Zhou Jun

A Polarizer with Sinusoidal Grooves in the Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating System of the HL-2A Tokamak

Theoretical calculation and experimental results for a polarizer with sinusoidal grooves used in the electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRU) system of the HL-2A tokamak are presented. The calculation is based on an integral method developed in the vector theory of diffraction gratings, and the polarization characteristics obtained with a low-power test are in good agreement with the numerical calculated results. With the polarizer assembled in a miter bend in the ECRU transmission line, pure ordinary mode (O-mode) and extraordinary mode (X-mode) polarized waves are also expected in the high-power experiment, depending on the polarizer rotation angle and the toroidal injection angle of the electron cyclotron (EC) wave beam. Second-harmonic X-mode experiments were successfully explored in HL-2A. Experimental result revealed that the electron temperature increased from 0.8 keV (Ohmic heating phase) to 1.5 keV (second X-mode heating phase).

Design of the ECRH/ECCD Launcher System for HL-2A Tokamak

An ECRH/ECCD system with two 68 GHz/500 kW/1S gyrotrons will be built up in HL-2A tokamak. The location of the Gaussian beam waist is 580 mm away from the center of the plasmas and the beam radius is 37 mm at the center of the plasmas. Compared to the minor plasma radius (420 mm), it is small enough for localized control. The launcher system covers a wide toroidal and poloidal steering range by the two steering plane mirrors. Therefore it is possible to explore the on- and off-axis heating over half of the plasma minor cross section and the co-current drive.

The 5.8 T Cryogen-Free Gyrotron Superconducting Magnet System on HL-2A

A 5.8 T cryogen-free superconducting magnet (SCM) system with a warm bore hole of 160 mm in diameter, used for gyrotrons operating in the frequency range from 68 GHz to 140 GHz, is installed on the site of the HL-2A tokamak. The SCM consists of two separate solenoidal magnetic coils connected in series, a 4.2 K Gifford-McMahon (GM) refrigerator, a compressor, a coil power supply and two temperature monitors. The performance, test and preliminary experimental results of this SCM system are described in this paper. The magnetic field distribution was measured along the axis, and a dummy tube was used for adjusting the magnet system. Finally, the magnet was used for the operation of a 68 GHz/500 kW gyrotron, which is part of an electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) system. With an additional auxiliary coil and after adjusting the magnet system, a maximum output power for the ECRH system of up to 400 kW was achieved.

ECRH Launcher for Four-Beam Injection on HL-2A Tokamak

An Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) launcher for four-beam injection has been installed on the HL-2A tokamak and used in plasma heating experiments. By the launcher, four EC wave beams can be injected into the tokamak through a 0350 mm port, which are generated from 2 sets of 68 GHz/1 s and 2 sets of 68 GHz/1.5 s gyrotron tubes manufactured by GYCOM, with maximum output power of 500 kW for each. In this paper, the properties of the EC beam in the launcher and plasma are presented: at the centre of the cross section of the tokamak, the beam radius is 31.7 mm; thermal analysis of a 3D model indicates that the peak temperature increase would be only 30°C at the mirror surface for a 500 kW/1 s pulse; ray-tracing calculation predicts satisfactory power deposition. In the plasma experiment, six beams including four beams from this launcher and two from another launcher have been injected simultaneously. Besides, obtaining ELM-y H-mode discharges, the ECRH system shows reliability and stability of the launcher functions.

Development of a 140 GHz Steerable Launcher for the HL-2A ECRH System

A new electron cyclotron resonance heating and current drive (ECRH/ECCD) launcher system has been designed and installed on the HL-2A tokamak to inject four beams and enable continuous millimeter-wave beam scanning independently in the toroidal and poloidal directions for ECRH/ECCD experiments. The launcher is connected to four mm-wave lines capable of transmitting high power up to 3 MW with two 1 MW/140 GHz/3 s and two 0.5 MW/68 GHz/1 s beams. Based on ray tracing simulation using the TORAY-GA code, the scanning range of wave beams is − 15°~15° in the toroidal direction and 0°~10° in the poloidal one for 140 GHz beams, which could cover half of the cross section of plasmas and can satisfy the requirements of advanced physical experiments. The beam radii in the plasma is 17.1 mm and 20 mm for the two 140 GHz beams and 29.5 mm for the two 68 GHz beams, respectively, allowing a very high localization of the absorbed power. The performance of the steering system was proven to be reliable and the linearity is perfect between the displacement of drive shaft and rotate angle of mirror. Additionally the injection performance of the wave beams was optimized by simultaneously setting the injection angle and the polarization to realize desirable pure O- or X-mode injection.

Design of the Transmission Lines for 140 GHz ECRH System on HL-2A

A new 140 GHz/2 MW/3 s electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) system composed of two units is now being constructed on HL-2A. As a part of the system, two transmission lines marked No.7 & 8 play the role of carrying microwave power from two gyrotrons to the tokamak port. Based on the oversized circular corrugated waveguide technology, an evacuated transmission system with high power capability and high transmission efficiency is designed. Details are presented for the design of the corrugated waveguide, the layout of the proposed lines and the vacuum pumping system. Then mode conversion losses due to coupling, misalignment, bends and gaps are discussed to serve as a reference for analyzing the transmission efficiency and alignment. Finally, a dual-modes propagation case consisting of the HE11 and LP11 even modes is discussed.