Use of EPICS and Python technology for the development of a computational toolkit for high heat flux testing of plasma facing components

• Published in: Fusion engineering and design Vol. 112; pp. 783 - 787
• Main Authors: Sugandhi, Ritesh, Swamy, Rajamannar, Khirwadkar, Samir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 15.11.2016; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Carbon fiber reinforcement; Computer simulation; Control systems; Cooling; Critical heat flux; Data simulation; EPICS; Heat flux; Heat transfer; Industrial electronics; Mathematical models; Model testing; Numerical optimization; Parameters; Plasma; Plasma (physics); Plasma facing component; Python; Software; Tokamak devices; Numerical optimization; Critical heat flux; Plasma facing component; EPICS; Python
• ISSN: 0920-3796; 1873-7196
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fusengdes.2016.04.036

•An integrated approach to software development for computational processing and experimental control.•Use of open source, cross platform, robust and advanced tools for computational code development.•Prediction of optimized process parameters for critical heat flux model.•Virtual experimentation for high heat flux testing of plasma facing components. The high heat flux testing and characterization of the divertor and first wall components are a challenging engineering problem of a tokamak. These components are subject to steady state and transient heat load of high magnitude. Therefore, the accurate prediction and control of the cooling parameters is crucial to prevent burnout. The prediction of the cooling parameters is based on the numerical solution of the critical heat flux (CHF) model. In a test facility for high heat flux testing of plasma facing components (PFC), the integration of computations and experimental control is an essential requirement. Experimental physics and industrial control system (EPICS) provides powerful tools for steering controls, data simulation, hardware interfacing and wider usability. Python provides an open source alternative for numerical computations and scripting. We have integrated these two open source technologies to develop a graphical software for a typical high heat flux experiment. The implementation uses EPICS based tools namely IOC (I/O controller) server, control system studio (CSS) and Python based tools namely Numpy, Scipy, Matplotlib and NOSE. EPICS and Python are integrated using PyEpics library. This toolkit is currently under operation at high heat flux test facility at Institute for Plasma Research (IPR) and is also useful for the experimental labs working in the similar research areas. The paper reports the software architectural design, implementation tools and rationale for their selection, test and validation.