The new technological solution for the JT-60SA quench protection circuits

An advanced technology has been developed and employed for the main circuit breakers (CB) of the quench protection circuits (QPC) of the superconducting coils of JT-60SA: it consists in a Hybrid mechanical-static CB (HCB) composed of a mechanical Bypass switch (BPS) for conducting the continuous current, in parallel to a static circuit breaker (SCB) based on integrated gate commutated thyristor (IGCT) for current interruption. It was the result of a R&D program carried out since 2006 to identify innovative solutions for the interruption of high dc current, able to improve the maintainability and availability of the CB. The HCB developed for the JT-60SA QPC is the first realization of a dc circuit breaker based on this design approach for interrupting current of some tens of kA with reapplied voltage of some kV. It also represents the first application of hybrid technology with IGCT for protection of superconducting magnets in fusion experiments. The paper aims at giving a comprehensive overview of the main R&D activities devoted to the development of this new technological approach; then, the key aspects of the design, manufacturing and testing of the QPCs for JT-60SA, successfully completed in Naka Site in summer 2015 are presented. Finally, the significance of this research is discussed and the possible future developments, in particular in view of DEMO fusion reactor, are outlined

Development of Supervisory Control System for Magnet Power Supplies in JT-60SA

Supervisory control system for superconducting magnet power supplies in JT-60SA is designed and developed. This system is in charge of many kinds of control; discharge sequence control, real-time magnet current control, data acquisition, machine protection and human safety. In the design, communication interface has to be optimized according to all requirements. The most important feature is real-time control with 4 kHz which is required for equilibrium control of plasma. In order to satisfy this requirement, reflective memory (RFM) network is applied for high speed data sharing with multiple controllers. This paper describes the architecture of the control system and the operation of the power supply system under the supervision

Development of Supervisory Control System for Magnet Power Supplies in JT-60SA

Magnet power supply (PS) system of JT-60SA is being implemented within the Broader Approach Agreement aiming to achieve first plasma in 2020. The system consists of several components such as DC power supply, switching network unit, quench protection circuit and motor-generator. All the componentshave their own internal controller (LCC) for stand-alone operation so the individual commissioning are in progress and almost completed. The next step scheduled is a combination test with all components in which supervisory control system manage LCCs remotely. The supervisory system covers the following roles: 1) machine status monitoring; 2) discharge sequence management; 3) real-time reference waveforms management; 4) data acquisition; 5) machine protection; 6) human safety. The supervisory system consists of several subsystems; PS supervising computer (PS-SC), PS programmable logic controller (PS-PLC), PS internal protectionsystem(PS-IPS) and PS safety interlock system (PS-SIS). PS-SC covers the primary roles in 1) – 4) which is built on CompactPCIs with real-time OS INtime. PS-SC and LCCs are linked through a Reflective Memory (RM) network to share common data in real-time (4 kHz). PS-SC is also linked to the upstream JT-60SA supervisory control system (SCSDAS) via another RM network as an interface for the power supply internal control systems. During discharge sequence, PS-SC also manages motor-generator speed, AC circuit breakers OPEN/CLOSE status with a controller PS-PLC and magnets current according to request from SCSDAS. PS-IPS covers the function of 5) which is implemented on FPGA. PS-IPS is connected to LCCs via fiber optical and hard-wired signals. In case of emergency events such as magnet quench and earth quake, PS-IPS commands to shut down the magnets currents immediately. PS-SIS plays the role in 6) such as status and permission of fence OPEN/CLOSE and grounding switch for maintenance. In this presentation, overview and development of the supervisory system are described.30th edition of the Symposium on Fusion Technology (SOFT 2018