High-Power Testing of Guided-Wave Components for the ITER ECH Upper Launcher at the FALCON Test Facility

Each of the four ITER electron cyclotron heating (ECH) upper launchers (ULs) features eight transmission lines (TLs) made of guided-wave components used to inject 170-GHz microwave power into the plasma at a level of up to 1.31 MW per line, at the TL diamond window unit (DWU). The guided-wave compon...

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Published inIEEE transactions on plasma science Vol. 48; no. 6; pp. 1537 - 1542
Main Authors Goodman, T. P., Cavinato, M., Chavan, R., Mas-Sanchez, A., Santos Silva, P., Vagnoni, M., Tersztyanszky, T., Carre, S.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York IEEE 01.06.2020
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subjects
Bends
Control systems
Couplings
Cyclotrons
Diamonds
Dynamic loads
Electromagnetic forces
Electron cyclotron heating
Electron cyclotron heating (ECH) upper launcher (UL)
fusion reactors
Gyrotrons
high-power microwave generation
ITER
Launchers
Load matching
Nuclear power plants
Optics
Radio frequency
Seals
Temperature measurement
Test equipment
Testing
Transmission lines
Waveguides
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Summary:Each of the four ITER electron cyclotron heating (ECH) upper launchers (ULs) features eight transmission lines (TLs) made of guided-wave components used to inject 170-GHz microwave power into the plasma at a level of up to 1.31 MW per line, at the TL diamond window unit (DWU). The guided-wave components include a DWU, an isolation valve (IV), waveguides (WGs), and miter bends (MBs). These form part of the first confinement system (FCS) of the ITER UL. They must withstand the nominal mechanical structural stresses, the electromagnetic forces, and the dynamic loads (VDE, MD, and Seismic), while being compatible with the most stringent ITER vacuum and safety classification. Here, we report new results on plans for high-power testing of guided-wave components that the Swiss Plasma Center (SPC) of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) has developed for the FCS. FALCON is home to testing equipment provided by Fusion for Energy (F4E) and ITER, including an ITER-grade 170-GHz GYCOM gyrotron and a matching optics unit (MOU), an evacuated TL including a power monitor MB (PMMB), a downtaper (DT) to the 50-mm ITER TL diameter, and a matched RF load (RFL). The facility is operated by the SPC.
ISSN:0093-3813
1939-9375
DOI:10.1109/TPS.2019.2945126