Abstract Most of the currently operating Negative ion Neutral Beam Injectors (N-NBIs) exploit filament powered sources for the generation of beam ions. Being widely used in fusion experiments, the ...filament arc technology has been thoroughly investigated and optimized over the years, allowing to achieve excellent performances in terms of extracted beam optics. The source geometry, the magnetic field topology and the arc power strongly influence both the plasma discharge and the background gas properties and, consequently, the beam features. In this framework, this contribution describes a numerical investigation of the plasma properties in a filament-powered negative ion source, performed by means of a 2D3V Particle In Cell-Monte Carlo Collisions (PIC-MCC) code. Specifically, we discuss plasma formation by the thermionic electrons emitted by the filaments, investigating their interaction with the background gas. We also study the plasma diffusion through the magnetic filter field and how the latter modifies plasma density, electron temperature and plasma potential along the axial direction when approaching the plasma facing electrode.
Abstract
Reverse calculation of negative ion trajectory based on the measured beam emittance has been performed for the first time in multi-stage accelerator in order to reconstruct negative ion ...profile near meniscus, which has been a long-term issue for negative ion sources. According to reverse calculation, negative ions are mainly extracted from the periphery of extraction area, and the particles extracted from the aperture edge is lost on acceleration grids. By taking into account the lost component with reconstructed negative ion profile, the negative ion trajectory became consistent with observed beam traces on the acceleration grids. This result can be applied directly to the design of ITER accelerator as well as the other Cs-seeded negative ion sources.
•Status of MITICA facility.•SPIDER experimentation started.•First scan of plasma light and spectroscopic signals vs RF power and filter field.•SPIDER short-term planning.
To reach fusion conditions ...and control plasma configuration in ITER, a suitable combination of additional heating and current drive systems is necessary. Among them, two Neutral Beam Injectors (NBI) will provide 33 MW hydrogen/deuterium particles electrostatically accelerated to 1 MeV; efficient gas-cell neutralisation at such beam energy requires negative ions, obtained by caesium-catalysed surface conversion of atoms inside the ion source. As ITER NBI requirements have never been simultaneously attained, a Neutral Beam Test Facility (NBTF) was set up at Consorzio RFX (Italy), including two experiments. MITICA is the full-scale NBI prototype with 1 MeV particle energy. SPIDER, with 100 keV particle energy, aims at testing and optimising the full-scale ion source: extracted beam uniformity, negative ion current density (for one hour) and beam optics (beam divergence <7 mrad; beam aiming direction within 2 mrad). This paper outlines the worldwide effort towards the ITER NBI realisation: the main results of the ELISE facility (IPP-Garching, Germany), equipped with a half-size source, are described along with the status of MITICA; specific issues are investigated by small specific facilities and by joint experiments at QST and NIFS (Japan). The SPIDER experiment, just come into operation, will profit from strong modelling activities, to simulate and interpret experimental scenarios, and from advanced diagnostic instruments, providing thorough plasma and beam characterisation. Finally, the results of the first experiments in SPIDER are presented, aimed at a preliminary source plasma characterisation by plasma light detectors and plasma spectroscopy.
Abstract Long pulse beam experiment has been carried out with a multi-aperture and five-stage accelerator with the same gap length, the same aperture interval, and the same aperture diameter as ITER ...accelerator in order to demonstrate ITER-relevant beam of 230 Am −2 and 870 keV. An actively cooled plasma grid (PG) with compressed air has been newly developed to maintain the PG temperature within suitable range for surface production of hydrogen negative ion (H – ) and to realize the stable H – production. It is confirmed that the air-cooled PG has a capability to control the PG temperature within target range for 300 s with feedback control of the air flow rate. The stable beam acceleration with ITER relevant perveance has been successfully achieved for 300 s at 275 keV with PG cooling, 100 s at 500 keV, and 10 s at 750 keV without PG cooling.
Abstract Neutral beam injectors for ITER require the beam divergence to be less than 7 mrad for both D − and H − negative ion beams. The time evolution of beam optics parameters of ITER-relevant high ...intensity has not been well understood due to the material capabilities of heat load. In this study, the time evolution of beam divergence has been successfully observed with the ITER-relevant perveance beam parameter for 0.5 MeV and 100 seconds pulse. For this purpose, a beam monitoring system based on a visible camera, which has been newly developed and installed in the MeV Test Facility, is used. As a result of this experiment, it is experimentally found that the time evolution of beam divergence exists even if the I acc and heat load to beam dump are stable. To reduce the time evolution of beam optics, the feed-back control of I ext is under development in order to suppress the variation of conditions in the ion source.
Significant progress in the extension of pulse durations of powerful negative ion beams has been made to realize the neutral beam injectors for JT-60SA and ITER. In order to overcome common issues of ...the long-pulse production/acceleration of negative ion beams in JT-60SA and ITER, new technologies have been developed in the JT-60SA ion source and the MeV accelerator in Japan Atomic Energy Agency. As for the long-pulse production of high-current negative ions for the JT-60SA ion source, the pulse durations have been successfully increased from 30 s at 13 A on JT-60U to 100 s at 15 A by modifying the JT-60SA ion source, which satisfies the required pulse duration of 100 s and 70% of the rated beam current for JT-60SA. This progress was based on the R&D efforts for the temperature control of the plasma grid and uniform negative ion productions with the modified tent-shaped filter field configuration. Moreover, each parameter of the required beam energy, current and pulse has been achieved individually by these R&D efforts. The developed techniques are useful to design the ITER ion source because the sustainment of the caesium coverage in the large extraction area is one of the common issues between JT-60SA and ITER. As for the long-pulse acceleration of high power density beams in the MeV accelerator for ITER, the pulse duration of MeV-class negative ion beams has been extended by more than 2 orders of magnitude by modifying the extraction grid with a high cooling capability and a high transmission of negative ions. A long-pulse acceleration of 60 s has been achieved at 70 MW m−2 (683 keV, 100 A m−2) which has reached the power density of JT-60SA level of 65 MW m−2. No degradations of the voltage holding capability of the acceleration voltage and the beam optics due to the distortion of the acceleration grids have been observed in this power density level. These results are the longest pulse durations of high-current and high-power-density negative ion beams in the world.
The ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility (PRIMA) is presently under construction at Consorzio RFX (Padova, Italy). PRIMA includes two experimental devices: an ITER-size ion source with low voltage ...extraction, called SPIDER, and the full prototype of the whole ITER Heating Neutral Beams (HNBs), called MITICA. The purpose of MITICA is to demonstrate that all operational parameters of the ITER HNB accelerator can be experimentally achieved, thus establishing a large step forward in the performances of neutral beam injectors in comparison with the present experimental devices. The design of the MITICA extractor and accelerator grids, here described in detail, was developed using an integrated approach, taking into consideration at the same time all the relevant physics and engineering aspects. Particular care was taken also to support and validate the design on the basis of the expertise and experimental data made available by the collaborating neutral beam laboratories of CEA, IPP, CCFE, NIFS and JAEA. Considering the operational requirements and the other physics constraints of the ITER HNBs, the whole design has been thoroughly optimized and improved. Furthermore, specific innovative concepts have been introduced.
Abstract
As a challenge to measure the extraction surface of the negative ion beam, a laser Thomson scattering system with high spatial resolution was applied to a weakly ionized plasma in a negative ...ion source for the first time. The first target was to measure electron density around extraction region because shape of the extraction surface can be estimated by electron spatial profile. However, stray light by injected laser, filament and plasma was too intense compared to signal from the low density region. To solve this, a triple grating spectroscopy and a multilayer black screen were introduced, and the laser spot size was minimized to reduce slit sizes of the spectroscopy. As a result, electron density was successfully measured accurately in low density region. From an error estimation, measurement of electron density 3 × 10
16
m
-3
with spatial resolution of 0.5 mm at extraction region can be realized with accumulation of signals from multiple laser shots. This system can contribute to the understanding of the mechanism of formation of the extraction surface, which is a long-term issue in the negative ion source.
Abstract
A protection system of ion source components from local abnormal discharge has been developed with ITER-class filament-driven negative ion source for high power and stable long-term ...operation. Protection from unpredictable discharge is a common issue for filament and RF-driven ion sources. To understand how fast should be cut off the discharge, threshold energy not to cause critical damage on the filament was investigated. The experimental exploration concluded that the energy less than 1.87 J or fast cut-off faster than 343 μs is the threshold for the robust protection of the filaments. A developed system successfully detected and cut off the discharge at 100 μs under noisy environments with the high current power supply. Moreover, the detection system is remotely adjustable. Such versatile protection system can contribute to any abnormal discharges in high current system including various ion sources, gyrotron, and high voltage components.
•Experimental campaign on MTF carried out in QST lab in Naka, Ibaraki, Japan.•Opera, SLACCAD, COMSOL, EAMCC3D correctly predict beam divergence.•Semi-empirical Opera model with current density ...asymmetry correctly predicts the beam deflection.•COMSOL and EAMCC3D slightly underestimate heat loads on the grids.
It is a widely recognized phenomenon that, in negative ion sources for NBI, the magnetic fields in the source cause an asymmetry of the current density at the meniscus, which affects the beam optics. In order to achieve a more realistic estimation of the negative ion beam optics, the ion current density profile at the beamlet meniscus is sometimes assumed to be non-symmetric with respect to the beamlet axis. The new hypothesis tested in this paper is an empirical law obtained by recent investigations on a similar Kamaboko ion source, which relates this asymmetry to the magnetic field strength at the meniscus and to the power injected in the ion source. For the first time this hypothesis is used to directly and correctly predict the value of the beamlet deflection.
The MeV ion source Test Facility (MTF) is a high voltage negative ion beam accelerator dedicated to fusion experiments in QST, Naka, Ibaraki, Japan. MTF can be operated as a three- or five-stage multi-aperture accelerator with a configuration and beam energy comparable to the future ITER NBI. In 2019, experiments were conducted on MTF aiming at accelerating a H- beam with high energy and good optics for a long duration of the beam (around 100 s). These experiments allowed to measure the beamlet divergence and deflection as well as the heat loads due to particle impinging on the accelerator grids, over a wide range of operating parameters. The predictions of several beam simulation codes (Opera, COMSOL, SLACCAD, EAMCC3D) have been compared to the experimental measurements, which allows to obtain a good agreement in terms of beam optics and a fair agreement in terms of heat loads.
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