribution at current straps for the KSTAR ICRF antenna causes a power imbalance at each strap owing to the mutual couplings between current straps. In order to mitigate the effect of coupling, a decoupler connecting two phased feeding lines are designed based on both a lumped element antenna model and a distributed transmission line model. Though the decoupler parameter is dependent on the loading resistance, which depends on plasma condition, an analysis shows that the decoupling is effective in the wide range of loading resistance assuming the low variation of mutual inductance between straps. A circuit analysis also shows that the RF characteristics of a complex RF transmission system are matched well for the asymmetric antenna current spectrum aiming for a non-inductive current drive of KSTAR. The calibration result of decoupler after installation is also discussed.     

Design of a New Type of Stub Tuner in ICRF Experiment

In the Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequency(ICRF) heating experiment,impedance matching is of great practical significance,because wide variations in antenna loading are observed within the discharge,in tokamaks operating in H-mode.A sudden decrease in antenna loading accompanying the L-mode to H-mode transition typically occurs on a timescale of a few millisec onds,as does the increase in loading at the H- to L-mode transition.Therefore,it is necessary to match dynamically in the transmission line between the generator output and the antenna input connections[1].A new type of stub tuner being developed utilizes the difference in radio-frequency wavelengths between gas and liquid due to different relative dielectric constants.The impedance matching can be adjusted in realtime in an attempt to track the variations in the antenna loading.Since there are no mechanically moving parts in the short ends of stub,the change can be more convenient and safe,moreover,it can withstand higher voltage without breakdown.this system device will be applied in the HT-7 superconductor Tokamak ICRF experiment.     

Achievement of 1.9 MW for 300 s during the commissioning of the KSTAR ICRF transmitter

KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research) is a national tokamak aiming at the high beta operation based on AT (Advanced Tokamak) scenarios in Korea and ICRF (Ion Cyclotron Ranges of Frequency) is one of the essential heating and current drive tools to achieve this goal. The ICRF heating and current drive scenario requires 4 units of 2 MW transmitters with a frequency range from 25 to 60 MHz. The first KSTAR transmitter is a modified FMIT (Fusion Material Irradiation Test) transmitter consisting of four amplifier stages. An amplitude-modulated 1 mW frequency source drives a 500 W solid state wideband amplifier, which in turn drives three tuned triode/tetrode amplifier stages. The tube employed in the final power amplifier is a 4CM2500KG tetrode fabricated by CPI (Communications & Power Industries). After the fabrication of the cavity and power supply was completed in 2004, several failures of the tube during a factory and a site acceptance test occurred before eventually achieving 1.9 MW for 300 s at 33 MHz in 2007. The electrical efficiency of the FPA (Final Power Amplifier) is about 70%. Although this is a very encouraging result for the development of an ICRF transmitter for ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), continued efforts for a reliable operation are required to achieve the final goals of the KSTAR and ITER ICRF system.     

EAST离子回旋波加热快速阻抗匹配系统的研究

离子回旋波加热是EAST装置最重要的辅助加热方法,在实验中获得了明显的加热效果。射频功率源与天线负载之间阻抗匹配才能保证最大的加热功率输出。在射频加热实验中,等离子体参数的改变将会引起天线负载阻抗的快速变化,为应对这一情况研制出了快速阻抗匹配系统。本文采用解析法和计算机仿真相结合的分析方式,研制了该阻抗匹配系统的铁氧体匹配支节,并对其性能进行了测试。测试结果表明,快速阻抗匹配系统的时间响应速度明显优于传统匹配方式的,可作为实时匹配的候选者。     

Performance of a New Ion Source for KSTAR Tokamak Plasma Heating

In the experimental campaign of 2010 and 2011 on KSTAR, the NBI-1 system was equipped with one prototype ion source and operated successfully, providing a neutral beam power of 0.7-1.6 MW to the tokamak plasma. The new ion source planned for the 2012 KSTAR campaign had a much more advanced performance compared with the previous one. The target performance of the new ion source was to provide a neutral deuterium beam of 2 MW to the tokamak plasma. The ion source was newly designed, fabricated, and assembled in 2011. The new ion source was then conditioned up to 64 A/100 keV over a 2-hour beam extraction and performance tested at the NB test stand （NBTS） at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute （KAERI） in 2012. The measured optimum perveance at which the beam divergence is a minimum was about 2.5μP, and the minimum beam divergent angle was under 1.0° at 60 keV. These results indicate that the 2.0 MW neutral beam power at 100 keV required for the heating of plasma in KSTAR can be delivered by the installation of the new ion source in the KSTAR NBI-1 system.     

EASTICRF天线法拉第屏蔽的热-结构分析

在EASTICRF天线中,法拉第屏蔽是ICRF天线中的一个非常重要的部件。实验时,它位于真空室内直接面对等离子体,将承受着很大的热负荷。基于EASTICRF天线法拉第屏蔽结构的安全性,本文利用有限元的方法,首先对热负荷最大的法拉第屏蔽冷却管道在不同水流速下进行热分析,考察在不同水流速工况下法拉第屏蔽冷却管道上的温度分布情况,再通过热 结构耦合方法对法拉第屏蔽冷却管道进行结构分析,了解法拉第屏蔽在不同水流速下的应力大小和分布情况,分析结果为未来EASTICRF天线实验提供理论指导。另外,对法拉第屏蔽冷却管道结构进行了优化改进,并对优化改进后的法拉第屏蔽冷却管道在相同工况下进行了热和热 结构分析,分析结果确定了优化改进后的法拉第屏蔽冷却管道结构的优越性,分析数据为未来法拉第屏蔽冷却管道的优化改进提供理论指导,分析方法为其他同类装置提供有益的参考。     

The Upgrade of Fast Ferrite Tuning Matching System for ICRF in EAST

The fast ferrite tuning (FFT) real-time matching system has been designed and tested for the ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) in EAST tokamak, which is necessary to transfer ICRF power to the plasma against variations in the antenna impedance. Through the test results, we proved this FFT system is feasible in EAST. Therefore this system have been upgraded recently to achieve real-time matching by the upgrading of the coil power supply and optimizing of the tuning structure. Finally the new FFT system achieved a response time of 10 ms and operated with a peak power of 1.5 MW, which satisfied the requirements of matching system in EAST.     

ICRF physics aspects of wall conditioning plasma characterization in TEXTOR

This paper focuses on encouraging results obtained on the characterization of RF produced plasmas during pulsed-mode wall conditioning discharges in ion cyclotron resonance frequency (ICRF) regime in the limiter tokamak TEXTOR. Recent Ion Cyclotron Wall Conditioning (ICWC) experiment carried out in TEXTOR tokamak, lead to the identification of various dependences of the antenna-plasma coupling efficiency on the plasma parameters for possible ICWC-discharge cleaning in ITER at half field. Our ICWC experiments emphasize on (i) study of antenna coupling during the mode conversion scenario, (ii) reproducible generation of ICRF plasmas for wall conditioning, by coupling RF power from one or two ICRF antennas and (iii) effect of application of an additional (along with toroidal magnetic field) stationary vertical (B_V ? B_T) or oscillating poloidal magnetic field (B_p ? B_T) on antenna coupling and relevant plasma parameters.     

Analysis of dynamic matching networks for the ICRF system at ASDEX Upgrade

The ICRF (Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequencies) system, used to heat the plasma of ASDEX Upgrade, consists of RF generators, 3 dB hybrids, coaxial transmission lines, matching networks and inductive loop antennas. The maximum power achievable by the generator strongly depends on the amplitude and phase of the reflection coefficient. Hence, matching of the antenna input impedance to the generator output impedance is essential for the ICRF heating system. The coupling between the ICRF antennas and the plasma is subject to relatively fast variations (few ms). The changes are caused by the modification of plasma edge conditions, such as L–H mode transitions, gas puffing or ELMs (Edge Localized Modes). These variations change the impedance of the ICRF antennas. For optimal operation of the ICRF system, a continuous, and fast matching is therefore preferable. A MATLAB^® based simulation tool has been developed to analyse matching networks for the ICRF system at ASDEX Upgrade. The program is highly flexible, and can solve the matching calculations for different conditions and configurations of the system. The results are presented in a Smith chart.     

Recent ICRF coupling experiments on EAST

Recent ion cyclotron resonance frequency(ICRF) coupling experiments for optimizing ICRF heating in high power discharge were performed on EAST. The coupling experiments were focus on antenna phasing and gas puffing, which were performed separately on two ports of the ion cyclotron resonance heating(ICRH) system of EAST. The antenna phasing was performed on the I-port antenna, which consists of four toroidally spaced radiating straps operating in multiple phasing cases; the coupling performance was better under low wave number ∣k_‖∣(ranging from 4.5 to 6.5). By fuelling the plasma from gas injectors, placed as uniformly spaced array from top to bottom at each side limiter of the B-port antenna, which works in dipole phasing, the coupling resistance of the B-port antenna increased obviously.Furthermore, the coupling resistance of the I-port antenna was insensitive to a smaller rate of gas puffing but when the gas injection rate was more than a certain value(1021 s~(-1)), a sharp increase in the coupling resistance of the I-port antenna occurred, which was mainly caused by the toroidal asymmetric boundary density arising from gas puffing. A more specific analysis is given in the paper.     

Water-cooling effects on the high-voltage and long-pulse capabilities of the KSTAR ICRF antenna

A new ICRF antenna originating from the prototype antenna was constructed for the KSTAR tokamak in 2002. The performance of the antenna was experimentally estimated at the RF test stand without a plasma. Recently three series of RF tests were performed at a frequency of 30 MHz; without any cooling, with a water-cooling for only the antenna, and with a water-cooling of the antenna and the transmission line connected to the antenna. In the tests, a half of the current strap was connected to a RF source via a matching circuit with the other half one connected to an open terminated coaxial line, and the other three straps were shorted at the input ports. During the RF pulse, the temperatures at several positions of the antenna cavity wall were measured by embedded thermocouples and the temperature profile of the front face of the antenna was measured by an IR camera. The line voltage, forward and reflected powers, and the RFTC pressure were also measured. The water-cooled antenna showed several enhanced performances in a comparison with the non-cooled case, and the standoff voltage was significantly increased. By utilizing a water-cooling of the antenna and the transmission line, we achieved a standoff voltage of 41.3 kVp for a pulse length of 300 s, and we could extend the pulse length up to 600 s at a maximum voltage of 35.0 kVp without encountering any problems, which considerably exceeds the design requirements.     

Design of neutral beam injection system for KSTAR tokamak

The neutral beam injection (NBI-1) system has been designed for providing a 300 s deuterium beam of 120 kV/65 A as an auxiliary heating and current drive system of the KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research) tokamak. The deuterium beam is produced from a long pulse ion source composed of a bucket-type plasma generator and a multi-aperture tetrode accelerator with the help of discharge power supplies and high voltage (HV) power supplies. The beamline components (BLCs) include a neutralizer with an optical multi-channel analyzer (OMA) section, a bending magnet (BM), an ion dump assembly, a movable calorimeter, beam scrapers, and a cryo-sorption pump system in a rectangular vacuum tank. A beam duct equipped with bellows and a voltage break is placed between the NBI vacuum tank and the KSTAR vacuum vessel. All data and parameters of the NBI system are controlled by a control and data acquisition (CODAQ) system through the EPICS based Ethernet interface.     

Present Status of the KSTAR Superconducting Magnet System Development

The mission of Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) project is to develop an advanced steady-state superconducting tokamak for establishing a scientific and technological basis for an attractive fusion reactor. Because one of the KSTAR mission is to achieve a steady-state operation, the use of superconducting coils is an obvious choice for the magnet system. The KSTAR superconducting magnet system consists of 16 Toroidal Field (TF) coils and 14 Poloidal Field (PF) coils. Internally-cooled Cable-In-Conduit Conductors (CICC) are put into use in both the TF and PF coil systems. The TF coil system provides a field of 3.5 T at the plasma center and the PF coil system is able to provide a flux swing of 17 V-sec. The major achievement in KSTAR magnet-system development includes the development of CICC,the development of a full-size TF model coil, the development of a coil system for background magnetic-field generation , the construction of a large-scale superconducting magnet and CICC test facility. TF and PF coils are in the stage of fabrication to pave the way for the scheduled completion of KSTAR by the end of 2006.     

Development of KSTAR in-vessel components and heating systems

In-vessel components of the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) were developed for 2010 campaign to provide a crucial circumstance for achieving the strongly shaped and diverted plasma. Moreover, the in-vessel components such as limiter, divertor, passive stabilizer, in-vessel control coil (IVCC) system demonstrated good performances satisfying the original design concepts. In addition to the plasma facing components and the IVCC, in-vessel cryo-pump (IVCP) system was also installed to leverage divertor operation. Besides the in-vessel components, there have been substantial progresses in development of the heating and current drive system. The KSTAR heating and current drive system includes all kinds of the major heating systems such as neutral beam injection (NBI), ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF), electron cyclotron resonance heating and current drive (ECH and ECCD), lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) systems. As an initial stage for full equipment of the heating systems to total power of 26 MW, several key systems such as 1st NBI (called NBI-1), ICRF, and ECH-assisted startup system successfully demonstrated their excellent feasibilities in the design and performances for dedication to the 2010 campaign.     

Tunable biasing magnetic field design of ferrite tuner for ICRF heating system in EAST

Ion cyclotron range of frequency(ICRF) heating has been used in tokamaks as one of the most successful auxiliary heating tools and has been adopted in the EAST. However, the antenna load will fluctuate with the change of plasma parameters in the ICRF heating process. To ensure the steady operation of the ICRF heating system in the EAST, fast ferrite tuner(FFT) has been carried out to achieve real-time impedance matching. For the requirements of the FFT impedance matching system, the magnet system of the ferrite tuner(FT) was designed by numerical simulations and experimental analysis, where the biasing magnetic circuit and alternating magnetic circuit were the key researched parts of the ferrite magnet. The integral design goal of the FT magnetic circuit is that DC bias magnetic field is 2000 Gs and alternating magnetic field is±400 Gs. In the FTT, E-type magnetic circuit was adopted. Ferrite material is Nd Fe B with a thickness of 30 mm by setting the working point of Nd Fe B, and the ampere turn of excitation coil is 25 through the theoretical calculation and simulation analysis. The coil inductance to generate alternating magnetic field is about 7 m H. Eddy-current effect has been analyzed, while the magnetic field distribution has been measured by a Hall probe in the medium plane of the biasing magnet. Finally, the test results show the good performance of the biasing magnet satisfying the design and operating requirements of the FFT.     

Mechanical design of the second ICRF antenna for EAST

In order to satisfy the requirements of heating plasma on EAST project, 3 MW ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) heating system will be available at the second stage. Based on this requirement, the second ICRF antenna, has been designed for EAST. The antenna which is planned to operate with a frequency ranging from 30 MHz to 110 MHz, comprises four poloidal current straps. The antenna has many cooling channels inside the current straps, faraday shield and baffle to remove the dissipated RF loss power and incoming plasma heat loads. The antenna is supported via a cantilever support box to the external support structure. Its assembly is plugged in the port and fixed on the support box. External slideway and bellows allow the antenna to be able to move in the radial direction. The key components of the second ICRF antenna has been designed together with structural and thermal analysis presented.     

Optimization of the FAST ICRF antenna using TOPICA code

Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating is one of the most important auxiliary heating systems in most plasma confinement experiments. Because of this, the need for very accurate design of ion cyclotron (IC) launchers has dramatically grown in recent years. Furthermore, a reliable simulation tool is a crucial request in the successful design of these antennas, since full testing is impossible outside experiments. One of the most advanced and validated simulation codes is TOPICA, which offers the possibility to handle the geometrical level of detail of a real antenna in front of an accurately described plasma scenario. Adopting this essential tool made possible to reach a refined design of ion cyclotron radio frequency antenna for the FAST (Fusion Advanced Studies Torus) experiment [1]. Starting from a streamlined antenna model and then following well-defined refinement procedures, an optimized launcher design in terms of power delivered to plasma has been finally achieved. The computer-assisted geometry refinements allowed an increase in the performances of the antenna and notably in power handling: the extent of the gained improvements were not experienced in the past, essentially due to the absence of predictive tools capable of analyzing the detailed effects of antenna geometry in plasma facing conditions. Thus, with the help of TOPICA code, it has been possible to comply with the FAST experiment requirements in terms of vacuum chamber constraints and power delivered to plasma. Once an antenna geometry was optimized with a reference plasma profile, the analysis of the performances of the launcher has been extended with respect to two plasma scenarios. Exploiting all TOPICA features, it has been possible to predict the behavior of the launcher in real operating conditions, for instance varying the position of the separatrix surface. In order to fulfil the analysis of the FAST IC antenna, the study of the RF potentials, which depend on the parallel electric field computation, has been carried out with an exceptional level of detail. Finally, in order to provide a more general overview of the antenna performances, two IC launchers have been simulated to determine their mutual influence, achieving an optimum degree of knowledge about the relevant features of the ion cyclotron heating system inside the FAST tokamak.     

EASTICRF天线真空馈口热-结构分析

真空馈口是ICRF天线中的一个重要部件,它对ICRF天线起真空密封作用。鉴于真空馈口的重要性和安全性,运用有限元方法对两种形式的真空馈口进行了热和热-结构分析,给出了两种形式的真空馈口上的温度分布和应力分布。结果显示：镀银的真空馈口上的温度变化和应力均小于未镀银的真空馈口上的温度变化和应力,但两种形式的真空馈口上的应力均小于材料的许用应力。分析结果验证了真空馈口结构设计的可行性和安全性。