Qin Chengming

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 MHz 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.

Reference Design of ICRF Antenna for EAST

An antenna array suitable for plasma heating and current drive has been designed for the ion cyclotron resonance frequency range (ICRF) heating on the EAST superconducting tokamak. The ICRF heating is planned to operate in a frequency range of 30 MHz to 80 MHz and hence the antenna geometry is optimized for 55 MHz. The design is based on the conventional strap antenna element. The coupling properties of the antenna are calculated with a slab model of the plasma for the antenna simulation. The coupling code is extended for the analysis of the toroidal antenna array separated by septa.

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 milliseconds, 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.

Electromagnetic Analysis of the EAST 4-Strap ICRF Antenna with HFSS Code ∗

A new ICRF antenna has been designed in EAST, whose aims are to reduce the parallel RF electric fields E|| and to investigate the current drive using the fast magnetosonic wave. This antenna consists of four toroidally spaced radiating straps. The electrical characteristics of the new antenna are estimated by using a three-dimensional electromagnetic commercial code. The S-parameters, RF current distribution and electromagnetic field distribution on and near the 4-strap antenna are analyzed, and the RF potentials influenced by antenna phasing and radial position are investigated.

High Power RF Transmitters for ICRF Applications on EAST

An Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequency (ICRF) system with a radio frequency (RF) power of 4 × 1.5 MW was developed for the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). High RF power transmitters were designed as a part of the research and development (R&D) for an ICRF system with long pulse operation at megawatt levels in a frequency range of 25 MHz to 70 MHz. Studies presented in this paper cover the following parts of the high power transmitter: the three staged high power amplifier, which is composed of a 5 kW wideband solid state amplifier, a 100 kW tetrode drive stage amplifier and a 1.5 MW tetrode final stage amplifier, and the DC high voltage power supply (HVPS). Based on engineering design and static examinations, the RF transmitters were tested using a matched dummy load where an RF output power of 1.5 MW was achieved. The transmitters provide 6 MW RF power in primary phase and will reach a level up to 12 MW after a later upgrade. The transmitters performed successfully in stable operations in EAST and HT-7 devices. Up to 1.8 MW of RF power was injected into plasmas in EAST ICRF heating experiments during the 2010 autumn campaign and plasma performance was greatly improved.

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 High Power DC Break For ICRH Of EAST

1.5 MW Ion Cyclotron Wave Heating system was developed, the transmitter and the antenna both have their ground loops, which will severely perturb the systems normal operation. To avoid perturbation, a DC break was designed. The S parameter and the VSWR (voltage standing wave ratio) of incident port were calculated; the thermal effect caused by conductor loss and dielectric loss was analyzed.

Development of Data Acquisition Card Driver for ICRH System on EAST

Presented in this paper is the development of the driver for the data acquisition card with a peripheral component interconnection (PCI) local bus on the ion cyclotron range of frequency heating (ICRH) system. The driver is mainly aimed at the embedded VxWorks system (real-time operating system) which is widely used in various fields of real-time systems. An efficient way is employed to develop this driver, which will advance the real-time control of the ICRH system on the experimental advanced superconductor tokamak (EAST). The driver is designed using the TORNADO integrated development environment (IDE), and implemented in C plus language. The details include the hardware configuration, analogue/digital (A/D) and digital/analogue (D/A) conversion, input and output (I/O) operation of the driver to support over five cards. The data acquisition card can be manipulated in a low-level program and meet the requirements of A/D conversion and D/A outputs.

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.

Experimental Results of IBW Heating on the HT-7 Tokmak

Ion Bernstein waves (IBWs) have been proposed to be useful for heating and improving transport in tokamak plasmas. An Ion Bernstein wave heating experiment using different frequency (27 MHz and 30 MHz) was carried out on HT-7 superconducting tokamak in recent experiments. At a frequency of 30 MHz, ne peaked and Hα dropped have been pervasively observed, τp was improved by a factor of 2-4, and τe increased by a factor of 1-1.5. An obvious confinement of particle was observed during the IBW pulse. At 27 MHz, both global and localized electron heating were observed depending on the location of the ion resonant layer by changing Bt. Central electron heating effect was obtained in the global heating mode and electron temperature strongly increased near the 2ΩD resonant layer for localized heating mode.