The Tore Supra Front Steering Long Pulse ECRH Antenna. Past Experience - Present Evolution - Future Experiments

The long pulse capability of Tore Supra and its ECRH system makes it an ideal machine to prove steady state feedback control as required in ITER. Although Neoclassical Tearing Modes (NTMs) have not yet been observed on Tore Supra, the control of other MHD modes represents a very similar task from a control point of view and the stabilisation of such modes for long periods using ECRH will provide essential experience for the implementation of such control schemes on ITER. For this work to progress on Tore Supra, it must be possible to vary the injection angles in real time under feedback control from measured plasma parameters. At Tore Supra the front mirror position - and hence the injection angles - is adjusted using stepper motors controlled through a serial link. The use of a serial link limiting the sampling time for the control system to 50-100 ms and the dynamic response of the stepper motors results in a system frequency response <5 Hz. For following the evolution of the current profile this seems fully acceptable though it could prove somewhat slow for reacting to fast beta changes. In any case the time constants typically associated with growth rate of NTMs on ITER would not require a significantly faster system. Initial commissioning of such real time control was performed in 2004. Unfortunately, following a limited number of cycles and prior to using the system for plasma experiments, one water bellows in the antenna ruptured indicating a major weakness in the design of the water-cooling system for the antenna. As a consequence the water-cooling of the mobile mirror has been redesigned. Careful calculations and subsequent tests have been used to optimise the trajectories of the flexible water connections and a more robust layout is being implemented, ready for operation in the summer 2005.