Alcator C-Mod Run 1000406 Information

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Miniproposals
Miniproposal:
Date Filed:
Title:
First Author:
Session Leader:Steve Wolfe (shots 1-17)

Operators
Session leader(s):Steve Wolfe
Physics operator(s):Joseph Snipes
Engineering operator(s):Bill Cochran

Engineering Operator Run Comment
Startup and conditioning with normal field direction. Wolfe/Snipes/Cochr

Session Leader Plans

Physics Operators Plans

Session Leader Summaries

Physics Operator Summaries
Entered: Jul 7 2004 04:37:10:270PM
Author: To Be Determined
Engineering setup for Thursday, 1000406:

Plasma run will begin at 09:00 and end at 17:00

Overnight ECDC in deuterium was attempted, but Mossessian turned it off early
yesterday evening and never turned it back on! So, we are starting with the
dirty conditions that we left off with yesterday.

Power system setup as on 1000405018

Note: Fizzle detector should be on from t=0.080 to 1.7 s

Gas setup - fill B-top with 6 psi of D2 Hybrid enabled
fill B-side lower with 1 psi of Ar Hybrid DISABLED
fill C-side with 30 psi of D2 Hybrid enabled
leave J-bottom as is Hybrid DISABLED

The following gate valves should be enabled, assuming no vacuum problems:
ECE, VUV

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Physics operator's setup for Thursday, 1000406

MP ? -- Startup and conditioning with normal field direction

Session leader: R. Granetz
Physics operator: J. Snipes

The primary goals of this week's runs are:
leave B-side upper as is Hybrid DISABLED
1) Get plasma with normal (negative) field
2) Machine conditioning with tokamak plasmas
3) Checkout and commissioning of available diagnostics

Load from shot 1000405018 (typical 0.8 MA, 5.2 T, normal field direction)

We did not get the discharge cleaning that we wanted because Mossessian turned
it off last night. The result was that the machine was just as dirty as
yesterday. However, given the way the plasmas disrupted early in the shot for
all shots, we think there may be something sticking into the plasma. Jim Terry
first saw some iron, but now he sees some unidentifiable lines and is not sure
what material it may be. Molybdenum is certainly present. After many problems
with the control computers (DAIGLE and SPANNA and RHONE) and all plasmas
disrupting early, we decided to stop the run to install more video cameras to
get views of as many locations in the vessel as possible. Then, we will run
ECDC in helium to see if we see anything sticking into the plasma. It is
unclear if we will run tomorrow or not.

Shot,Duration(s),Ipmax(MA) Shot,Duration(s),Ipmax
1 0.579 0.833 2 0.406 0.742
3 0.369 0.768 4 0.405 0.747
5 0.000 0.036 6 0.348 0.729
7 0.437 0.750 8 0.376 0.669
9 0.323 0.716 10 0.352 0.690
11 0.000 0.036 12 0.000 0.041
13 0.000 0.003 14 0.000 0.031
15 0.168 0.584 16 0.153 0.542
17 0.375 0.721
Finished summary for 1000406 Total of 17 shots.
17 shots. 12 plasmas. 4 fizzles. 1 test.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 1: Copied 1000405018 except increased the prepuff from 25 ms to 28 ms
duration. O.K. shot. Good startup though a bit late. No hesitation in the
current rise. Disrupted at 0.6 sec. Lots of impurities. H/D ratio about 10%.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 2: Repeat. Not as good. Disrupted at 0.4 sec. Very dirty.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 3: Try lowering ZCUR by 3 mm to -1.8 cm from 0.25 s out to 1 sec. Still
worse. Disrupted at 0.35 sec. Jim Terry says there is iron in the plasma!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 4: Try lowering ZCUR again a little bit to see if it makes it better or
worse. Lowered ZCUR to -2 cm from .28 - 1 sec. Disrupted at 0.4 sec.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 5: Try increasing RCUR from 0.21 s onward by a few mm. Also increase
CLEARIN by 2 mm to keep the plasma the same size. Fizzle!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 6: Br0 seems to have jumped positive by almost 1 mT. So, I will decrease
the Br0 offset from -0.5 mT to -1 mT. Disrupted at 0.35 sec.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 7: SPANNA rebooted spontaneously. Attempted to make a more circular
plasma. The result was not much better disrupting at 0.4 s.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 8: Try making the plasma smaller and more circular by moving RCUR in to
0.64 m and set ZCUR very close to zero. Moved ZXL to -0.05 m. There was a
short delay as the central operations computers rebooted because of a switch
problem. Felix is on the phone with COMPAQ now to try to resolve the problem.
No better. Disrupted at 0.35 sec.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 9: Try making the plasma smaller and more circular. Decreased RCUR by
another cm to 0.63 m and pulled ZXU and ZXL to +/- 0.08 m respectively.
Disrupted just after 0.3 sec.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 10: Moved CLEARIN to -0.1, which required changing the factor to
1.6 x 10^-5 and after attempting to load also required changing the controller
time constant from 3 to 2 sec. Then, it loaded O.K. Disrupted again at about
0.3 sec.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 11: Tried to make the plasma smaller and more circular. Reduced Ip to
0.6 MA. Reduced RCUR to 0.62 m, reduced CLEARIN to -0.12 m. Pulled ZXU and
ZXL further out of the vessel to +/- 0.1 m, respectively. Fizzle.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 12: Changed Br0 offset back to -0.5 mT from -1 mT. Increased the EF4
current by another -15 A to -1280 A. Another fizzle!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 13: Two changes were too many. Put EF4 current back where it was at
-1265 A. Try again. Computer problems caused a brief delay again where we got
hung during INIT and had to back out of the shot. Now PHYSOP had to be
rebooted as well. This is a no-power test shot.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 14: Fizzle.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 15: Reduced EF4 current by 25 A to -1290 A. Got plasma, but it disrupted
at .165 s. Appears to be a problem with OH2U. No, it seems that I am asking
it to behave badly.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 16: Return ZXU and ZXL to their normal values. Changed CLEARIN so that it
becomes strongly inner wall limited only after about 0.2 sec. Still disrupts
very early around 0.15 sec.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shot 17: Try reloading shot 1000406001 and return to "normal" plasmas. Set
EF4 current to -1290 A as well. We have almost returned to shot 1. Disrupted
at 0.37 sec.

We decided to stop the run to install more cameras and then run ECDC to look
and see if we can see what may be sticking into the plasma. It is unlikely
that we will run tomorrow.


Session Leader Comments

Physics Operator Comments
Apr 6 2000 08:23:28:530AM1000406001Joseph SnipesEngineering setup for Thursday, 1000406:

Plasma run will begin at 09:00 and end at 17:00

Overnight ECDC in deuterium was attempted, but Mossessian turned it off early
yesterday evening and never turned it back on! So, we are starting with the
dirty conditions that we left off with yesterday.

Power system setup as on 1000405018

Note: Fizzle detector should be on from t=0.080 to 1.7 s

Gas setup - fill B-top with 6 psi of D2 Hybrid enabled
fill B-side lower with 1 psi of Ar Hybrid DISABLED
fill C-side with 30 psi of D2 Hybrid enabled
leave J-bottom as is Hybrid DISABLED

The following gate valves should be enabled, assuming no vacuum problems:
ECE, VUV

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Physics operator's setup for Thursday, 1000406

MP ? -- Startup and conditioning with normal field direction

Session leader: R. Granetz
Physics operator: J. Snipes

The primary goals of this week's runs are:
leave B-side upper as is Hybrid DISABLED
1) Get plasma with normal (negative) field
2) Machine conditioning with tokamak plasmas
3) Checkout and commissioning of available diagnostics

Load from shot 1000405018 (typical 0.8 MA, 5.2 T, normal field direction)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apr 6 2000 09:15:10:513AM1000406001Joseph SnipesShot 1: Copied 1000405018 except increased the prepuff from 25 ms to 28 ms
duration. O.K. shot. Good startup though a bit late. No hesitation in the
current rise. Disrupted at 0.6 sec. Lots of impurities. H/D ratio about 10%.
Apr 6 2000 09:46:28:843AM1000406002Joseph SnipesShot 2: Repeat. Not as good. Disrupted at 0.4 sec. Very dirty.
Apr 6 2000 10:03:11:797AM1000406003Joseph SnipesShot 3: Try lowering ZCUR by 3 mm to -1.8 cm from 0.25 s out to 1 sec. Still
worse. Disrupted at 0.35 sec. Jim Terry says there is iron in the plasma!
Apr 6 2000 10:15:46:903AM1000406004Joseph SnipesShot 4: Try lowering ZCUR again a little bit to see if it makes it better or
worse. Lowered ZCUR to -2 cm from .28 - 1 sec. Disrupted at 0.4 sec.
Apr 6 2000 10:45:53:013AM1000406005Joseph SnipesShot 5: Try increasing RCUR from 0.21 s onward by a few mm. Also increase
CLEARIN by 2 mm to keep the plasma the same size. Fizzle!
Apr 6 2000 11:08:06:640AM1000406006Joseph SnipesShot 6: Br0 seems to have jumped positive by almost 1 mT. So, I will decrease
the Br0 offset from -0.5 mT to -1 mT. Disrupted at 0.35 sec.
Apr 6 2000 11:48:04:140AM1000406007Joseph SnipesShot 7: SPANNA rebooted spontaneously. Attempted to make a more circular plasma.
The result was not much better disrupting at 0.4 s.
Apr 6 2000 11:48:24:577AM1000406008Joseph SnipesShot 8: Try making the plasma smaller and more circular by moving RCUR in to
0.64 m and set ZCUR very close to zero. Moved ZXL to -0.05 m. There was a
short delay as the central operations computers rebooted because of a switch
problem. Felix is on the phone with COMPAQ now to try to resolve the problem.
No better. Disrupted at 0.35 sec.
Apr 6 2000 12:04:58:187PM1000406009Joseph SnipesShot 9: Try making the plasma smaller and more circular. Decreased RCUR by
another cm to 0.63 m and pulled ZXU and ZXL to +/- 0.08 m respectively.
Disrupted just after 0.3 sec.
Apr 6 2000 12:18:38:233PM1000406010Joseph SnipesShot 10: Moved CLEARIN to -0.1, which required changing the factor to
1.6 x 10^-5 and after attempting to load also required changing the controller
time constant from 3 to 2 sec. Then, it loaded O.K. Disrupted again at about
0.3 sec.
Apr 6 2000 12:44:40:500PM1000406011Joseph SnipesShot 11: Tried to make the plasma smaller and more circular. Reduced Ip to
0.6 MA. Reduced RCUR to 0.62 m, reduced CLEARIN to -0.12 m. Pulled ZXU and
ZXL further out of the vessel to +/- 0.1 m, respectively. Fizzle.
Apr 6 2000 12:52:46:607PM1000406012Joseph SnipesShot 12: Changed Br0 offset back to -0.5 mT from -1 mT. Increased the EF4
current by another -15 A to -1280 A. Another fizzle!
Apr 6 2000 01:47:28:983PM1000406013Joseph SnipesShot 13: Two changes were too many. Put EF4 current back where it was at
-1265 A. Try again. Computer problems caused a brief delay again where we got
hung during INIT and had to back out of the shot. Now PHYSOP had to be rebooted
as well. This is a no-power test shot.
Apr 6 2000 03:33:58:013PM1000406014Joseph SnipesShot 14: Fizzle.
Apr 6 2000 02:30:13:920PM1000406015Joseph SnipesShot 15: Reduced EF4 current by 25 A to -1290 A. Got plasma, but it disrupted
at .165 s. Appears to be a problem with OH2U. No, it seems that I am asking it
to behave badly.
Apr 6 2000 02:39:33:357PM1000406016Joseph SnipesShot 16: Return ZXU and ZXL to their normal values. Changed CLEARIN so that it
becomes strongly inner wall limited only after about 0.2 sec. Still disrupts
very early around 0.15 sec.
Apr 6 2000 03:11:43:297PM1000406017Joseph SnipesShot 17: Try reloading shot 1000406001 and return to "normal" plasmas. Set
EF4 current to -1290 A as well. We have almost returned to shot 1. Disrupted
at 0.37 sec.
Apr 6 2000 03:23:40:483PM1000406017Joseph SnipesWe decided to stop the run to install more cameras and then run ECDC to look and
see if we can see what may be sticking into the plasma. It is unlikely that we
will run tomorrow.

Engineering Operator Comments
ShotTimeTypeStatusComment
109:02:19:327AMPlasmaOk
209:35:31:013AMPlasmaBadOH1 Self Powered Circuit Fired
309:52:41:250AMPlasmaOk
410:08:53:593AMPlasmaOk
510:43:09:733AMPlasmaOk
611:00:39:090AMPlasmaOk
711:15:44:467AMPlasmaOk
811:45:25:403AMPlasmaOk
912:01:00:920PMPlasmaOk
1012:15:13:560PMPlasmaOk
1112:36:08:310PMPlasmaOk
1212:49:41:653PMPlasmaOk
1301:05:01:780PMTestOkdata system test only
1402:03:19:593PMPlasmaOk
1502:16:26:390PMPlasmaOk
1602:36:39:483PMPlasmaOk
1703:09:00:513PMPlasmaOk