Nonlinear Burn Control in Fusion Reactors
E. Schuster, M. Krstic, G. Tynan
IEEE Symposium on Fusion Energy
Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA, September 2001 (Postponed to January 2002)
Abstract
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Control of plasma density and temperature magnitudes, as well as their
profiles, are among the most fundamental problems in fusion reactors.
Unfortunately, the economy of fusion reactors often requires the
reactor to operate under conditions in which the rate of thermonuclear
reaction increases as the plasma temperature rises. In this thermally
unstable zone, an active control system is necessary to stabilize the
thermonuclear reaction. Existing efforts use control techniques for
linear models. In this work, a zero-dimensional nonlinear model
involving approximate conservation equations for the energy and the
densities of the species was used to synthesize a nonlinear feedback
controller for stabilizing the burn condition of a fusion reactor. The
controller makes use simultaneously of the modulation of auxiliary
power, the modulation of fueling rate and the controlled injection of
impurities as actuators. A computer simulation study was performed to
show the capability of the controller and compare it with previous
linear controllers.