VACUUM COMPATIBLE, VARIABLE CROSS-SECTION MAGNETIC COIL DIAGNOSTIC USED IN DIGITAL FEEDBACK-CONTROL OF PLASMA POSITION IN TEXT-UPGRADE

A magnetic pickup coil diagnostic set is used to measure the position of the plasma column in the Texas Experimental Tokamak Upgrade (TEXT-U) project. The output from this coil set is used in a digital feedback system to control the plasma position. To provide a fast time response for the feedback system, one complete coil set is located on the interior of the vacuum vessel. Another set with a slower time response is located on the outside of the vessel. To simplify and speed up data processing, the coils are constructed so that the X and Y coordinates of the plasma current centroid are each determined using the signals from only two separate coils. For each coordinate one coil is used to measure a tangential (relative to the coil surface) magnetic field component, while the second coil measures a normal field component. Due to physical constraints, the coils are not continuous around the vacuum vessel. The presence of gaps in the coils causes pickup of the external current flowing in the divertor coil windings during TEXT-U diverted discharges. This pickup has been successfully nulled out by adding a divertor current Rogowski coil to the X position coil circuit. The data indicate that these coils, along with the digital feedback system, are useful tools for flexible position control over a wide range of TEXT-U plasma parameters. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.