Kuang Guangli

Removal of Particles by ICRF Cleaning in HT-7 Superconducting Tokamak

The ICRF (Ion Cyclotron Range Frequency) cleaning technique has been used as a routine wall cleaning method in the HT-7 superconducting tokamak. In a wide range of toroidal field, the removal rate of residual gas by ICRF cleaning was about twenty times higher than that of glow discharge cleaning (GDC). At different gas pressure and RF power levels, the ICRF cleaning is studied carefully. A good impurity cleaning effect and a very high hydrogen removal rate were obtained. The removal rate of hydrogen by 5 kW ICRF cleaning achieved was 1.6 × 10-5 Torr.l/s. And the relationships among pressure P, outgassing rate Q, atomic layers L absorbed on surface and the cleaning mode were discussed briefly.

Effects of Plasma Density and Toroidal Magnetic Field on Lower Hybrid Current Drive Efficiency on HT-7 Tokamak

Lower hybrid current drive experiments on the HT-7 device have been carried out by scanning the following parameters: central line averaged electron density (ne = 0.6 - 2.0 × 1019 m-3) and toroidal magnetic field (Bt = 1.62 - 2.0 T). The dependence of current drive efficiency on these parameters has been studied and the experimental curves of current drive efficiency as a function of ne and Bt have also been obtained. From these experimental results, it can be seen that current drive efficiency rises with the increase of toroidal magnetic field. As plasma density increases, the current drive efficiency first increases to a certain value, then gradually decreases, that is, there exists an optimized density regime where a better drive efficiency can be obtained. The analysis shows that the current drive efficiency is mainly affected by wave accessibility and impurity concentration, and the competition of these two factors determines the current drive efficiency.

The technologies and scientific researches of steady high magnetic field

High magnetic field provides unique opportunity to explore new scientific issues in the fields such as material science, physics, chemistry, life science and so on. Other countries like European countries, USA and Japan have being endeavoring to develop technologies producing high magnetic field for many years and have obtained lots of great achievements in multidisciplinary researches under high magnetic field. In 2008, National Development and Reform Commission of China (NDRC) approved the project of the Steady High Magnetic Field Facility (SHMFF), which includes ten high field magnets and a series of experimental systems. The whole project has been nearly accomplished. Several magnets and experimental systems of SHMFF have being put into trial performance and opened to external users. The international technical developments to produce steady high magnetic field and the multidisciplinary researches under high magnetic field are summarized in this article, the SHMFF and its research activities are briefly introduced.

Design of a TE10–TE30 Rectangular Mode Converter for 4.6 GHz LHCD Launcher in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak

A compact rectangular TE10–TE30 mode converter is developed for the lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) launcher on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) at 4.6 GHz. The converter with periodic width perturbation aims to divide the microwave power into three sub-waveguides in the poloidal direction. We present the design and numerical calculation of the mode converter. Calculations are performed on the ripple wall converter by codes based on numerical solving the coupled-mode differential equations and on the simulation of the High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) package. The resulting conversion efficiency from TE10 mode to TE30 mode exceeds 95% within the bandwidth from 4.56 GHz to 4.64 GHz, and the return loss of the oversized transducer can be considerably decreased to 0.068% by means of a capacitive button embedded in the E-plane of the waveguide.

Design of a New Water Load for S-band 750 kW Continuous Wave High Power Klystron Used in EAST Tokamak

In order to test the klystrons operated at a frequency of 3.7 GHz in a continuous wave (CW) mode, a type of water load to absorb its power up to 750 kW is presented. The distilled water sealed with an RF ceramic window is used as the absorbent. At a frequency range of 70 MHz, the VSWR (Voltage Standing Wave Ratio) is below 1.2, and the rise in temperature of water is about 30 oC at the highest power level.

Experimental Research on Lower Hybrid Current Drive in Superconducting Tokamak HT-7

Fundamental experiments on lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) have been undertaken on HT-7 superconducting tokamak. The experiments on LHCD efficiency reveal its dependence on plasma density and the toroidal magnetic field. Furthermore, the experiments on HT-7 successfully demonstrate the ability for LHCD to sustain long pulse tokamak discharges, such as discharges with full non-inductive current drive for several seconds. The experimental study to improve plasma confinements by LHCD suggests that the improvement should be due to the change of current profile. It has also been demonstrated by the experiments that the lower hybrid wave may lead to an enhanced ionization of particles in the region where the wave is deposited.

High Power Microwave Test System and Simulated Experiments for HT-7

In lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) experiments in HT-7, LH wave coupled to the plasma from 12 klystrons is launched by a phased multi-junction grill. High power microwave reflection or arc, which threatens the klystrons, the wave-guide ceramic windows and the vacuum of the tokamak, occur sometimes during the experiments. For the sake of safety, a high power microwave test system to perform simulations was developed. In the test experiments, the klystron and window can be well protected with an optimized microwave monitor and a PIN switch. The layout of the test system and the simulated experiments for HT-7 are described in this paper.

Experimental characteristics of a lower hybrid wave multi-junction coupler in the HT-7 tokamak

A phase-controlled lower hybrid wave (LHW) multi-junction (MJ) coupler (3(rows)×4(columns)×4 (subwaveguides)) has been developed in the HT-7 tokamak. Simulations show that it is more effective for driving plasma current than an ordinary phase-controlled LHW antenna (3(rows)× 12(columns)) (traditional coupler). The plasma–wave coupling experiments show that the reflection coefficient (RC) is below 10%, implying that the MJ grill can launch the wave into the plasma effectively. The effect of power spectrum launched by the MJ coupler on RC indicates that an optimal condition is requisite for a better coupling in the lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) experiments. Studies indicate that the drive efficiency of the MJ antenna is higher than that of the traditional one, which is mainly ascribed to the discrepancy in impurity concentration, plasma temperature, and spectrum directivity. An improved confinement with an electron internal transport barrier is obtained by LHCD. The analysis shows that the modified negative (low) magnetic shear and the change of radial electric field profile due to LHCD are possible factors responsible for the eITB formation.

Feedback Control System for Antenna Phase Difference in the LHCD Experiments

It is well accepted that lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) is the most efficient method for non-inductive current drive in fusion devices and the effect of the current drive is dependent on not only microwave power but also its grill phase shift. This paper presents a new kind of feedback control system for antenna phase difference in LHCD experiments. In this high-speed control system, a lot of new technologies and methods are incorporated. The results of the experiments show a very good agreement with the system design.

Design and Simulation for the Pulse High-Voltage DC Power Supply (HVPS) of 1.2 MW/2.45 GHz HT-7U Lower Hybrid Current Drive System

The superconducting tokamak HT-7U [1] has been designed by the Institute of Plasma Physics since 1998 and will be set up before 2003. The 1.2 MW/2.45 GHz HT-7U LHCD (Lower hybrid current drive) system which being the most efficient non-induction device can heat the plasma and drive the plasma current has been efficiently in operation now, and a particular design of the 2.8 MW/-35 kV high-voltage DC power supply has been already completed and will apply to the klystron of LHCD on HT-7 and the future HT-7U, and the project of the power supply has been examined and approved professionally by an authorized group of high-level specialist in the Institute of Plasma Physics. The detailed design of the power supply and the simulation results are referred in the paper.