Alcator C-Mod Weekly Highlights August 18, 2008 FY2008 weeks of research operations: Target: 15 weeks Completed: 15.7 weeks DoE Quarterly Review -------------------- The FY08 3'rd quarter C-Mod DoE review was held by video-conference on Wednesday, August 13. Attendees included: Earl Marmar, Jim Irby, Steve Wukitch, Yijun Lin, Bob Granetz, Ian Hutchinson, David Terry, Lihua Zhou, and Francesca Bombarda at MIT; Rostom Dagazian, Curt Bolton and T.V. George at OFES; Bill Rowan, Perry Phillips, and Igor Bespamyatnov at U. Texas, Austin. Links to the viewgraphs from the presentations can be found at: http://www.psfc.mit.edu/research/alcator/pubs/quarterlies.html. Operations ---------- We continued preparations for feltmetal replacement and have now successfully soldered several test feltmetal pads. The alternator rotor has been removed from the alternator housing and is now exposed for inspection. One of the two retaining rings that enclose the ends of the windings has been removed. The bore copper that provides current to the field windings is being removed. Removal of the bore copper is required to gain access for UT testing of the rotor bore. The flywheel housing has been prepared for removal by a crane that is expected to be on-site early this week. Redesign of the EF1 heat shield tiles has begun. In the current design, the tiles are trapped by the inner divertor. In the new design, they will be removable without removing the divertor. This change both allows easy replacement of any EF1 tiles that become degraded during plasma operation and will simplify the planned installation of the new outer divertor in FY2011. ICRF Systems ------------ We are considering orientation of the new 4-strap ICRF antenna along the nominal direction of the total magnetic field in an effort to reduce rf sheath effects that can generate impurities. This possible design change was considered an important option to investigate by the antenna review committee. Work continued on the new solid state Intermediate Power Amplifier system. Modifications are being made to the driver cavity inputs, and cabling is being specified and fabricated. Lower Hybrid System ------------------- We continue to prepare for high power tests of the 4-way splitter prototype. Following the low power tests, the prototype was moved to the cell and connected to a klystron. A test plan document is being prepared for this activity. Modifications to the VSWR spoilers are being made so that they can be used in these tests. The spoilers will allow variations in the match at each splitter port to be made. Work also continued on the Transmitter Protection System (TPS) documentation. Diagnostics ----------- A conference call was held last Wednesday among PPPL and PSFC engineers and scientists to discuss possible designs for an active temperature control system for the in-vessel optics of the Motional Stark Effect diagnostic. An extension of the DNB beamline is being fabricated so that the beam profile can be measured at distances equal to those needed to reach the plasma. Instrumentation needed for the calorimeter is being upgraded, and ways to measure the temperature of the beam target wall are being investigated. Travel and Visitors ------------------- Dave Gwinn traveled to PPPL to discuss modifications to the MSE collection optics with engineers there. Miklos Porkolab attended the ITER USA Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting on August 13, 14 in Oak Ridge. The TAC heard a set of presentations on recent activities by the Home Team, including related BPO activities. The presentations were mainly concerned with assessing the potential consequences of the recent ITER design changes under consideration by the IO, as well as consequences of the constrained US ITER budget. _______________________________________________ Cmod_weekly mailing list Cmod_weekly@lists.psfc.mit.edu http://lists.psfc.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/cmod_weekly