Design of the Vacuum Feedthrough for the EAST ICRF Antenna

Detailed design of the vacuum feedthrough for the Ion Cyclotron Radio Frequency (ICRF) antenna in EAST, along with an electro-analysis and thermal structural analysis, is presented. The electric field, the voltage stand wave ratio (VSWR) and the stresses in the vacuum feedthrough are studied. A method using the rings of oxygen-free copper as the cushion and macro-beam plasma arc welding is applied in the assembly to protect the ceramic from being damaged during welding. The vacuum leak test on the prototype of vacuum feedthrough is introduced.     

EAST ICRF天线驱动结构改进设计

针对ICRF天线原有的驱动结构由于无自锁而导致天线移动过程中无法精确定位的缺点,给出了两种新的驱动结构设计方案,两种方案主要由步进电机和涡轮蜗杆减速器组成,均具有启动速度慢,推、拉力大,能精确定位的特点。在设计过程中,对两种驱动结构的启动转矩、丝杠的强度和稳定性进行了校核,通过理论计算分析,两种驱动结构设计均满足设计要求。整个驱动结构改进设计方案和方法可为其他同类装置提供有益的借鉴。     

EASTICRF天线电流带电磁分析

为了实现EAST托卡马克1000s以上的稳态先进模式运行的最终物理目标,两电流带双环共振(RDL)离子回旋共振（ICRF）天线被选择用来加热,电流带是ICRF天线关键部件,它通过近场区的耦合把能量传输到等离子体中。本文通过有限元方法对电流带在等离子体破裂和等离子体垂直位移事件两种工况下进行了电磁计算,给出了电流带感应电流密度大小分布情况、磁感应强度大小分布情况以及电流带所受的电磁力。利用电流带所受的电磁力作为载荷对电流带进行了结构分析,分析结果为验证电流带结构的可行性提供理论依据,分析方法对未来更高功率的ICRF天线电流带进行电磁分析具有一定的借鉴价值。     

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。     

Design and test of voltage and current probes for EAST ICRF antenna impedance measurement

On the experimental advanced superconducting tokamak(EAST), a pair of voltage and current probes(V/I probes) is installed on the ion cyclotron radio frequency transmission lines to measure the antenna input impedance, and supplement the conventional measurement technique based on voltage probe arrays. The coupling coefficients of V/I probes are sensitive to their sizes and installing locations, thus they should be determined properly to match the measurement range of data acquisition card. The V/I probes are tested in a testing platform at low power with various artificial loads. The testing results show that the deviation of coupling resistance is small for loads RL??2.5 Ω, while the resistance deviations appear large for loads RL??1.5 Ω, which implies that the power loss cannot be neglected at high VSWR. As the factors that give rise to the deviation of coupling resistance calculation, the phase measurement error is the more significant factor leads to deleterious results rather than the amplitude measurement error. To exclude the possible ingredients that may lead to phase measurement error, the phase detector can be calibrated in steady L-mode scenario and then use the calibrated data for calculation under H-mode cases in EAST experiments.     

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.     

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。     

EASTICRF天线真空馈口电特性评估

本文对EASTICRF天线真空馈口进行了相关的电特性分析,获得了真空馈口电场分布、电势分布,以及电压驻波比随加热频率的变化情况,分析结果验证了真空馈口的可行性和合理性,并为真空馈口电特性评估提供理论依据。另外,在相同条件下,运用相同的方法对一种新型结构的真空馈口进行了相同的电特性分析,分析结果验证了新型结构真空馈口的优越性。     

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。     

Power Compensation for ICRF Heating in EAST

The source system covering a working frequency range of 24 MHz to 70 MHz with a total maximum output power of 12 MW has already been fabricated for Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequency(ICRF) heating in EAST from 2012. There are two continuous wave(CW) antennas consisting of four launching elements each fed by a separate 1.5 MW transmitter. Due to the strong mutual coupling among the launching elements, the injection power for launching elements should be imbalance to keep the k||(parallel wave number) spectrum of the launcher symmetric for ICRF heating. Cross power induced by the mutual coupling will also induce many significant issues,such as an uncontrollable phase of currents in launching elements, high voltage standing wave ratio(VSWR), and impedance mismatching. It is necessary to develop a power compensation system for antennas to keep the power balance between the feed points. The power balance system consists of two significant parts: a decoupler and phase control. The decoupler helps to achieve ports isolation to make the differential phase controllable and compensate partly cross power. After that, the differential phase of 0 or π will keep the power balance of two feed points completely. The first power compensation system consisting of four decouplers was assembled and tested for the port B antenna at the working frequency of 35 MHz. With the application of the power compensation system, the power balance, phase feedback control, and voltage standing wave ratio(VSWR) had obviously been improved in the 2015 EAST campaign.     

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.     

Study of Liquid Phase Shifter for ICRF on EAST

A method of current drive with Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequency （ICRF） on Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokomak （EAST） is described. A variety of liquid silicon oil heights in the phase shifter will bring the phase difference to the current drive. It is found that the current drive can be achieved by using the phase shifter. The liquid phase shifter is one of the impedance matching systems too.     

Current Status of ICRF Heating Experiments on EAST

Radio frequency (RF) heating in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) is one of the primary auxiliary heating methods for EAST. The ICRF system provides 6 MW power in primary phase and will be capable of 10 MW later. Three 1.5 MW ICRF systems in a frequency range of 25 to 70 MHz have already been in operation. The ICRF heating launchers are designed to have two current straps with each driven by a RF power source of 1.5 MW. In this paper a brief introduction of the ICRF heating system capability in EAST and the preliminary results in EAST are presented.     

Enhanced Plasma Performance by ICRF Boronization

Boronization with carborane(C2B10H12)by ICRF been applied routinely to the walls of HT-7 super-conducting tokamak for the reduction of impurity influx.especially carbon and oxygen.Significant suppression of metallic impurties and radiating power fraction are achieved.The imporved confinement for both particle and energy is observed in full range of operation parameters.Energy balance analysis shows that electron heat diffusion coefficient is strongly reduced.Measurements by Langmuir probes at the edge plasma show that poloidal velocity shear after boronization is changed to a profile to profile favoring to good confinement.The main emphasis of this paper is to describe effects of boronization on aspects of the enhanced plasma performance.     

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.     

Observation of Central Toroidal Rotation Induced by ICRF on EAST

Core plasma rotation of both L-mode and H-mode discharges with ion cyclotron range of frequency(ICRF) minority heating(MH) scheme was measured with a tangential X-ray imaging crystal spectrometer on EAST(Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak).Cocurrent central impurity toroidal rotation change was observed in ICRF-heated L-and H-mode plasmas.Rotation increment as high as 30 km/s was generated at ~1.7 MW ICRF power.Scaling results showed similar trend as the Rice scaling but with significant scattering,especially in L-mode plasmas.We varied the plasma current,toroidal field and magnetic configuration individually to study their effect on L-mode plasma rotation,while keeping the other major plasma parameters and heating unchanged during the scanning.It was found that larger plasma current could induce plasma rotation more efficiently.A scan of the toroidal magnetic field indicated that the largest rotation was obtained for on-axis ICRF heating.A comparison between lower-single-null(LSN)and double-null(DN) configurations showed that LSN discharges rendered a larger rotation change for the same power input and plasma parameters.     

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.     

ICRF Experiments and GAMMA 10 Potential Formation on the Tandem Mirror

Target plasmas, on which the formation of the electrostatic potentials and the improvement of the confinement are studied, are produced with ICRF in the GAMMA 10 tandem mirror. The ion temperature of more than 10 keV has been achieved in relatively low density plasmas. When the strong ICRF heating is applied, it is observed that the high frequency and the low frequency fluctuations are excited and suppress the increase of the plasma parameters. Recently, a new high power gyrotron system has been constructed and the ECRH power in plug extends up to 370 kW. The improvement of the confinement due to the formation of the potential in the axial direction and the strong radial electric field shear has been observed.     

ICRF功率传输系统中预匹配支节设计

在EAST装置内离子回旋共振加热(ICRF)系统中,天线与液态调配器之间传输线上的驻波电压幅值会因为负载阻抗的变化而变得很大,为此设计了ICRF功率传输预匹配支节。本设计采用解析法和Smith圆图法相结合的分析方式,在ICRF系统中安装了预匹配支节,并对其降压效果进行了测试。测试结果表明,安装预匹配支节之后,预匹配支节与液态调配器之间传输线上的驻波电压幅值得到有效降低,可作为优化ICRF功率传输系统功率传输性能的候选者。