Byung-Hoon Oh

Arc discharge efficiency of a multi-megawatt long pulse ion source for the KSTAR neutral beam injector

A multi-megawatt long pulse ion source (LPIS) was developed for the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) neutral beam (NB) injector. Arc discharge characteristics of the ion source were investigated on the NB test stand. The ion source consists of a magnetic bucket plasma generator with multi-pole cusp fields and a set of tetrode accelerators with circular apertures. The inner volume of the ion source, including the accelerator column, is approximately 150 litres. Design requirements for the ion source were a 120 kV/65 A deuterium beam and a 300 s pulse length and initially an 80 kV/48 A hydrogen beam for a 20 s pulse length. Arc discharges of the plasma generator with hydrogen gases have been controlled by the emission-limited mode, operated by the applied heating voltage of the cathode filaments. Stable and efficient arc plasmas, with a maximum arc power of 110 kW, have been produced by a constant voltage (CV) mode operation of an arc power supply. The CV mode operation of the arc powers was more efficient than the constant power (CP) mode operation in the LPIS. A maximum ion density of 9.1 × 1011 cm−3 was measured by using electrostatic probes. The plasma non-uniformity of the ion source was less than 8% and was under the design limit. An optimum arc efficiency, defined by the ratio of extractible ion beam current to arc input power, of 0.46 A kW−1 was estimated for the CV mode operation and 0.44 A kW−1 for the CP mode operation. This arc efficiency is enough to extract the expected hydrogen beam of 48 A.

First neutral beam injection experiments on KSTAR tokamak.

The first neutral beam (NB) injection system of the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) tokamak was partially completed in 2010 with only 1∕3 of its full design capability, and NB heating experiments were carried out during the 2010 KSTAR operation campaign. The ion source is composed of a JAEA bucket plasma generator and a KAERI large multi-aperture accelerator assembly, which is designed to deliver a 1.5 MW, NB power of deuterium at 95 keV. Before the beam injection experiments, discharge, and beam extraction characteristics of the ion source were investigated. The ion source has good beam optics in a broad range of beam perveance. The optimum perveance is 1.1-1.3 μP, and the minimum beam divergence angle measured by the Doppler shift spectroscopy is 0.8°. The ion species ratio is D(+):D(2)(+):D(3)(+) = 75:20:5 at beam current density of 85 mA/cm(2). The arc efficiency is more than 1.0 A∕kW. In the 2010 KSTAR campaign, a deuterium NB power of 0.7-1.5 MW was successfully injected into the KSTAR plasma with a beam energy of 70-90 keV. L-H transitions were observed within a wide range of beam powers relative to a threshold value. The edge pedestal formation in the T(i) and T(e) profiles was verified through CES and electron cyclotron emission diagnostics. In every deuterium NB injection, a burst of D-D neutrons was recorded, and increases in the ion temperature and plasma stored energy were found.

Development of a plasma generator for a long pulse ion source for neutral beam injectors.

A plasma generator for a long pulse H(+)/D(+) ion source has been developed. The plasma generator was designed to produce 65 A H(+)/D(+) beams at an energy of 120 keV from an ion extraction area of 12 cm in width and 45 cm in length. Configuration of the plasma generator is a multi-cusp bucket type with SmCo permanent magnets. Dimension of a plasma chamber is 25 cm in width, 59 cm in length, and 32.5 cm in depth. The plasma generator was designed and fabricated at Japan Atomic Energy Agency. Source plasma generation and beam extraction tests for hydrogen coupling with an accelerator of the KSTAR ion source have been performed at the KSTAR neutral beam test stand under the agreement of Japan-Korea collaborative experiment. Spatial uniformity of the source plasma at the extraction region was measured using Langmuir probes and ±7% of the deviation from an averaged ion saturation current density was obtained. A long pulse test of the plasma generation up to 200 s with an arc discharge power of 70 kW has been successfully demonstrated. The arc discharge power satisfies the requirement of the beam production for the KSTAR NBI. A 70 keV, 41 A, 5 s hydrogen ion beam has been extracted with a high arc efficiency of 0.9 -1.1 A/kW at a beam extraction experiment. A deuteron yield of 77% was measured even at a low beam current density of 73 mA/cm(2).

Long pulse beam extraction with a prototype ion source for the KSTAR neutral beam systema)

Long pulse operational characteristics of the high current ion source for the KSTAR neutral beam system are described. The beam pulse length of 300 s was successfully operated at a beam power of 1.6 MW with a beam energy of 70 keV. Beam energy, beam current, beam divergence, arc power, and several other operational parameters were measured during a pulse to analyze the long pulse properties. The increase of the cooling water temperature of the accelerator grids and plasma generator components were measured by water flow calorimetric system using thermocouples. The temperature rises of the filament electrodes of the ion source and the G1 grids (plasma grids) of the accelerator turned out to be the critical factors of the long pulse operation in the current system.

Results of Beam Extraction Performance for the KSTAR Neutral Beam Injector

The first neutral beam injector (NBI-1) has been developed for the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) tokamak. The first long pulse ion source (LPIS-1) has been installed on the NBI-1 for an auxiliary heating and current drive of KSTAR plasmas. The performance of ion and neutral beam extractions in the LPIS-1 was investigated initially on the KSTAR NBI-1 system, prior to the neutral beam injection into the main plasmas. The ion source consists of a magnetic bucket plasma generator with multipole cusp fields and a set of prototype tetrode accelerators with circular apertures. The inner volume of the plasma generator and accelerator column in the LPIS-1 is approximately 123 L. Design requirements for the ion source were a 120 kV/65 A deuterium beam and a 300 s pulse length. The extraction of ion beams was initiated by the formation of arc plasmas in the LPIS-1, called the arc-beam extraction method. A stable ion beam extraction of the LPIS-1 was achieved up to 85 kV/32 A for a 5 s pulse length and 80 kV/25 A for a 14 s pulse length. An optimum beam perveance of 1.15 µperv was observed at an acceleration voltage of 60 kV. Neutralization efficiency was measured by a water-flow calorimetry (WFC) method using a calorimeter and the operation of a bending magnet. The full-energy species of ion beams were detected by using the diagnostic method of optical multichannel analyzer (OMA). An arc efficiency of the LPIS was 0.6–1.1 A/kW depending on the operating conditions of arc discharge. A neutral beam power of ~1.0 MW must be sufficiently injected into the KSTAR plasmas from the LPIS-1 at a beam energy of 80 keV.

CURRENT STATUS OF NUCLEAR FUSION ENERGY RESEARCH IN KOREA

The history of nuclear fusion research in Korea is rather short compared to that of advanced countries. However, since the mid-1990s, at which time the construction of KSTAR was about to commence, fusion research in Korea has been actively carried out in a wide range of areas, from basic plasma physics to fusion reactor design. The flourishing of fusion research partly owes to the fact that industrial technologies in Korea including those related to the nuclear field have been fully matured, with their quality being highly ranked in the world. Successive pivotal programs such as KSTAR and ITER have provided diverse opportunities to address new scientific and technological problems in fusion as well as to draw young researchers into related fields. The frame of the Korean nuclear fusion program is now changing from a small laboratory scale to a large national agenda. Coordinated strategies from different views and a holistic approach are necessary in order to achieve optimal efficiency and effectiveness. Upon this background, the present paper reflects upon the road taken to arrive at this point and looks ahead at the coming future in nuclear fusion research activities in Korea.

Study on an azimuthal line cusp ion source for the KSTAR neutral beam injector

In this study it is found that the cusp magnetic field configuration of an anode bucket influences the primary electron behavior. An electron orbit code (ELEORBIT code) showed that an azimuthal line cusp (cusp lines run azimuthally with respect to the beam extraction direction) provides a longer primary electron confinement time than an axial line cusp configuration. Experimentally higher plasma densities were obtained under the same arc power when the azimuthal cusp chamber was used. The newly designed azimuthal cusp bucket has been investigated in an effort to increase the plasma density in its plasma generator per arc power.

An ion optics study for KSTAR neutral beam injector development.

Ion optics of three accelerator geometries was studied in terms of an analytic linear optics analysis, a numerical simulation using the IGUN program, an optical multichannel measurement of Doppler-shifted H(alpha) lines, and a water-flow calorimetry on the beam absorbing target. In general, there was a reasonable agreement observed between the four analysis methods and thus the theoretical analyses can be utilized with confidence for design iteration.

Energy Distribution of a Prototype KSTAR Neutral Beam Ion Source for 300 s Arc Discharge

A neutral beam test-stand (NBTS) system has been developed for the extraction of a 300 s deuterium beam of 120 kV/65 A as an auxiliary heating system of Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR). The prototype long pulse ion source (LPIS) consists of a plasma generator and a set of tetrode accelerators. Beam extraction for 300 s was achieved at a maximum hydrogen beam power of 1.6 MW (70 kV/23 A) with an arc discharge power of 63 kW. The energy distribution of the ion source was analyzed by water-flow calorimetry (WFC) by monitoring the cooling-water temperature during the arc discharge. The power dissipation rate on the accelerator column was 0.97% of the total extracted ion beam power with a power loss of 0.2% caused by the collision of back stream electrons with the electron dump plate of the plasma generator. 74.2% of the total energy of was estimated to be distributed in the plasma generator and the accelerator for an arc discharge of 300 s. Also, 75.6% of the total energy was distributed in the ion source for an arc discharge of 2 s. The remaining energy was lost through the structures around the water-cooling path.

Analysis of X-ray spectra in 14.5-GHz ECR ion source for optimizing operation conditions

ABSTRACT An electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source operating at 14.5 GHz was developed for the generation of charged ions at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). Experiments were carried out to study the plasma inside the ECR ion source by analyzing the X-ray spectra generated by it. The X-ray energy distribution and electron energy inside the plasma chamber are influenced by the status of the heated plasma. That status depends on various operation parameters such as microwave power, injected gas-pressure, and solenoid and trim coil currents. X-ray spectra were recorded to find the correlation between the plasma and the X-rays for variations in the operation parameters. A standard NaI(Tl) detector was used for that purpose. The X-ray energy distribution was studied in the range of 100–500 W for radiofrequency power. The influence of the injected gas pressure and the mirror ratio in the emission of X-rays were analyzed.