Alcator C-Mod Run 951031 Information

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Miniproposals
Miniproposal:120
Date Filed:10/18/1995
Title:Restart C-MOD 1995
First Author:Steve Wolfe
Session Leader:Steve Horne (shots 1-22)

Operators
Session leader(s):Steve Horne
Physics operator(s): Unknown
Engineering operator(s):Vinny Bertolino

Engineering Operator Run Comment
horne/granetz start up

Session Leader Plans

Physics Operators Plans

Session Leader Summaries

Physics Operator Summaries
Entered: Jul 7 2004 04:36:55:130PM
Author: To Be Determined
Physics Operator's summary for run 951031

MP #120 Re-start C-Mod

SL: S. Horne
PO: R. Granetz
EO: V. Bertolino

Today's run plan: continue (and hopefully finish) MP #120, Re-starting C-Mod a
the long shutdown. During the last run on Friday, there were two plasmas,
both going vertically unstable early on, due to problems with hybrid control
of EFC. This was traced to a hybrid/pcs software problem, which Steve
Horne has fixed over the weekend. Problems with EF4 were also worked on.

Summary: By the end of the day, we had 3 decent plasmas in a row
(Ip=0.55-0.60 MA, shot length=1.3 s). These last 3 plasmas used
a short pulse on the A-side valve to ready the machine for breakdown,
rather than having it pre-filled with gas for several minutes.
This mode of operation will be necessary when using boronization in
the near future. There were lots of problems with camac early on, and
with EFC (which was connected up backwards to the bus), but the real
problem was with EF4, which never operated properly at all today.

Scorecard: 7 plasmas
5 fizzles
4 duds (all due to power supply problems)
4 tests
----------
20 total

Run setup:

Start with 951027010. Pre-fill is at 1.8e-5 torr.
Discharge clean as usual in deuterium before the run
Fill A-side plenum with 19-20 psi of deuterium

Detailed shot log:

Shot 01 -- Engineering test

Shot 02 -- Engineering test of EF4. Lots of SCSI camac errors

Shot 03 -- Another EF4 test shot, to verify camac operation. Everything
worked fine.

Next shot: try for plasma

Shot 04 -- Plasma. Disrupted at 0.43 s, probably due to problems with
EF4. Also there was no EFC current. The plasma was also very
resistive (no surprise).

Next shot: lower density demand to 0.8e20 m-2 and repeat.

Shot 05 -- Fizzle. No current on EFC again.

Next shot: reduce pre-fill to 1.5e-5.

Shot 06 -- Plasma. Disrupted at 0.46 s. EFC is sick. This shot looks
very similar to shot 04. EFC is apparently hooked up to the
bus in the reversed configuration from the last run campaign.

Next shot: switch EFC bus connections so its polarity is back
to what it was last run campaign. Repeat shot.

Shot 07 -- Fizzle. EFC worked well. EF4 still has some single-phasing problem

Next shot: repeat

Shot 08 -- Fizzle.

Next shot: lower pre-fill to 1.3e-5 torr.

Shot 09 -- Plasma. Ip=0.55 MA, terminated at 0.57 s. Becomes very
disruptive at 0.42 s. EF4 single-phased again.

Next shot: decrease density to nl04=0.6e20 m-2.

Shot 10 -- Fizzle.

Next shot: let hybrid takeover control of EF4 voltage, rather
than EF4 current. This is to try and invert it more gently than
the PLC does. Turn off gain on IC_EF4 after 0.1 s, and program
EF4 voltage to 300 V until t=1 s.

Shot 11 -- Dud. Early breaker fault prevented OH1, OH2's, and EF1's from
turning on.

Next shot: try again, no changes

Shot 12 -- Plasma. Ip=0.51 MA, duration=0.55 s. Similar to shot 09.
SCR blew in EF4. Maybe that was actually the problem all
along.

Next shot: reload shot 10, which was before control of EF4 was
changed.

Shot 13 -- Dud. OH2's crowbarred early, and pulled the PF breaker.

Next shot: program in a gas puff at -0.50 s and turn off the
pre-fill. This is the first attempt at getting a plasma without
having the vacuum chamber pre-filled with deuterium for several
minutes prior to the shot. This type of operation will be
necessary when we start boronizing later in this campaign.

Shot 14 -- Test of initial gas puff only. No power supplies enabled.
Gas puff looks okay.

Next shot: attempt plasma with pulse gas startup.

Shot 15 -- Dud due to PF breaker pulling out again. Also no EF4 at all.

Next shot: make a few minor modifications to the pre-plasma
pulse gas programming, and try again.

Shot 16 -- Dud due to power supply problems again.

Next shot: more tweaking of the pre-plasma pulse gas programming.

Shot 17 -- Fizzle, which is good news, since we used the pulse gas programming
rather than the pre-fill for filling the machine.

Next shot: Shorten the pre-plasma pulse gas spike width and try
for plasma again.

Shot 18 -- Plasma. Good shot. Ip=0.55 MA, duration=1.31 s. This was done
with pulsed gas, rather than pre-fill. Plasma was diverted early
on, but then became limited on the outboard limiter. Inner
clearance was 2.5 cm. There are still problems with EF4.

Next shot: Move RCUR in by 1.0 cm and reduce CLEARIN by 0.5 cm.

Shot 19 -- Plasma. Good shot. Very similar to the preceding shot. RCUR did
move in by 1.0 cm, and CLEARIN is now 2.0 cm. The plasma was
diverted, but just barely. The x-point was very high. Problems
with EF4 are still giving us lots of trouble with RCUR control.

Next shot: Repeat with no changes

Shot 20 -- Plasma. Another good shot, lasting until 1.32 s, when there's
another upward disruption (no significant halo current). The
plasma current looks much nicer, with Ip=0.58 MA. There were
some hard x-rays.

Due to continuing problems with EF4, which limits our ability to control
the plasma position, et al, we are ending this run now so that our
engineers can begin fixing the supply.

Session Leader Comments

Physics Operator Comments
Oct 31 1995 08:42:44:750AM951031001Robert GranetzToday's run: continue (and hopefully finish) MP #120, Re-starting C-Mod after
the long shutdown. During the last run on Friday, there were two plasmas,
both going vertically unstable early on, due to problems with hybrid control
of EFC. This was traced to a hybrid/pcs software problem, which Steve
Horne has fixed over the weekend. Problems with EF4 were also worked on.

Start with 951027010. Pre-fill is at 1.8e-5 torr.

Oct 31 1995 09:37:57:220AM951031001Robert GranetzShot 01 -- Engineering test

Oct 31 1995 09:38:09:670AM951031002Robert GranetzShot 02 -- Engineering test of EF4. Lots of SCSI camac errors

Oct 31 1995 09:44:37:220AM951031003Robert GranetzShot 03 -- Another EF4 test shot, to verify camac operation. Everything
worked fine.

Next shot: try for plasma

Oct 31 1995 09:58:42:480AM951031004Robert GranetzShot 04 -- Plasma. Disrupted at 0.43 s, probably due to problems with
EF4. Also there was no EFC current.

Oct 31 1995 10:19:28:310AM951031005Robert GranetzShot 05 -- Fizzle. No current on EFC again.

Next shot: reduce pre-fill to 1.5e-5.

Oct 31 1995 11:31:48:920AM951031006Robert GranetzShot 06 -- Plasma. Disrupted at 0.46 s. EFC is sick. This shot looks
very similar to shot 04. EFC is apparently hooked up to the
bus in the reversed configuration from the last run campaign.

Next shot: switch EFC bus connections so its polarity is back
to what it was last run campaign. Repeat shot.

Oct 31 1995 11:41:25:720AM951031007Robert GranetzShot 07 -- Fizzle. EFC worked well. EF4 still has some single-phasing problem

Next shot: repeat

Oct 31 1995 11:55:17:900AM951031008Robert GranetzShot 08 -- Fizzle.

Next shot: lower pre-fill to 1.3e-5 torr.

Oct 31 1995 12:09:36:540PM951031009Robert GranetzShot 09 -- Plasma. Ip=0.55 MA, terminated at 0.57 s. Becomes very
disruptive at 0.42 s. EF4 single-phased again.

Next shot: decrease density to nl04=0.6e20 m-2.

Oct 31 1995 12:23:04:120PM951031010Robert GranetzShot 10 -- Fizzle.

Next shot: let hybrid takeover control of EF4 voltage, rather
than EF4 current. This is to try and invert it more gently than
the PLC does. Turn off gain on IC_EF4 after 0.1 s, and program
EF4 voltage to 300 V until t=1 s.

Oct 31 1995 12:33:55:800PM951031011Robert GranetzShot 11 -- Dud. Early breaker fault prevented OH1, OH2's, and EF1's from
turning on.

Next shot: try again, no changes

Oct 31 1995 01:11:17:110PM951031012Robert GranetzShot 12 -- Plasma. Ip=0.51 MA, duration=0.55 s. Similar to shot 09.
SCR blew in EF4. Maybe that was actually the problem all
along.

Next shot: reload shot 10, which was before control of EF4 was
changed.

Oct 31 1995 01:24:00:940PM951031013Robert GranetzShot 13 -- Dud. OH2's crowbarred early, and pulled the PF breaker.

Next shot: program in a gas puff at -0.50 s and turn off the
pre-fill. This is the first attempt at getting a plasma without
having the vacuum chamber pre-filled with deuterium for several
minutes prior to the shot. This type of operation will be
necessary when we start boronizing later in this campaign.

Oct 31 1995 01:34:16:280PM951031014Robert GranetzShot 14 -- Test of initial gas puff only. No power supplies enabled.
Gas puff looks okay.

Next shot: attempt plasma with pulse gas startup.

Oct 31 1995 01:47:57:490PM951031015Robert GranetzShot 15 -- Dud due to PF breaker pulling out again. Also no EF4 at all.

Next shot: make a few minor modifications to the pre-plasma
pulse gas programming, and try again.

Oct 31 1995 02:26:58:830PM951031016Robert GranetzShot 16 -- Dud due to power supply problems again.

Next shot: more tweaking of the pre-plasma pulse gas programming.

Oct 31 1995 02:43:14:270PM951031017Robert GranetzShot 17 -- Fizzle, which is good news, since we used the pulse gas programming
rather than the pre-fill for filling the machine.

Next shot: Shorten the pre-plasma pulse gas spike width and try
for plasma again.

Oct 31 1995 03:27:01:880PM951031018Robert GranetzShot 18 -- Plasma. Good shot. Ip=0.55 MA, duration=1.31 s. This was done
with pulsed gas, rather than pre-fill. Plasma was diverted early
on, but then became limited on the outboard limiter. Inner
clearance was 2.5 cm.

Next shot: Move RCUR in by 1.0 cm and reduce CLEARIN by 0.5 cm.

Oct 31 1995 03:46:08:350PM951031019Robert GranetzShot 19 -- Plasma. Good shot. Very similar to the preceding shot. RCUR did
move in by 1.0 cm, and CLEARIN is now 2.0 cm. The plasma was
diverted, but just barely. The x-point was very high. Problems
with EF4 are still giving us lots of trouble with RCUR control.

Next shot: Repeat with no changes

Oct 31 1995 04:17:31:900PM951031020Robert GranetzShot 20 -- Plasma. Another good shot, lasting until 1.32 s, when there's
another upward disruption (no significant halo current). The
plasma current looks much nicer, with Ip=0.58 MA. There were
some hard x-rays.

Oct 31 1995 04:17:45:570PM951031020Robert GranetzDue to continuing problems with EF4, which limits our ability to control
the plasma position, et al, we are ending this run now so that our
engineers can begin fixing the supply.

Engineering Operator Comments
ShotTimeTypeStatusComment
108:23:21:980AMTestOktest
209:22:52:560AMTestOk
309:40:25:240AMTestOk
409:50:09:980AMPlasmaOk
510:15:32:440AMPlasmaOk
611:03:26:110AMPlasmaOk
711:34:37:000AMPlasmaOk
811:46:09:710AMPlasmaOk
911:58:10:740AMPlasmaOk
1012:11:15:710PMPlasmaOk
1112:29:18:940PMPlasmaBadef4 shoot through
1212:58:00:820PMPlasmaOk
1301:10:50:000PMPlasmaBadoh2 faults
1401:26:19:670PMTestOk
1501:34:41:110PMPlasmaBadoh2l fault
1602:14:07:160PMPlasmaBadef4 fault
1702:36:20:910PMPlasmaOk
1803:08:19:950PMPlasmaOk
1903:27:20:900PMPlasmaOk
2003:45:53:680PMPlasmaOk
2104:24:40:180PMTestOk
2204:50:49:920PMTestOk