MFTF-B ECRH system construction progress and preliminary test results

Highly efficient Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) within the thermal barrier and potential maximum regions of the Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF-B) is critical to the successful operation of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) large tandem mirror experiment. In recent months, substantial progress has been made toward the commissioning of the fully integrated MFTF-B ECRH Prototype Gyrotron Socket (PGS). This facility serves as the design confirmation test bed for prototypical and first-unit ECRH components and subsystems. Acquisition of all major hardware recently culminated with the delivery and installation of the first successfully tested ECRH Power Supply System channel manufactured by Universal Voltronics Corp. (UVC) and with the receipt of the first 28 GHz CW/long-pulse gyrotron manufactured by Varian Associates. The UVC and Varian equipment has been interfaced to previously tested subsystems necessary to support PGS operations. Functional hardware now in place includes a 90 kV/90 A dc power supply, gyrotron tank, high purity water cooling skid, gyrotron magnets and power supplies, overmoded waveguide components, miscellaneous fluid support subsystems, computerized controls and monitors, and a sophisticated low power rf test facility for evaluation of quasi-optical ECRH launching system components