Design and operation of fast model predictive controller for stabilization of magnetohydrodynamic modes in a fusion device

Abstract

Magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) devices suffer from magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities. A particular unstable mode, known as the resistive wall mode (RWM), is treated in this work. The RWM perturbs the plasma globally and can degrade the confinement or even terminate the plasma if not stabilized. This paper presents a control design approach to stabilize the RWM in the reversed-field pinch (RFP). The approach consists of: closed-loop system identification of the RFP, design of a fast model predictive controller and experimental validation of the controller. Experimental results shows that the proposed controller manages to stabilize the RWM in plasma.