From:
irby@PSFC.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: IRBY@PSFC.MIT.EDU
Subject: Alcator C-Mod Weekly Highlights
Organization:
MIT
Newsgroups: sci.physics.plasma
Alcator C-Mod Weekly
Highlights
February
8, 2002
The annual meeting of the Alcator C-Mod Program
Advisory Committee was
held on February 6 and 7. Reassembly continued on
Alcator C-Mod, and
a great deal of progress was made on the LH MIE
Project. Preparations
for the new
RFX beam, and work on ICRF systems also continued.
Program
Advisory Committee Meeting
----------------------------------
The
Alcator C-Mod Program Advisory Committee meeting was held February
6 and 7
at MIT. Michael Mauel, Columbia
University, chaired the
committee, with the other members consisting of Ed
Synakowski, PPPL,
Dick Majeski, PPPL, Tony Leonard, GA, and Vincent Chan,
also of GA.
John Willis and Rostom Dagazian, DoE OFES, also
attended. Two members of
the PAC,
Ray Fonck, U. of Wisc, and Claude Gormezano, Frascati, were unable
to
attend.
After a welcome by Miklos Porkolab, and an introduction and
charge
by Ian Hutchinson, Earl Marmar gave an overview of the C-Mod
Program
and plans. Other talks given
were:
Feb 6:
Advanced Tokamak Thrust - Amanda
Hubbard
Burning Plasma Support Thrust - Steve Wolfe
Ideas Forum and
Run Planning - Jim Terry
Transport - Martin Greenwald
Divertor
Physics - Brian LaBombard
RF Physics - Steve Wukitch
MHD - Steve
Wolfe
Lower Hybrid - Ron Parker
DNB - Bob Granetz
Feb
7:
Facilities - Jim Irby
PPPL collaborations - Gerd Schilling
(PPPL)
U. Texas Collaborations - Rowan (U Texas)
These talks
will soon be available on the WEB.
Following an executive session of
the committee, feedback was given to
the Alcator Group regarding our
previous work, and our near and long
term plans.
Operations
and Power Systems
----------------------------
Preparations for
machining the cylinder were completed this week, with
the actual machining
now scheduled to begin next Monday.
This process
was slowed somewhat by installation of the new Cell
air handler just a few
feet away from the cylinder. The new air handler is now installed
and
expected to double the cooling capacity of the Cell air
conditioning
system. The OH1 and
OH2U coaxes have been hi-potted successfully and are
ready for
installation. The springplate hydraulic
installation tool is
operational.
We expect to have all lower springplates installed by
late next
week.
Bus Varistor power cabling is nearly complete. Some connections will be left
unconnected
until a bus inspection and required replating can be done.
The
construction of the Rogowski panel board is also nearly complete.
Work
will begin on the Alternator varistor inspection and refurbishing soon.
The
isolation amplifiers for the new TF scanner circuits in the PEI have
been
tested. Work continues on the new much
faster TC and TF
resistance measurement systems. The RS232 fiber optic transceivers have been
specified,
and the TC box to interconnect panel
wiring is well underway.
Lower Hybrid MIE Project
------------------------
All
three klystron carts required for Phase I operation of the LH current
drive
experiments are now installed in the C-Mod Cell. Eight of the
twelve klystrons are also installed, and
connections to the water cooling
system have begun. All but one of the protection and control
cabinets
have been installed. The
remaining cabinet is being used in the HVPS
tests that also began this
week. The HVPS has driven a 250 Ohm
water load
to nearly full current and voltage. The supply which is rated at 50 kV,
208 Amps was brought up
to 40 kV at 160 Amps. A possible
control or fault
system problem did not allow the full 208 Amp level to be
reached this week.
Testing will resume on Monday, at which point this
issue will be addressed.
Two engineers from the vendor are on-site for
this commissioning effort.
A successful test of the 200 HP water
cooling pump was made on Friday.
The 75 HP pump re-installation is
expected soon.
ICRF Systems
------------
We
continued in-house machining of the D and E-Port Faraday screens, and
the
J-Port current straps. Work also
continued on phase detection and
fault electronics. An order has been placed for four more
demodulator
boards incorporating what we hope are final design
changes. Testing
of the in house
modified boards was highly successful.
DNB and Related
Diagnostics
---------------------------
The F-Port flange is
being machined at an outside company with delivery
expected next week.
Wiring of the PLC rack for the DNB vacuum system is
finished and tested
for wiring errors. Final testing will
await completion
of the PLC software.
The fueling system design has begun.
Preparation of
an area for staging of the RFX beam was
completed. The Budker installation
and
commissioning team is scheduled to arrive at MIT on February 17. The RFX beam
was shipped from the
Budker Institute (Novisibirsk) and arrived in New York
this week. After clearing customs in NY, we expect
delivery to MIT this
Saturday.
Travel and Visits
-----------------
Ned
Sauthoff and Joel Hosea attended the C-Mod PAC meeting from PPPL.
Paul
Bonoli attended the US-Japan Workshop on RF Physics, Profile Control,
and
Steady State Operation using RF. The workshop was held at Kyushu
University
in Fukuoka, Japan from Feb. 2-5, 2002. Paul gave a talk at the
workshop
titled, "ICRF Heated Internal Transport Barrier Modes in Alcator
C-Mod".
Howard
Yuh travelled to PPPL from 1/29 - 2/2 to perform the optical
alignment and
to dry fit the new lens holders. Both
were done
successfully after some minor touch-up machining. All MSE parts
were brought back to
MIT-PSFC for cleaning, final assembly/alignment, and
a throughput
test. Howard is working with Russ
Feder, PPPL, and
Ron Bravenec, UT-FRC, on this project.