Development of ITER-relevant plasma control solutions at
DIII-D
D.A. Humphreys, J.R. Ferron, M. Bakhtiari, J.A. Blair, Y. In, G.L. Jackson, H. Jhang, R.D. Johnson, J.S. Kim,
R.J. LaHaye, J.A. Leuer, B.G. Penaflor, E. Schuster, M.L.Walker, H. Wang, A.S.Welander and D.G. Whyte
Nuclear Fusion, v 47, n 8, Aug. 2007, p 943-51
Abstract
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The requirements of the DIII-D physics program have led to the development of many operational control results with direct
relevance to ITER. These include new algorithms for robust and sustained stabilization of neoclassical tearing modes with
electron cyclotron current drive, model-based controllers for stabilization of the resistive wall mode in the presence of ELMs,
coupled linear-nonlinear algorithms to provide good dynamic axisymmetric control while avoiding coil current limits, and
adaptation of the DIII-D plasma control system (PCS) to operate next-generation superconducting tokamaks. Development of
integrated plasma control (IPC), a systematic approach to model-based design and controller verification, has enabled
successful experimental application of high reliability control algorithms requiring a minimum of machine operations time for
testing and tuning. The DIII-D PCS hardware and software and its versions adapted for other devices can be connected to IPC
simulations to confirm control function prior to experimental use. This capability has been important in control system
implementation for tokamaks under construction and is expected to be critical for ITER.