Discharge simulation and volt-second consumption analysis during ramp-up on the CFETR tokamak*

Abstract

The plasma current ramp-up is an important process for tokamak discharge, which directly affects the quality of the plasma and the system resources such as volt-second consumption and plasma current profile. The China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR) ramp-up discharge is predicted with the tokamak simulation code (TSC). The main plasma parameters, the plasma configuration evolution and coil current evolution are given out. At the same time, the volt-second consumption during CFETR ramp-up is analyzed for different plasma shaping times and different plasma current ramp rates dI P/dt with/without assisted heating. The results show that the earlier shaping time and the faster plasma current ramp rate with auxiliary heating will enable the volt-second to save 5%–10%. At the same time, the system ability to provide the volt-second is probably 470 V · s. These simulations will give some reference to engineering design for CFETR to some degree.