D.A. Maurer

Suppression of resistive wall instabilities with distributed, independently controlled, active feedback coils

External kink instabilities are suppressed in a tokamak experiment by either (1) energizing a distributed array of independently controlled active feedback coils mounted outside a segmented resistive wall or (2) inserting a second segmented wall having much higher electrical conductivity. When the active feedback coils are off and the highly conducting wall is withdrawn, kink instabilities excited by plasma current gradients grow at a rate comparable to the magnetic diffusion rate of the resistive wall.

Active control of 2/1 magnetic islands in a tokamak*

Closed and open loop control techniques were applied to growing m/n=2/1 rotating islands in wall-stabilized plasmas in the High Beta Tokamak-Extended Pulse (HBT-EP) [J. Fusion Energy 12, 303 (1993)]. HBT-EP combines an adjustable, segmented conducting wall (which slows the growth or stabilizes ideal external kinks) with a number of small (6° wide toroidally) driven saddle coils located between the gaps of the conducting wall. Two-phase driven magnetic island rotation control from 5 to 15 kHz has been demonstrated powered by two 10 MW linear amplifiers. The phase instability has been observed and is well modeled by the single-helicity predictions of nonlinear Rutherford island dynamics for 2/1 tearing modes including important effects of ion inertia and finite Larmor radius, which appear as a damping term in the model equations. The closed loop response of active feedback control of the 2/1 mode at moderate gain was observed to be in good agreement with the theory. Suppression of the 2/1 island growth has ...

Observation of wall stabilization and active control of low-n magnetohydrodynamic instabilities in a tokamak*

The High Beta Tokamak‐Extended Pulse (HBT‐EP) experiment [J. Fusion Energy 12, 303 (1993)] combines an internal, movable conducting wall with a high‐power, modular saddle coil system to provide passive and active control of long wavelength magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities. Systematic adjustment of the radial position, b, of the conducting wall elements in relation to the surface of the plasma (minor radius a) resulted in the suppression of β‐limiting disruptions for discharges in which b/a<1.2 and a positive plasma current ramp was maintained. Conducting wall stabilization of kink instabilities was observed in discharges with strong current ramps and in plasmas with β values near the Troyon stability boundary. The frequency of slowly growing modes that persisted in wall‐stabilized discharges was controlled by applying oscillating m=2, n=1 resonant magnetic perturbations. A compact, single‐phase saddle coil system permitted modulation of the rotation velocity of internal m/n=2/1 instabilities by a f...

Enhanced ITER resistive wall mode feedback performance using optimal control techniques

In order to achieve the highest plasma pressure limits in ITER, resistive wall kink mode stabilization is required. A novel resistive wall mode linear observer and feedback controller designed using model reduction and optimal control theory and employing only proportional gain are described here that allow operation of ITER up to Cβ = 86% of the ideal wall limit using the present design external control coils. The full VALEN finite element ITER model containing ~3000 modes was reduced to a minimum of 8 modes making real-time controller implementation possible. We find an order of magnitude reduction of the required control coil current and voltage in the presence of white noise from the no-wall limit to the optimal feedback system performance limit as compared with a traditional, classical controller.

Stabilization of kink instabilities by eddy currents in a segmented wall and comparison with ideal MHD theory

The characteristics of external kink instabilities observed during wall stabilization studies in the HBT-EP tokamak have been compared with the predictions of ideal MHD theory, in order to examine the stabilizing role of a resistive wall that is segmented both toroidally and poloidally. The reconstructed equilibria, for discharges with different plasma-wall configurations, are consistent with external and internal magnetic measurements, measured soft X ray profiles and measured equilibrium wall eddy currents. The stability analysis of these equilibria predicts patterns of instability induced eddy currents for a model wall that is continuous and perfectly conducting, and these patterns are in good agreement with the ones observed on the HBT-EP segmented wall. These eddy currents account for the observed stabilization of fast ideal modes when the wall is fully inserted, consistent with the prediction of marginal stability.

The high beta tokamak-extended pulse magnetohydrodynamic mode control research program

The high beta tokamak-extended pulse (HBT-EP) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) mode control research program is studying ITER relevant internal modular feedback control coil configurations and their impact on kink mode rigidity, advanced digital control algorithms and the effects of plasma rotation and three-dimensional magnetic fields on MHD mode stability. A new segmented adjustable conducting wall has been installed on the HBT-EP and is made up of 20 independent, movable, wall shell segments instrumented with three distinct sets of 40 saddle coils, totaling 120 in-vessel modular feedback control coils. Each internal coil set has been designed with varying toroidal angular coil coverage of 5, 10 and 15°, spanning the toroidal angle range of an ITER port plug based internal coil to test resistive wall mode (RWM) interaction and multimode MHD plasma response to such highly localized control fields. In addition, we have implemented 336 new poloidal and radial magnetic sensors to quantify the applied three-dimensional fields of our control coils along with the observed plasma response. This paper describes the design and implementation of the new control shell incorporating these control and sensor coils on the HBT-EP, and the research program plan on the upgraded HBT-EP to understand how best to optimize the use of modular feedback coils to control instability growth near the ideal wall stabilization limit, answer critical questions about the role of plasma rotation in active control of the RWM and the ferritic resistive wall mode, and to improve the performance of MHD control systems used in fusion experiments and future burning plasma systems.

A Kalman filter for feedback control of rotating external kink instabilities in the presence of noise

The simulation and experimental optimization of a Kalman filter feedback control algorithm for n=1 tokamak external kink modes are reported. In order to achieve the highest plasma pressure limits in ITER, resistive wall mode stabilization is required [T. C. Hender et al., Nucl. Fusion 47, S128 (2007)] and feedback algorithms will need to distinguish the mode from noise due to other magnetohydrodynamic activity. The Kalman filter contains an internal model that captures the dynamics of a rotating, growing n=1 mode. This model is actively compared with real-time measurements to produce an optimal estimate for the mode’s amplitude and phase. On the High Beta Tokamak-Extended Pulse experiment [T. H. Ivers et al., Phys. Plasmas 3, 1926 (1996)], the Kalman filter algorithm is implemented using a set of digital, field-programmable gate array controllers with 10 μs latencies. Signals from an array of 20 poloidal sensor coils are used to measure the n=1 mode, and the feedback control is applied using 40 poloidally...

High spatial resolution Hall sensor array for edge plasma magnetic field measurements

A one-dimensional, high-spatial resolution, 20-element Hall sensor array has been developed to directly measure the edge plasma perpendicular magnetic field and its fluctuations as a function of radius with 4-mm resolution. The array employs new small-area, high-sensitivity indium antimonide (InSb) Hall probes in combination with a high-density seven-layer printed circuit board to provide for connections to supply Hall current, record the measured Hall voltage output signals, and mitigate inductive pickup. A combination of bench and in situ measurements is described that provides absolute calibration of the diagnostic array in the presence of a strong transverse magnetic field component that is approximately 1000 times greater than the perpendicular fluctuating field needed to be resolved by the diagnostic. The Hall probes calibrated using this method are capable of magnetic field measurements with a sensitivity of 7V∕T over the frequency band from 0 to 20 kHz.

Initial high beta operation of the HBT-EP Tokamak

HBT-EP is a new research tokamak designed and built to investigate passive and active feedback techniques to control MHD instabilities. In particular, HBT-EP will be able to test techniques to control fast MHD instabilities occurring at high Troyon-normalized beta, βN ≡ βBa/Ip [Tm/MA], since it is equipped with a thick, close-fitting, and adjustable conducting shell. The major goals of the initial operation of HBT-EP have been the achievement of high beta operation (βN ∼ 3) using only ohmic heating and the observation of MHD instabilities. By using a unique fast startup technique, we have successfully achieved these goals. A variety of MHD phenomena were observed during the high beta operation of HBT-EP. At modest beta (βN ≤ 2), discharges have been maintained for more than 10 msec, and these discharges exhibit saturated resistive instabilities. When βN approaches 3, major disruptions occur preceded by oscillating, growing precursors. During start-up, one or more minor disruptions are usually observed. A 1-D transport code has been used to simulate the evolution of the current profile, and these early minor instabilities are predicted to be double tearing modes. The simulation also reproduces the observed high beta operation when saturated neo-Alcator energy confinement scaling is assumed.

Effect of magnetic islands on the local plasma behavior in a tokamak experiment

Effect of Magnetic Islands on the Local Plasma Behavior in a Tokamak Erik Dannel Taylor Experiments on the HBT-EP (High Beta Tokamak-Extended Pulse) tokamak provided local measurements of the pressure and ion velocity perturbations from rotating magnetic island using Mach probes. The presence of magnetic islands created two distinct features in ion fluid velocity measurements. First, the toroidal velocity profile was sharply peaked near the center of the 2/1 magnetic island. Second, the ion velocity near this island was only ~30% of the magnetic island velocity. Measurements of the perturbations from rotating magnetic islands with stationary detectors prompted the development of a new data analysis technique using the Hilbert transform. This method generated plots of the pressure profile co-rotating with the magnetic island, allowing the analysis of the pressure profile behavior at the O and X-points of the magnetic island. Experiments with active rotation control demonstrated that the pressure perturbations followed the magnetic island motion, while simultaneously measuring that the ion velocity and acceleration were less that those of the magnetic island. These observations agreed with predictions from a two-fluid plasma model that included the effect of magnetic islands on the diamagnetic velocity as well as neutral damping effects. Understanding the effect of magnetic islands on the pressure and ion velocity profiles is crucial for both fundamental plasma studies and the development of more efficient tokamaks using advanced tokamak (AT) concepts.