Effect on Plasma Performance of a Single MHD Mode Feedback Control in Low-Aspect-Ratio RFP RELAX

A feedback control system for the stabilization of resistive wall mode (RWM) was applied to a low-aspectratio reversed field pinch (RFP) with minimum power supply capabilities to control the single mode. The system consists of 64 saddle coils (4 and 16 in poloidal and toroidal direction, respectively) in the actuator covering the whole torus on the outer surface of the vacuum vessel. The sensor coils also have the same structure. The saddle coils are connected in series to control the single m/n = 1/2 mode, which has the largest growth rate in RELAX. The radial component of the magnetic field from the sensor coils was suppressed to the preset level and the m/n = 1/2 magnetic mode, which otherwise grows with field penetration time of the vessel, was reduced to 0.1% of the edge poloidal field throughout the discharge. The RFP discharge duration has been extended to ∼3.5 ms, the upper bound determined by the saturation of the iron core. Finally, the MHD control issues in a low-A machine are discussed. c © 2014 The Japan Society of Plasma Science and Nuclear Fusion Research