• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.72-80
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• 2010

It is very important to predict and analyze the change of voltage and current distribution of current strap, abnormal voltage distribution of transmission line and resonance phenomenon by coupling between current straps for more stable operation of ICRF system. In this study, to understand those phenomena by coupling, 8-port coupled transmission line model is completed by appling S-parameter measured in the prototype KSTAR ICRF antenna to the model. The determined self-inductance, mutual-inductance and capacitance of antenna straps are shown to be lower than that calculated from 2D approximate model due to finite length of strap. The coupled transmission line model of current strap will be utilized to the operation of ICRF system of KSTAR in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.314-324
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• 2006

The vacuum characteristics of the KSTAR ICRF antenna were experimentally investigated. The fabricated antenna was installed in the RF Test Chamber(RFTC) which has a vacuum system with an effective pumping speed of 1015 l/s. The time variations of RFTC pressure, total gas load and ultimate pressure were measured before the RF test. RF conditioning effect was studied by repeating RF pulses at low power level. A time variation of the RFTC pressure was measured during a RF power was applied to the antenna. Threshold pressure at which a RF breakdown occurs was investigated. Whenever the pressure was higher than $10^{-4}$ mbar, the RF breakdown occurred. During a long pulse testing, the temperature of the antenna and RFTC pressure were measured to investigate long pulse limitation of the maximum available voltage without any cooling, which were compared with testing results with a water cooling of the antenna.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1997.05b
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• pp.583-588
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• 1997

For the efficient current drive, the structure of ICRF wave propagation and absorption in a tokamak plasma should be first investigated. In this paper, two dimensional study on FWCD as well as ICRF minority ion heating for the KSTAR [Korea Superconducting Tok Amak Research] [1] plasma was performed using the full wave code of TORIC [2]. The ICRF wave propagation and absorption structures, the competitive power absorption between electrons and ions and the coupling of antenna/plasma are investigated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.211-217
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• 2002

A 1-MW vacuum feedthrough for the KSTAR ICRF antenna is fabricated and high power RF test is performed. It is designed to have two alumina $(Al_2O_3)$ ceramic cylinders and O-ring seal instead of a brazed seal for good mechanical and thermal strength, which is important in long pulse or steady state operation. For cooling of the ceramics, dry air is circulated in a space between the two cylinders and the outer conductor. Independent cooling water channels are installed to cool the inner conductor of the feedthrough. RF high voltage test is performed using two kinds of ceramics with the purities of 99.7% and 97%. Stable operation is possible with the RF voltage of 30 kVp at long pulse of 300 sec without any severe damage.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.595-602
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• 2023

The EAST ICRF system operating space has been extended in power and phase control with a low-level RF system for the new double-strap antenna. Then the multi-step power and periodic phase scanning experiment were conducted in L-mode plasma, respectively. In the power scanning experiment, the stored energy, radiation power, plasma impedance and the antenna's temperature all have positive responses during the short ramp-ups of P_L;ICRF. The core ion temperature increased from 1 keV to 1.5 keV and the core heating area expanded from |Z| ≤ 5 cm to |Z| ≤ 10 cm during the injection of ICRF waves. In the phasing scanning experiment, in addition to the same conclusions as the previous relatively phasing scanning experiment, the superposition effect of the fluctuation of stored energy, radiation power and neutron yield caused by phasing change with dual antenna, resulting in the amplitude and phase shift, was also observed. The active control of RF output facilitates the precise control of plasma profiles and greatly benefits future experimental exploration.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.216-221
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• 2024

Ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) heating system is an important auxiliary heating method in the experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). In EAST, several megawatts of power are transmitted with coaxial transmission lines and coupled to the plasma. For the long pulse and high power operation of the ICRF waves heating system, it is very important to effectively control the power and initial phase of the ICRF signals. In this paper, a power and phase feedback control system is described based on field programmable gate array (FPGA) devices, which can realize complicated algorithms with the advantages of fast running and high reliability. The transmitted power and antenna phase are measured by a power and phase detector and digitized. The power and phase feedback control algorithms is designed to achieve the target power and antenna phase. The power feedback control system was tested on a dummy load and during plasma experiments. Test results confirm that the feedback control system can precisely control ICRF power and antenna phase and is robust during plasma variations.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.317-317
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• 2011

Enhanced ICRF (Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequency) ion heating of H-mode D(H) plasma will be tried in 2011 KSTAR experimental campaign. Minority heating is a main ion heating scheme in the ICRF. Its efficiency increases as the hydrogen minority ratio increases in deuterium plasmas. And it should be sustained at a lower level than the critical minority ratio. Consequently, it is important to elevate the critical ratio to maximize ion heating and it is possible by increasing the ion temperature or parallel wave number (k${\parallel}$) of the antenna. Increasing the k${\parallel}$ is not a good approach since the coupling efficiency decreases exponentially with regard to k${\parallel}$ as well. So the remaining method is to increase ion temperature by using NB (Neutral Beam). Ion heating fraction of NB increases as the electron temperature increases. Therefore, we will try to heat electron by using ECH together with NB ion heating before ICRF power injection. The ICRF heating efficiency will be compared with respect to several NB+ECH+ICRF heating combinations through several diagnostics such as XICS (Xray Imaging Crystal Spectroscopy), CES (Charge Exchange Spectroscopy) and neutron measurement. The theoretical background and the experimental results will be presented in more detail in the conference.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.10
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• pp.3724-3731
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• 2022

It is important for an ICRF full wave code to simulate the SOL (Scrape Off Layer) plasma as well as the core inside of the LCFS (Last Closed Flux Surface) for the precise prediction of the coupling between the antenna and the core plasma in tokamaks. To this end, a two dimensional full wave code based on a Fourier spectral algorithm has been developed. The spectral algorithm and procedures are described and the simulation results for the minority heating in KSTAR are reported including electric field, power absorption and power flux.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.887-888
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.721-722
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• 2004