Impact of error fields on plasma identification in ITER

Highlights: ► The paper deals with the effect on plasma identification of error fields generated by field coils manufacturing and assembly errors. ► EFIT++ is used to identify plasma gaps when poloidal field coils and central solenoid coils are deformed, and the gaps sensitivity with respect to such errors is analyzed. ► Some examples of reconstruction errors in the presence of deformations are reported. -- Abstract: The active control of plasma discharges in present Tokamak devices must be prompt and accurate to guarantee expected performance. As a consequence, the identification step, calculating plasma parameters from diagnostics, should provide in a very short time reliable estimates of the relevant quantities, such as plasma centroid position, plasma-wall distances at given points called gaps, and other geometrical parameters as elongation and triangularity. To achieve the desired response promptness, a number of simplifying assumptions are usually made in the identification algorithms. Among those clearly affecting the quality of the plasma parameters reconstruction, one of the most relevant is the precise knowledge of the magnetic field produced by active coils. Since uncertainties in their manufacturing and assembly process may cause misalignments between the actual and expected geometry and position of magnets, an analysis on the effect of possible wrong information about magnets on the plasma shape identification is documented in this paper