DIFFER helps to design ITER plasma control system
With the international nuclear fusion reactor ITER, researchers want to tame the motor of the sun and stars as a clean source of energy on earth from 2020 onwards. ITER will be equipped with an advanced control system to ensure that the hot fusion plasma is started up in a controlled manner, is brought to the correct state and can be kept under control during unforeseen events. Plasma physicist Prof.dr. Marco de Baar was commissioned by ITER to work out the details of this control system.
De Baar is group leader at FOM institute DIFFER, the Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research, and part-time professor at Eindhoven University of Technology.
Controlling plasma for fusion energy
The sun and stars generate energy by fusing hydrogen into helium at incredibly high temperatures. In fusion reactors on earth, fusion takes place at several hundred million degrees Celsius in a charged gas (plasma) of hydrogen isotopes. In a fusion reactor strong magnetic fields keep the plasma off the reactor wall, but the successful operation of the reactor requires more than just this magnetic cage. To keep the fusion plasma under control, and optimise the use of the fusion fuel, a reactor is fitted with an advanced control system.
Specifying and planning the first plasma control system
Plasma physicist prof.dr. Marco de Baar was commissioned by ITER to specify the system requirements for the control system for the initial plasma of ITER and to translate this into a plan. De Baar is investigating and developing advanced control systems for fusion reactors. In this project he is collaborating with ITER’s plasma operations expert dr. Joe Snipes. The collaboration underlines that FOM and the TU/e have managed to connect fundamental physics and control engineering.
"For control engineers the ITER plasma is a fantastic problem to get their teeth into. The final control system of ITER will be incredibly complex," says De Baar. " With 20 actuators and 50 sensors the spatial distribution of a large number of plasma parameters will be controlled or even the development of these over time. The system must also suppress possible disruptions and anticipate whether the system is approaching its limits of operation. An important aspect of this is the development of rapid dynamic models that can predict the state of the plasma in real-time or even faster still. A lot can also be gained from the development of better sensors."
"But," says De Baar, " we do not start at such a complex level of course. The system requirements for the initial plasma are much less demanding, although it must be possible scale up the architecture we set up for the final plasma control system".
Contact
Prof.dr. Marco de Baar, +31 (0)40 247 28 39, Twitter: @marcodebaar
About ITER
In the international fusion project ITER, science and industry are working together to demonstrate the technical feasibility of fusion as a source of energy. The fusion reactor ITER is designed to generate 10 times as much power from fusion than the reactor itself needs: 500 MW against 50 MW. Seven parties (the EU, US, Russia, Japan, China, India and South Korea) are building ITER in Cadarache in the South of France. The total budget is 15 billion euros and the first plasma is planned for 2020.