Diagnostics of the ITER neutral beam test facility

Preliminary design of diagnostic system for negative neutral beam injector at ASIPP

According to the latest physics design of the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR), two neutral beam injectors (NBIs), which deliver a total of 40 MW in not less than 3600 s with 1 MeV D⁰, are demanded to support current drive and plasma rotation. To minimize the risks and time to provide the CFETR with reliable NBIs, a negative NBI test facility will be developed at the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Science. Its mission is to understand the characteristics of the RF driven ion source and negative ion generation and extraction and to improve RF efficiency and beam quality. In order to achieve this goal, a set of diagnostic tools will be used in this test facility. For source diagnostics, optical emission spectroscopy, cavity ring-down spectroscopy, laser absorption spectroscopy, and electrostatic probes are planned to be used. Beam emission spectroscopy, W-wire calorimeters, 1D carbon fiber composite diagnostic calorimeters, beam dump with thermocouples, and water-flow calorimetry are used to assess the beam properties. The design of the diagnostic system is presented.

Study of a high power hydrogen beam diagnostic based on secondary electron emission

In high power neutral beams for fusion, beam uniformity is an important figure of merit. Knowing the transverse power profile is essential during the initial phases of beam source operation, such as those expected for the ITER heating neutral beam (HNB) test facility. To measure it a diagnostic technique is proposed, based on the collection of secondary electrons generated by beam-surface and beam-gas interactions, by an array of positively biased collectors placed behind the calorimeter tubes. This measurement showed in the IREK test stand good proportionality to the primary beam current. To investigate the diagnostic performances in different conditions, we developed a numerical model of secondary electron emission, induced by beam particle impact on the copper tubes, and reproducing the cascade of secondary emission caused by successive electron impacts. The model is first validated against IREK measurements. It is then applied to the HNB case, to assess the locality of the measurement, the proportionality to the beam current density, and the influence of beam plasma.

Final design of thermal diagnostic system in SPIDER ion source

The prototype radio frequency source of the ITER heating neutral beams will be first tested in SPIDER test facility to optimize H^- production, cesium dynamics, and overall plasma characteristics. Several diagnostics will allow to fully characterise the beam in terms of uniformity and divergence and the source, besides supporting a safe and controlled operation. In particular, thermal measurements will be used for beam monitoring and system protection. SPIDER will be instrumented with mineral insulated cable thermocouples, both on the grids, on other components of the beam source, and on the rear side of the beam dump water cooled elements. This paper deals with the final design and the technical specification of the thermal sensor diagnostic for SPIDER. In particular the layout of the diagnostic, together with the sensors distribution in the different components, the cables routing and the conditioning and acquisition cubicles are described.

SPIDER beam dump as diagnostic of the particle beam

The beam power produced by the negative ion source for the production of ion of deuterium extracted from RF plasma is mainly absorbed by the beam dump component which has been designed also for measuring the temperatures on the dumping panels for beam diagnostics. A finite element code has been developed to characterize, by thermo-hydraulic analysis, the sensitivity of the beam dump to the different beam parameters. The results prove the capability of diagnosing the beam divergence and the horizontal misalignment, while the entity of the halo fraction appears hardly detectable without considering the other foreseen diagnostics like tomography and beam emission spectroscopy.

In-vacuum sensors for the beamline components of the ITER neutral beam test facility

Embedded sensors have been designed for installation on the components of the MITICA beamline, the prototype ITER neutral beam injector (Megavolt ITER Injector and Concept Advancement), to derive characteristics of the particle beam and to monitor the component conditions during operation for protection and thermal control. Along the beamline, the components interacting with the particle beam are the neutralizer, the residual ion dump, and the calorimeter. The design and the positioning of sensors on each component have been developed considering the expected beam-surface interaction including non-ideal and off-normal conditions. The arrangement of the following instrumentation is presented: thermal sensors, strain gages, electrostatic probes including secondary emission detectors, grounding shunt for electrical currents, and accelerometers.

Castellated tiles as the beam-facing components for the diagnostic calorimeter of the negative ion source SPIDER

This paper presents the results of numerical simulations and experimental tests carried out to assess the feasibility and suitability of graphite castellated tiles as beam-facing component in the diagnostic calorimeter of the negative ion source SPIDER (Source for Production of Ions of Deuterium Extracted from Radio frequency plasma). The results indicate that this concept could be a reliable, although less performing, alternative for the present design based on carbon fiber composite tiles, as it provides thermal measurements on the required spatial scale.

Preliminary design of electrostatic sensors for MITICA beam line components

Megavolt ITER Injector and Concept Advancement, the full-scale prototype of ITER neutral beam injector, is under construction in Italy. The device will generate deuterium negative ions, then accelerated and neutralized. The emerging beam, after removal of residual ions, will be dumped onto a calorimeter. The presence of plasma and its parameters will be monitored in the components of the beam-line, by means of specific electrostatic probes. Double probes, with the possibility to be configured as Langmuir probes and provide local ion density and electron temperature measurements, will be employed in the neutralizer and in the residual ion dump. Biased electrodes collecting secondary emission electrons will be installed in the calorimeter with the aim to provide a horizontal profile of the beam.

Analysis of diagnostic calorimeter data by the transfer function technique

This paper describes the analysis procedure applied to the thermal measurements on the rear side of a carbon fibre composite calorimeter with the purpose of reconstructing the energy flux due to an ion beam colliding on the front side. The method is based on the transfer function technique and allows a fast analysis by means of the fast Fourier transform algorithm. Its efficacy has been tested both on simulated and measured temperature profiles: in all cases, the energy flux features are well reproduced and beamlets are well resolved. Limits and restrictions of the method are also discussed, providing strategies to handle issues related to signal noise and digital processing.

Numerical simulations of the first operational conditions of the negative ion test facility SPIDER

In view of the realization of the negative ion beam injectors for ITER, a test facility, named SPIDER, is under construction in Padova (Italy) to study and optimize production and extraction of negative ions. The present paper is devoted to the analysis of the expected first operations of SPIDER in terms of single-beamlet and multiple-beamlet simulations of the hydrogen beam optics in various operational conditions. The effectiveness of the methods adopted to compensate for the magnetic deflection of the particles is also assessed. Indications for a sequence of the experimental activities are obtained.

Modeling and simulation of a beam emission spectroscopy diagnostic for the ITER prototype neutral beam injector

A test facility for the development of the neutral beam injection system for ITER is under construction at Consorzio RFX. It will host two experiments: SPIDER, a 100 keV H(-)/D(-) ion RF source, and MITICA, a prototype of the full performance ITER injector (1 MV, 17 MW beam). A set of diagnostics will monitor the operation and allow to optimize the performance of the two prototypes. In particular, beam emission spectroscopy will measure the uniformity and the divergence of the fast particles beam exiting the ion source and travelling through the beam line components. This type of measurement is based on the collection of the Hα/Dα emission resulting from the interaction of the energetic particles with the background gas. A numerical model has been developed to simulate the spectrum of the collected emissions in order to design this diagnostic and to study its performance. The paper describes the model at the base of the simulations and presents the modeled Hα spectra in the case of MITICA experiment.

Langmuir probes for SPIDER (Source for the production of Ions of Deuterium Extracted from Radio Frequency plasma) experiment: tests in BATMAN (BAvarian Test Machine for Negative ions)

A prototype system of the Langmuir probes for SPIDER (Source for the production of Ions of Deuterium Extracted from RF plasma) was manufactured and experimentally qualified. The diagnostic was operated in RF (Radio Frequency) plasmas with cesium evaporation on the BATMAN (BAvarian Test MAchine for Negative ions) test facility, which can provide plasma conditions as expected in the SPIDER source. A RF passive compensation circuit was realised to operate the Langmuir probes in RF plasmas. The sensors' holder, designed to better simulate the bias plate conditions in SPIDER, was exposed to a severe experimental campaign in BATMAN with cesium evaporation. No detrimental effect on the diagnostic due to cesium evaporation was found during the exposure to the BATMAN plasma and in particular the insulation of the electrodes was preserved. The paper presents the system prototype, the RF compensation circuit, the acquisition system (as foreseen in SPIDER), and the results obtained during the experimental campaigns.

First negative ion beam measurement by the Short-Time Retractable Instrumented Kalorimeter Experiment (STRIKE)

The Source for Production of Ion of Deuterium Extracted from Rf plasma (SPIDER) test facility is under construction in Padova to optimise the operation of the beam source of ITER neutral beam injectors. The SPIDER beam will be characterised by the instrumented calorimeter STRIKE, whose main components are one-directional carbon-fibre-carbon-composite tiles. A small-scale version of the entire system has been employed in the BAvarian Test MAchine for Negative ions (BATMAN) testbed by arranging two prototype tiles in the vertical direction. The paper presents a description of the mini-STRIKE system and of the data analysis procedures, as well as some results concerning the BATMAN beam under varying operating conditions.

An image filtering technique for SPIDER visible tomography

The tomographic diagnostic developed for the beam generated in the SPIDER facility (100 keV, 50 A prototype negative ion source of ITER neutral beam injector) will characterize the two-dimensional particle density distribution of the beam. The simulations described in the paper show that instrumental noise has a large influence on the maximum achievable resolution of the diagnostic. To reduce its impact on beam pattern reconstruction, a filtering technique has been adapted and implemented in the tomography code. This technique is applied to the simulated tomographic reconstruction of the SPIDER beam, and the main results are reported.

Electrostatic sensors for SPIDER experiment: design, manufacture of prototypes, and first tests

A system of electrostatic sensors has been designed for the SPIDER (Source for the production of Ions of Deuterium Extracted from RF plasma) experiment, prototype RF source of the ITER NBI (neutral beam injection). A prototype of the sensor system was manufactured and tested at the BATMAN (BAvarian Test MAchine for Negative ions) facility, where the plasma environment is similar to that of SPIDER. Different aspects concerning the mechanical manufacturing and the signal conditioning are presented, among them the RF compensation adopted to reduce the RF effects which could lead to overestimated values of the electron temperature. The first commissioning tests provided ion saturation current values in the range assumed for the design, so the deduced plasma density estimate is consistent with the expected values.

Modeling and design of a beam emission spectroscopy diagnostic for the negative ion source NIO1

Consorzio RFX and INFN-LNL are building a flexible small ion source (Negative Ion Optimization 1, NIO1) capable of producing about 130 mA of H(-) ions accelerated at 60 KeV. Aim of the experiment is to test and develop the instrumentation for SPIDER and MITICA, the prototypes, respectively, of the negative ion sources and of the whole neutral beam injectors which will operate in the ITER experiment. As SPIDER and MITICA, NIO1 will be monitored with beam emission spectroscopy (BES), a non-invasive diagnostic based on the analysis of the spectrum of the Hα emission produced by the interaction of the energetic ions with the background gas. Aim of BES is to monitor direction, divergence, and uniformity of the ion beam. The precision of these measurements depends on a number of factors related to the physics of production and acceleration of the negative ions, to the geometry of the beam, and to the collection optics. These elements were considered in a set of codes developed to identify the configuration of the diagnostic which minimizes the measurement errors. The model was already used to design the BES diagnostic for SPIDER and MITICA. The paper presents the model and describes its application to design the BES diagnostic in NIO1.

Design of a beam emission spectroscopy diagnostic for negative ions radio frequency source SPIDER

A facility will be built in Padova (Italy) to develop, commission, and optimize the neutral beam injection system for ITER. The full scale prototype negative ion radio frequency source SPIDER, featuring up to 100 kV acceleration voltage, includes a full set of diagnostics, required for safe operation and to measure and optimize the beam performance. Among them, beam emission spectroscopy (BES) will be used to measure the line integrated beam uniformity, divergence, and neutralization losses inside the accelerator (stripping losses). In the absence of the neutralization stage, SPIDER beam is mainly composed by H(-) or D(-) particles, according to the source filling gas. The capability of a spectroscopic diagnostic of an H(-) (D(-)) beam relies on the interaction of the beam particles with the background gas particles. The BES diagnostic will be able to acquire the H(α) (D(α)) spectrum from up to 40 lines of sight. The system is capable to resolve stripping losses down to 2 keV and to measure beam divergence with an accuracy of about 10%. The design of this diagnostic is reported, with discussion of the layout and its components, together with simulations of the expected performance.