Performance of upgraded JET neutral beam injectors

The JET neutral beam injection (NBI) system is undergoing an upgrade of both beam power and pulse duration, which will be completed in 2011. In order to obtain an early assessment of the performance of the upgraded injectors, two positive ion neutral injectors (PINIs) with modified ion source and accelerator configuration were installed on Octant 8 Neutral Injector Box and successfully commissioned in summer 2009. Both PINIs were routinely delivering ～2 MW of deuterium neutral beam power during the JET experimental campaign in autumn 2009. These early tests allowed us to predict with confidence that the JET NBI upgrade objective of injecting 34 MW of total deuterium neutral beam power into the JET plasma will be achieved.     

Detailed design of the RF source for the 1 MV neutral beam test facility

In the framework of the EU activities for the development of the Neutral Beam Injector for ITER, the detailed design of the Radio Frequency (RF) driven negative ion source to be installed in the 1 MV ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility (NBTF) has been carried out.Results coming from ongoing R&D on IPP test beds [A. Stäbler et al., Development of a RF-Driven Ion Source for the ITER NBI System, this conference] and the design of the new ELISE facility [B. Heinemann et al., Design of the Half-Size ITER Neutral Beam Source Test Facility ELISE, this conference] brought several modifications to the solution based on the previous design.An assessment was carried out regarding the Back-Streaming positive Ions (BSI+) that impinge on the back plates of the ion source and cause high and localized heat loads. This led to the redesign of most heated components to increase cooling, and to different choices for the plasma facing materials to reduce the effects of sputtering.The design of the electric circuit, gas supply and the other auxiliary systems has been optimized. Integration with other components of the beam source has been revised, with regards to the interfaces with the supporting structure, the plasma grid and the flexible connections.In the paper the design will be presented in detail, as well as the results of the analyses performed for the thermo-mechanical verification of the components.     

Optimization of the electrostatic and magnetic field configuration in the MITICA accelerator

MITICA (Megavolt ITER Injector Concept Advancement) is a test facility for the development of a full-size heating and current drive neutral beam injectors for the ITER Tokamak reactor. The optimized electrostatic and magnetic configuration has been defined by means of an iterative optimization involving all the physics and the engineering aspects. The acceleration grids have been designed considering optical performances and mechanical constraints related to embedded magnets, to cooling channels, to the grid stiffness and manufacturability. A combination of “local” vertical field and horizontal “long range” field has been found to be the most effective set-up for ion extraction, beam focusing and minimization and equalization of thermo-mechanical loads and minimal number of electrons exiting the accelerator.     

RADI—A RF source size-scaling experiment towards the ITER neutral beam negative ion source

IPP Garching is currently developing a negative hydrogen ion RF source for the ITER neutral beam system. The source demonstrated already current densities in excess of the ITER requirements (>200 A/m² D⁻) at the required source pressure and electron/ion ratio, but with only small extraction area and limited pulse length. A new test facility (RADI) went recently into operation for the demonstration of the required (plasma) homogeneity of a large RF source and the modular driver concept.The source with the dimension of 0.8 m × 0.76 m has roughly the width and half the height of the ITER source; its modular driver concept will allow an easy extrapolation in only one direction to the full size ITER source. The RF power supply consists of two 180 kW, 1 MHz RF generators capable of 30 s pulses. A dummy grid matches the conductance of the ITER source. Full size extraction is presently not possible due to the lack of an insulator, a large size extraction system and a beam dump.The main parameters determining the performance of this “half-size” source are the negative ion and electron density in front of the grid as well as the homogeneity of their profiles across the grid. Those will be measured by optical emission and cavity ring down spectroscopy, by Langmuir probes and laser detachment. These methods have been calibrated to the extracted current densities achieved at the smaller source test facilities at IPP for similar source parameters. However, in order to get some information about the possible ion and electron currents, local single aperture extraction with a Faraday cup system is planned.     

Modeling the gas flow in the neutralizer of ITER neutral beam injector using Direct Simulation Monte Carlo approach

The neutralizer is a key element in the neutral beam injector, where the energetic ion beam converts to the needed neutral beam. Within the gas neutralizer, the gas flow pattern has a great influence on the neutralization efficiency of the ion beam and the gas load on the vacuum vessel. In most of the neutralizers currently used, the gas flow falls within the transitional and molecular flow regimes. Considered the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method is a benchmarking in the simulation of transitional regime flow, it was firstly introduced to the gas neutralizers in this study. The simulation procedure has been described in detail and applied to the ITER neutralizer case for demonstration. The predictions are compared with existing results using Test Particle Monte Carlo (TPMC) method, and indicate the importance of molecular collisions. The results show that the distribution of gas flow is nearly linear in most region of the neutralizer, but there are some stagnation zones around the gas inlet.     

Neutron penetration in labyrinths under different beam losses

Multiple analytical methods and Monte Carlo simulations were performed to evaluate neutron penetration in straight and curved labyrinths. Factors studied included variations in beam losses of off-axis point source,on-axis point source,and line source. For the straight labyrinth, it was found that the analytical expressions neglect the dose rate platform appearing at the bend of the labyrinth, and the agreement between analytical methods and Monte Carlo estimation was related to the type of neutron source term. For the curved labyrinth, the neutron attenuation length obtained under different conditions was nearly identical and appeared to be in quite good accord with the empirical formula calculation. Moreover, the neutron energy spectra along the centerline distance of the labyrinth were also analyzed. In the first leg, differences in beam loss led to variance in the distribution of spectra,while in the second and subsequent legs, the spectra were similar, where the main contributors were thermal neutrons. This work is valuable for practical design of the labyrinths in the accelerator facilities.     

Recent improvements to the ITER neutral beam system design

The ITER [1] fusion device is expected to demonstrate the feasibility of magnetically confined deuterium–tritium plasma as an energy source which might one day lead to practical power plants. Injection of energetic beams of neutral atoms (up to 1 MeV D⁰ or up to 870 keV H⁰) will be one of the primary methods used for heating the plasma, and for driving toroidal electrical current within it, the latter being essential in producing the required magnetic confinement field configuration. The design calls for each beamline to inject up to 16.5 MW of power through the duct into the tokamak, with an initial complement of two beamlines injecting parallel to the direction of the current arising from the tokamak transformer effect, and with the possibility of eventually adding a third beamline, also in the co-current direction. The general design of the beamlines has taken shape over the past 17 years [2], and is now predicated upon an RF-driven negative ion source based upon the line of sources developed by the Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) at Garching during recent decades [3], [4], [5], and a multiple-aperture multiple-grid electrostatic accelerator derived from negative ion accelerators developed by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) across a similar span of time [6], [7], [8]. During the past years, the basic concept of the beam system has been further refined and developed, and assessment of suitable fabrication techniques has begun. While many design details which will be important to the installation and implementation of the ITER beams have been worked out during this time, this paper focuses upon those changes to the overall design concept which might be of general interest within the technical community.     

Development of a RF-driven ion source for the ITER NBI system

Extensive R&D work on RF-driven negative hydrogen ion sources carried out at IPP Garching led to the decision of ITER to select this type of source as the new reference source for the ITER NBI system. The principle suitability of the RF source has been demonstrated in a small scale, short pulse length experiment: accelerated current densities, co-extracted electron currents at a source operation pressure, all well inside the range of the ITER requirements have been achieved simultaneously. In subsequent experiments, pulse lengths up to 1 h and the possibility of modularly extending the source to ITER source dimensions were demonstrated. The results achieved at the various IPP test beds, the lessons learnt during optimising the source for negative ion production and extraction as well as the problems still to be solved are summarized. As the next step in support of the NBI development for ITER, IPP plans to build a new test facility for beam extraction from a source of half the size for ITER.     

Efficiency of neutral beam neutralizers in JET and ITER

Neutral beam neutralizer efficiency plays a key role in determining the overall efficiency of neutral beam systems. Understanding the shortfall in neutralization efficiency encountered in positive ion neutral beam systems at JET is therefore of importance in ensuring the adequacy of the ITER design and in formulating beam-line designs for DEMO. Experimentation has previously demonstrated both the presence of background plasma and elevated gas temperatures, suggesting that the reduced efficiency may be due to a reduction in gas density. However, historical modifications to the neutralizer design at JET in accordance with observations from models produced little improvement in the neutral beam power delivered to the tokamak.This paper describes the development of the neutralizer models from an initial global heating balance for the gas alone, through to the recent application of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) to provide a consistent beam–plasma–gas system able to capture details of the neutral gas flow within the neutralizer. It is demonstrated that for the JET neutralizer a full 3D computation is necessary to correctly capture the behavior of the beam–plasma–gas system. The analysis is also extended to the ITER neutralizer.Overall, the importance of capturing the full complexity of neutral beam neutralizers is highlighted. The necessity of developing 3D modeling capability to support the design of future DEMO systems is demonstrated not only for beam neutralizers but for other beam components that include a fluid element, such as the duct.     

Long-pulse power-supply system for EAST neutral-beam injectors

The long-pulse power-supply system equipped for the 4 MW beam-power ion source is comprised of three units at ASIPP (Institute of Plasma Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences):one for the neutralbeam test stand and two for the EAST neutral-beam injectors (NBI-1 and NBI-2,respectively).Each power supply system consists of two low voltage and high current DC power supplies for plasma generation of the ion source,and two high voltage and high current DC power supplies for the accelerator grid system.The operation range of the NB power supply is about 80 percent of the design value,which is the safe and stable operation range.At the neutral-beam test stand,a hydrogen ion beam with a beam pulse of 150 s,beam power of 1.5 MW and beam energy of 50 keV was achieved during the long-pulse testing experiments.The result shows that the power-supply system meets the requirements of the EAST-NBIs fully and lays a basis for achieving plasma heating.     

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.     

Experimental results from a beam direct converter at 100 kV

A direct-energy converter was developed for use on neutral-beam injectors. The purpose of the converter is to raise the efficiency of the injector by recovering the portion of the ion beam not converted to neutrals. In addition to increasing the power efficiency, direct conversion reduces the requirements on power supplies and eases the beam dump problem. The converter was tested at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory on a reduced-area version of a neutral-beam injector developed for use on the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor at Princeton. The conversion efficiency of the total ion power was 65 ±7% at the beginning of the pulse, decaying to just over 50% by the end of the 0.6-s pulse. Once the electrode surfaces were conditioned, the decay was due to the rise in pressure of only the beam gas and not to outgassing. The direct converter was tested with 1.7 A of hydrogen ions and with 1.5 A of helium ions through the aperture with similar efficiencies. At the midplane through the beam, the line power density was 0.7 MW/m, for comparison with our calculations of slab beams and the prediction of 2–4 MW/m in some reactor studies. Over 98 kV was developed at the ion collector when the beam energy was 100 keV. When electrons were suppressed magnetically, rather than electrostatically, the efficiency dropped to 40%. However, a better designed electron catcher could improve this efficiency. New electrode material released gas (mostly H₂ and CO) in amounts that exceeded the input of primary gas from the beam. The electrodes were all made of 0.51-mm-thick molybdenum cooled only by radiation. This allowed the heating by the beam to outgas the electrodes and for them to stay hot enough to avoid the reabsorption of gas between shots. By minor redesign of the electrodes, adding cryopanels near the electrodes, and grounding the ion source, these results extrapolate with high confidence to an efficiency of 70–80% at a power density of 2–4 MW/m. Higher power may be possible with magnetic electron suppression.     

Vacuum Insulation and Achievement of 980 keV, 185 A/m~2 H-Ion Beam Acceleration at JAEA for the ITER Neutral Beam Injector

Vacuum insulation of 1 MV is a common issue for the HV bushing and the accel- erator for the ITER neutral beam injector (NBI). The HV bushing as an insulating feedthrough has a five-stage structure and each stage consists of double-layered insulators. To sustain 1 MV in vacuum, reduction of electric field at several triple points existing around the double-layered insulators is a critical issue. To reduce electric field simultaneously at these points, three types of stress ring have been developed. In a voltage holding test of a full-scale mockup equipped with these stress rings, 120% of rated voltage was sustained and the voltage holding capability required in ITER was verified. In the MeV accelerator, whose target is the acceleration of a H ion beam of 1 MeV, 200 A/m 2 , the gap between the grid support was extended to suppress breakdowns triggered by electric field concentration at the edge and corner of the grid support. This modi- fication improved the voltage holding capability in vacuum, and the MeV accelerator succeeded in sustaining 1 MV stably. Furthermore, it appeared that the H ions beam was deflected and a part of the beam was intercepted at the acceleration grid. This causes high heat load on the grids and breakdowns during beam acceleration. To suppress the direct interception, a new grid was designed with proper aperture displacement based on a three dimensional beam trajectory analysis. As a result, 980 keV, 185 A/m 2 H ion beam acceleration has been demonstrated, which is close to the ITER requirement.     

The negative ion source test facility ELISE

The ITER neutral beam system is using inductively coupled radio frequency (RF) ion sources, that have demonstrated the required ITER parameters on (small) sources with extraction areas up to 200 cm². As a next step towards the full size ITER source IPP is presently constructing the test facility ELISE (“Extraction from a Large Ion Source Experiment”) operating with a “half-size” source which has approximately the width but only half the height of the ITER source. The modular driver concept is expected to allow a further extrapolation to the full size in one direction to be made. The main aim of this experiment is to demonstrate the production of a large uniform negative ion beam with ITER relevant parameters in stable conditions up to one hour.Plasma operation of the source is foreseen to be performed continuously for 1 h; extraction and acceleration of negative ions up to 60 kV is only possible in pulsed mode (10 s every 180 s) due to limitations of the existing IPP HV system. The design of the source and extraction system implements a high experimental flexibility and a good diagnostic access while still staying as close as possible to the ITER design. The main differences are the source operating in air and the use of a large gate valve between the source and the target chamber.ELISE is expected to start operation at the end of 2011 and is an important step for the development of the ITER NBI system; the experience gained early will support the design as well as the commissioning and operating phases of the PRIMA NBI test facilities and the ITER neutral beam system.     

Commissioning and first results of the ITER-relevant negative ion beam test facility ELISE

The test facility ELISE which was constructed in the last three years at the Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik (IPP), Garching, is an important intermediate step of the development of the neutral beam system for ITER. ELISE allows gaining an early experience of the performance and operation of large RF driven sources for negative hydrogen ions and will give an important input for the commissioning and the design of the SPIDER and MITICA test facilities at Padua and the ITER neutral beam system. ELISE has gone recently into operation with first plasma and beam pulses. The experiments aim at the demonstration of an ion beam at the required parameters within 2 years of operation until end of 2014, the end of the service contract with F4E for the establishment and exploitation of ELISE.     

First results of negative ion extraction with Cs for CRAFT prototype negative beam source

In order to understand the physics and pre-study the engineering issues for radio frequency(RF)negative beam source, a prototype source with a single driver and three-electrode accelerator was developed. Recently, the beam source was tested on the RF source test facility with RF plasma generation, negative ion production and extraction. A magnetic filter system and a Cs injection system were employed to enhance the negative ion production. As a result, a long pulse of 105 s negative ion beam with current density of 153 A m-2 was repeatedly extracted successfully. The source pressure is 0.6 Pa and the ratio of co-extracted electron and negative ion current is around0.3. The details of design and experimental results of beam source were shown in this letter.     

Investigation and application of hollow anode glow discharge ion source

In the present work, a new shape of a glow discharge ion source has been designed, fabricated and constructed at Accelerators and Ion Sources Department, Nuclear Research Center, Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority, Egypt. The discharge and output beam characteristics of the ion source at different operating gas pressures have been measured at the optimum distance between the anode and the cathode (3.5 mm) using hydrogen and nitrogen gases. Furthermore, mixture of different gases was studied, e.g., addition of H₂ gas to N₂ gas with different ratios has been investigated. Finally, as an application of this new ion source, ion beam modification of insulators (glass) which depends on glass structure has been achieved. It has been found that, the transmission of light is decreased by coating the glass surface with Ar ion beam more than coating with plasma of Ar gas at the same pressure and the same exposure time. So we could use this ion source as a coating tool for borate glass surface. The parameters affected the glow discharge ion source efficiency have been examined carefully using a mixture of gases. Using helium gas, the glow discharge is in a turbulent state due to instabilities. An investigated H₂-N₂ mixture has been used in order to obtain an optimum percentage of the mixture of the two gases to increase the electric field necessary for ionization balance.     

Simulation of a low energy beam transport line

A 2.45 GHz electron cyclotron resonance intense proton source and a low energy beam transport line with dual-Glaser lens were designed and fabricated by Institute of Modern Physics for a compact pulsed hadron source at Tsinghua. The intense proton beams extracted from the ion source are transported through the transport line to match the downstream radio frequency quadrupole accelerator. Particle-in-cell code BEAMPATH was used to carry out the beam transport simulations and optimize the magnetic field structures of the transport line. Emittance growth due to space charge and spherical aberrations of the Glaser lens were studied in both theory and simulation. The results show that narrow beam has smaller aberrations and better beam quality through the transport line. To better match the radio frequency quadrupole accelerator, a shorter transport line is desired with sufficient space charge neutralization.     

A new AMS beam line at the Erlangen tandem accelerator facility

An accelerator mass spectrometry beam line is presently being built up at the EN tandem accelerator in Erlangen. A new Cs sputter ion source is being developed, and mass separators on both the low- and high-energy sides of the tandem and an electrostatic sector field for charge-state selection have been installed. Optimization of the beam quality will be possible with a new emittance measuring device. The tandem is stabilized via a position-sensitive Faraday cup, which simultaneously measures the current of the abundant isotopes. The spectra of the rare-isotope ions are taken by differential energy loss measurements in a gas ionization chamber.