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Fusion energy: Progress, partnerships, and the path to deployment
Over the past decade, fusion energy has moved decisively from scientific aspiration toward a credible pathway to a new energy technology. Thanks to long-term federal support, we have significantly advanced our fundamental understanding of plasma physics—the behavior of the superheated gases at the heart of fusion devices. This knowledge will enable the creation and control of fusion fuel under conditions required for future power plants. Our progress is exemplified by breakthroughs at the National Ignition Facility and the Joint European Torus.
Charles E. Kessel, Marc A. Firestone,, Robert W. Conn
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 17 | Number 3 | May 1990 | Pages 391-411
Technical Paper | Plasma Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST90-A29216
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The control of plasma position, shape, and current in a tokamak fusion reactor is examined using linear optimal control. These advanced tokamaks are characterized by non-up-down symmetric coils and structure, thick structure surrounding the plasma, eddy currents, shaped plasmas, superconducting coils, vertically unstable plasmas, and hybrid function coils providing ohmic heating, vertical field, radial field, and shaping field. Models of the electromagnetic environment in a tokamak are derived and used to construct control gains that are tested in nonlinear simulations with initial perturbations. The issues of applying linear optimal control to advanced tokamaks are addressed, including complex equilibrium control, choice of cost functional weights, the coil voltage limit, discrete control, and order reduction. Results indicate that linear optimal control is a feasible technique for controlling advanced tokamaks where the more common classical control, relying on the scalar/orthogonalized description, will be severely strained.