Alcator C-Mod Run 951214 Information

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Miniproposals
Miniproposal:090
Date Filed: 2/22/1995
Title:ICRF Power Modulation
First Author:Peter Oshea
Session Leader:Peter Oshea (shots 1-23)

Operators
Session leader(s):Peter Oshea
Physics operator(s):Joseph Snipes
Engineering operator(s):Vinny Bertolino

Engineering Operator Run Comment
mod icrf

Session Leader Plans

Physics Operators Plans

Session Leader Summaries
Entered: Jul 7 2004 03:49:14:820PM
Author: To Be Determined
*****************************
* Run 951214 Modulated RF heating ( Mode Conversion at 6.4 T , H[He3] plasmas )
* Session Leader : O'Shea
* Physics Operator : Snipes
*****************************
Plan is to revisit the best heating parameters from 950608 (shot #17 ).
and to do a current scan at that density
( nel_04 ~ 1.0 ) while achieving good RF modulation at a variety of
frequencies.
*****************************
The run was not that successful, but much better than yesterday's.
Run started a little late, had some vacuum problem's early on and a
power glitch killed the run early. Through the bulk of the day, though, we
had a good string of plasmas. Some decent heating shots were obtained
(shots 8,13,14,15,18..) but only a couple with good modulation for
transport. Convergence on good heating parameters
was slow (trouble getting low enough target densities with appropriate
ion ratios).
One discovery was that E-port antenna seems to heat better than D-port
( see shot 15 ). Didn't have time to investigate this....
(note the E-port transmitter frequency is lower than
D-port by ~500kHz. other differences?). Brian fired his scanning probe into
shot 18.

All shots at 800kA, target density ~0.9e20. No current scan.


Shot summary follows:
*****************************************************************
Shot Comment
==== ============================
001 Hard xrays. Gas problems. Stopping to swap pumps.

002 Fizzle ...pressure is high....gas and vacuum probs
Changing over vacuum roughing pumps....


003 One puff of He (90v for 50ms) but with feedback so
try the calib shot again.

004 He calib shot. Get a density rise from 0.6-->1.0 e19 with a
100ms He puff @90V. Central heating strongest at end of shot,
long after He puff.

005 Going back to the feedback as of yor. Heating is weak.

006 Retry with RF reset. Hards. Runaway startup.
Early returns indicate that the
Helium is too low for good heating (lower than shot 4) so
raising He program voltage from 32 to 55....

007 Disrupts at 0.6. Doesn't make it to RF. He sig WAS higher.
(Moly injection).

008 Shot went fine. Heating is moderate, but constant at least.
HeII sig is level at about 11 (this on goes up to 11))
(see user9:[terry.scopes]heII.dat) throughout
the heating. So my guess to raise the He was good i think. Upped
preprogram voltage on he from 55 to 65.

009 Shot went, disrupts late. High plasma, work on equilibrium.
RF coupling not good. Not tuned to helium change?..
Heating is similarly bad, though i think it's
worse than can be explained from low RF power.
Changing He preprogrammed voltage
from 65 ---> 45 .

cooling delay

010 Shot went better. Heating is better.
For next shot, tweaking down the He (45--->40) increasing
the mod freq to 62Hz....

011 Plasma through RF. heating ok. evidence for off axis heating late.
Not only are things not great, they seem to be changing with
time throughout the shot.

012 Retry of above. heating and He a little lower. with same gas
programming, lower HeII so things are sagging shot to shot.

013 Had upped the He to 50 (we think that at 40 it's almost off).
RF has trouble coupling but heating is good when it does.
Helium sig IS higher. Right now we are looking at the overall
density. We are currently getting values higher than the
programmed value, which is strange b/c usually we undershoot.

For next shot, we kept He at 50...dropped preprog on H a little.
18 ...17
Hoping for shot to shot swing.

014 Heating is good early, for once, though not really good. RF
crowbars.

Some theories/observations:...
Why is the 2nd pulse of RF more effective ?
-comes from E-port antenna which is at 0.5 MHz lower freq.
Golovato changing over to E port (from D) for main modulation
train.

Meanwhile Joe is trying to lower the density by lowering the
preprogrammed voltages on both the H and He ....
H 17....15
He 50...44


015 no reduction of density....
Heating is better....Eport antenna?


016 Burp due to fast cooling...turned off cooling...wait
H 15...12
He 52 (don't want He to sag) (feedback off for He)
Fizzle.

017 Retry. Plasma.
HIGHER density (boo). Heating is pretty lousy.
For next shot, must to reduce density!!!
getting rid of preprogramming

018 He voltage to 42...
density goes down!
heating is pretty good but RF trips.....tuning is off
He sig goes down.....
maybe it's to be expected with the density change

going to retry.....

Power glitch

019,020,021,022.....fizzles.
















Physics Operator Summaries
Entered: Jul 7 2004 04:36:55:613PM
Author: To Be Determined
ICRF Modulation in Hydrogen (He3 minority) at 6.45 T 951214
Engineer in Charge: Vince Bertolino
Physicist in Charge: Joseph Snipes
Session Leader: Peter O'Shea

Setup:
Discharge clean in hydrogen. Enable A side with hydrogen at 20 psi and B
side upper with He3 at 20 psi. Setup as on shot 950608017 except that EF1
L and U limits should be [-7.5,5] and EF2 L and U limits should be 5.5. TF
set to a flattop of 180 kA giving 6.45 T flattop.

The run will start at 0.8 MA, 6.45 T, and nl04 = 9 x 10^19 m^-2. Then,
we will perform a current scan from 0.6 MA to 1 MA, varying the He3
concentration to get the best ICRF heating. The ICRF will be modulated
to look at the heating.

At the beginning of the run, there were problems with the turbo pumps not
pumping. So, we stopped and replaced the roughing pump behind the turbo
pumps. That helped some, but the neutral pressures were always above 2.5 x
10^-6 Torr and often well above that. Once we got going again at nearly
11:00 am, we got a number of good shots with RF modulation and by adjusting
the He3/H ratio some mode conversion heating was observed. Later we had
some cooling problems that slowed down the shot rate considerably. Then,
just as we were running shot 951214019, there was a power glitch that shut off
local power including the room lights. The computers stayed on, but the
power supplies were left in an unusual state and somehow air was puffed
into the machine. After resetting a number of things including the cryo
pump, the cooling system, gate valves, etc,, we tried again to get plasma.
Shot 19 was retaken and it fizzled. Then, we tried again and it fizzled.
Wolfe then noticed that the EFC supply was not working. We fired shot 21
and it also fizzled and EFC failed again. We then stopped to investigate
the EFC problem. A couple of EFC tests showed that EFC seems to be O.K.

Scorecard: 23 shots, 16 plasmas, 5 fizzles, 2 test shots

Shot 1 : Copied shot 950608017 into segment 2 and shot 951212015 into segment
1. Extended pre-puff to 19 msec flattop since hydrogen should need
higher pressure to breakdown than deuterium. He3 off for this shot.
Starting at 0.8 MA, 6.45 T. Decent shot. Hard x rays 0.639
Roentgen. I forgot to enable B top for the pre-puff. There
appears to be a H leak since the machine was at 6 x 10^-6 Torr
before the shot and at 1 x 10^-5 long after the shot. The turbo
pumps are not pumping the hydrogen away. So, we are stopping to
swap out the roughing pump with the idea that its oil is
saturated.
Shot 2 : Enabled B top in H at 5 psi and B side upper in He3 at 20 psi. Put
a He3 puff at 90 V from 0.5 to 0.55 sec. Fizzle.
Shot 3 : Reduced pre-puff to 17 msec flattop. Good shot. More gas
problems. Opening ballast on roughing pump to try to improve the
pumping.
Shot 4 : He3 puff set to 90 V from 0.6 to 0.7 sec. RF moved to 0.8 sec.
Turned off density feedback from 0.5 sec. Turned off
pre-programmed H gas after 0.5 sec. Good shot.
Shot 5 : Reduced pre-puff to 15 msec. Copied gas pre-programming for A (K)
side (H) and B side upper (He3) from shot 950608017 and turned the
density feedback on again from 0.5 to 1.8 sec. Good shot. RF
timing was from 0.8 to 1 sec.
Shot 6 : Turned off pre-programmed density after 1 sec. RF timing moved to
0.65 sec. Hard x rays early and throughout the shot 0.9 Roentgen.
Shot 7 : Raised pre-programmed He3 puffing from 32 V to 55 V throughout the
flattop. Increased pre-puff to 17 msec. Raised early gas between
0.01 and 0.04 sec. Appears that a piece of Moly fell into
the plasma.
Shot 8 : Repeat. Good shot.
Shot 9 : Raised He3 pre-programming to 65 V throughout the flattop. Good
shot. Disrupted at 1.38 sec.
Shot 10: Decreased ZCUR from -1.5 to -2 cm. Decreased ZXL by 1 cm to -1.8
cm. Reduced ZXU from 4 cm down to 2 cm and ramped it to -2 cm
by 1.8 sec during the rampdown. Decreased He3 pre-programming to
45 V during the flattop. Good shot. Equilibrium looks good.
Shot 11: Decreased He3 pre-programming to 40 V during the flattop. Good
shot.
Shot 12: Repeat. Good shot.
Shot 13: Raised He3 pre-programming to 50 V. Good shot.
Shot 14: Reduced pre-programming on A (K) side H gas from 18.9 to 17 V
during the flattop. Good shot.
Shot 15: Reduced pre-programming on A (K) side H gas from 17 to 15 V.
Reduced pre-programming on B side upper (He3) to 44 V. Good shot.
Shot 16: Reduced pre-programming on A (K) side H gas from 15 to 12 V.
Turned off density feedback on the He3 gas so that it is only on
H now. He3 gas valve voltage set to 52 V. Fizzle.
Shot 17: Reduced Br offset by 0.5 mT to 5.9 mT. FSP injected at 1.04 sec.
Good shot.
Shot 18: He3 reduced to 42 V. H pre-programming shut off at 0.5 sec.
Good shot. Good heating, but RF poorly tuned to lower density.
Shot 19: Repeat to tune the RF. Power glitch caused a puff of air to enter
the machine as well as some other electrical problems. Fizzle.
Shot 20: Repeat. Fizzle.
Shot 21: Reduced pre-puff by 3 msec to 14 msec. Fizzle. EFC problems.
Shot 22: EFC test shot. Start time set to -0.005 sec. EFC looks O.K.
Shot 23: Fizzle detector set to 0.5 sec. EFC test.

Session Leader Comments

Physics Operator Comments
Dec 14 1995 08:42:00:740AMJoseph SnipesSetup:
Discharge clean in hydrogen. Enable A side with hydrogen at 20 psi and B
side upper with He3 at 20 psi. Setup as on shot 950608017 except that EF1
L and U limits should be [-7.5,5] and EF2 L and U limits should be 5.5. TF
set to a flattop of 180 kA giving 6.45 T flattop.

The run will start at 0.8 MA, 6.45 T, and nl04 = 9 x 10^19 m^-2. Then,
we will perform a current scan from 0.6 MA to 1 MA, varying the He3
concentration to get the best ICRF heating. The ICRF will be modulated
to look at the heating.


Dec 14 1995 09:15:44:610AM951214001Joseph SnipesShot 1 : Copied shot 950608017 into segment 2 and shot 951212015 into segment
1. Extended pre-puff to 19 msec flattop since hydrogen should need
higher pressure to breakdown than deuterium. He3 off for this shot.
Starting at 0.8 MA, 6.45 T. Decent shot. Hard x rays 0.639
Roentgen. I forgot to enable B top for the pre-puff. There
appears to be a H leak since the machine was at 6 x 10^-6 Torr
before the shot and at 1 x 10^-5 long after the shot.


Dec 14 1995 11:19:28:150AM951214002Joseph SnipesShot 2 : Enabled B top in H at 5 psi and B side upper in He3 at 20 psi. Put
a He3 puff at 90 V from 0.5 to 0.55 sec. Fizzle.


Dec 14 1995 11:21:10:360AM951214003Joseph SnipesShot 3 : Reduced pre-puff to 17 msec flattop. Good shot. More gas
problems. Opening ballast on roughing pump to try to improve the
pumping.


Dec 14 1995 11:37:00:980AM951214004Joseph SnipesShot 4 : He3 puff set to 90 V from 0.6 to 0.7 sec. RF moved to 0.8 sec.
Turned off density feedback from 0.5 sec. Turned off
pre-programmed H gas after 0.5 sec. Good shot.


Dec 14 1995 11:37:49:390AM951214005Joseph SnipesShot 5 : Reduced pre-puff to 15 msec. Copied gas pre-programming for A (K)
side (H) and B side upper (He3) from shot 950608017 and turned the
density feedback on again from 0.5 to 1.8 sec. Good shot.


Dec 14 1995 12:01:55:590PM951214006Joseph SnipesShot 6 : Turned off pre-programmed density after 1 sec. RF timing moved to
0.65 sec. Hard x rays early and throughout the shot 0.9 Roentgen.


Dec 14 1995 12:07:22:820PM951214007Joseph SnipesShot 7 : Raised pre-programmed He3 puffing from 32 V to 55 V throughout the
flattop. Increased pre-puff to 17 msec. Raised early gas between
0.01 and 0.04 sec. Disrupted at 0.6 sec. Appears that a piece of
Moly fell into the plasma.


Dec 14 1995 12:51:02:840PM951214008Joseph SnipesShot 8 : Repeat. Good shot.


Dec 14 1995 12:51:27:330PM951214009Joseph SnipesShot 9 : Raised He3 pre-programming to 65 V throughout the flattop. Good
shot. Disrupted at 1.38 sec.


Dec 14 1995 12:51:45:080PM951214010Joseph SnipesShot 10: Decreased ZCUR from -1.5 to -2 cm. Decreased ZXL by 1 cm to -1.8
cm. Reduced ZXU from 4 cm down to 2 cm and ramped it to -2 cm
by 1.8 sec during the rampdown. Decreased He3 pre-programming to
45 V during the flattop. Good shot.


Dec 14 1995 01:35:53:030PM951214011Joseph SnipesShot 11: Decreased He3 pre-programming to 40 V during the flattop.
Good shot.

Dec 14 1995 01:36:10:080PM951214012Joseph SnipesShot 12: Repeat. Good shot.


Dec 14 1995 02:22:32:430PM951214013Joseph SnipesShot 13: Raised He3 pre-programming to 50 V.
Good shot.

Dec 14 1995 02:23:16:700PM951214014Joseph SnipesShot 14: Reduced pre-programming on A (K) side H gas from 18.9 to 17 V
during the flattop. Good shot.


Dec 14 1995 02:25:08:350PM951214015Joseph SnipesShot 15: Reduced pre-programming on A (K) side H gas from 17 to 15 V.
Reduced pre-programming on B side upper (He3) to 44 V.
Good shot.

Dec 14 1995 02:36:23:030PM951214015Joseph SnipesShot 15: Reduced pre-programming on A (K) side H gas from 17 to 15 V.
Reduced pre-programming on B side upper (He3) to 44 V. Good shot.


Dec 14 1995 03:05:47:410PM951214016Joseph SnipesShot 16: Reduced pre-programming on A (K) side H gas from 15 to 12 V.
Turned off density feedback on the He3 gas so that it is only on
H now. He3 gas valve voltage set to 52 V. Fizzle.


Dec 14 1995 03:12:00:820PM951214017Joseph SnipesShot 17: Reduced Br offset by 0.5 mT to 5.9 mT. FSP injected at 1.04 sec.
Good shot.


Dec 14 1995 03:39:55:360PM951214018Joseph SnipesShot 18: He3 reduced to 42 V. H pre-programming shut off at 0.5 sec.
Good shot. Good heating, but RF poorly tuned to lower density.


Dec 14 1995 05:24:24:820PM951214019Joseph SnipesShot 19: Repeat to tune the RF. Power glitch caused a puff of air to enter
the machine as well as some other electrical problems.
Fizzle.

Dec 14 1995 05:25:01:640PM951214020Joseph SnipesShot 20: Repeat. Fizzle.


Dec 14 1995 05:25:22:790PM951214021Joseph SnipesShot 21: Reduced pre-puff by 3 msec to 14 msec. Fizzle. EFC problems.


Dec 14 1995 05:27:13:150PM951214022Joseph SnipesShot 22: EFC test shot. EFC looks O.K.


Dec 14 1995 05:30:02:690PM951214023Joseph SnipesShot 23: Fizzle detector set to 0.5 sec. EFC test. EFC looks O.K.

Dec 14 1995 05:34:32:610PM951214023Joseph SnipesAt the beginning of the run, there were problems with the turbo pumps not
pumping. So, we stopped and replaced the roughing pump behind the turbo
pumps. That helped some, but the neutral pressures were always above 2.5 x
10^-6 Torr and often well above that. Once we got going again at nearly
11:00 am, we got a number of good shots with RF modulation and by adjusting
the He3/H ratio some mode conversion heating was observed. Later we had
some cooling problems that slowed down the shot rate considerably. Then,
just as we were running shot 951214019, there was a power glitch that shut off
local power including the room lights. The computers stayed on, but the
power supplies were left in an unusual state and somehow air was puffed
into the machine. After resetting a number of things including the cryo
pump, the cooling system, gate valves, etc,, we tried again to get plasma.

Dec 14 1995 05:34:52:580PM951214023Joseph SnipesShot 19 was retaken and it fizzled. Then, we tried again and it fizzled.
Wolfe then noticed that the EFC supply was not working. We fired shot 21
and it also fizzled and EFC failed again. We then stopped to investigate
the EFC problem. A couple of EFC tests showed that EFC seems to be O.K.

Scorecard: 23 shots, 16 plasmas, 5 fizzles, 2 test shots


Engineering Operator Comments
ShotTimeTypeStatusComment
108:51:01:330AMPlasmaOk
210:47:57:090AMPlasmaOk
310:56:22:310AMPlasmaOk
411:20:27:140AMPlasmaOk
511:35:39:970AMPlasmaOk
611:48:07:850AMPlasmaOk
712:00:46:560PMPlasmaOkoh2 bypass self fire
812:09:50:430PMPlasmaOk
912:24:14:470PMPlasmaOk
1012:48:57:930PMPlasmaOkno faults
1101:15:39:210PMPlasmaOk
1201:27:22:160PMPlasmaOk
1301:54:16:430PMPlasmaOk
1402:06:11:200PMPlasmaOk
1502:23:01:400PMPlasmaOk
1602:56:43:980PMPlasmaOk
1703:07:30:690PMPlasmaOk
1803:26:51:880PMPlasmaOk
1903:42:07:610PMPlasmaOk
2004:26:25:550PMPlasmaOk
2104:41:39:850PMPlasmaOk
2205:21:14:040PMPlasmaOk
2305:28:27:290PMPlasmaOk