Future Directions of P I John

Plasma Physics and Formerly Meghnad Nad Saha Chair in

Fusion Research in Plasma Science and Technology, Institute
for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar
India

5 October 2023
Physics department
Aligarh Muslim University
Prof Rais Ahmed
Centennial Meeting

PP = science of the ionized state of matter.

connection to fusion . Plasma at Fusion temperatures
To achieve fusion, we have to understand the physics of plasms.

FR started in the 1950s in the West and the Soviet Union.

China and Korea 1970s.

India in the 1980s IPR, 3 decades after it started in the West. I

I shall take you through the developments in PP and FR in India which finally
enabled India to claim a partnership in building the world's first
thermonuclear reactor, the ITER.

fortunate to have been a part of this journey.

1
Plan of the Talk
Sarabhai Initiative PRL 1972

Fusion Devices at IPR 1982

Fusion Technology

Plasma Technology for Industrial, Environmental and

Strategic Application – FCIPT 1997

ITER 2006

Future Directions
2

2
 Vikram Sarabhai’s Legacy

“The year was 1970, and a faculty

meeting was in progress in the
committee room of the PRL. In the
middle of that meeting, Sarabhai
suddenly rose and went to the
blackboard to announce his plans to start
an experimental plasma physics
programme in PRL that would act as a
seed programme for a future fusion
research programme in the country. He
then briefly explained why it was
important to do so for the present needs
of PRL and the country’s future energy
needs.”

Abhijit Sen, Current Science, Vol. 118,

№8, 25 April 2020 1972 Experimental programme with Plasma Physics linked to
Space and Astrophysics
3

toroidal pinch at TIFR in the 1950s. ZETA at Harwell,

terminated.

VS picked up the threads again in 1970: Plasma Physics

programme = seed of a future fusion research programme.

I was the first experimentalist to join this activity in 1972.

expts related to Space and Astrophysical plasma
phenomena.
simulation of the Plasma Instabilities in the Equatorial
Electrjet

3
 Deuterium and Tritium Fusion and Plasma Physics
nuclei fuse together to form
Helium and release energy • At the temperature, the ambipolar speed of plasma
in the form of 14 MeV particles is 20,000 km/sec
Neutrons • To restrain particles from speeding away, strong
magnetic fields are used for plasma confinement

• Plasmas with free energy in a magnetic field are

susceptible to instabilities which destroy confinement

• To control instabilities, we need to understand the

physics of hot plasmas in magnetic fields

• Plasma Physics has grown primarily to understand

Fusion and Astrophysical plasmas

Fusion remained our first love.

Hydrogen nucle, fuse together to form Helium nuclei. The difference in the
final and initial masses appears as energy.

However, nuclei of the same charge repel each other by Coulomb force.

If we bring the nuclei very close to each other, the force between them
becomes attractive and they can fuse together. 20 keV energy required to
overcome the repulsive force. A temperature of 100 Million degrees.

ambipolar speed of plasma particles is 20,000 km/sec.

strong magnetic fields are used for plasma confinement.
susceptible to instabilities which destroy confinement.
need to understand the physics of hot plasmas in magnetic fields.
PP grown primarily to understand Fusion and Astrophysical plasmas.

4
 Plasma Physics
Programme at
PRL

1982

IRHPA

Intensification
of Research in
High-Priority
Institute for Plasma Research in 1986
Areas
5

We were always exploring ways to impress upon the

Government of India of the importance of India starting
fusion research.

1982, the DST importance of an indigenous fusion

research programme.
Plasma Physics Programme in PRL under its
“Intensification of Research in High Priority Programmes”.

PPP = IPR in 1986.

charter was to build a medium-sized Tokamak and start

5
fusion experiments..

5
 Tokamak: the most successful magnetic
confinement device

Primary Secondary

Tokamak is a transformer with

The combined helical magnetic field, winding around the
plasma as the secondary
winding torus creates a magnetic surface to which charged particles
stick 6

transformer with the Plasma Ring inside a Torus acting as

the secondary.

The toroidal B field produced by external coils

Plasma current induced by the transformer creates poloidal

magnetic field

Helical B field winding around the torus creates a magnetic

surface

Plasma sticks to the magnetic surface without losing

particles or heat

6
 Fusion Devices: ADITYA
Tokamak
Mid-sized air-core tokamak with
circular poloidal ring limiter (1989
– 2020)

Circular Plasma with

IP ~ 70 – 160 kA
ɳe ~ 1 – 4 x 1019 m -3
Te ~ 300 – 700 eV
Duration ~ 100 – 250 ms
Inductive energy storage
7

ADITYA is a midsized air-core tokamak.

The rectangular cross-section vacuum vessel is made in
two halves
Rect toroidal magnet coils distributed toroidally with R =
75 cm.
The plasma discharge is excited by dissipating the
inductive energy stored in the transformer's primary
The discharge pulse = few hundred milliseconds.
Plasma has a circular cross-section with a radius of 25 cm.
The 250 kAmp current running through the plasma = few
million degree
additionally heated with Radiofrequency and Microwave
power

7
 Fusion Devices: ADITYA Tokamak

commissioned in 1989.
Typical discharge
With a current of 150 kA, we reached a temperature of 4
Million degrees.

8
 Discovery of TURBULENT
TRANSPORT &
INTERMITTENCY
Transport of energy is not a steady ooze
but comes out in bursts

Nuclear Fusion 33, (1993) 1201

Frequency resolved particle transport from edge density and potential fluctuations. The
transport is inwards at frequencies below 20 kHz and outwards at higher frequencies.
9

Energy is lost from tokamaks through various transport

processes w
not fully understood even now.
`intermittency' in the particle and energy transport at
the Tokamak edge region is an important result.

The probability distribution functions of broadband

plasma density and potential fluctuations are non-
Gaussian: a key feature depicting the intermittency in
the tokamak edge region.

This critical finding of the "BURSTY" nature of plasma

transport obtained from careful and Systematic
experiments in ADITYA were published in Nuclear
Fusion.

stimulated Worldwide research and significantly

enhanced the understanding of the transport of energy
and particles from the magnetic trap of a tokamak.

9
 Why Upgrade ADITYA?
PLASMA BOUNDARY IN A TOKAMAK
Divertor Concept:
ü A divertor sets the confined plasma boundary,
called the Last Closed Flux Surface (LCFS), using Limiter Divertor
magnetic fields. (Obsolete) (State-of-Art)

ü As opposed to a limiter, which uses a solid

surface.
ü A scrap-off layer (SOL) is generated at the
boundary where ionized impurities flow along
field lines into the divertor.
ü Plasma-surface interactions remote from confined
plasma and particle flow prohibits impurities from
entering the confined plasma.
ADITYA ADITYA-U
ü Allows plasma shaping, which makes easier to
obtain H-mode plasmas. Advantages of Divertor
ü Sink far away from confined plasma
ü Allows plasma shaping, etc.

upgraded after two decades of operation.

physical limiter as its radial boundary.

A divertor sets the confined plasma boundary, Last

Closed Flux Surface (LCFS), using magnetic fields.

A scrape-off layer (SOL) is generated at the boundary

where ionized impurities flow along field lines into the
divertor. Plasma-surface interactions remote from
confined plasma and particle flow prohibit impurities
from entering the confined plasma.

The divertor also allows plasma cross-section shaping,

which makes it easier to obtain high magnetic
confinement called the H-mode plasmas.

10
 ADITYA UPGRADE
Upgraded after 2 decades operation

New vacuum vessel has two semi-tori

having of R = 0.75 m r = 0.25 m

Position, alignment and electrical

parameters of every component was
documented at every stage of
disassembly in order to have a
benchmark for re-assembly.

Repaired damaged TF coils and

successfully charged close to design
PFC Components
parameters after re-assembly.

Re-assembled and power tested in a

year’s time.

Aditya-U operation started from Jan

2017

The new toroidal vacuum vessel has two semi-tori

having R = 0.75 m r = 0.25 m

several critical challenges.

The damaged TF coils were repaired and

successfully charged close to design parameters
after re-assembly.

The machine was re-assembled and power tested in

a year’s time.

11
 SST-1 Tokamak
Major radius of 1.1 m, a minor
radius of 0.20 m and a
maximum toroidal magnetic
field of 3.0 T at the machine
centre.

35 tons of cold mass at 4.5 k

and is the largest cable-in-
conduit-conductor (CICC) based
forced-flow superconducting
magnets in India.

The CICC are made up of

NbTi/Cu, which are successfully
cooled-down to 4.5 K using
helium cryogenics system.

12

tokamak with superconducting magnets. SST-1 tokamak

was designed to study long-duration plasmas.

It has a major radius of 1.1 m, a minor radius of 0.20 m

The maximum toroidal magnetic field is 3.0 T at the

machine centre.

The SST-1 contains 35 tons of cold mass at 4.5 k and is the

largest cable-in-conduit-conductor based forced-flow
superconducting magnets in India.

NbTi/Cu, cooled down to 4.5 K using a helium cryogenics

system.

12
 Fusion Technology:
Magnetic Energy
Storage and Pulsed
Power Extraction
Direct power extraction from
Electricity Grid

13

MCF array of advanced fusion technologies. IPR has

been successful in developing all the critical technologies
indigenously.

To create the plasma and energize the magnets, huge

amounts of power are required in a pulsed manner. TF
magnets 50 kA at 1 kV for 5 seconds, which is 50 MVA.
directly drawing this power in pulses from the GE Grid
was radical in 1982.

Power converters - convert AC into high-voltage DC.

primary charged to 20 kA. When the primary current is
disrupted, a voltage gets induced in the secondary which
create the plasma and boost up the plasma current to
hundreds of kilo Amperes

13
 Fusion Technology: Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating

42GHz, 82.6GHz & 170GHz

500kW, 200kW and 1MW
500ms and CW (1000s)
The pre-ionization with ECRH helps in
reliable start-up of tokamak even at higher Imported items: Gyrotron,
transmission line and window
error field in tokamak. It saves the volt-
second consumption, which helps in Indigenous development: Power
elongation of plasma shots. supplies, DAC, Launcher etc.

The breakdown with ECRH is essential in

superconducting tokamaks as sharp rise in
ohmic (dI/dt) is not desirable because it
may trigger quench in superconducting
magnets.

The ECRH also helps in MHD suppression

and instability control like NTM suppression
and saw-tooth control.

14

Breakdown and forming a plasma consumes a good

fraction of the magnetic energy. This leaves little magnetic
energy to drive the current for a long time.

Starting the discharge with a pre-ionization consumes

much less magnetic energy.

42 GHz microwave generated by Gyrotrons into the

vacuum vessel. Th saved magnetic energy can be used to
drive plasma currents for a longer duration.

Microwave power also does Electron Cyclotron Resonance

Heating of the plasma electrons. The spikes in the soft X-

14
ray emission are due to plasma instability

14
 Fusion Technology: Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating
MHz RF Power in the Ion Cyclotron Resonance Frequency can be deposited
directly on ions in the core, significantly enhancing fast ion population
together with fusion reaction products. Antenna design, wave coupling
efficiency, wave propagation, wave absorption are complex problems

CWRF amplifier circuit is developed and tested

successfully at 425kW/1 sec at 24.8MHz.
Matching Network Antenna

15

Plasma ions gyrate at the ICF tens of MHz.

EM waves with frequencies in this range can be absorbed
by the plasma
KE of resonant ions increases and is transferred to other
plasma particles via collisions such that the plasma heats
up.

IC power deposited directly on ions in the core,

significantly enhancing fast ion population.

RF generator with frequencies tuneable near 24.8 MHz

drives ICRH.

Antenna design, wave coupling efficiency, wave

propagation, wave absorption, and plasma surface
Interactions due to radiofrequency sheath excitation are
complex problems

15
 Fusion Technology: Intense Neutral Beams
• Testing of Positive Neutral
beam system for SST-1
A neutral beam is obtained was performed on the
by neutralisation of a test stand upto beam
precursor ion beam, energies of 35 keV at 0.7
commonly accelerated in MW (neutral beam
large electrostatic power) for pulse length 2
accelerators. s.
• Operations at enhanced
The precursor beam could parameters viz. 55 keV at
either be a positive-ion
beam or a negative-ion
1.7 MW (neutral beam
beam. power) for pulse length
10 s is planned.
To obtain a sufficiently high
current, it is produced • Beam Energy (Vacc) 35 keV
extracting charges from a • Beam Current Ibeam 30 Amp
plasma discharge.

IEA-FPCC Meeting 15-16 February 2023 7

Ohmic heating of hot plasmas is self-limiting

Energetic neutrals injected into the plasma can get
ionized and become hot ions.

Hot ions exchange enregy through a simple collision

process.

NBI Sources have ions extracted at 35 kV from a filament-

based multipole bucket-type positive ion source with an
extractor and accelerator system,

The accelerated ions interact with similar species of

neutrals in the neutralizing cell. Charge exchange
reactions convert the energetic ions to neutrals.

Power supplies of various specifications feed power to

the various components.

16
 Fusion Technology: Fuel Pellet Injection

50 Micron Lithium Titanate / Carbonate

Particles with velocity ~ 200 m/s
Particles reached ADITYA-U core in ~ 4 ms
Amount injected ~ 50 – 200 mg

Sudden termination of the plasma current is called disruption.

large heat loads on \the wall and Plasma Facing Components.
disruption mitigation is based on massive gas injection (MGI) of
impurities
to radiate the plasma stored energy and mitigate the damaging effects
of disruptions.

ADITYA-U has experimentally demonstrated the use of Lithium

titanate particles of 50 – 80 microns are injected with velocities of ~
200-220 m/s using a linear coil gun accelerator.

The time evolution of two consecutive discharges of ADITYA-U, black

curve (#33317) with particle injection and red curve (#33318) without
pellet injection are shown in Figure 1, representing the radiative
dissipation of the plasma stored energy in the discharge in which
particles are injected.

17
 Fusion Technology: Non-inductive Current Drive
For steady state operation of PAM launcher capable of delivering 250
a fusion reactor development
kW of rf power at 3.7 GHz. for 1 second.
of alternate ways for the
generation of the toroidal
plasma current is required.
Such methods are classified
as ‘non-inductive current
drive’. Non-inductive current
require some method to
directly impart parallel
momentum to electrons. This
could be done for by means
of neutral beams or through
resonant interaction with RF
waves. LHCD makes use of
the slow wave in the
intermediate frequency Advantage with PAM launcher
regime between the ion and -- Low reflections (~2-5%) and good
electron cyclotron coupling with edge densities close to
frequencies, the realm of the
lower hybrid resonance cut-off density (nco ~ 2x10-17 m-3 ).
-- Can be placed far away from LCFS
(~few tens of cm), relevant to reactor
like conditions.

alternate ways for sustaining of the toroidal plasma current are

required.
‘non-inductive current drive’.
some method to directly impart parallel momentum to electrons.
This could be done by means of neutral beams or through resonant
interaction with RF waves.
LHCD makes use of the slow wave in frequency regime between the
ion and electron cyclotron frequencies

18
 Fusion Technology: Lead Lithium MHD Loop at IPR to simulate
ITER Tritium Breeder dynamics

• MHD experiments performed under

transverse magnetic field (up to 0.5 T)
• Preliminary results indicate reduction
in Pb-Li flow rate in presence of the
magnetic field.
• The sinusoidal distribution of the wall
electric potential has been observed
• Further analysis is under progress

IEA-FPCC Meeting 15-16 February 2023 11

Tritium to be produced within the tokamak when

neutrons from fusion events interact with lithium
contained in the blanket. concept of 'breeding' tritium
during the fusion reaction is important for the future
needs of large-scale fusion power plants.

The lead–lithium ceramic breeder (LLCB) TBM and its

auxiliary systems are being developed by India for
testing in ITER. The LLCB TBM consists of lithium titanate
as ceramic breeder material in the form of packed
pebble beds.

There will be MHD effects when the liquid metal flows in

the Tokamak, This is simulated in The LLMHD close loop
system which is designed for 0.7 MPa pressure & 400C
temperatures.

19
 Cryopumps for Space & Fusion Research-AGASTYA-400
A GAS Trapping YAntra
In-house
Temp. (AGASTYA)
Assembly
Profile
Geometry and
Analysis in
Modeling in integration
Particle ANSYS
Flow CATIA
Analysis In
Molfow+,
MOVAK

Installation &
Testing
Sorbent Coating

Fabrication

Design & Pumping

Analysis Speed
Modelling
In-house Experiments
Concept charcoal
Validation Coating
20

IPR has developed Cryopump technology.

AGASTYA-400 is a Liquid nitrogen-cooled cryopump which
produces a vacuum by capturing gas molecules on cryo-
panel surfaces cooled to a temperature of around 80K.

AGASTYA-400 is in operation at SAC and Ahmedabad to

evacuate cryovac chambers.
It provides ~4000 l/s pumping speed for nitrogen/air
and >15000 l/s pumping speed for water vapour for a
400mm opening.

20
 Facilitation Centre for Industrial
Plasma Technologies
Development
Incubation
Job Shops
Field Trials
Commercilization

IPR has done extensive work in developing and

transferring plasma-based industrial, strategic and
environmental applications through its Facilitation
Centre for Industrial Plasma Technologies,

The activities covered Technology development,

incubation, job shops, field trials and commercialization

21
 PLASMA NITRIDING OF
PLASTIC DIES

Abnormal glow discharge in Nitrogen-

Hydrogen mixtures provide NH radicals,
which convert to atomic nitrogen for
diffusion into steel surface.
The surface hardening enhances the life of
tools and dies

Jobshop to demonstrate the technology

and generate revenue

Ahmedabad has many plastic die manufacturers and

users.
Each die costs lakhs of rupees and has a finite life-time.
Extend the life of the die by hardening the steel - great
commercial interest.

Immerse the die in an abnormal glow discharge in NH NH

radicals, atomic Nitrogen at the surface of die and diffuse
into steel. Nitrogen in the iron lattice hardens the steel

We developed this technology and set up a job shop to

help penetrate the technology. The job shop was of
industrial standards to enable batch processing of large
industrial components

22
 TIFAC invites us to develop an
indigenous technology for medical
waste pyrolysis

Commercial Pyrolysis systems are being

manufactured in India using FCIPT
Technology

23

DST invited us to develop an indigenous technology for

medical waste destruction by Plasma Pyrolysis.

The heart of the technology - Plasma Torch

This is a device in which plasma Is extracted out of the

anode-cathode space.
The plumes can be extremely hot: a temperature of
10000 degrees is quite common.

The important quality of this flame: is chemically inert,

and non-oxidizing.

23
 Cold Plasma Processing of Fibres
10 micron angora fibres are 8 times
warmer than sheep wool.

With APCP, processing of fibres,wovens

and powders incompatible with vacuum
processing becomes possible

Plasma Etching of Angora fibres

increases micro-roughness and creates
surface polar groups to enhance
cohesion between fibres
With plasma etching 100% Angora fabrics
without blending is possible
24

We have also developed the Non-equilibrium or Cold Plasma Technology

With APCP, high-speed processing of fibres, wovens and powders

incompatible with vacuum processing becomes possible.

Also, organic and soft matter can be treated

10-micron angora fibres are 8 times warmer than sheep wool.

Plasma Etching of Angora fibres increases micro-roughness and creates
surface polar groups to enhance cohesion between fibres
With plasma etching 100% Angora fabrics without blending is possible

24
 In collaboration with National
Institute of Design and Central
Wool Research Board, FCIPT has
installed Wool processing units in
Himachal Pradesh

Commercial
Textile Processing
Plasma Systems
Are being
manufactured by
INSPIRON
In Ahmedabad

25

In a collaboration with NID and Central Wool Research

Board, FCIPT has installed Wool processing units in
Himachal Pradesh

Commercial Textile Processing Plasma Systems

manufactured by INSPIRON In Ahmedabad

25
 Collaboration with ISRO include Plasma Nitriding
of satellite components, Simulation of Solar Panel
interaction with space plasmas, Development and
characterization of Hall and RF Plasma Thrusters

26

FCIPT has partnered with both industry and strategic

organizations like ISRO and DRDO

In 2004 a collaboration with ISRO started to understand

the reason of on the failure of the solar panels on their
satellites due to arcing.

Satellite-Plasma Interaction Experiment (SPIX) to

understand the arcing phenomenon. The experimental
data and insight on the physical phenomena generated
from modelling would be used to conceptualize remedial
measures.

26
 Aditya High
Vacuum P. Ltd B. L. Engineering TECHNOLOGY TRANSFERS
BY IPR ACROSS INDIA
Plasma & Pruthvi Beverages
Vacuum Tech. Pvt. Ltd., Gandhinagar
Inspiron
Engg. P Ltd.

Bhagwati Pyrotech
A’bad.
Ankur Scientific
Pvt. Ltd. G P Green
Energy systems
Kolkata

IPR
Arshad
Electronics Plasma Nitriding Systems
Pvt. Ltd. Auto Controls, M’bai
Plasma Pyrolysis Systems
Cenerge Engg., M’bai
Projects with collaborators

Tech Transfer Partners

Excel Industries Ltd.

27
ITER had its genesis in the 1985 Reagan-Gorbachev
summit
In 2001, the design of INTOR with 4 parties was
completed
By 2006, China, S. Korea and India joined
2006 ITER agreement
2007 ITER Organization

Building ITER-How? cost-sharing

7 partners build parts of the machine as per the cost
formula
Unique model for int collaboration
 Indian In-Kind Contributions

29

29

ITER machine. man gives scale. flags denote the supplier country.
E.g.: vacuum vessels by US, EU, S. Korea and Russia.
18 number of TF Coils are supplied by Six partners.

India to supply a number of crit components. ITER supply is executed

by a special project within IPR, called ITER-India (also called the
Domestic Agency) for delivering India’s in-kind commitments
There are three types of financial contributions:
Engineering packages for 1st plasma ITER operations
Engineering and performance demonstration packages for auxiliary
heating systems and diagnostics
The third is direct cash transfer

29
 Vacuum Vessel enclosing the entire
ITER Cryostat Tokamak: Ensures vacuum environment for
SC Magnets to minimise loss of cooling

• Shell Thickness : 50 mm
• Max. Thickness : 200 mm
• Total Weight : ~3550 MT
• Material : Dual Marked SS 304/304L
• Vacuum : 10-6 Torr

29 m
• Largest SS vacuum vessel ever built: 16000 m3
volume

Material used: SS 304, SS 304L dual;

Co content <0.1% ; Suppliers: JINDAL steel, Industeel
(France) & L&T Forging (Hazira)

Ø 29.4 m ITER Cryostat PA signed – 6th Sep 2011

Contract to M/s L&T – 17th Aug 2012
30

The entire ITER machine core will sit inside a vacuum

chamber called the cryostat.

vacuum environment is for reducing loss of cooling of the

SC Magnets

At 29 m height with comp dia, this is the largest vacuum

chamber ever built. . SS 304, SS 304L.

L&T at Hazira prime contractor

30
 Handover Ceremony of Cryostat Base Section and Lower Cylinders

31
Cryostat Handover Ceremony (July, 2019)

The cryostat was commissioned and handed over to ITER in

July 2019.

31
 ITER magnets cooled with supercritical
Cryolines & Cryodistribution helium at 4 K

Surrounded by a thermal shield with a

forced flow of helium at 80 K

Cryoplant produces the required

cooling power

Distribution through a complex system

of cryolines and cold boxes that make
up the cryo-distribution system.

Principal challenge: cold circulators

having mass flow rate ~ 3 kg/s at 4.3 K
and 0.15 MPa pressure head.

Magnets cooled with supercrit He at 4 K

thermal shield cooled by forced flow of He 80 K.

Cryoplant produce the required cooling power . Cryo-dist

sys supplies SHe to the Central Solenoid (CS), TF and PF
Coils, magnet support structure as well as to cryopumps.

principal challenge is to develop cold circulators having

mass flow rate of the order 3 kg/s at 4.3 K and 0.15 MPa
pressure head.

The ITER cryoline (CL) system = network of vacuum

insulated multi and single process pipe (PP) lines
distributed over three different areas at ITER site.

The installation of these CLs in the Tokamak building =

challenging task due to the presence of many equipment
in their vicinity.

32
 Diagnostics Neutral Beam (DNB): measures He ash Material & engineering aspects

Challenges Source development:

Development of material
Similar & dissimilar metal joining
• Intense physics R&D Several precision machining
RF based negative ion source
• Beam source of the largest size,
optimization & operation techniques
• High precision manufacturing
• Heavy engineering
100 keV, 60 A beam of H-

8 RF negative ion
source
Beam transport ~20.7m from the ion source

Achieved current
100 keV, density ~ 27 mA/cm2,
20 A against required 35
beam of ~ 60% mA/cm2
H0

PSSI-2019 VIT Chennai 03/12/19 33

He is the ash in fusion and has to be quantified.

Attenuation of a high energy neutral Hydrogen beam by
charge X moving through plasma

H- ion-based DNB to deliver ~ 20 A H atomic beam

8xRF Plasma sources 60A extracted at 100KV. After

neutralization = 20 A

Challenges Source Material+ Engg

33
 Radio Frequency Power Sources: Ion Cyclotron Resonance Frequency (ICRF)
Functionality: ICRH: Resonant 9 ICRF sources: (8 for operation + 1 spare)
• Heating heating of ions at Ion-
Cyclotron Frequency • 2.5 MW/VSWR 2:1/35-65 MHz/CW
• Current drive • 3.0 MW/VSWR 1.5:1/40-55 MHz/CW
• Wall conditioning
TL to Hot Cell Facility

RF Sources (8+1)

Transm ission Lines (8)

M atching units (2)

3MW test loads

HVPS
Pre-m atching units (2)

& Antennas (2)

M ovable m atching
system

This kind of RF source is unique in terms of its

(PPTF)
stringent specifications

PSSI-2019 VIT Chennai 03/12/19

RF power = Heating/current drive/wall conditioning

To heat the ITER plasma to the fusion temperature, a

technique called ICRH is employed.

24 MW of RF power at 40-55 MHZ is delivered to

resonantly heat the ions.
This shall be produced from 8 RF sources. power handling
of 2.5 MW at VSWR of 2:1 in 35-65 MHz. 3 MW at VSWR
of 1.5:1 in 40-55 MHz.

For ITER, a new layout has been proposed with two

parallel, three stage amplifier chain. 4 with a combiner
circuit on the output side.

34
 Power Supplies: for RF & DNB systems

Multi-MW power supplies developed to drive the RF based plasma heating

systems and the Diagnostic Neutral Beam system

Power supplies for DNB system Pulse Step Modulation based

HVPS for ICRF/EC system
ICRF:
27kV/190A Dual power supply

ECRH : 55 kV, 110 A

Design successfully tested,

Exceeds ITER specifications
100 kV, 7.2 MW acceleration system
power supplies for ion source
manufactured in India and working in
Padua Italy on ion source dev. Test bed PSSI-2019 VIT Chennai 03/12/19 35

The High Voltage Power Supply Systems (HVPS) that

provide the Megawatt level power to the ICRF, EC and
DNB systems have been manufactured based on R&D at
IPR.

The HVPS are Pulse Step Modulation (PSM) based, where

multi secondary transformers provide required power
with isolation between each series connected Switch
Power Supply (SPS) module.

The HVPS have been tested on the ICRF loads, as a part of

the demonstration of 1.5 MW power delivery from the
Diacrode and Tetrode.

35
 In-Wall Shields for Fusion 40○ Sector

Neutrons

Without Shielding
• Provide shielding from neutron
radiation for components situated
outside of the vacuum vessel (such as
the magnets) as well as for
environmental safety
• Contribute to plasma performance by
limiting perturbations due to toroidal
field ripple

• Occupy 55 % of the space between the

double walls of the vacuum vessel

Only Shielding
The peculiar shape of the blocks
of IWS is a result of the
• Modular structure 9000 blocks made of surrounding space constraints.
72000 borated (1-2% boron) or ferritic
steel plates (each 40mm thick)

PSSI-2019 VIT Chennai 03/12/19 36

Fusion = high energy neutrons

damage components situated outside of the vacuum
vessel such as the magnets.
INS shields the radiation
Modular
9000 blocks made of 72000 borated (1-2% boron) or
ferritic steel plates (each 40mm thick) packed in the
double walls of VV

Improves plasma performance by smoothening T-field

ripple

36
 ITER-DNB related R&D Activities
Prototype DNB beam line; Unique 21.6 m path length to characterize focused H beams provide
relevant beam related database for CXRS diagnostics for ITER

Cryopanel installation in progress Cooling water system for BS

inside INTF vacuum vessel
and BLC’s installed and tested
• Preparations underway
towards installation and
commissioning
• Beamline components
BLC’s: Neutraliser, ERID and
calorimeter expected: Feb
2023
• Source expected: October
2023, Modifications from
SPIDER learnings
incorporated

IEA-FPCC M eeting 15-16 February 2023 20

Preparations underway towards installation and

commissioning
• Beamline components BLC’s: Neutraliser, ERID and
calorimeter is ongoing
• Source expected: October 2023, Modifications from
SPIDER learnings incorporated

37
 Indian Fusion Roadmap for next 25 years

Fusion Roadm ap for the next

25 years includes Two new
m achines before
launch of Indian DEM O:

Fusion Neutron Source (FNS) :

Spherical Tokam ak
based Volum e Neutron Source

SST-2: Conventional steady-state

tokam ak of roughly 2/3rd ITER
size

I
EA-FPCC Meeting 15-16 February
2023

25

Fusion Roadmap for the next 25 years includes Two new

machines before launch of Indian DEMO:

Fusion Neutron Source (FNS) : Spherical Tokamak based

Volume Neutron Source

SST-2: Conventional steady-state tokamak of roughly 2/3rd

ITER size

38
 Indian Fusion Roadmap for next 25 years

Assessment of ST-FNS is
underway
• FNS to be a compact spherical
tokamak with Cu coils (BT~2T),
R0~1.5m, a~0.9m, full D-T operation
with pulses up to 10 seconds
‒ R&D with Fusion neutrons
‒ Blanket concepts
‒ Production of rare radioisotopes
‒ To be built in with the active
involvement of the Indian Industry.

• SST-2 to be a steady state

conventional aspect ratio tokamak
with R0~4m, a~1.4m, BT>5T

IEA-FPCC Meeting 15-16 February 2023 26

Initial assessment of ST-FNS is

underway
• FNS to be a compact spherical tokamak with Cu coils
(BT~2T), R0~1.5m, a~0.9m, full D-T operation with pulses
up to 10 second
‒ R&D with Fusion neutrons
‒ Blanket concepts
‒ Production of rare radio isotopes
‒ To be built in with the active
involvement of the Indian Industry.

• SST-2 to be a steady state conventional aspect ratio

tokamak with R0~4m, a~1.4m, BT>5T

39