HV-system for CW-gyrotrons at W7-X and the relevance for ITER

Abstract

Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) is the main heating method for the Wendelstein 7-X Stellarator (W7-X), which is under construction at IPP-Greifswald.A 10 MW ECRH plant with CW-capability at 140 GHz is under construction to meet the scientific objectives. The microwave power is generated by 10 gyrotrons with 1 MW each two gyrotrons are operational at IPP in Greifswald. The tubes are equipped with a single-stage depressed collector for energy recovery and operate with an output power modulation between 0.3 and 1 MW with a sinusoidal frequency of up to 10 kHz which is achieved by modulating the depression voltage and is an interesting feature for NTM control at ITER. The general features of the ECRH-plant such as frequency power, cw-capability, flexibility and the experimental experience are of high relevance for the ITER system.Each gyrotron is fed by two high-voltage sources. A high-power supply for driving the electron beam and a precision low-power supply for beam acceleration. The high-power facility consists of modular solid state HV-supplies (−65 kV 50/100 A) providing fast power control and high flexibility. The low-power high-voltage source for beam acceleration is realized by a feed back controlled high-voltage servo-amplifier driving the depression voltage. A protection system with a thyratron crowbar for fast power removal in case of gyrotron failure by arcing is installed. Both the high power and low-power high-voltage sources have the capability to supply a 2 MW ITER gyrotron without any modification. Analogue electronic devices control the fast functions of the high-voltage system for each gyrotron and a hierarchy of industrial standard PLCs and computers supervise the whole ECRH-plant.