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.     

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.     

Real-time fast ferrite ICRF tuning system on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak

A real-time ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) antenna matching system has been successfully implemented on Alcator C-Mod. This is a triple-stub tuning system working at 80 MHz, where one stub acts as a pre-matching stub and the other two stubs use fast ferrite tuners (FFTs) to accomplish fast tuning. It utilizes a digital controller for feedback control (200 μs per iteration) using real-time antenna loading measurements as inputs and the coil currents to the FFT as outputs. The system has achieved and maintained matching for a large range of plasma parameters, including L-mode, H-mode, and plasmas with edge localized modes. It has succeeded in delivering up to 1.85 MW net rf power into H-mode plasmas at maximum voltage of 37 kV on the unmatched side of the matching system.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Progress in JT-60 Experiments

The Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute completed in April 1985 the construction of the large tokamak JT-60, which constitutes a focus of the Second Phase of the Japanese fusion development program under the Atomic Energy Commission started in 1975. Initial experiments of JT-60 were carried out in hydrogen plasma after the completion of the device. Full installation and testing of the heating devices was completed in July 1986 and subsequently the heating experiment was initiated. The target parameters were achieved in deuterium-equivalent values in September 1987 by high power heating of high density hydrogen plasmas at high plasma current. JT-60 has entered the phase of advanced experiments in 1988.     

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。     

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。     

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.