ASTRA-Matlab Integration for the Control of Tokamaks

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Sevillano, Goretti | Garrido, Izaskun | Garrido, Aitor J.

Affiliations: Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, EUITI of Bilbao University of the Basque Country, Plaza de la Casilla, 3 48012 Bilbao, Spain, e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: The current increment in energy consumption has renewed the interest in the development of alternatives to fossil fuels. In this regard, the interest in solving the different control problems existing in nuclear fusion reactors like Tokamaks has been intensified. The aim of this manuscript is to show how the ASTRA code, which is used to simulate the performance of Tokamaks, can be integrated into the Matlab-Simulink tool in order to make easier the development of suitable controllers for Tokamaks. As a demonstrative case study to show the feasibility and the goodness of the proposed integration, a modified anti-windup PID-based controller coupled with an optimization algorithm for the loop voltage has been implemented. This integration represents an original and innovative work in the Tokamak control area and it provides new possibilities for the development and application of advanced control schemes to the standardized ASTRA code.

Keywords: plasma physics, Tokamak control, modelling and simulation, Matlab

Journal: Informatica, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 241-257, 2011